2.18.2010

Jim Cuno and Glenn Lowry: A Conversation on Museums of Modern Art

Tate Channel . In the Studio . Martin Parr

Malls R Us . documentary film

-America's Pastime

Konstantin Grcic: Decisive Design Exhibition

"Designer Konstantin Grcic, in conversation with curator Zoƫ Ryan, discusses industrial design, the creative process, and his recent Art Institute exhibition, Konstantin Grcic: Decisive Design." -ArtBabble

2.17.2010

MOUNTAINS



It's kinda like
a subway train
at 7 in the morning
moving through its vessels
you are late
and can't distinguish
whether the merchants
are epileptic or
if its their medicine
when all of a matter of a fact
the lights go out
and all you see
is the sound of grace
dancing through the universe
Her face so familiar
you think shes your mother.

Now you can
finally let go again
of all the references
of the world
you've memorized
since you were a child
And you can finally be
once more
a trapeze artist
a dancer from the eastern shore.

You paint with words
and the rain comes down
but it is gentle
and the burden of your flight
is lightened.
You are gray
and white
and red
but never dull.
You think of days you never knew
when the country
barely contained your madness
and your eyes were red
and the women slipped on streams
who tried to talk
but you were deaf.

It goes on
but your ghost is tired
and you write in blood.



-photos by salvatore bertucci & ricardo herrera, respectively

2.13.2010

Constantin Brancusi Documentary

"Though charming and gregarious, Brancusi was a complex and somewhat mysterious person whom few seem to have known well. His interests ranged from music to science and philosophy. A talented violinist and singer, he had an eclectic taste in music. He was also a famous cook of traditional Romanian dishes and an extraordinary handyman, building his own phonograph and fashioning most of the furniture, utensils, and even doorways in his home. His worldview, which above all valued "differentiating the essential from the ephemeral," was shaped not only by Plato but also by the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu and the 11th-century Tibetan monk Milarepa. On the one hand, he was a "saint-like" idealist, almost an ascetic. He had turned his studio into a kind of temple, and all who visited it remarked on the deeply spiritual atmosphere that the artworks lent to the space. Yet, in the teens and twenties, he was known in his bohemian circle as a pleasure-seeker and merrymaker, throwing lively parties at which he served as host, cook, and entertainer. He appreciated cigarettes, good wine, and the company of women, and he overindulged in all three. As Brancusi gained wealth, he began to drink to excess and once had to be treated for nicotine poisoning. Though he never married, he carried on a number of affairs and had at least one child, whom, in a gesture uncharacteristic of a "saint," he never acknowledged.
While his fame grew, the once gregarious socialite became almost a hermit. Because Brancusi seldom confided in others, the reason for this change remains largely a mystery... He must have realized that most of his relationships were merely professional or superficial ones. Yet, unable to forge new, deeper relationships so late in life, he had no choice but to turn inward. And, wizened by age and the continual acquisition of knowledge, it's likely that he finally decided to trade the ephemeral for the essential in life as well as in art. "