Monthly Archives: June 2017

Witnessing Ron Jude’s Nausea for the First Time

I just witnessed Ron Jude’s “Nausea” for the first time, beneath a wooden pavilion being hammered on by a cold Summer rain. I come across this image spread out like the ominous sky surrounding me. It strikes like thunder. A flooring image. An awe accumulates page by page. Pensive photographs brandished by a frenzied, but trusted authentic gaze. I notice odd-colored spiders crawling around my feet. Beige ones, nearly albino. Some black. Wonderfully befitting the book. Not a soul in the expansive park. I take a leak in the grass from the dry concrete. I return to the book. It takes nearly another 20 minutes to reach the last image. More awe, more “gawd damns”! Good art serves you like a meal you struggle not to devour in a few big bites, no breath in between, or a meal you savor and swoosh against the palate, putting the fork down, your head back. That’s the taste I had with my first dish of Nausea here. Dynamic photos and compositions, magnetic in their draw, courageous and brilliantly executed.

photobook, Nausea, Ron Jude, Mack Books, Michael Ast, book review, Sartre

Nausea (spread) © Ron Jude / Mack Books, 2017

photobook, Nausea, Ron Jude, Mack Books, Michael Ast, book review, Sartre

Nausea © Ron Jude / Mack Books, 2017

Trying to Find the Ocean at Urbanautica Institute, Italy

Trying to Find the Ocean, Michael Ast, Urbanautica Institute, photobook, self-publishing, black and white photography

Happy to have donated a copy of “Trying to Find the Ocean” to the recently inaugurated Urbanautica Institute, under the command of curator, editor and art director at large – Steve Bisson. U.I. has opened its doors in Asolo, Italy (just north of Venice), where Steve has transitioned his excellent art journal into a dedicated gallery, bookshop and library.

Check out Urbanautica HERE

Morning Coffee – Dirk Braeckman, Sisyphe

Morning Coffee . . . Dirk Braeckman’s “Sisyphe” (published by Xavier Barral, 2014, in conjunction with exhibition at Le Bal, Paris).

Braeckman is a fine means to which escape an exhausted headspace. Always.

Dirk Braeckman, Sisyphe, Xavier Barral, Le Bal, photobook