YOU CAN PEE (OR WHATEVER) IN MAURIZIO CATTELAN'S SOLID GOLD TOILET

This solid gold toilet is in a public restroom, in a new exhibit called America at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. It’s the first work of art exhibited by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan since his retrospective hung all of his work like a mobile from the ceiling.

Cattelan’s retrospective, “All” at the Guggenheim in 2012

The Guggenheim said,

“Cattelan intends visitors to use the toilet just as they would any other facility in the building. 

In a gallery environment where visitors are constantly being told, ‘don’t touch,’ this is an extraordinary opportunity to spend time completely alone with a work of art by a leading contemporary artist.”

It’s located behind a nondescript bathroom door The value of the work was not given, but Gothamist crunched the numbers did the math and found that if it weighs as much as a typical commode, it would be between 70 and 120 pounds ― or worth between $1,474,592 and $2,527,872, given the current value of gold. Cattelan told the museum,

“You should call it ‘Guggen-head’.“

Whatever, just don’t forget to flush.

(T/Y Tad; via Huffington Post)

#RIP: PLAYWRIGHT, EDWARD ALBEE

Three-time Pulitzer Prize -winning gay playwright Edward Albee, whose masterworks was Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? died today. 

His assistant Jackob Holder said he died at his home in Montauk. No cause of death was given. Given the deaths of Arthur Miller and August Wilson in 2005, he was arguably America’s greatest living playwright. Years ago, before undergoing surgery, Albee penned a note to be issued at the time of his death: 

“To all of you who have made my being alive so wonderful, so exciting and so full, my thanks and all my love.”

Albee was proclaimed the playwright of his generation after his blistering Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? opened on Broadway in 1962. The Tony-winning play, still widely considered Albee’s finest, was made into an award-winning 1966 film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

His unconventional style won him great acclaim but also led to a nearly 20-year drought of critical and commercial recognition before his 1994 play, Three Tall Women, garnered his third Pulitzer Prize. His other Pulitzers were for A Delicate Balance (1967) and Seascape (1975).

Albee was born in 1928 and was adopted by a wealthy suburban New York couple. His father, Reed Albee, ran the Keith-Albee chain of vaudeville theaters; his mother, Frances Albee, was a socialite and a commanding presence who kept a hold on him for much of his life.

Albee was honored by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1996 for his lifetime contributions. Then-President Bill Clinton praised Albee as a man who inspired a generation of American dramatists. Clinton also awarded Albee a National Medal of the Arts that year.

Into his 70s, Albee continued to write provocative and unconventional plays. In The Goat or Who is Sylvia? the main character falls in love with a goat. ,” Albee said in 2001,

“I don’t like the idea of getting older and older because there’s meant to be a time when that has to stop. Dying strikes me as being a great waste of time.”

Albee’s longtime companion, sculptor Jonathan Thomas, died in 2005. Albee told The New York Times in 2007. “

“I couldn’t write for a long timeThe mourning never ends; it just changes. But then I got back into a feeling of usefulness.”

Edward Albee was 88.

(via USA Today)

#BMOVIEHERSTORY: THE '76 SPOOF "QUEEN KONG" STILL INSPIRES. WATCH

If you are in L.A. and a certain age, Queen Kong means one thing. It’s a club night at Precinct DTLA featuring some of RuPaul’s Drag Race stars from time to time. But the name was inspired by the film.

Queen Kong is a 1976 British comedy film spoofing King Kong. It was never released due to legal action by Dino De Laurentiis, the producer of the 1976 King Kong remake and RKO copyright holder of the movie at the time. Although it got a limited release in Italy and Germany, the film has since resurfaced on DVD. Thin as it is, the plot goes like this;

After being kidnapped by film director Luce Habit, Rula Lenska is set to to star in her new African jungle movie. Petty thief Ray Fay (Robin Askwith) finds himself the amorous attraction of a giant female gorilla which pursues him across London.

Watch.

#INSTAGLAM: DAMIEN HIRST'S 26 YEAR-OLD GIRLFRIEND SHARES THEIR LIFE (& IT LOOKS LIKE FUN!)

Damien Hirst is THE richest living artist in the world (net worth, an estimated $1 billion.) He of diamond skulls and floating sharks in tanks has been endlessly reported on for one one controversy or another but we've rarely seen behind closed doors. But now, we're getting an inside scoop –however filtered– through his girlfriend of two years, 26-year-old Katie Keight.

The British tabs have been closely following their relationship at one high-profile social event to another. Keight is an actress & model and they just moved in together in April. When asked to name her 

“perfect art-world gentleman”

Keight said Hirst, 

“because he always opens my car door and lets me have music control.”

And probably picks up the check too, because that’s what (rich) gentlemen do. She told the Standard in June.

“The age difference doesn’t really exist. I don’t notice it. We are both Geminis, so it’s like there are four of us all the time and you can’t get a word in edgewise.”

The two met at a Foundation for AIDS Research Party, at a time when Keight says she was struggling with alcoholism. She counts the artist as a major factor in turning her life around, saying 

“Damien is very passionate and positive, just being around him made me realize you can have anything you want.

I wish I’d known it would get better. I used to wake up crying but my life has done a 180-degree turn.”

It looks pretty nice. You can see snaps on her Instagram of the two with Jeff Koons (#2 richest artists at $500 million) as well as pics of cool jewelry and eating (just like us)

Before meeting Keight, Hirst had already split from longtime partner Maia Norman in 2012. The couple have three children together. So, now he’s Daddy times 4 now, sugar or not.

#RIP: TRANS ICON, THE LADY CHABLIS

Lady Chablis who found stardom in the film adaptation of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil has died.

Chablis performed her cabaret at gay nightclubs in Columbia, S.C., and opened Savannnah’s Club One in 1988. Chablis figured prominently in John Berendt‘s best-selling non-fiction book of the same name. The book focused on the murder of a male prostitute, allegedly committed by Jim Williams, a Savannah socialite and antiques dealer. Berendt effectively captured the charms of Savannah, and included Chablis as a major character. When Clint Eastwoodadapted the film, Chablis insisted on playing herself — and she got her wish.

Starring Kevin Spacey as the mostly closeted Williams (hello!?) the film catapulted both Savannah and Chablis into fame. Crowds would flock to the historic streets of the city to check out sites from the film and hopefully catch a performance by Chablis.

Chablis continued her club performances term the film and wrote an autobiography. She appeared on The Real Housewives of Atlanta and used her fame for good, raising money for diabetes and LGBT causes. She remained beloved in Savannah, even though she lived in South Carolina.

Club One wrote on its Facebook page,

“Just as [Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil] shined the spotlight on Savannah, so too did Chablis shine the spotlight on the gay scene, and especially on Club One. She was Club One’s very first entertainer, officiating our grand opening in 1988, and paving the way for female impersonation in Savannah. No one, however, could outshine the Grand Empress herself.“

Can I get an amen up in here? Chablis was 59. Let’s have one last quick look.

Watch.

(via Out)

#FLASHBACK84: MADGE PERFORMS "BORDERLINE" –THEN & NOW

Madonna‘s worldwide Rebel Heart tour is over now. As Jimmy Fallon says in this clip from The Tonight Show, it grossed $190 million. Thirty-two years prior, a baby-faced Madge was already on her way to being on of the most successful recording artists in history. Here she is performing Borderline in 1984 and again in 2016.

Watch.

MASSIVE ATTACK'S FOUNDER DENIES IT: "RUMORS OF ME BEING BANKSY ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED"

Massive Attack performed a show in its home town of Bristol on Saturday, September 3 and commented on the rumors. Founder Robert “3D” Del Najasaid, 

“Rumors of me being Banksy [are] greatly exaggerated, we are all Banksy!“

What is also entirely plausible that if Banksy is NOT 3D –that the two ARE friends– that the street artist would have been back in Bristol for the band’s first home-town gig in 11 years.

However, investigative journalist, Craig Williams, has mapped out Massive Attack’s tour dates and destinations and cross-referenced them with the places where Banksy works have appeared. They pretty much line up. 

This sign appeared on the street outside a Massive Attack concert in their home-town of Bristol on Saturday night.

Reported by the Daily Telegraph, show Williams found out,

• In 1988, Massive Attack formed in Bristol; the first recorded Banksy artwork appeared there two years later. 

• April of 2003, a month after Massive Attack played in Melbourne, Banksy’s work appeared there

• On September 23 of 2004, shortly after the Banksy mural Madonna Con La Pistolaappeared on the side of a church in Naples, Del Naja attended a soccer match there.

• October of 2006, Banksy’s Barely Legal exhibition opened in LA, a week after the band played at the Hollywood Bowl. 

• In 2008, the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Banksy created 14 stencil-works across New Orleans. Del Naja co-wrote the soundtrack to the Katrina-focused documentary Trouble the Water that same year

• May 1, 2010, 6 Banksy murals showed up in San Francisco; Massive Attack performed there on April 25 and 27, as part of a world tour 

• May 7, 2010, the band performed in Toronto; a Banksy worked popped up there on May 14 

• In 2013, when Massive Attack undertook a residency from September 28 to October 4 at the Park Avenue Armory in New York, Banksy began a month-long New York residency of his own, installing a whole series of works throughout the city.

The evidence is far from conclusive but Del Naja does get PRETTY close to Banksy. He has a history of graffiti art as part of the collective The Wild Bunch, and is supposedly “friends” with the artist. He even appeared in the 2010 film that was directed by Banksy, Exit From the Gift Shop.

3D’s political leanings are also similar to Banksy’s. Although no movements for the band have coincided directly with the appearance of the nine artworks to have appeared on the Palestinian Wall, Massive Attack have been known to openly support and work with the HOPING Foundation (Hope and Optimism for Palestinians in the Next Generation), and have boycotted tour dates within Israel.

Wonder if we’ll ever know who Banksy really is? Anyway, you can check out Massive Attack’s latest video featuring Cate Blanchette.

(via Blouin ArtInfo)

#HAPPYLABORDAY: THERE'S WISDOM IN A 65 YEAR-OLD BOOK, "HOW TO AVOID WORK"

Career counselor William J. Reilly wrote How To Avoid Work in 1949 — a short guide to finding your purpose and doing what you love. Written at the beginning of the American corporate era and the golden age of the stay-at-home Mom, it not only encouraged people of all ages to pursue their passions over conventional, safe occupations, but it also spoke to both men and women with equal regard.

In it Reilly warns against the toxic “should”-culture we live in,

“Actually, there is only one way in this world to achieve true happiness, and that is to express yourself with all your skill and enthusiasm in a career that appeals to you more than any other. In such a career, you feel a sense of purpose, a sense of achievement. You feel you are making a contribution. It is not work.

To my mind, the world would be a much pleasanter and more civilized place to live in, if everyone resolved to pursue whatever is closest to his heart’s desire. We would be more creative and our productivity would be vastly increased.

Altogether too much emphasis, I think, is being placed on what we ought to do, rather than what we want to do.“

What WOULD you do if money were no object? Reilly suggests:

“No matter what your age or condition or experience, the sooner you find out what you really want to do and do it the better, for that’s the only way anyone can avoid work.

Try this approach. Suppose you were financially independent and were perfectly free to do anything you wanted, what would you do, if anything?

If your inclinations are at all definite, the answer to this simple question provides at least a general definition of the field which you would enjoy most.“

He also outlines a general division of labor for any field,

“In every business, art, trade or profession, there are four major jobs to be done:

Creative — inventing, discovering, or developing new ideas

Administrative — making plans and policies for the conduct and supervision of the entire business or project

Executive — directing the work of others in actually carrying out plans and policies in one or more departments or sections…“

You can read the full post at Brain Pickings and probably find the book in any used bookstore, the public library.

Australian Labor Day banner, 1851

(via Brain Pickings)

DID YOU KNOW BJORK IS A HUGE "DRAG RACE" FAN?

Yes, true story! In a recent interview with The Guardian, Björk revealed she’s a super-fan of RuPaul's Drag Race. (Did you catch Katya as the Icelandic wonder on All Stars 2's Snatch Game this week!? How could you not?) Björk said,

Katya on "RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 2" as Björk

“My assistant James Merry, who’s become my collaborator now, introduced me to it back in 2009 when we were in Costa Rica. I would watch it occasionally with him.”

Then recently I was looking for something to watch with my daughter, and over the last few months we we watched all eight series. It’s uplifting how [RuPaul] builds up the queens, he gives them tough love and they blossom throughout the series.

It’s really life-affirming—but on top of everything else it’s obviously hilarious. I know all the queens now by name —we quote it left, right and center.”

The exhibit Björk Digital is now on view at London’s Somerset House through October 23. Check out the full Guardian article for more on what inspires the inspiring, Björk.

Björk’s Stonemilker is a 360 degree virtual reality experience, taken from the album Vulnicura. Shot on location in iceland by award-winning director Andrew Huang it’s a 360 degree film that may not be available on your browser. 

Watch.

(via NewNowNext)

"OUR TIME AT FOXHOLLOW FARM" IS REAL-LIFE MASTERPIECE THEATER MATERIAL

My old friend, Vogue‘s Deputy Managing Editor, David Byars' new book is Our Time at Foxhollow Farm: A Hudson Valley Family Remembered. The 312-page tome mines America’s aristocracy —specifically the Dows family of Rhinebeck, New York, a bunch who knew how to live and might just have their own PBS Masterpiece Theater series one day. In 1903 Tracy Dows, the son of a successful grain merchant from Manhattan, married Alice Townsend Olin, whose Livingston forebears had settled in the Rhinebeck, New York, area in the late 1600s. Dows purchased and combined several existing farms to establish his estate next to Alice’s ancestral home. It was called Foxhollow Farm, a sprawling Colonial Revival country house that architect Harrie T. Lindeberg completed in 1910.

David Byars

Byars, as a frequent upstate visitor, is no stranger to images of fine living and high style, combed through the Dows collection of family photographs, many of which were taken by Tracy. Hundreds of these images were preserved by Hudson River Heritage, where Byars is a board member. It all took place 100 years ago and without the relatively new tech invention of photography, all the beauty interiors and gardens, along with fantastic details of fine living, might have been lost to time.

Whether marrying off a daughter, attending a country fair, taking art lessons (the Dowses’ muralist son, Olin, was big in the 1930s WPA program) or just strolling through the garden, it all looks like a LOT of fun. Famous names like Vincent Astor, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Thomas Wolfe, make cameos. Not all of the glamour takes place at Foxhollow, some high-society destinations like Santa Barbara, Monte Carlo, Venice and Ravello show up in vacation snaps. 

But taxes, marital strife and the Depression—all took their toll and the Dows family split apart and in 1930, Foxhollow Farm was turned into a girls’ school and eventually sold. Today it’s a substance-abuse treatment center. But a big thanks is owed to David Byars and Hudson River Heritage —plus participation of several Dows descendants —that this Gilded Age has opened it doors to a bye-gone glory once again.

You can get the book at Amazon for $40. An excellent housewarming if you are coming to visit me in upstate New York.