An Unsafe Nation
In Arts News was distressed to hear that two works by artist Charles Rosenberg, on display in a show at Nation, were ruined when KUBE interns taped posters right onto his delicate paper constructions. Evidently, "Do Not Touch the Art" signs were not sufficient to keep the Philistines at bay; thankfully, KUBE did the honorable thing and paid Rosenberg for the two pieces, which were damaged beyond repair when the tape was ripped off. (The remaining intact works are up until April 22.) We can't help but wonder if Nation-as-art-venue is somehow cursed: This is the very same spot last fall where Secret Service agents demanded that three assassination-themed paintings be removed when it was discovered that former President Clinton could see them on Nation's wall from his suite at the Westin [In Arts News, October 26, 2000]. EMILY HALL
Stolen Shit
Elliott Brown Gallery director Kate Elliott has announced that a recording of Marcel Duchamp reciting a French pun game was stolen from the S.M.S. Project exhibition ["Cliques & DingDongs," Emily Hall, April 12] some time last week. While this is not a show-stopping theft--the cassette wasn't an original recording, and is being replaced by a dealer back East--it's still worth noting that stealing art is a crappy thing to do, even when it's only a copy of something by a long-dead and very famous artist. (Although one suspects that Duchamp himself would have gotten a good laugh out of it.) EMILY HALL
Good Night, Sweet Pistil...
Capitol Hill fixture and indie favorite Pistil Books has closed its doors after seven years of idealism, devotion, and struggle. As we reported two months ago [In Arts News, Feb 22], Pistil owners Amy Candiotti and Sean Carlson decided to end their labor of love due to skimpy profits, a dramatic rent increase, and overall "retail burnout." Candiotti and Carlson plan to continue their bookselling business online, and will offer Pistil's entire stock at www.abebooks.com (choose the "stores" menu and type in "Pistil Books"); they will also continue their search- and special-order services. MIN LIAO
Minor Writing
Reading through the submissions to this year's Stranger/Rendezvous Reading Series Minor Writing Contest revealed the obsessions of under-21-year-old writers: There were stories about friendship, and runaways, and girlfriends who turn into solid gold. There was a treatise to the art of the end-zone dance. There was a feminist Adam and Eve. While the winner, Rachel Eggers, is published in this issue, congratulations are also in order for our runners-up: Allison Mitchell Wright (age 16), for her story "I Was So Completely Bummed!"; Anna Lawson (age 17) for her story, "That Girl Got Me Thinking"; Erica Nelson (age 19) for her story, "Do the Right Thing"; and Bart Mallon (age 21) for his story "Brown Eyes and Love and Noise." TRACI VOGEL
Seattle's Butt Censors
We've been following with raised eyebrows the predicament of artist Jan Stary, who ran into a bureaucratic tangle with Seattle's Best Coffee over a series of photographs he hung in their Broadway location. The series, entitled Broadway Blues, features good-looking men--some unclothed, some in blue jeans--Ã la Bruce Weber. Stary was shocked to learn that half his show had been taken down after only a few days of display. What happened? Stary told In Arts News that he had shown his portfolio to SBC's district manager, who had approved the style and content of the images, but not the specific works to be hung in the show. The Broadway store manager, however, got herself in a twist over those photos-- which depicted nude men with angelic attitudes-- and took it upon herself to take them down, along with another half-dozen more innocent images.
So here we are: Stary is crying censorship, and SBC is backing the offended store manager, despite the district manager's sympathetic position. Undoubtedly mistakes were made, but censorship? We're not sure that corporate bumbling and stupidity fall under the same rubric as book-burning and Jesse Helms. Let's save that word for its more terrible implications. To wit: Broadway Blues will hang at the more rear-end friendly Rosebud Cafe in May. EMILY HALL
