Does Barbie know about AIDS? Does she know her new friend Keith Haring died of complications from AIDS? These are the questions, some of many, I found myself considering when I discovered last week to both horror and amusement that Mattel produced, in collaboration with the Keith Haring Foundation, the Keith Haring X Barbie® who … Continue reading
Little Ladies: Victorian Fashion Dolls and the Feminine Ideal, on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art until March, is a curious show that seems to be trying to navigate between two opposing poles. On the one hand, Little Ladies is clearly meant to delight, drawing on the museum’s permanent collection to showcase the incredible … Continue reading
Aa…aaaa…AAAAA…CHOO! Whew! *blows nose* Why hello there, dearest Filthy Dreams readers! I don’t know about you but I’ve been honking and horking my way through this holiday weekend. Mary, I’m about ready to give it up and start living in a bubble full-time like a hamster or Wayne Coyne from The Flaming Lips. Maybe I’ll … Continue reading
You know I love dolls. That’s what John Waters snarled at Marion and me when we dragged our favored doll Carol Anne to meet her Uncle John at a book signing at Gagosian’s Upper East Side bookstore. Though I think of John’s demented doll declaration frequently, his words resonated especially deeply as soon as I … Continue reading
In her essay “Video Remains: Nostalgia, Technology and Queer Archive Activism,” Alexandra Juhasz discusses the importance of “queer archive activism” in preserving the lives of queer folks. Speaking in reference to her own documentary Video Remains, Juhasz explains, “It is not our suffering that is compelling but our willingness to name and record it, and in so doing, make communal and move into the present” (328). Continue reading
From his early witty birdhouse sculptures to his use of dirty stuffed animals and bargain bin remnants to his enormous installations such as “Extracurricular Activity Projective Reconstructions #2-32 (Day Is Done)” and “Kandors,” Mike Kelley’s overwhelming and engrossing retrospective currently at MoMA PS1 asserts the importance of Kelley’s transgressive and brave aesthetic. Continue reading