limnrix: Pulse

Rumor is this is the best fair. It was probably worth ditching both works.

Bill Smith Magnetically stabilized, air driven, computer interfaced, chaotic emu egg pendulum, 2010. Water, vacuum formed poly carbonate, carbon graphite rod, aluminum, stainless steel, brass, wood, clay, one emu egg, pumps.
Another reason to love PPOW. They just seem to show good artists. Bill was there and very nice, very able to deal with my chaotic conversation.

Erik Thor Sandberg at Conner Contemporary.
I think what people mean about Pulse being good is that, to be cliche, it has a large proportion of art that speaks for itself.

Here's what I came for, at the invite of the superhumanly gregarious Charlie James, who runs a damn fine gallery in L.A.'s Chinatown.

William Powhida and Jade Townsend, ABMB Shantytown, 2010, 40x60 graphite on paper
Bill Powhida is art's snarky political cartoonist. He'll probably unseat and replace Koons (unless we're really post-Oedipal, and I don't think so). He's been working incredibly hard this year, and I don't know why he's not the only art anyone buys. More on this when I get to the weekend's dessert, #class - its strength is that it's such a relief from all the other stuff, especially the less thorough institutional critique.
Detail: "Have you seen all these grad students coming out of this giant fucking hole?"

Walter Robinson, Safe, 2009, mixed media

ALICIA ROSS. Motherboard_7 (Sacred_Profane), cross-stitch on cotton & pearled needles, 40 x 90 in, 2008
Thank you, Black and White gallery, for either reminding me or introducing me to one of those artists that makes me envious. My mission has already been fulfilled.

Shane Hope, atom_name_wildcard, 2009. These prints are made from images generated using ridiculously complicated 3-d visualization software that uses biological data. Shane Hope is a posthuman from the current future. I'd already seen his stuff because Winkleman is hosting dessert.