work to live.

My new favorite place in Washington DC - The Museum of Natural History.  The best part was the Minerals and Gems exhibition!  The colors and formations of the natural minerals were just breathtaking.  Here are some pics.  I'll start with the focal point of the exhibition: The Hope Diamond, and then move on to the more interesting and beautiful minerals.

               

Click here to download:

The_Museum_of_Natural_History_.zip (6426 KB)

My favorite little botanical garden to visit while in Washington DC.  It is tucked away amongst the row of Smithsonian buildings.  It is intimate and always brings a surprise or two.  Here are a few photos of some unusual plants:

For more info on the garden:
http://www.gardens.si.edu/orticulture/gardens/Ripley/ripley1.html

     

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The_Mary_Livingston_Ripley_Gar.zip (2283 KB)

A beautiful afternoon at the Headlands.

   

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Marin_Headlands.zip (62 KB)

http://www.lehman.edu/vpadvance/artgallery/gallery/luis_camnitzer/index.htm

   

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Luis_Camnitzer.zip (18 KB)

IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, Charles Baudelaire said art criticism should be "passionate, partisan, and political." For the poet and critic, these three words were synonymous--"political" meant "partisan" and "partisan" meant "passionate"--and without them there would be no point to modern, secular art. In this sphere, in other words, the safe space of neutrality, "objectivity" and dispassionate judgment has no place. Take a stand and get behind it: So should art do...

 (excerpt from an essay by Carol Armstrong)

sculptures in felt (1969, 1970)

   

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Robert_Morris.zip (49 KB)

The Industrial Revolution has been a catalyst for many changes in modern society.  With the invention of the power loom in 1785, cloth was the first material to be industrialized on a massive scale. (Reuter)  In 1833 the sewing machine was invented.  Women’s roles and the status of cloth were irrevocably changed from this period on.  Women’s roles in the home transitioned to that of factory assembly lines.  Industrialization made the commodity of cloth readily available to the masses at an affordable price thus altering the way we value it forever.  As a reaction to the low and homogeneous quality of mass produced fabric and goods, the Arts and Crafts movement was founded in 1888 in England.  Their goal was to reform and raise the level of design and craftsmanship, and to promote the handmade.  However, the industrial revolution had already taken over; time was short and affordability more important.  The general public no longer wanted to pay for hand-made objects when they could choose from an array of affordable mass-produced goods.  Textiles became a material of utility and function.  However, the Arts and Crafts movement was instrumental in bringing craft into the conversation of Fine Art.

Ironed army surplus garments and blanket

After a couple of months of trying it out I quit facebook. Now Bill Gates and I have something in common besides our money.
 
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090725/ts_afp/indiaituspeoplegatesfacebook_20090725140234
 
I also felt that it was a waste of time and pretty inane. Technology is great if you don't squander it. I'm back to emailing and calling the few people that I can really call friends.

One of my favorite places to eat when I'm in LA is in Little Tokyo. After a satisfying meal we walked around and for the first time took notice of a statue of a seated gentleman, a memorial which was apparently erected in 2002. As we read the plaque and as I did more research when I got home, I realized the great historical significance of this unknown gentleman but wondered why we had never learned about or heard of him before?

The statue is of Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese Schindler as it were. In 1939 and 1940 Sugihara was the Japanese Consulate in Lithuania during the Soviet takeover and the growing Nazi movement. It is said that Sugihara, cutting through the governmental red tape and violating orders, hand wrote visas for Polish and Lithuania Jewish refugees so that they could escape and live in Japan, saving 6,000 to 10,000 jews from a doomed fate. He spent 18-20 hours a day writing visas that would normally take a month to accomplish. Upon being asked to resign in 1947 from the foreign office, Sugihara returned to Japan and took menial jobs, such as selling light bulbs door-to-door, to support his family. He lived an anonymous life and died on July 31, 1986 at the age of 86.
 
During an interview the year before he died, he was asked why he risked his career to save other people, he answered by quoting an old samurai saying, "Even a hunter cannot kill a bird which flies to him for refuge." In spite of the publicity given him in Israel and other nations, he remained virtually unknown in his home country. Only when a large Jewish delegation from around the world, including the Israeli ambassador to Japan, showed up at his funeral did his neighbors find out what he had done.

My Jewish friend, Zoe, symbolically accepting a visa from Chiune Sugihara.

During my trip to LA I visited the Hammer Gallery. It is inevitable that every time I go there I spend tons of time and money in their bookstore, which I consider one of the BEST museum bookstores in the world - and I've been to many. There I came across a book of artist Kehinde Wiley propped up right near the entrance. It was bold, direct, colorful and full of power - and that was only the cover. I thumbed through and saw beautiful full page images of paintings of baroque and renaissance patterned backgrounds with figures of young contemporary black men in street wear and defiant attitudes in classical aristocratic European poses. The following passage in the book intrigued me and I wrote it down in my sketchbook: "...by applying the visual vocabulary and conventions of glorification, wealth, prestige and history to subject matter drawn from the urban fabric." Returning home I decided to research his work more and discovered his website. WOW! is the only word I can use to describe not only his visual works but the content of his theory and philosophy and the eloquence in which he presents it. I could not do justice to his descriptions so I suggest you listen for yourself (http://www.kehindewiley.com/main.html - go to the media tab). I am in awe of his level of awareness, skill and courage. I look forward to seeing his paintings in person and following the development of his work in the future! Discovering Kehinde Wiley's work inspires me and gives me faith in art again.

Book cover

Two Heroic Sisters of the Grassland 2007

       

Click here to download:

Kehinde_Wiley.zip (533 KB)