Tosh Berman's Blog, page 115

Wallace Berman Installation at the Ferus Gallery, 1957

Contact sheet showing images of Wallace Berman's exhibition at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, 1957. The Getty Research Institute, Charles Brittin papers, 2005.M.11.13. © J. Paul Getty Trust. Photos by Charles Brittin

My dad, Wallace Berman, first and the very last gallery show he did while alive. This exhibition was shut down by the LAPD in 1057. -Tosh Berman

 

Wallace Berman: Invitation RSVP Card sent to Dennis Hopper (1963)

My dad, Wallace Berman, was sent an invitation by Dennis and Brooke Hopper to attend a cocktail party for Andy Warhol. He sent the card back to Dennis, but made it into an art piece. He wrote "Accepted: W.B." Throughout Wallace's life, he corresponded by sending cards, that were art pieces to various people. My dad never thought of it as "Mail Art," but more as a personal correspondence to an individual. Dennis held on to this card until he passed away. His estate sold the work, but where it is a bit of a mystery to me. -Tosh Berman
 

Wallace Berman (Untitled) 1965?

 A work by Wallace Berman, and made in what I think was in 1965.  Make note of the bolts on each corner of the piece.  When you see those bolts that means he made the frame as well.  It was later that he took his work to be professionally framed.  At this time, he liked making the frames, and often as a nine-year-old assistant I would help him in the studio by holding the work as he screwed in the bolt. -Tosh Berman.

"Word Book" by Ludwig Wittgenstein. Translated by Bettina Funcke. Critical Introduction by Désirée Weber. Art by Paul Chan. (Badlands)

 

ISBN: 9781943263240

"Word Book" by Ludwig Wittgenstein.  Translated by Bettina Funcke. Critical Introduction by Désirée Weber.  Art by Paul Chan. (Badlands)
I can't imagine myself as a child and having Ludwig Wittgenstein as my teacher.   Without a doubt, he would hate me.  Wittgenstein was a school teacher in rural communities in Austria between the years 1920 and 1926.  Concerning his biography, he was strict and stern with his young students.  It's reported that Wittgenstein hit one of the students, and they collapsed from the force of his slap or fist. That ended his career as a teacher, but he wrote a book before his unfortunate act of violence.  "Word Book" is a children's dictionary, and Wittgenstein, as a teacher, feels that students needed a book that they can easily go to for spelling corrections and to look up words.  The standard dictionary during those days was expensive or not focused on young student's needs.  
I can't think of more of a perfect philosopher to write such a book.  Wittgenstein's obsession with words and how language is used in the world is a long time concern.  What is the meaning of a word, and how is it used, with the additional thought of a thinking pattern behind the vocabulary.  Wittgenstein was sensitive to word usage in different dialects and communities. 
This beautiful book looks like a student's book from the 1920s.  This book is suitable for people who are studying German. In actuality, it's a replica of a book in a specific time and, more important, by the great Ludwig Wittgenstein.  Beyond his child-hitting approach to teaching, he must have been a great instructor to acknowledge a need that the students had for language that speaks for them.  Like my elementary school years, the teacher taught different subjects, and Wittgenstein taught them science, math, grammar, and writing.  "Word Book" is recommended to all Wittgenstein fans and anyone who loves language and understands the importance of the art and craft that is a dictionary. 

Wallace Berman "Untitled" (Lenny Bruce)

 

Copywright by Wallace Berman Estate

BOOK MUSIK - "Recombo DNA: The Story of DEVO" by Kevin C. Smith

 

Book Musik 033 – Recombo DNA-The Story of Devo or How the 60s Became the 80s by Kevin C. SmithPosted on November 1, 2020 by Book Musik

Tosh and Kimley discuss Recombo DNA-The Story of Devo or How the 60s Became the 80s by Kevin C. Smith. Smith takes a deep dive examining just what made Devo tick and twitch. From 1970 to 1979, he takes us through the background and influences of this Ohio band who experienced the Kent State shootings, discovered Dada, enjoyed manipulating the ideas of de-evolution, experimented with film and multimedia shows and ultimately became a band with top 40 appeal. They managed to find themselves in the company of the people best suited to further their cause from Toni Basil to Brian Eno to Neil Young. Talent and timing is everything.

Theme music: “Behind Our Efforts, Let There Be Found Our Efforts” by LG17

Wallace Berman

 

A work of art by my dad, Wallace Berman.  I think he did the piece sometime around 1965 or 1966.

Tribute to Sean Connery by Tosh Berman

 

It's strange to think about it, but I and my dad's bonding (no pun intended) was driving around Los Angeles and going to the cinema. I remember seeing "Dr. No" at the Chinese Theater either in the late morning or afternoon matinee. I must have been either 8 or 9 years old, and like millions of others, Sean Connery made an impression on me. To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the Bond films, but I love the title sequence, the action scene before the titles, and of course, the lens-eye of Connery walking up in front of the camera and shooting his gun toward the audience. After that, it's a blur of images of travel locations and girls. Still, no one can say "Bond.... James Bond" like Sean. His body language, clothes, the fetish of cars and weapons, and the fact that Bond/Connery can walk away from the 'adult' toys, and the most distinguished part of his body is his eyes and eyebrows. Roger Moore had the eyebrows thing as well. I was a fan of the Bond/Connery world's by-products, such as board games and toy guns. Sean and I share a birth date, and ever since I was aware of his birth date, I thought of him on my birthday as well. I will continue to think of him on my birthday until I pass on. -

Tosh Berman

"Peter and the Wolves" by Adele Bertei (Smog Viel)

 

ISBN: 9780578639437

This small gem of a book is superb.  Adele Bertei's memoir of her brief life with (now) legendary Cleveland musician Peter Laughner is a very heartfelt look at their friendship. Bertei, after this time, became a member of the original No Wave band The Contortions and worked with Tears for Fears as well as Whitney Houston.  Laughner was in the classic band Pere Ubu and a key figure in the music scene out of Cleveland, Ohio.  One of those present that is felt through the music and the intensity of those times.  Bertei, in this brief but powerful writing, captures the essence of discovering music, narcotics, and social drinking.  At the time, she was a fellow musician and a member of Peter's band, 'Peter and the Wolves.' There are no cliches, only the strong characterizations of Laughter and the introduction to the world of CBGB's - all captured by Bertei's stark but descriptive prose.  Ninety-three pages long and not a wasted word. Along with Patti Smith's "Just Kids," Richard Hell's "I Dreamed I Was A Very Clean Tramp," Chris Stamey's "A Spy in the House of Loud," Richard Lloyd's "Everything is Combustible." Duncan Hannah's "Twentieth-Century Boy, you can add "Peter and the Wolves" as another classic literature regarding the punk years.  

"Godlis Streets" Photographs by David Godlis with Foreword by Luc Sante & Afterword by Chris Stein (Reel Art Press)

ISBN: 9781909526730


There have been hand-painted landscapes for centuries, but what the 19th and 20th centuries brought us is street photography. Like a drawing or painting, photography can capture the psychology or emotion of people in the picture. The difference between the two mediums of paintings/drawings and photography is that one is considered real, and the other is a representation by an artist. It can take days or even years to complete an oil painting, but snapping a photo can take seconds. Perhaps in the darkroom, another process occurs, where the photographer can manipulate the images or the darkness/lightness of that photo. Still, the immediate recording of an activity or history documented is a significant aspect of still photography. It's a medium that is like making punk rock music. One can know three-cords to write a song, and it takes an instant to capture an image with one's camera. It takes talent for sounds or an eye to making that image or song into art. Photographer David Godlis spent a great deal of time in 1970s New York to take pictures of musicians and fans in such punk locations such as CBGB's. 
 The urgency to capture a music scene as it happens also is a close relative to street photography. One sets the viewer's mind to photograph a poetic or surreal activity as it happens. Do photos lie? Perhaps, but the photographer's essence is to capture time at its most beautiful, profound, or at the very least, for amusement purposes. Godlis is not a Weegee type of street photographer. He is not out there to capture crime and murder scenes for the tabloid press. Godlis sets out to find images that one is pleasing to the eye. It gives some weight or presence to everyday people reflecting their inspirations and practices in an urban landscape that happens to be Manhattan and Boston. 
 In many of the images in this book, people look directly into Godlis's camera as he quickly snaps a shot. They have no time to react to the picture taken, and in fact, some look like they make contact with their eyes, but maybe they're thinking about their day as well. Or they have to keep a necessary appointment. The viewer of this book can make their narratives of who these people are. Still, all of them have that hardcore essence of living in a large and cosmopolitan landscape. 
 The juxtaposition of what looks like a businessman going to work but carrying a Playboy magazine or the two young women are approaching or going by an entrance that says "Service Gate." In that photo, a can and bottle of an empty beer bring up all sorts of narrations in these pictures. The black and white images are sharp, crisp, and I can feel the weather that day due to the clothing and the photographs themselves' mood. These photos essence sticks to one's mind. An awe-inspiring book of images that captures urban life as it happened.