Ministry of Culture

10/17/2024

Merchant of Mischief John Safran is doing a reading this Sat at Gleebooks from his new book Squat: A Week Squatting at Kanye's Mansion. 😀 (Details in comments.)

06/23/2024

Sometimes I miss my old job. In 2000, I started a company in NYC called Ministry of Culture, or MoC, offering market research in the form of short documentaries. My pitch was that we helped companies understand trends in the culture at large and how they could remain relevant to what was happening in the world.

I'd learned a thing or two about segment production and doing voiceovers from my stint as a host on Edge of the Wedge back in the 80s, and to my surprise MoC took off. Over the next two decades my small but awesome team and I worked with brands ranging from Nike to Toyota, Google and Microsoft.

This little outtake was from an early project we shot around 2002 for American Express that set out to analyse the ways corporate sponsorship benefits a company's bottom line. At the time Amex was reassessing their role as founding sponsor of the TriBeca Film Festival and I'd like to think we helped them stay the course.

I'd met Malcolm at a gallery opening and he agreed to participate for $1000 cash. My original (OG!) videographer Yang Miller, who I still love dearly, shot & edited this snippet, in which you can see me conducting the interview in my tiny East Village living room / office at round 01:15.

Way back in 2004 we convinced Amex to let us include Malcolm McLaren, self-described creator of the S*x Pistols, in a project we did for them about "The Currency…

06/23/2024

Who remembers Franklins? I had no idea that many IGA stores are the ghosts of Franklins outlets. https://www.realcommercial.com.au/news/cheap-thrills-and-no-frills-what-happened-to-franklins-supermarkets?

Before ALDI and Costco became the kings of cheap-and-cheerful groceries, it was Franklins who ruled supreme over the discount supermarket landscape. As the country’s go-to destination for budget groceries, with its long aisles stacked to …

05/10/2024

03/19/2024

Help me research a project. 🙏
Agree/disagree &/or add to lists.

STILL COOL?
Ironic haircuts & facial hair
Prison tattoos
Vegan matcha drinks
Blue chore coats
Doc Martens

UNCOOL?
Tribal tattoos
Taylor Swift
Waxed moustaches
Tongue piercings
Limited edition sneakers

09/19/2023

Thanks to Blak Douglas & Midori Goto for joining me for last night’s Instagram Live tour of Hooray for Hollywood, which can be viewed here.

The show, which I curated with Mart Collective, is upstairs at the Hollywood Hotel unit 30 Sept. My solo show, Man Walks Into a Bar, follows from 5-15 Oct, culminating my artist residency at this wonderful pub.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CxXi4MshrJ-/?

12/31/2022

Prudent Boozers Nurse the Third!

01/31/2020

So dodgy.

Company ‘knew the danger of its mesh products but put profits ahead of the health of millions of women’, says California attorney general

11/27/2019

Ministry of Culture is hosting a 4-day pop-up art event in Darlinghurst Sydney starting Sat 7 Dec. Please join us that night from 6-8pm for the opening reception, with Ric Bolzan from BUGA UP doing the honors. Free wine & musk sticks! See work from the show at davidartwales.com

01/15/2019

Insightful.

Occasionally I read something which completely challenges a long held belief. Most recently it was BBH planner Mel Arrow's piece Forget Human Truth,