Every once in a while I find a news bit that makes me feel that there may be some justice after all. This is particularly true in regard to the biological destiny (imperative?) that differentiates males and females. This piece, originally from the New York Times magazine, addresses how the perceived differences in prime breeding […]
Walking at Night Between the Two Deserts
Air Naturally it is night. Under the overturned lute with its One string I am going my way Which has a strange sound. This way the dust, that way the dust. I listen to both sides But I keep right on. I remember the leaves sitting in judgment And then winter. I remember the rain […]
The (un)Greening of our Brains
This is a very long article by Jon Gertner from the Sunday Times, but it is full of fascinating insights and worth the read if you have the time. I’ve included the first section but to continue reading, go to the Times site link at the bottom. Two days after Barack Obama was sworn in […]
Steve Reich Wins the Pulitzer Prize
This is such good news—composer Steve Reich won the Pulitzer Prize for his Double Sextet. Reich’s music has played such a significant role in my life. Back in 1976 I was living in Manhattan and I heard my first live performance of his legendary Music for 18 Musicians that year. It was unlike anything I […]
In Love with the One to Whom Every That Belongs
Open Window, Collioure, by Matisse What Was Told, That What was said to the rose that made it open was said to me here in my chest. What was told the cypress that made it strong and straight, what was whispered the jasmine so it is what it is, whatever made sugarcane sweet, whatever was […]
More on Ann Hamilton
Continuing from yesterday’s posting about the Guggenheim show, The Third Mind, here is Ann Hamilton discussing her installation, “human carriage” from an article by Scarlet Cheng in the Los Angeles Times: “You become aware of something through the culture and atmosphere you inhabit,” says Hamilton, who’s based in Ohio. “It’s an influence everywhere and nowhere […]
Misreadings, Mediations, Denials and Imaginary Projections
Ann Hamilton, human carriage What an extraordinary day spent in Manhattan at the Guggenheim and the Met. I’ll parse the joy one show at a time. “The Third Mind: American Artists Contemplate Asia: 1860-1989” is curator Alexandra Munroe’s brave revision of the influences that affected the complexity and richness of the American art tradition. Raised […]
Inwardness, Seamus Style
Seamus Heaney. He’s a legend, at home and abroad. The first time I traveled through Ireland 10 years ago, I was incredulous to find his books for sale at the grocery check out counter and at the petrol station. While we get People magazine shoved in our faces, the Irish get volumes of Heaney. But […]
The Ones Who Knew So Little
Seasonal Much melting, and crows close to home. Snow giving its fingerprints this March morning. If I could, I would take your arm in the manner of our European forebears, linked elbows, fist pressed close to the heart, singing songs to the springtime, singing old songs. It would be this much to give the world, […]
Pulitzer’s Ideal (Dis-)Placements
Sometimes a shout out is needed. Here’s a link to a show at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts website that came to my attention by way of Tyler Green’s excellent blog, Modern Art Notes: Ideal (Dis-)Placements Here’s what Green wrote: Small, independent museums can do things big museums can’t (or don’t). They can take […]