louise bourgeois, influential french-born american sculptor, died on monday in manhattan. she was 98.
for her full obit in the ny times, click here.
her work is amazing - emotionally charged, vulnerable, visceral...she translated suffering and pain into tangible abstractions.
great slide show of her works here.
“The subject of pain is the business I am in,” she said. “To give meaning and shape to frustration and suffering.” She added: “The existence of pain cannot be denied. I propose no remedies or excuses.” (NY Times)
cups of coffee: 1
mood: how is it june already?!?
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
graffiti
a little late night graffiti action with friends...
and one fun shot with the hipstamatic app on my iphone
ray of light
and one fun shot with the hipstamatic app on my iphone
ray of lightcups of coffee: working on 1
mood: grateful
mood: grateful
Saturday, May 29, 2010
of beauty, justice and building empires
at dolce & gabbana opening with friendsfriday evening, after a great concert at the gallery, some friends and i attended the opening of dolce & gabbana's new store on glizty nanjing road. free flow of champagne, canapes and beautiful people. lavish and ludicrous.
ironically, the next day we held a lecture given by a designer/teacher on the topic of "art and equality" at our gallery. his lecture was a brief overview of philosophical foundations for social justice in the arts and a glance at some inspiring contemporary examples. he packed so much into one hour and though far from comprehensive, his lecture provided much room for continued discourse and deliberation. about 50 people attended, most of them architects, designers or other creative professionals, and i think everyone left with a lot to think about and hopefully with some challenges to consider in their own work.
this morning in my personal reflection time, i came across this passage in frederick beuchner's listening to your life about "a point of no return". beuchner summarizes john marquand's novel, point of no return, in which the protagonist strives his whole life to achieve this one position that he thinks will bring him stability and prestige and when he finally attains it, at the cost of other things in his life, finds it empty and unsatisfactory. sadly, this truth comes too late.
buechner sums up the implications of this protagonist's realization nicely here:
There is nothing moralistic or sentimental about this truth. It means for us simply that we must be careful with our lives because it would seem that they are the only lives we are going to have in this puzzling and perilous world, and so they are very precious and what we do with them matters enormously. Everybody knows that. We need no one to tell it to us. Yet in another way perhaps we do always need to be told, because there is always the temptation to believe that we have all the time in the world, whereas the truth of it is that we do not. We have only a life, and the choice of how we are going to live it must be our own choice, not one that we let the world make for us. Because surely Marquand was right that for each of us there come a point of no return, a point beyond which we no longer have life enough left to go back and start all over again.
- Frederick Buechner
this resonates with every fiber of my being. we are mortal yet we have the capacity to be part of immortal things - to build and cultivate what will ripple through the history to come and into eternity. our time is so limited - so limited! - and with each day, not a breath is promised. we are grateful for each moment.
i want to build empires. i mean that in the sense that i want to be part of something bigger than myself, i want to explore and create with tenacity and fearlessness. the danger here, of course, is the ego and in building empires for the sake of erecting statues in my own image. that is not my intention (not my conscious intention, for the most part). i want to build for the sake of Greater Good and Glory, building empires in light of the Greater Story and the Beautiful Kingdom to come.
we all build empires in big and small ways, in the areas of life where we have been given dominion. whether we are building empires as fashion tycoons or building schools and sustainability in rural villages, we are all contributing to something with our talents and time.
if we know our time is limited, what then shall we choose to build?
cups of coffee: 1 1/2
mood: ready for the day!
ironically, the next day we held a lecture given by a designer/teacher on the topic of "art and equality" at our gallery. his lecture was a brief overview of philosophical foundations for social justice in the arts and a glance at some inspiring contemporary examples. he packed so much into one hour and though far from comprehensive, his lecture provided much room for continued discourse and deliberation. about 50 people attended, most of them architects, designers or other creative professionals, and i think everyone left with a lot to think about and hopefully with some challenges to consider in their own work.
this morning in my personal reflection time, i came across this passage in frederick beuchner's listening to your life about "a point of no return". beuchner summarizes john marquand's novel, point of no return, in which the protagonist strives his whole life to achieve this one position that he thinks will bring him stability and prestige and when he finally attains it, at the cost of other things in his life, finds it empty and unsatisfactory. sadly, this truth comes too late.
buechner sums up the implications of this protagonist's realization nicely here:
There is nothing moralistic or sentimental about this truth. It means for us simply that we must be careful with our lives because it would seem that they are the only lives we are going to have in this puzzling and perilous world, and so they are very precious and what we do with them matters enormously. Everybody knows that. We need no one to tell it to us. Yet in another way perhaps we do always need to be told, because there is always the temptation to believe that we have all the time in the world, whereas the truth of it is that we do not. We have only a life, and the choice of how we are going to live it must be our own choice, not one that we let the world make for us. Because surely Marquand was right that for each of us there come a point of no return, a point beyond which we no longer have life enough left to go back and start all over again.
- Frederick Buechner
this resonates with every fiber of my being. we are mortal yet we have the capacity to be part of immortal things - to build and cultivate what will ripple through the history to come and into eternity. our time is so limited - so limited! - and with each day, not a breath is promised. we are grateful for each moment.
i want to build empires. i mean that in the sense that i want to be part of something bigger than myself, i want to explore and create with tenacity and fearlessness. the danger here, of course, is the ego and in building empires for the sake of erecting statues in my own image. that is not my intention (not my conscious intention, for the most part). i want to build for the sake of Greater Good and Glory, building empires in light of the Greater Story and the Beautiful Kingdom to come.
we all build empires in big and small ways, in the areas of life where we have been given dominion. whether we are building empires as fashion tycoons or building schools and sustainability in rural villages, we are all contributing to something with our talents and time.
if we know our time is limited, what then shall we choose to build?
cups of coffee: 1 1/2
mood: ready for the day!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
barefoot artists and the casserole of hope
two completely unrelated items:
1) barefoot artists - my friend chelsea heard about this organization through a friend of a friend. their mission statement:
barefoot artists seeks to bear witness to the forgotten and the oppressed, and works to share their stories with the broader public to promote understanding and action. it seeks social change through innovative methodology and empowerment of people at the grassroots level.
um, hi. can i come work for you?
2) i love this tongue-in-cheek blog, stuff christians like. i found this post on "the casserole of hope" hilarious because it's true. we do like to give each other a lot of food when tragedy happens. i don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, though. there is something comforting (on both sides) in being able to provide something tangible that meets an immediate need.
cups of coffee: 2 + 1 iced
mood: friday? friday?
1) barefoot artists - my friend chelsea heard about this organization through a friend of a friend. their mission statement:
barefoot artists seeks to bear witness to the forgotten and the oppressed, and works to share their stories with the broader public to promote understanding and action. it seeks social change through innovative methodology and empowerment of people at the grassroots level.
um, hi. can i come work for you?
2) i love this tongue-in-cheek blog, stuff christians like. i found this post on "the casserole of hope" hilarious because it's true. we do like to give each other a lot of food when tragedy happens. i don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, though. there is something comforting (on both sides) in being able to provide something tangible that meets an immediate need.
cups of coffee: 2 + 1 iced
mood: friday? friday?
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
50 years, 50 events
this summer, at least 50 parties will be thrown across america to celebrate the 50th anniversary of a classic book: to kill a mockingbird.
more info in this new york times article: "a classic turns 50, and parties are planned"
one of my favorite books of all times, definitely in the top five ranking. scout was such an amazing, lovable character, and atticus finch is one of my literary heroes (especially after seeing gregory peck bring him to life in the film version).
tom brokaw is slotted to read from the novel in bozeman, montana on july 11. tom brokaw reading atticus finch?!? hmmmm....maybe i should swing by montana on my way to the east coast this summer...
cups of coffee: 2
mood: bouncing (albeit slowly) back
more info in this new york times article: "a classic turns 50, and parties are planned"
one of my favorite books of all times, definitely in the top five ranking. scout was such an amazing, lovable character, and atticus finch is one of my literary heroes (especially after seeing gregory peck bring him to life in the film version).
tom brokaw is slotted to read from the novel in bozeman, montana on july 11. tom brokaw reading atticus finch?!? hmmmm....maybe i should swing by montana on my way to the east coast this summer...
cups of coffee: 2
mood: bouncing (albeit slowly) back
Monday, May 24, 2010
thoughts for the day
two quotes from a new website find:
Aesthetic life is not something sophisticated – that’ s a humanistic lie. Aesthetic life is as integral to being human as building sandcastles on the beach and giving your children names. Calvin Seerveld
The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing… to find the place where all the beauty came from. C.S. Lewis
cups of coffee: 2
mood: *yawn*
Aesthetic life is not something sophisticated – that’ s a humanistic lie. Aesthetic life is as integral to being human as building sandcastles on the beach and giving your children names. Calvin Seerveld
The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing… to find the place where all the beauty came from. C.S. Lewis
cups of coffee: 2
mood: *yawn*
one of those days
it's one of those days (weeks/months). i feel like i need a "brownie husband." and maybe a tequila puppy.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/141546/saturday-night-live-brownie-husband
cups of coffee: 2 but clearly not enough
mood: oh light, you better be at the end of the tunnel...
http://www.hulu.com/watch/141546/saturday-night-live-brownie-husband
cups of coffee: 2 but clearly not enough
mood: oh light, you better be at the end of the tunnel...
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