A followup on the Jeff Koons LLC idiocy

As you might remember the bookstore and art gallery Park Life was sent a cease-and-desist letter by über-artist Jeff Koons LLC to stop them from selling bookends made to look like dogs made of blown-up twisted ballons.  Yeah, you know, what street clowns all over the world make every day and sell to parents with kids in tow.

So Park Life's attorney has filed a federal complaint against Mr. Koons LLC.  ArtInfo has a summary of the document and six of its funniest parts .  The complaint begins:

As virtually any clown can attest, no one owns the idea of making a balloon dog, and the shape created by twisting a balloon into a dog-like form is part of the public domain.

Emma Allen ad libs "I'd like to call to the stand the first expert witness. Dr. Bozo, will you please raise your right hand?"

I have to say, I can't imagine wanting a bookend that looks like this:

The link here

A new art collective gallery coming to Chapel Hill

Karen and I attended the public meeting at the Chapel Hill Town Hall for the proposed Franklin Street Art Collective. I was fairly impressed with the homework they had done and the balanced view they took. I haven't examined the business plan yet but they seem to be using conservative financial assumptions -- a good thing. Amazingly enough they hope to be open by November!

Details (including the presentation, business plan and artist application) can be found here on the Town website but here are a few details:

- 30-40 artists in the collective who put up $500 to start, $20 month and pay a 25% commission on sales. Members are expected to work 6-8 hours month and make a 2 year commitment.
- An undetermined number of consignment artists can show their work but will pay a 50% commission.
- Artists can apply for both membership and consignment at the same time.
- Both categories will be juried and none of the those judging are involved in the collective.
- The application says that you must live within a 25 mile radius of Chapel Hill but I do not believe that is a hard and fast rule.
- They continually harped on wanting to have the highest quality art.
- Michael Brader-Araje, the building's owner, is a hero!