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Statues Of Critics.

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Statues Of Critics.

WHAT I DID Thanks for reading Chloe Pingeon’s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Monday, September 2 I’ve been freelancing this summer, going back to school for a degree in cultural criticism.

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WHAT I DID Thanks for reading Chloe Pingeon’s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Monday, September 2 I’ve been freelancing this summer, going back to school for a degree in cultural criticism. I’m hesitant to share any of this, I’m hesitant to share any purpose I have in mind for myself. I would like to tell people I spend my time lying listless in the sun. I tell a friend I’m getting my master’s in cultural criticism and he rolls his eyes. God, people like you need to be put out of your misery, he says. He’s a crude man, prone to social faux pas often intentional and sometimes not, and so I don’t take the thinly veiled death threat personally. I do balk in the face of the fact that I worry he might be right. I’ve been suspecting this for a while, actually. There’s a neurosis in my specific brand of ambition that turns it sordid when given too much thought. There’s a vulgarity in anything that too smugly equates fact and opinion. There’s a vulgarity in voyeurism. They don’t build statues of critics. Etc, etc, etc. I go to dinner late at The Knickerbocker . It’s my favorite restaurant, a better restaurant in winter, but my favorite nonetheless. Fall is in the air. You can really feel it here, where everything is dark wood and heavy steaks. I’m so sick of talking about the seasons. I woke up unhappy, but by evening everything is good. Tuesday, September 3 Evening, I’m at VERA’s panel on alternative art spaces at GONZO’S . Conor is moderating, and the alternative gallerists are talking about their alternative galleries. I’m familiar with most of the speakers, but there was only one seat left when I arrived, a bench in the corner and I probably shouldn’t have taken it but I did. From my corner, I can’t see the panel, but enjoy the anonymity afforded only to me. I can hear perfectly, but I have no idea who’s talking. The crux of the conversation centers around the morality and the logistics of these alternative spaces. Given my usual sensibilities, I am surprised that I am most interested in the economics of it all. A commercial gallery can be more interesting than a museum now, because a museum is beholden to its institutional backing. A commercial gallery is beholden only to the market, which has broader interests than a tastemaker on the board of the Guggenheim. An alternative gallery is beholden to… the artist, a different market, the same market but they’re a bit less beholden? A crime reporter turned Artnet reporter poses the question after the panel- besides a difference in commercial scale, how is an alternative gallery different from a blue chip gallery? He’s met with a slew of solid responses; different in the work they show, in the degree of risk taken on emerging artists, in the literal space they operate out of, which might be entirely unconducive to sales and profit. Afterwards, I try to smoke a cigarette on the Gonzo’s balcony and I’m asked to go outside. I go to a bar, I’m not drinking tonight, my friends go home and so do I. When I tell my boyfriend about the reporter’s question, he rolls his eyes. Alt is a word you use to make obscure things relevant, he says. If you’re alt till you die, then you just never really made it. In the case of the artist, I think his point is often true. For a gallery, though, the things on the edges are always changing. Technically, one could champion the periphery forever, although longevity matters less with these things. Technically, too, everything one touched could turn to gold. Wednesday, September 4 Every gallery on Henry Street is having an opening tonight. I get there on the late side but it’s still like a block party outside, like Time Again this summer, like these are all the tiniest galleries in the world so there’s a few people milling inside but mostly everyone is on the street. In terms of the work, I like the Laurie Simmons show by far the best, but that isn’t really the point. There’s probably something to be said here about alternative galleries and about how these openings are actually fun and about how the crowds from each space here are spilling into each other and overlapping, but I can’t think of a point that’s not painfully obvious. These openings are actually fun. That’s kind of the thesis. Thursday, September 5 I’m reading at Confessions on Sunday. I write myself some prompts: - I AM OVERFLOWING WITH GRATITUDE - I WOKE UP ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE BED - I am not precise with language - I used to love to lie - I would be extremely easily inducted into a cult based on the main indicative factors of vulnerability including agreeability and desire to belong None of them stick. I read a short story about SISTERS instead. WHAT YOU SHOULD DO Today, Tuesday, September 10 at 6pm — Elena Velez debuts her La Pucelle collection with her SS’25 Runway Show. Dirty Thirty After Party to follow at the Club Room at the SoHo Grand in celebration of the collection and Elena’s birthday. There will be a special performance by Doechii with sets from Chopstix and Orson . Thursday, September 12 from 8pm — WordsAtFlings is back at OldFlings . Hosted by Catie Fronczak, the evening features a huge lineup of readers, including Cassidy (reading the Cass Review of LA), Lucy , and Page Garcia . Party to follow. Also Thursday, September 12 from 7pm to 11pm — SillyGal Mag celebrates their final issue at Pretty Garden Club . Readings from Lucia Auerbach , George Brainard , Rebecca Kopelman , Renee Morales, and Emma Schwartz Friday, September 13 at 7pm at Colbo — Geoff Snack (of Wrong Answer ) hosts a Panel Discussion on The Business of Collecting. Other speakers include Kathleen Sorbara (of Chickees Vintage ), Eric Oglander (of tihngs ), and Jared Blake (of lichen ). I’ve noticed an increasing emphasis and interest on tastemaking lately. I’m curious to see how this discussion responds to the topic. Food by Russell Markus , wines by Zev Rovine Selections . Also Friday, September 13 from 7:30 - 9:30pm — Denmark opens at The Brooklyn Center for Theater Research. An eerie show to ring in Friday the Thirteenth. Written by Matthew Gasda , Directed by Tom Meglio , starring Sophia Englesberg . At Sovereign House on Friday, September 13 from 8pm — Sex Mag hosts their issue launch, featuring material from Ivy Wolk, Elena Velez, David Lucas, Honor Levy, Peter Vack, Betsey Brown, and more. Saturday, September 14 from 7-10pm — Joe Vanable hosts the inaugural show of his residency at Jaffa Brooklyn . The show will continue every Saturday. A lot to do on Sunday, September 15 …. At 1pm at McCarren Parkhouse — Sarah and Cali host a Midsommar Themed Birthday Picnic . BYOB, and wear white or earthy tones. Another (final) picnic at 3pm — Matthew Donovon hosts The Last Picnic , with a performance from Meg Spectre , misc literary reading regaling tails of the summer, and DJ eurodemonscum and Antiart . Dress code is “Regal Toga”. As a newly declared patron of Confessions , I’m particularly excited that the Sunday night reading and parties series will return for the second week in a row — from 7pm at KGB . Readings from Maxine Beiny , Christian Cail , Sammy Friedman , Chris Gabriel , Bijan Stephen , Beckett Rosset , Stephania Vazquez , Madison Brading, Cassidy Grady , and Annabel Boardman . This Confessions takes inspiration from the Citizen App , with stories that take notifications, and imagine what the hell happened. To mark your calendars: Beckett Rosset will be hosting the biggest TENSE yet on Saturday, September 27. The Fall will feature readings and performances from Anika Levy , August Lamm , Beckett Rosset , Kitty St Remy , Madeline Cash , Sophie Madeline Doss, Zack Graham , and Natasha Stagg , among others. OF FURTHER INTRIGUE a new section of this letter! to maybe (maybe not) be continued… Perennial is accepting submissions through October 15 for their first issue: Supporting Characters. This is a special new magazine run by very special people. Contributors are paid. Car Crash Collective is accepting submissions for The Car Crash Collective Anthology in collaboration with metalabel through October 1. The anthology will be “A collection of writing on the destructive and generative potential of the car crash”. I have my eye on Literary Sport ; a new activewear line inspired by poets coming September, 2024. There’s an increasing emphasis on the artistry of the body and the art of fitness in health and wellness branding recently. I honestly think this is a welcome departure from GymShark , QuestBars , GNC , etc… It’s long been an aesthetic wasteland for Girls Who Like Splenda. Literary Sport is particularly chic, but I’m also intrigued by David’s ; a new protein bar brand inspired by Michelangelo’s David that unabashedly promises to make their consumers beautiful. I’ve been seeing the FKA Twigs ‘The Body Is Art’ Campaign for OnRunning all over Manhattan as well. I might be working on a longer story about this trend, so send me thoughts – chloegpingeon@gmail.com Thanks for reading Chloe Pingeon’s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

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