I came across this little diagram from Bill Burns and the Ownership Project. So true, so true.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Where the magic begins....
I came across this little diagram from Bill Burns and the Ownership Project. So true, so true.
The Highline and Anish Kapoor
I know it is after the fact but I never did finish showing you my pics of NYC. Right around the area where all of the big art galleries are located, there is an overhead walkway that used to be a railroad line and has been made into a long garden promenade. .http://www.thehighline.org/ It is an original and inspired idea and is soon to feature a large complex built for programs of the Whitney museum. The garden is maintained by a team of volunteers and houses a variety of plants and sculpture. A bonus is that there are lots and lots of major galleries down below.. but what is more interesting is the graffiti and art put up by the neighbors. Here are a few of my pictures of that day.
He has an exhibition now at the Mamac in Nice, but I don't' think it includes this work.
"Explore Anish Kapoor's visual art here: https://www.artsy.net/artist/anish-kapoor!)
Hey family is here
Like most people on the Cote d'Azur, summer is the time when you get holiday visitors especially those who want to come during the sun drenched season or as their work or school schedule permits.
So this week we were pleased to welcome my nephew, Christopher and niece, Emma here for four days only.... down from visiting Paris. They are really an engaging brother and sister act so we mostly sat around and swapped funny stories and listened to Monsieur, who pulled a lot of hilarious tales out of his deep bag of experiences. It helped that he also pulled some chilled bottles of rose out of the fridge.
But Emma and Christopher also had plenty of stories to tell us.... about Japan which is a country they have visited (and Emma has lived in) and their different academic and social lives in Oregon and Seattle. We don't get to see each other often but when we do it is always a good time and there is always singing involved if Christopher is around.... and anyway that is sort of a Puckett family tradition.
To show them my patch, we did do a day at the sea together at the local " Miami " plage , our nearest local private beach. They were offering a chaise and parasol and lunch for 22 euros and we thought that sounded just the thing with the limitation of our white, English skin. Of course, two hours of "transat" time turned out to be too short so next time I will do the whole morning at full price. And I will ask for the Caesar salad without the overdose of anchovies... but that is just a detail. We had a good Mediterranean idyll.
The next big event for our few days together was suggested by my friend Jeanne who let us know that there were still tickets available for the Juan Le Pins jazz festival and a concert with Bobby McFerrin and the Jazz Crusaders . As a bonus , she was going to drive us there where we could meet up with two other pals.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crusaders
The crusaders were great old time players with a "street cred" formed by years of platinum albums and by having played music together since early childhood into their 70's in some cases. They gave us the reassuring, authentic sounds of Louisiana jazz and soul: earthy and mellow original tunes from sure masters of the craft.
Bobby McFerrin has long been a favorite of mine since San Francisco where I saw an early concert. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_McFerrin
I have a video of him on this blog on his birthday March 11th. He has a range of vocal sounds that he offers instead of instrumentation...his voice easily swinging from bass to falsetto within seconds, adding to the thrill of his vocals.
A ten time grammy award winner, unique as the master of rhythms and songs in 15 different languages, ( Japanese, Sanskrit, and Zulu to name a few), Bobby McFerrin is an original who studies language development at scientific conferences as well as participating in his musical world tours. His most impressive language is simply his sound repertoire from clicks to glissades.
This week at Juan Les Pins he matched his voice to the jazz sounds of the instruments around him, often riffing off another player in a intimate duet..... vocal scats and instruments together.
Since McFerrin's range of offerings is so vast, from classical music sounds ( not singing) to pop tunes ( not singing either), I was a bit disappointed that he just did "the jazz thing" and didn't take the limelight really, giving equal time to the Jazz Crusaders who had already been the opening act. But he did offer us a participation exercise that the crowd loved and invited select adherents to riff a little too in the famous jazz "scat" style which was a definite crowd pleaser.
It was one of his low key performances, most of it performed while seated, but he got a much deserved ovation at the end.
There is only one Bobby McFerrin as there is just one Juan les Pins: a town full of restaurants bars and colorful boutiques which comes alive only in the summer months and stays sleepy the rest of the year. It is the perfect setting for good music looking out over a tranquil sea.
So this week we were pleased to welcome my nephew, Christopher and niece, Emma here for four days only.... down from visiting Paris. They are really an engaging brother and sister act so we mostly sat around and swapped funny stories and listened to Monsieur, who pulled a lot of hilarious tales out of his deep bag of experiences. It helped that he also pulled some chilled bottles of rose out of the fridge.
But Emma and Christopher also had plenty of stories to tell us.... about Japan which is a country they have visited (and Emma has lived in) and their different academic and social lives in Oregon and Seattle. We don't get to see each other often but when we do it is always a good time and there is always singing involved if Christopher is around.... and anyway that is sort of a Puckett family tradition.
To show them my patch, we did do a day at the sea together at the local " Miami " plage , our nearest local private beach. They were offering a chaise and parasol and lunch for 22 euros and we thought that sounded just the thing with the limitation of our white, English skin. Of course, two hours of "transat" time turned out to be too short so next time I will do the whole morning at full price. And I will ask for the Caesar salad without the overdose of anchovies... but that is just a detail. We had a good Mediterranean idyll.
The next big event for our few days together was suggested by my friend Jeanne who let us know that there were still tickets available for the Juan Le Pins jazz festival and a concert with Bobby McFerrin and the Jazz Crusaders . As a bonus , she was going to drive us there where we could meet up with two other pals.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crusaders
The crusaders were great old time players with a "street cred" formed by years of platinum albums and by having played music together since early childhood into their 70's in some cases. They gave us the reassuring, authentic sounds of Louisiana jazz and soul: earthy and mellow original tunes from sure masters of the craft.
Bobby McFerrin has long been a favorite of mine since San Francisco where I saw an early concert. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_McFerrin
I have a video of him on this blog on his birthday March 11th. He has a range of vocal sounds that he offers instead of instrumentation...his voice easily swinging from bass to falsetto within seconds, adding to the thrill of his vocals.
A ten time grammy award winner, unique as the master of rhythms and songs in 15 different languages, ( Japanese, Sanskrit, and Zulu to name a few), Bobby McFerrin is an original who studies language development at scientific conferences as well as participating in his musical world tours. His most impressive language is simply his sound repertoire from clicks to glissades.
This week at Juan Les Pins he matched his voice to the jazz sounds of the instruments around him, often riffing off another player in a intimate duet..... vocal scats and instruments together.
Since McFerrin's range of offerings is so vast, from classical music sounds ( not singing) to pop tunes ( not singing either), I was a bit disappointed that he just did "the jazz thing" and didn't take the limelight really, giving equal time to the Jazz Crusaders who had already been the opening act. But he did offer us a participation exercise that the crowd loved and invited select adherents to riff a little too in the famous jazz "scat" style which was a definite crowd pleaser.
It was one of his low key performances, most of it performed while seated, but he got a much deserved ovation at the end.
There is only one Bobby McFerrin as there is just one Juan les Pins: a town full of restaurants bars and colorful boutiques which comes alive only in the summer months and stays sleepy the rest of the year. It is the perfect setting for good music looking out over a tranquil sea.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Good Calories, Bad CAlories
So , I am not a skinny girl yet, nor have I tons of excess energy but I am feeling pretty good..... and better about myself since starting the Paleo lifestyle a month ago.
I have also lost centimeters and at least 5 pounds. It is still early days so I am not going to crow about this. My present regime is such a departure from SAD ( the Standard American Diet), that I am not at all sure I can sustain it. Any day out with friends is still a challenge.
I refused to start the new regime in NYC because I needed my friend Karen to point me to either a great doughnut or cupcake while I was stateside. She knew of several top places to choose from and I finally got my wish on the last day and absolutely crooned over a white cake , white frosting, coconut topped cupcake we both ordered after lunch in a great deli, The Gourmet on the upper EAst side. It wasn't the award winning ones she had in mind but it was good.
One of the days in New York, I also insisted on having a big dip of frozen yoghurt with fresh raspberries and fresh blueberries and a chocolate dipped soft- ice cream cone from a truck.
You can never go back....they always say and yes, The Foster's Freeze of my childhood days was probably just as flawed but I didn't realize it. It wasn't the ice cream that didn't measure up but the rubber -chocolate topping. After the authentic, 70% dark chocolate I eat every day in Nice, it tasted more like wax than chocolate.... but hey...... how else is it going to stick on an ice cream pyramid?
However, watching Dave put away all of those bacon and eggs, and chowing down on a grass-fed burger with all the trimmings in a lettuce wrap, I begin to crave fat and meat again....something I have avoided for years. So I decided to read up on his lifestyle choice when I got back to France.
The first book I read was GOOD CALORIES, BAD CALORIES: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom of Diet , Weight Control , and Disease by Gary Taubes ( I downloaded it in seconds onto my Kindle which is a great device for an overseas English- language reader. ) http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Challenging-Conventional/dp/1400040787
Although I really just skimmed this book ( I couldn't wait to get to the bacon) , I got what I needed from it. It is not a diet book nor is it advocating a specific diet. There are no meal plans or recipes here.
It is really about how the political wheels turned in America to promote, without evidence, the low- fat diet which has led to the obesity epidemic in America. Any of you who have followed this low- fat regime .... (with it's spin-off of industrial food products including frozen yoghurt), know that it has failed you and everybody else who has tried it. Which of you feel that you have lost weight and kept it off following a low-fat diet? I don't know of anybody who has.
And don't kid yourself about French Women not getting fat! Just look around you in Nice and you will see that many French children are now following in the "fat kid" footsteps (although this may not be specifically from Fat phobia but more likely from the growth of industrial foods).
AS I said, Gary TAube's book is not a diet book. It is a scientific research document of conscientious journalism that tells what went wrong in our country to allow our perceptions to be distorted about what is healthy for the human body. AND THE REPERCUSSIONS of this faulty information STILL REVERBERATE throughout the western world.
The real tragedy seems to be that the authorities who authorized these dietary guidelines have never fessed up and come forward to correct the misconceptions. So that many "educated" people in the USA would demur if you told them they could eat the drippings or the chicken fat of their roast chicken, for example, without directly adding to more kilos of body flesh.
Well one thing I have been doing this month is eating avocado, bacon, sausage, cream, butter, meat, chicken skin, drippings, plenty of eggs. and smoked Mackerel , the fattiest of fish. Also I have chocolate and a three or four glasses of wine a week. Despite all of this, I have lost weight. Of course I eat lots of vegetables too, This is not Atkins all over again.
Maybe I will get tired of being so picky and go back to bread and grains and sugar. After all, they are addictive and they are deep-rooted in our culture. Our culture in fact is based on "the bread of life".
It is not easy to give up what you had all of your life or had as a child. And maybe, I will become a social outcast eating like this. Hmmm... Could happen. .. Easily it could. This new way is not user- friendly for eating with others .
And never to have another white coconut cupcake or soft ice cream doesn't bear contemplating. Only time will tell if I can stick it or will even want to. But for the moment..... Bring on the GREASE.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
What the Foehn!
| Oil on paper by Mary Payne foehn also föhn (fn, fn) |
A warm, dry, and often strong wind coming off the lee slopes of a mountain range, especially off the northern slopes of the Alps. A foehn is a katabatic wind that warms as it descends because it has dropped its moisture before crossing the mountain range and is put under greater atmospheric pressure as it moves downward. Various local names are also used for foehns (such as chinook in the Rocky Mountain regions), Meltemia in Greece, A foehn can cause sudden and dramatic increases in the temperaturefrom 10° to 20°C (50° to 68°F) in a few minuteswhich can cause snow to melt rapidly and even trigger flooding.
My friend Bruce B. sent me the above definition today and it seems to sum up not only the hot wind that sucked every morsel of moisture from the garden, toppling pots and moving the terrace furniture from A to B ....... but also my winter and spring before my trip to NYC and I don't mean the weather but my mood. These last months of beautiful spring weather found me even more lethargic than I had been before in the winter. Since I had felt this way for a while I had my blood tests done and my MD gave me the thumbs up on their results. But still I was lazy and unenthusiastic. So what to do?
I have to say that I eat a pretty healthy diet. I don't touch junk food but love desserts, and bread and fruit. For years I haven't eaten much butter or fat because we all KNOW THAT IS DEADLY. I drank skim milk which is a non- food and pretty disgusting as it is pasteurized and homogenized and little resembles the original product. I ate toast and butter and jam for breakfast on most days and was pretty addicted to Splenda as a sweetener. I went so far as to have friends bring it to me from the States as we can't buy it here anymore.
Being married to a former wine merchant, I drank at least a glass a day maybe more depending on if I am out with friends or just enjoying it with K here at home. I ate some squares of dark chocolate almost every day. And since Monsieur loves pasta and risotto I have been eating that at least twice a week this last year. I ate free range chicken and good quality meat when I ate it, not often. ON this diet, I have gained ten pounds in the last five years and that is not funny. A girl my size can go up a dress size with five extra pounds and then you have to buy new stuff. I felt like a girl in a painting I own but at least the extra flesh looks sexy on her.
Tamara Lempika copy by Mary Payne
A well kept secret is that when I was in college I was first a nutrition major. I started that with three years of chemistry and two years of microbiology before I dropped out of the program. I dropped out because my "nutrition" teacher was still using white flour ,white sugar and Crisco to cook with and I considered that old fashioned and outrageously unhealthy for an "expert".
I was a girl who was brought up using whole wheat flour, margarine ( yes we all were duped) and honey as a sweetener. We even kept our own bees for a while when I was around 8 years old. We were Adele DAvis adherents before she died at 70 of cancer. Somehow I thought she would live past 100 and my beliefs were challenged when she died "young" and I dropped some of my strict behavior about food. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelle_Davis
But always in my mind is the idea that we owe it to ourselves and whatever gods there be to try to look after our bodies as much as we can.
This JUne, after seeing my brother in NYC, who looked great and had lost 15 pounds without even trying, I decided to take a further look at nutrition and health and see what new information was out there. And specifically to take a look at what Dave was doing around diet.
It turns out:
DAve wasn't eating WHEAT, GRAIN, MILK, BEANS, POTATOES, CORN, SUGAR OR MUCH FRUIT.
He was eating LOTS OF BACON, EGGS, grass fed MEAT, SALAD, VEGETABLES, SAUSAGE, FISH, CHICKEN, CREAM, BERRIES, BUTTER , NUTS and occasional fruits.
It seems he is trying to eat more or less like a PALEOLITHIC MAN. And so his regime is called the Paleo lifestyle. He had been on it for 5 months when I saw him and he had no body fat and he was as lively as a gerbil and very enthusiastic about his diet.
I have been trying this new way of eating for a month now with some exercise. I will let you know in the next posts what it is about and what I think up to now. Yes, the Foehn is blowing through my life and lets hope it clears some of the cobwebs out of my brain and dries up a few of these fat cells. If so , it would be welcome .
|
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Garden notes
I got back from Manhattan and got plugged into garden life here..... The plants grow a foot in a week and I have been busy cutting back in the early morning before the sun gets strong. The mornings are magical around here and I linger over my coffee on the terrace before I do a thing.
I pruned two of my three bay trees ( sauces lauriers) as I don't want the trees to get out of control in height and girth. Once that happens I will have to call in a proper tree trimmer with an electric saw. I can keep my twenty trees in proportion for my small patch of ground just with a hand held cutter and a ladder. But truth be told, I have already lost the game with my two cherry trees, the self seeded "fausse poivre" (pepper tree) and the ornamental plum.
We always get the tree guy, Pierre Mattera, to come out for the two olive trees on the cliff. I am not going to risk life and my "limbs" without a harness and the proper tools and neither will I let Monsieur, mon mari.
The coal tits ( mensonges) fledged last week while we were watching the nesting box. It all happens in a very few minutes, so it would have been easy to miss it. There seemed to be 5 tiny ones although their clutches are usually a lot bigger than that. They seem expert flyers from the moment they pop of the nest...such an amazing thing....no chance to "mess up" in their world or you'll be cat or hawk lunch.
Speaking of cats, there are at least 4 who come through our property on a regular basis. Monsieur with his innocent animal names has called one Earl after Earl Grey for obvious reasons. We ended up calling the little orange one Mozzi after a Maltese lawyer that K has met. Its just easier to say and seems to have "taken".
Mozzi and Earl Grey
Maddie has real authority and if you were to hear her loud exclamations, you too would stand up and take notice. Most mornings, Mozzi and Grey have wrestling matches in the yard. But in the hot sun all the cats disappear and are probably lying in a cool spot under a bush somewhere.
Last week also was the tiny drama of the blackbird who wouldn't stay hidden in the weeds in the field across from us. Monsieur rescued him and returned him to the care of the parent birds 4 times last week when he wandered out into a street full of cats.
The parents put up quite a racket when danger is near so its easy to know what is going on. ... but yesterday the Magpies got a hold of the baby..... evil creatures those. They torment the babies for no reason that I can see, pecking out their eyes, dropping them in the street and then eating at their heads.
If there is a distasteful bird, its this one... and yes, I will anthropomorphize all I want, if you please. Black and white menaces they are to all.... loud and aggressive. All the other birds do their best to chase the Magpies but they are top of the pecking order around here.... as huge as crows, very intelligent and wily. Only the collared doves really have any ability to agitate them a little.
Today we have a serenade from a cicada, the first time in our lower garden since staying here in Nice. It is a loud insistent sound with amplification beyond imagining.
This one is just outside in the red leafed, ornamental, plum tree. Poor chap has so little time to find a mate that he is sawing away with a fervor that I hope lands him a real babe...whatever that means in their world.
Cicadas have such a "raw deal" otherwise....some species staying in the ground for 17 YEARS before they have a chance to emerge into their short life of mating. I believe the species in FRance is grubbing around underground from 2-5 years. There are plenty of "cigales" around the Riviera and so they have become a folkloric symbol for the Mediterranean area. You see their replicas in every souvenir shop and their images on tablecloths or as a fabric design for various household items.
I have not done the beach yet. I am lying low.... trying to do my errands in the morning before I lose my nerve to go out there. And after a lazy lunch, its the time of year where the locals embrace the siesta....an idea which I am endorsing wholeheartedly.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
The Metropolitan and me
I was in the Metropolitan Museum of ARt two days in a row while in NYC last week. My brother Dave and I went on Tuesday and then my friend Karen and I went to see a separate exhibition of clothes and fashion the following morning. I am so grateful that the Met has a policy that you pay as you wish. Otherwise one would try to take in too much at a time and get museum burn- out.
I really love the ambiance of this great old institution, the MET. Did you ever take a gander at the towering displays of real flowers in the lobby . They are exquisitely done and take a discreet back- seat to the hustle around them. I have always loved a run through the book store as well to look for monographs of artists (though I have never actually bought any). It's just nice to know that the book is there in case your house is feeling large enough to accept one more art book. Not.
(Did I just use that stupid usage?) Sorry. It crept up on me.
The MET is also acoustically favorable to many other spaces. There are indeed the herds of school children tromping through it. But depending on the teacher and her disciplinary skills controlling todays over-sugared little beasts, the school groups are more or less respectful of the place. I do maintain though that we would all be better served if the museum let school tours in one morning a week or limit the number of class groups that are being admitted at one time. I like kids, but I was also a teacher and you need to put some consequences for bad behavior in front of any child or you can't expect your wishes to come true. In some cases, its the teachers who don't know what respectful behavior is.
Nevertheless, the space accommodates so many people and there are so many areas to be seen that Dave and I often found a hush- hush space like the wonderful engravings by Albrecht Durer and those of his period, that were being featured.
We covered all of the paintings on Tuesday from Impressionism to Modernism and again I was more impressed with the Met contemporary art selection than I was that of MOMa. Here are a few favorites that I camera grabbed.
I have a great fondness for Bonnard and I had never come across this one.
But this Bonnard is really amusingly wonderful and in the same league with his famous spindly cat. There is so much character in the children. ...unformed lumps that they are. Bonnard as I have said before, so beautifully marries cool and warm colors. Can you say which is predominant? I would say warm colors . But look at all of the cool blue in it.
I spent the morning spraying my cypresses as they are "malade" from a common summer fungus. Now the two tall ones looks just like this with all of its arms askew. Van Gogh could just get inside his subject and take it to a higher level. He helps us to really see a thing.
I am pretty sure this is a Kandinsky and it has some effective illegible qualities. You can look at it forever and find new stuff to contemplate or interpret.
Do you know who painted this one? It just popped out at me so I snapped it. It is by the Russian born Sonia Delaunay who was married to Robert Delaunay, another artist. She did this in 1959. I think that both husband and wife worked with geometric forms and colors...... its like painting a jig -saw puzzle with the possibility of endless permutations. If you like working with color, as I do, that idea appeals.
I don't think you will guess who did this one.........until you see the painting that follows.
Yes, they had several Georgia O'Keeffe's on display but none of my favorites. However this one is very powerful.
I know this painting from a postcard that someone sent me, that I have had for years . I never knew who painted it until now. It is by the American artist, Charles Demuth 1883-1935 and it is called" I saw the figure 5 in Gold. Oil on composition board. 1928.
Arguably two of the best Hopper's were on display at the Met the day we were there. I never realized that Hopper effectively divided this painting in thirds by letting that lighthouse go off the page. These little things determine "just good" or "remarkable" to my mind.
This painting by Edward Hopper looks even more stunning framed. The frame somehow gives it another geometric dimension, doesn't it? And look at the nuance of the building color...all those whites, yellows and greys. Glorious.
AS you can see in the "close -up" it is made from thousands of liquor bottle tops, and aluminum caps, seals, and copper wire. Anatsui's work is anchored in the traditional Kente cloth of Ghana, Western art (mosaic, tapestry, chain mail armor ) and contemporary life ( alcohol consumption and consumerism) . I find his composition and draping to have such flair.
This is Robert Motherwell at his finest. I love his large graphic gestures and as I didn't find any of his in the MOma, I was happy to have this familiar one before me.
Equally as pleasing to me is Franz Kline and these two pieces on the left were representative of his stark spontaneous, intense style.
Do any of you love the scribble scrabble of Cy Twombly? This is a detail of a larger canvas. The first time I saw Twombly's work many, many, years ago I was outraged that this was considered art.
But now I feel it a playful, intimate style and not easily copied either.... if you don't have his brain. It looks easy and fun but just try it without getting self conscious. You are either naive or you are not.
Time for Lunch.......
Huzzah.., this is one museum that I can come back to time and time again and still be pleased by the endless treasure on display, the cafeteria , the layout, and the organization. Chapeaux to the MET. See you tomorrow.
I really love the ambiance of this great old institution, the MET. Did you ever take a gander at the towering displays of real flowers in the lobby . They are exquisitely done and take a discreet back- seat to the hustle around them. I have always loved a run through the book store as well to look for monographs of artists (though I have never actually bought any). It's just nice to know that the book is there in case your house is feeling large enough to accept one more art book. Not.
(Did I just use that stupid usage?) Sorry. It crept up on me.
The MET is also acoustically favorable to many other spaces. There are indeed the herds of school children tromping through it. But depending on the teacher and her disciplinary skills controlling todays over-sugared little beasts, the school groups are more or less respectful of the place. I do maintain though that we would all be better served if the museum let school tours in one morning a week or limit the number of class groups that are being admitted at one time. I like kids, but I was also a teacher and you need to put some consequences for bad behavior in front of any child or you can't expect your wishes to come true. In some cases, its the teachers who don't know what respectful behavior is.
Nevertheless, the space accommodates so many people and there are so many areas to be seen that Dave and I often found a hush- hush space like the wonderful engravings by Albrecht Durer and those of his period, that were being featured.
We covered all of the paintings on Tuesday from Impressionism to Modernism and again I was more impressed with the Met contemporary art selection than I was that of MOMa. Here are a few favorites that I camera grabbed.
I have a great fondness for Bonnard and I had never come across this one.
Do you know who painted this one? It just popped out at me so I snapped it. It is by the Russian born Sonia Delaunay who was married to Robert Delaunay, another artist. She did this in 1959. I think that both husband and wife worked with geometric forms and colors...... its like painting a jig -saw puzzle with the possibility of endless permutations. If you like working with color, as I do, that idea appeals.
I don't think you will guess who did this one.........until you see the painting that follows.
I know this painting from a postcard that someone sent me, that I have had for years . I never knew who painted it until now. It is by the American artist, Charles Demuth 1883-1935 and it is called" I saw the figure 5 in Gold. Oil on composition board. 1928.
Arguably two of the best Hopper's were on display at the Met the day we were there. I never realized that Hopper effectively divided this painting in thirds by letting that lighthouse go off the page. These little things determine "just good" or "remarkable" to my mind.
This large hanging really enticed me. " It takes a village" and the Ghanaian artist El Anatsui , born in 1944, considered today Africa's foremost sculptor to conceive and execute the design.
He calls it Dusasa II 2007, which means
"communal patchwork made by a team of townspeople". I may have seen Dusasa I at the Seattle Art Museum as they have a smaller but similar hanging there. (Maia and Martha, Joanne please report next time you are at SAM.)
AS you can see in the "close -up" it is made from thousands of liquor bottle tops, and aluminum caps, seals, and copper wire. Anatsui's work is anchored in the traditional Kente cloth of Ghana, Western art (mosaic, tapestry, chain mail armor ) and contemporary life ( alcohol consumption and consumerism) . I find his composition and draping to have such flair.
Do any of you love the scribble scrabble of Cy Twombly? This is a detail of a larger canvas. The first time I saw Twombly's work many, many, years ago I was outraged that this was considered art.
But now I feel it a playful, intimate style and not easily copied either.... if you don't have his brain. It looks easy and fun but just try it without getting self conscious. You are either naive or you are not.
Time for Lunch.......
Huzzah.., this is one museum that I can come back to time and time again and still be pleased by the endless treasure on display, the cafeteria , the layout, and the organization. Chapeaux to the MET. See you tomorrow.
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