1968 | 2008
This is not the first time that Summer Olympics Games are embroiled in environmental and political controversies. In 1968, Mexico City, with its high altitude containing 30% less oxygen than at sea level, proved to be a controversial choice. The lack of air led to terrible results for some, while others were able to achieve world records. Forty years later Beijing is faced with massive air pollution as it completes the preparations for the Olympics. The world renowned Ethiopian runner Haile Gebrselassie has opted out of running in the marathon noting “the pollution in China” as a threat to his health. It remains to be seen how the environmental pollution in China will affect the athletes and the Games’ results.China is also plagued with its outrageous treatment of Tibet, resulting in massive protests around the world. Protest was also seen in Mexico City during the medal ceremonies when the two Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos “performed their Power to the People” salute. Peter Norman, the Australian silver medalist, wore an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge showing his support for Smith and Carlos.
Another athlete to cancel an Olympic Games participation was Bobby Fischer, one of the greatest chess players of all time, who passed away earlier this year. He had plans to play for the United States at the 1968 Chess Olympiad in Lugano, Switzerland and backed out when he saw the playing hall with its bad lighting.
As athletes were breaking records in 1968, artists were busy reshaping culture. Nancy Spero(Season 4) was working on her War Series (1966-70). Bruce Nauman (Season 1) produced his first video titled Pinch Neck. Romare Bearden, in addition to being involved in founding The Studio Museum in Harlem, also established Cinque Gallery with the help of Norman Lewis and Ernest Crichlow. Cinque provided support for younger minority artists.
1968 marked the passing of Marcel Duchamp and the coinage of “15 minutes of fame” when Andy Warhol stated “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” Frank Zappa released his first solo album Lumpy Gravy and performed King Kong with the Mothers of Invention at BBC Studio in London. Chou Wen-chung, who had studied with Edgard Varese, completed Nocturnal (1961-1968), an unfinished piece by Varese.
In his 1968 Nobel Lecture, Yasunari Kawabata explained, “The excitement of beauty calls forth strong fellow feelings, yearnings for companionship, and the word ‘comrade’ can be taken to mean ‘human being.’ The snow, the moon, the blossoms, words expressive of the seasons as they move one into another, include in the Japanese tradition the beauty of mountains and rivers and grasses and trees, of all the myriad manifestations of nature, of human feelings as well.”
How will 2008 be reminisced forty years from now? What will be the low and high points in our cultural and social achievements? Will 2008 be a critical year marking a pivotal change in the way we treat the environment and each other?
China Haze. Credit. Provided by the SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE
Artist iGoogle Museum
Two weeks ago, you might have noticed Jeff Koons’ giant metallic tulips decorating your Google homepage. The search engine giant invited international artists and innovators to create custom page layouts to introduce new iGoogle themes. Users can choose from Jeff Koons, Todd Oldham, Beasties, and more to decorate their iGoogle homepage for free, and the layouts change throughout the day. Apparently the geniuses at Google also launched iGoogle ArtCafes with exhibitions in Tokyo’s Roppongi Hills and blog. Virtual Japanese retailer zozo then launched an Artist iGoogle Museum. Rather than paying each artist, Google made donations to charity. My iGoogle homepage is currently set to ‘Shepard Fairey,’ who is having his first major museum show of early stencils, guerilla street art campaigns and new work at The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston in February 2009. Find out what really happens when great art mixes with the Google homepage.
Cai Guo-Qiang wins the Hiroshima Art Prize
The New York-based Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang, featured in Season 3 of Art in the Twenty-First Century, has been honored with the 7th Hiroshima Art Prize. The prize, awarded by the city of Hiroshima, celebrates contemporary artists whose works express ways to promote world peace. As part of the prize, apart from the $41,500 award (¥5 million), Cai Guo-Qiang will have a solo exhibition at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art in Fall 2008. Also in 2008, Cai Guo-Qiang will premiere two of his major projects to date: a mid-career retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York opening in early Spring, and his contribution to the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, that will reach an estimated 4 billion viewers worldwide.
In addition to Cai, two other Art21-featured artists have previously won the Hiroshima Art Prize: Krzysztof Wodiczko (1999), also from Season 3, as well as Nancy Spero (1996; in collaboration with her husband, Leon Golub), who is profiled in the upcoming fourth season of the series.
