RobKirkpatrick.com

RobKirkpatrick.com

Posts Tagged ‘Sam Durant’

‘TWO ON ALTAMONT’: A Q&A ON ART, SOCIETY AND 1969

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) posted an interesting Q&A with multimedia artist Sam Durant and documentary filmmaker Sam Green, who discussed 1969 and their work inspired by the Altamont Free Concert. Curator Jenée Misraje mentions my book and asks about the cultural resonance of 1969:

http://blog.sfmoma.org/2009/12/altamont/

I appreciated Misraje’s observation that “Artists, curators and historians have been placing a greater amount of attention to this time in history [1969]” and Durant’s suggestion that “1969 haunts the U.S. more than 1968.”  I especially appreciated their discussion given Carlos Lozada’s recent piece in The Washington Post, in which he argues I had to ”outdo 1968″:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/11/AR2009121102590.html?hpid%3Dopinionsbox1

Perhaps for some people, the amazing slew of events from 1969 to which we still look back is not that big a deal. This Post writer seems to imply 1959 was the more momentous year, yet strangely I did not see many 50th anniversary celebrations this past year. 

The quote he cites from my Introduction is presented out of context, but I have a letter into the Post about this…

Greetings from Rob

Thanks for visiting my web site! Throughout 2009, I'll be turning back the clock by 40 years to revisit key events from that exciting year of 1969. Keep checking back for updates to my blog on 1969: The Year Everything Changed, as well as stories related to my new books on Bruce Springsteen and baseball star Cecil Travis.