Betel nut girls

I saw these images of betel nut girls from Taiwan in the back gallery of Yancey Richardson and found out that they were done by Masato Seto. He was born in Udon Thani, Thailand (a place I've actually passed through), to a Vietnamese mother and Japanese father. Interesting. He grew up in Japan and studied with Daido Moriyama. Betel nut girls are a bit of a specialty and weird tourist attraction from Taiwan. They even have a wiki entry. These girls sit in a small booth, with lots of mirrors, glass and flashing neon lights. They sell their looks along with a box of betel nuts, a stimulant that many truckers chomp on. Anyhow Reagan Louie also did a series with betel nut girls . I thought about photographing them until my cousins told me about their ties with the mob and how my camera would be stolen and I would be damaged.





(images from Yancey Richardson)

The Lightship Frying Pan

Anna just told me about the Lightship Frying Pan, a decommissioned lightship docked in the Hudson River, next to Chelsea that has a restaurant. It sounded interesting and since I had planned a day of gallery hopping with friends, we decided to check it out when we finished our rounds. It was a great suggestion! We totally dug it and had a ton of fun. The food is on the pricey side but you can't go wrong with the hot dog that's under $3 (I unfortunately don't do hot dogs), the old bay garlic fries ($3.29 for a large portion), or the pizzas ($8.50-$11). The views are amazing and it's child friendly.

Neti Neti

The Secret Michael Buhler-Rose

Michael Buhler-Rose sent me some info about Neti Neti, a group show he's in at Bose Pacia.

"Coming from the Advaita Vedanta branch of Hindu philosophy, Neti-Neti means "not this, not this" or "neither this, nor that." Artistic practice today seems to comfortably inhabit many interstitial grey areas in terms of content, forms, materials, techniques and cultural identities. Artists are attracted to subjects and ideas from all over the world, with scant regard to provenance or pedigree. Life is, ideally, multi-layered and confounding, full of cross-referencing as well as overlapping concerns. Cultural indeterminacy has become a preferred language and attitude, the most appropriate response for both the inhabitants of cyber-space and the polyphonic community of creative travelers."

Neti Neti (Not This, Not This)
a group exhibition curated by Peter Nagy
July 8 - August 16, 2008
Bose Pacia
508 West 26th St, 11th FL
New York, NY 10001