In 2005, the artist opened
lesser new york in her Williamsburg loft, which was a response to Greater New York (2005) but it was
lesser; it was a greater response to the
lesser limits of the art world that she saw reflected in PS1's concurrent survey; this
lesser exhibit / installation was organized under the auspices of a «fia backström production,» a
lesser production of curated ephemera such as press releases, invites, posters, and so
on culled from found materials and the work of a greater local network of friends and peers; the
lesser aesthetics of dejecta, pasted directly onto the walls, reflects a greater decorative pattern, not unlike Rorschach images of a
lesser art industry itself within a critique of a greater institutional
relationship to art production; as such, the
lesser display of curated ephemera (from nonartists and artists alike) not only comments
on the greater vortex of art and capital, but also serves as a
lesser gesture toward something like a memorial wall, not unlike a collection of posters
on the greater Berlin Wall, or a
lesser improvisational 9 - 11 wall, or, more recently, a greater Facebook wall, or the
lesser construction wall surrounding the Second Avenue gas explosion in the East Village, all pointing to a
lesser memorial for the greater commodified institution of art consumption; whereas in Backström's
lesser new york each move repels consumption by both the
lesser value of the pasted paper and its repetition, which dispels the greater value of precious originals; so the act of reinstalling
lesser new yorkten years later at Greater New York — the very institution that rejected her a decade earlier — speaks to the nefarious long arm of Capitalism that can morph into an owner of its own critique; so that
lesser new york is greater than its initial critique, greater than a work of institutional critique: it is a continuous institutional
relationship, a
lesser critique that keeps
on giving in its new contexts; the collective spirit of artists working together playfully is
lesser, whereas the critique of how artists can imagine working alongside the institution is greater, or vice versa; the
lesser gesture of a curated mixed - media installation in one's home with no clear identification and no commercial validity becomes untethered when it is greater, and this particular
lesser becomes greater in the Greater New York (2015) context; still, the instabilities of the organizing systems by Backström continue to put
pressure on both the defining features of art production in both the
lesser context and the decade - later greater one; further, the greater question of what constitutes an art as a
lesser art becomes a dizzying conundrum when the greater art institution frames the
lesser to be greater, when the
lesser is invested in its
lesser relationship to the greater.
Ever since large law firm salaries for new associates jumped to $ 160,000 back in January, we've heard commentary from a variety of constituencies, ranging from (see this post) law firm recruiters, warning that increased billables will place more
pressure on associates, to lawyers, arguing that increased salaries demand concommitant salary raises for the judiciary, to (see this post) law firm economists, suggesting that associate salaries are proportionately lower than ever when viewed in the context of their
relationship to profits per partner, to law firm marketers who view increased rates as opening opportunities for
less expensive, midsized firms.