I’m not making this up. I have to quote the whole article.

The Social Security Administration is refusing to recognize any marriage – straight or gay – performed in New Paltz, New York.

The tiny hamlet north of Manhattan burst onto the national scene in February when its mayor followed San Francisco in allowing gays to marry. New Paltz officials are now under a court imposed ban on conducting gay marriages, but the federal government is taking no chances.

A temporary directive from the Social Security Administration not to accept any marriage certificates issued in New Paltz as identification has now been made permanent.

The move came as a shock to one straight couple in the town. Susie Kilpatrick Wilkening recently married Jeremy Wilkening, but when she went to the Social Security office in Kingston, New York to get her surname changed to Wilkening she was told the federal government would not accept her marriage.

“I presented my marriage certificate, and I was told that it was not an acceptable form of ID because it was from New Paltz,” she told the Daily Freeman newspaper.

A spokesperson for the administration said that the policy began with the State of New York.

“The state has said that it does not consider (any marriage certificates issued in New Paltz) legal documents, so we are waiting until all of the legal issues on the state level are resolved,” Jane Zanca told the Freeman.

But, officials at the New York Department of State, which maintains all state records, also said they had nothing to do with the Social Security policy.

Last February when San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples Social Security instructed its offices nationwide not to accept any marriage certificates from San Francisco as proof of identification.

Bill Viola
The death of Tristan, from Tristan und Isolde
2004
Disney Hall, Los Angeles

artnet has a feature on The Tristan Project, based on Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde involving director Peter Sellars, Los Angeles Philharmonic’s musical director Esa Pekka Salonen and the new artistic director of the Paris Opera, Gerard Mortier.

There are some great stills of the video work on the web site.

For those wondering what my favorite recording of the work is, it’s this one, recorded “live” (see the explanation on the Amazon page) at the 1966 Bayreuth Festival with Karl Böhm conducting, Birgit Nilsson as Isolde, Wolfgang Windgassen as Tristan, and Christa Ludwig as Brangäne. It is dazzling. I would love to see a film of what it looked like. It was one of the revolutionary minimalist productions by Wieland Wagner, the composer’s grandson. If more people knew about his work, they wouldn’t be quite so ready to hail Robert Wilson as an innovative genius.

Orchestrally, this Bernstein recording is pretty fascinating too. I haven’t heard this Barenboim one, but it’s on its way in the mail and I’ll get to listen to it soon. We probably have at least 5 recordings of the opera already. I love it so much my web consulting company is called Tristan Media.

If you are an opera (and other classical music) fanatic like me, my favorite weblog for that subject is the DC-based ionarts. The site also covers a lot of other performing arts, plus visual arts, architecture, and interesting antiquities news.

[image from artnet]

The web site just says “Coming Soon,” but I have a flyer for the opening event.

Last night we went to one of our favorite art benefits, the DUMBO Arts Center winter auction. We did quite well. You can click on the artist names on that link to see smallish images. We got work by Dan Golden, Federico Solmi, and Matt Dojny. We met the first two at the event.

Via Wooster Collective, I learned that the Animal Magazine show at Chelsea Market was shut down. Apparently this image (by Chris Savido I believe):

was too controversial. Our friend Eric Doeringer was part of the show.

—

UPDATE:

I asked Eric what he knew about the show. It sounds as if Chelsea Market reserved the right to veto some works, and did so, before the show opened. Therefore it seems odd (or stupid) that they then decided to close the show after having had a veto over art works in the show.

Many of the pieces from the magazine are currently on display at the ANIMAL Gallery, 437 East 9th Street (btw. 1st & A). Their hours (theoretically Tues-Sun 1-7) are inconsistent, so call them at 212-460-8125 to make sure they are open before heading over.

I checked this book out of the library today. If you’ve seen our apartment, you can understand why I’m trying to read more library books and buy a few less.

The previous reader had left some things in the book: The MoMA Nov/Dec 2004 calendar, and a press release from the John Baldessari show at Marian Goodman,

The Baptism of Christ by Domenikos Theotokopoulos, the Cretan better known by his Spanish name, El Greco. Photo: Ian Waldie/Getty

I love this story! First, how it started, from The Guardian.

Domenikos Theotokopoulos may have left long ago but the people of Crete are forever trying to make up for his absence.

Today they hope to put right what they regard as a wrong when a hitherto unknown work by the artist, better known as El Greco, goes up for auction.

Buying the painting, entitled The Baptism of Christ, would help islanders reclaim a citizen too often identified with Spain.

“He is the most important person Crete has ever produced,” says Manolis Vassilakis, who is overseeing fundraising for the panel at Heraklion town hall. “It upsets us that _ so many think he is from Spain.”

The work, owned by a Spanish family since the 19th century and unexpectedly found in a brown enve lope last year, would be the second painting to return to El Greco’s native island.

The first, an oil and tempera on wood entitled View of Mount Sinai, was bought at auction 14 years ago.

The Baptism of Christ is believed to have been painted in Venice, shortly after El Greco left Crete in 1567. Christie’s describes it as a “scintillating example of the great artist’s work at this most exciting, formative moment of his career”.

For weeks, children, union members, businessmen and churchgoers have been raising funds for the work, with priests using sermons to call for people to help buy the painting. With banks also guaranteeing a loan, officials predict they will easily raise the £600,000 Christie’s expects at the auction

They succeeded in buying it at auction in London, for £789,250.

This is one of my favorite works of El Greco.

[image from The Guardian]

Article via contrasts.net.

San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Matt Gonzalez, who has thumbed his nose at the establishment before, let a graffiti artist spray paint his City Hall office walls with the bright orange message: “SMASH THE STATE.”

There is irony. There is art appreciation. There are raised eyebrows.

Gonzalez, who has hosted monthly art installations in his office by unknown and known artists for the last four years, offered up this graffiti for one of his last exhibits before he exits City Hall on Jan. 8. Gonzalez did not seek re-election.

…

The artist’s message in traffic-cone orange that appears behind Gonzalez’s desk was painted by Barry McGee, an internationally known San Francisco artist whose work first appeared anonymously in the 1980s on outdoor walls and tunnels.

McGee, whose City Hall wall work was unveiled last Friday, included some of his trademark cartoonish faces of sad sack characters, including a man with bulging eyes. A second element includes painted blocks of wood, arranged in a way that is reminiscent of parquet.

From Crain’s

Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Thursday announced the establishment of the Edward I. Koch scholarships at the City College of New York, the former mayor’s alma mater.

The announcement came during festivities at Gracie Mansion marking Mr. Koch’s 80th birthday.

According to college officials, a $100,000 gift will be used to establish five 4-year scholarships at City College. The college has yet to determine who will be eligible for the scholarships, although it is likely that they will be for undergraduates. The identity of the donor was not disclosed.

No word yet on whether the criteria include being a semi-closeted right-wing homosexual.

First it was cows, then apples, and now kangaroos.