Both he and Lala Rascic were included in the Spaces
exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center. The gallery and its
entrance, left, were definitely there when the show opened on February
25, but in a mere few weeks the gallery suddenly disappeared without a
trace as we see in the photo, below right, dated April 11th. At first no
one seemed to know what became of it, but some artists said 
it
was really only the entrance that had disappeared, walled off in a
mysterious plot perpetrated by either the devil or Quentin Tarantino
(whose locally shot film Django Unchained, is about the
disappearance of an immigrant dentist's wife). All told, the gallery
went missing for ten days. Witnesses say the first hint of these
remarkable events came about when a crew of spectral workers taking
suspicious measurements announced their intention to make the gallery
entrance vanish, and many artists 
responded
by preemptively making their work vanish from the show. Lala Rascic
managed to stage a “Flash Mob” protest ritual in the gallery before it
was sealed off, a performance she repeated at this Front expo. Adding to
the angst, some of the artists' families had made plans to visit New
Orleans to see the CAC show only to have it suddenly disappear from
view. By April 19th the gallery entrance had reappeared as mysteriously
as it vanished, and then the show itself reappeared, with noteworthy
omissions, by April 21, but the controversy continues. 
CAC
director Jay Weigel says it was all result of “misinformation,”
misunderstandings and having to rely on movie revenues to supplement
declining donations. But others argue that vanishing art shows are
likely to make funding for such programs vanish as well, and indeed, Bob
Snead, an Antenna Gallery artist and treasurer of the Press Street
non-profit literary and visual arts collective, says some St. Claude
galleries now qualify for foundation grants that have devilishly vanished from the
CAC's base of potential donors. It seems transparency is now all the
vogue, while vanishing acts are considered problematic. Whatever the
cause, these remarkable disappearances have been disquieting if not
disturbing. Was it the Rapture or Mayan prophesies? Were the bunny
men harbingers of doom or resurrection? Was it an omen that two of them
were spotted in the Spaces show when the doors were pried open again?
Perhaps only the devil or Quentin Tarantino knows for sure, but neither
would confirm or deny the rampant speculation. ~Bookhardt
responded
by preemptively making their work vanish from the show. Lala Rascic
managed to stage a “Flash Mob” protest ritual in the gallery before it
was sealed off, a performance she repeated at this Front expo. Adding to
the angst, some of the artists' families had made plans to visit New
Orleans to see the CAC show only to have it suddenly disappear from
view. By April 19th the gallery entrance had reappeared as mysteriously
as it vanished, and then the show itself reappeared, with noteworthy
omissions, by April 21, but the controversy continues. 
CAC
director Jay Weigel says it was all result of “misinformation,”
misunderstandings and having to rely on movie revenues to supplement
declining donations. But others argue that vanishing art shows are
likely to make funding for such programs vanish as well, and indeed, Bob
Snead, an Antenna Gallery artist and treasurer of the Press Street
non-profit literary and visual arts collective, says some St. Claude
galleries now qualify for foundation grants that have devilishly vanished from the
CAC's base of potential donors. It seems transparency is now all the
vogue, while vanishing acts are considered problematic. Whatever the
cause, these remarkable disappearances have been disquieting if not
disturbing. Was it the Rapture or Mayan prophesies? Were the bunny
men harbingers of doom or resurrection? Was it an omen that two of them
were spotted in the Spaces show when the doors were pried open again?
Perhaps only the devil or Quentin Tarantino knows for sure, but neither
would confirm or deny the rampant speculation. ~Bookhardt 
Alex Podesta and Lala Rascic: New Work
Saturdays and Sundays through May 6
The Front, 4100 St. Claude Ave., 920-3980; www.nolafront.org
