Paradise Lost, at the A.R.T. (Photo: A.R.T.) Watching the spectacle of a family coming unraveled has a long history. Greek dramas specialize in showing us the multi-generational demise of families, from the cursed House of Thebes in the Oedipus trilogy to the murderous implosion of the House of Atreus in “The Oresteia”. A particular strain […]
Chelsea Highlights
A few more highlights of Chelsea art viewing from New York City last week: At Sikkema Jenkins, Leonardo Drew’s exquisite wood constructs were spectacular: Photo courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins A few selected views: *** And at Ameringer | McEnery | Yohe Gallery, Oliver Arms paintings knocked me out. Here’s a florid (but satisfying) description from […]
Visual Acoustics: The Genius of Julius Shulman
Case Study house #22 by Pierre Koenig, photographed by Julius Shulman This is a late notice, but anyone in the Boston/Cambridge area with an interest in architecture, modernism, Los Angeles, photography, creativity and elegant filmmaking, you have until Thursday night to view the documentary Visual Acoustics at the Kendall Theater. In the way of background, […]
Destination Lust
Spotted Lake, Canada (Chris Boyle) Zlatni Rat, Croatia (Szabolcs Emich) Great Blue Hole, Belize (USGS) Travel adventure porn: Just dangle a few images of out of the way destinations and the fantasies begin. If you are a person who has similar proclivities, you might enjoy the Los Angeles Times’ slideshow, Bizarre and unusual destinations around […]
Up and Down: Auden
The second half of the Auden pairing (see yesterday’s post): Up There (for Anne Weiss) Men would never have come to need an attic. Keen collectors of glass or Roman coins build Special cabinets for them, date on, index Each new specimen: only women cling to Items out of their past they have no use […]
- Architecture
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Poetry and Space
One of the treasures I found on a recent visit to San Francisco’s famed art/architecture/design bookstore mecca, William Stout, is Jill Stoner’s Poems for Architects. The book was new to me, which isn’t surprising given it was published by the in house publishing division, William Stout Publishers.* Stoner is an architect who also studied poetry, […]
Entropy and the Super-Growth of Consciousness
A dear friend who is also a neighbor announced quite unexpectedly last night that he had decided to sell his beautiful new condo and move into a home built in the mid-1800s 20 miles away. “Be happy for me!” he pleaded, seeing the anticipated loss of his frequent visits painted plainly on my face. Of […]
El Anatsui
Installation views of El Anatsui at Jack Shainman Gallery It’s hard to not find El Anatsui’s work beguiling. The first piece I experienced was at the De Young Museum in San Francisco before El Anatsui’s break out into international fame at the last Venice Biennale. I was knocked out by the tactility of his tapestry […]
- Aesthetics
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One More Dance: The 2010 Whitney Biennial
Jeffrey Inaba’s installation warms the cold cement interior of the Whitney Museum lower level It is a ritual I have witnessed for over twenty years (and one I have participated in with variations in intensity): The Whitney Biennial Grouse. The cacophony of anger, outrage and “how could they?” that erupts around this show every two […]
Women and Wilderness
View of the wilderness in New Mexico from my friend Anne’s remote home Women Women have no wilderness in them, They are provident instead, Content in the tight hot cell of their hearts To eat dusty bread. They do not see cattle cropping red winter grass, They do not hear Snow water going down under […]