Aug 16th: A select crew of NY's dripping-in-black art and music elite slink to the dim lit sticky floored cellar of the rock and roll club, LIT LOUNGE, to check out Nick Zinner's new photo exhibit. Lit's the only place in NY where grunge hasn't died. Or at least if it died, you can still smell its decomposition on Lit’s floor. One of my friends passed out on the bench in the basement of Lit and awoke to find a rat walking on his face. It's as charming as nails stapled into black leather. But on the days you want to revel in a shit hole, this is the best rock shit hole there is. That said, the Fuse gallery in the back of Lit was perfect staging ground for the Yeah Yeah Yeah's guitarist extraordinaire, "It’s OK, Don’t Look at the Road."
Zinner, who studied photography in college, is into streamlined minimalist photography- with a bit of Dash Snow street grit. He highlights things unkept- the beauty in the unbeautiful and vice versa.
In this particular exhibit, he's got 100 or more photos of used beds from all over the world. Bangkok, LA's The Standard.... You can't match bed with place or date if you tried. Instead, it's a motley maze of used and consumed bedroom detris, highlighting the mundane trial of touring, a place with no name, a bed with no identity, save the constant reminder you ain't nowhere near home sweet home.
There's also bigger pictures of a guy showing off his lip tattooed with the word punk, woman's asses in short shorts. In explanation Zinner says:
"I have become more fascinated with the ambiguity of an image. If you remove the facts and the dates and are just left with the image, that image to me is strongest, when each viewer can attach their own meaning to it."
Check it for yourself if you happen to be rolling in the east village of NY. It helps they're also fairly reasonably priced- you can buy a pict of the bed for $25 and the bigger pieces for ~$500.
ohhhh and pssst...Vice Mag also has a cool clipping of work by Nick and his charming girlfriend Aliya Naumoff who's an uber-talented photog on her own right: http://www.viceland.com/int/v15n7/htdocs/way-out-west-146.php.
"It’s OK, Don’t Look at the Road" (Photographs by Nick Zinner)
August 16-September 13, 2008
Fuse Gallery
93 2nd Ave
(between 5th & 6th Sts, 2nd Ave stop on the F)
NYC, NY
My Trusted MOGs
sounds incredible and something right up my alley. Went to an art showing a few weeks back, ended up with a new painting for my house. I am sure one of those bed photos would look nice down in my work space
My Trusted MOGs
Sounds like my kind of photo gallery. No joke. I'm envious. :3
My Trusted MOGs
thanks NogginDew :)
My Trusted MOGs
I love photography. I like making weird photos via camera tricks and not on the computer. I do like doing it on the computer, but nothing is quite as invigorating than getting a cool effect to come across the actual negative and into your picture. It's one of those things I wish I had kept up on.
My Trusted MOGs
hmmmm i know i like the immediacy of digital but analog is so alluring as well!
My Trusted MOGs
So true... so true.