Hasta La Ideas

Whether at the slap-happy climax of a local news broadcast, amidst a sea of chuckles on a morning show, or via the unceasing stream of “Oddly Enough” clickbait, it has been all but impossible to escape the story (and the cringeworthy evidence, pictured above) of the botched restoration of a 19th century fresco that was once the pride of the Sanctuary of Mercy Church near Zaragoza, Spain. The world pounced on the freshly disfigured Jesus Christ in “Ecce Homo,” once so skillfully rendered by Elias Garcia Martinez, after its fumbled “restoration” at the hands of a well-meaning parishioner. BBC Europe correspondent Christian Fraser compared the ruined portrait to “a crayon sketch of a very hairy monkey in an ill-fitting tunic,” and it wasn’t long before the swollen Christ emerged on Twitter (“Washed my head! Big mistake!” tweeted @FrescoJesus) and spawned a Tumblr: the Beast-Jesus Restoration Society. But leave it to Stephen Colbert to offer a fresh take on the story. In a recent segment, he turned the focus on the 80-year-old restorer, one Cecilia Gimenez, naming her his “Alpha Dog of the Week” (past honorees include JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater, Silvio Berlusconi, and Domino’s Pizza) in spectacular narrative fashion:

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In New York, one day you’re in and the next day you’re out. Then, many days later, you’re rediscovered by preservation-minded neighbors, photographed by Joel Sternfeld, saved from demolition, and reimagined by James Corner Field Operations with Diller Scofidio + Renfro. And, just like that, you’re back in again! The abandoned railway-turned-public park that is New York’s High Line becomes even more fashionable this week, thanks to a collaboration with Project Runway. With nine seasons, two networks, and one legal brouhaha under its shiny neon belt, the reality TV competition show returns on Thursday with 90-minute episodes filmed on location in New York (the opening challenge takes place in Times Square). Get a headstart on season ten by heading to the High Line, which is being temporarily transformed into a virtual runway: jumbo digital screens installed along a portion of the Chelsea Market passage will feature interactive digital images of Runway staples Heidi Klum, Tim Gunn, Michael Kors, and Nina Garcia, and fashion photographers, who according to Erika Harvey at Friends of the High Line, “will react in real time as park visitors strut their stuff while walking along the elevated park.” The “Make it Work Moments” installation opens this afternoon and runs through Thursday.
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Ai Weiwei’s “Study of Perspective – Tiananmen” (1995–2003). Photo courtesy of the artist.

Art21 is back with more Art in the Twenty-First Century. The sixth season of the TV series premieres tonight on PBS (check your local listings) with “Change,” an episode featuring documentary profiles of Catherine Opie, El Anatsui, and Ai Weiwei. The latter segment proved particularly challenging to complete, as Chinese authorites arrested Ai midway through filming. He was detained for 81 days (and charged with a $2 million tax bill), and Art21 arranged one of the first on-camera interviews with him after his release. In that conversation, which took place in his Beijing studio, Ai discussed his marble sculpture of a surveillance camera, which, he says is used to “secretly monitor people’s behavior.” “But once it’s marble” he continues, “it’s only being watched. It’s not functioning anymore.” Opie’s camera is always working, and tonight’s episode follows the photographer as she works on projects in Sandusky, Ohio (her childhood hometown) and her current home base of Los Angeles. Meanwhile, in Nigeria, Anatsui and his studio assistants transform old bottle caps into amazing sculptures. Here’s a video sneak peek at the season, which will also feature artists such as Marina Abramović, Glenn Ligon, and Sarah Sze.
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“I’ve worked very hard in a very short time to gain Michael and Felice’s trust,” a deadpan Jeff Lewis confides to the camera, less than 24 hours into his five-day, live-in makeover of the Steinbeck family’s Brentwood home. “Unfortunately, that trust gets questioned when water starts leaking out of the ceiling in the hall.” Bring on the busted pipes and twisted family dynamics, because the persnickety house flipper is back with a new show, Interior Therapy with Jeff Lewis, which premieres tonight at 9 p.m. on Bravo. The frantic project juggling of Flipping Out (now filming its sixth season) is here replaced with feverish yet focused efforts to identify and solve the problems of homeowners, whose cramped closets or shabby bathroom may be symptoms of deeper conflicts—whether turning a child’s bedroom into a posh closet is the best solution is up to the viewer to decide.

Each episode follows Lewis and trusty assistant Jenni Pulos as they move into someone else’s house and get down to business: finding flaws, discreetly rolling their eyes, chatting with adorable children, and calling in reserves (sassy-but-lovable housekeeper Zoila Chavez, a contractor and his ever-growing crew) to accomplish considerable feats of design within the allotted five days. “On Flipping Out, you don’t always get to see the finished products,” said Lewis on a recent press call. “With Interior Therapy, it’s a true before-and-after reveal, which I like, because I get to see the project all the way through, and then so do the viewers.” Tonight’s premiere episode involves a domineering wife, a wildly ambitious tiling scheme (marble, herringbone), and a shopping trip to the aptly named “Interior Illusions.” When a conflict-soothing headboard gets wedged in the stairwell, the only option is cringe-inducing: “Open the wall!” barks the contractor. And for all of his smirking asides, Lewis’s softer side does emerge—occasionally—on the new show. “These people had problems. It wasn’t just about the design, and I really became a champion for them. I really cared about them,” said Lewis, pausing for a beat. “Some of them, not all of them!”
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Perhaps it’s the proliferation of crystal-clear HD televisions, the ascendance of 2012 Colors of the Year Tangerine Tango (Pantone’s pick) and Terracotta Rose (the ruddier hue favored by AkzoNobel), or simply a sign of the coming apocalypse, but companies of all kinds are suddenly enamored with the same vibrant pitchman: Roy G. Biv. Fresh from the “full spectrum”-themed TED Conference, we can’t help but notice that it’s color, color, everywhere on TV commercials, whether they’re touting pricey accessories, cheap n’ cheerful throw pillows, or the newest services of a big-box retailer. In these three rainbow-rific spots, color gets downright aggressive: running amok as a boldly costumed Parkour troupe for Target (“Color Changes Everything”), as “Sans Cans” paint flowing freely in the streets for Lowe’s, and slapping unassuming headphone-wearers upside the head for Beats by Dr. Dre. The take-home message: resistance is futile, color is coming for you, probably in the form of a limber European gentleman dressed in head-to-toe cyan.
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