A View of the World from 9th Avenue

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Saul Steinberg, View of the World from 9th Avenue, 1976. Ink, pencil, colored pencil, and watercolor on paper, 28 x 19". Cover drawing for The New Yorker, March 29, 1976.

The Knife Music Videos

SOO COOL: "Marble House" by The Knife (embedding disabled)

SO FREAKY "Silent Shout" by The Knife:



AHHH NIGHTMARE!! I used this song in one of the machinima films I've made. Funny that their music video also has to do with ugliness and beauty because my film showed the absurdity of couture.

SO INTRIGUING "We Share Our Mother's Health" by The Knife:



I've blogged this video before, but I did it again because I just can't get enough of it. And I could probably make it in Flash some day a long time from now!

Basically The Knife/Fever Ray are maintaining a certain art in music video that makes it more music film instead of a marketing ploy for pop artists. The end.

Stamps

These are the stamps I've been using recently, except the Louis Comfort Tiffany one I use is 41 cents, not 39 cents. And since the price of stamps is now 44 cents, I add three Tiffany lamp one-cent stamps to one Louis Comfort Tiffany stamp. I love stamps. The pretty ones are like little pieces of art and make your everyday letters look so elegant.

I actually forgot this until just now, but I used to collect stamps (along with stickers HAHA) when I was younger. I wonder if that's why I like these so much.

These stamps look great with/match my light blue thank-you notes!

I'm almost out of these 41 cent stamps, though, so I need to find a new go-to stamp!

Burj Dubai

The new tallest building in the world opened today, with over 160 floors and some pretty cool eco-tech features. But I wonder when it gets to that point (er, and height), is it eco-sensitive overall to have such a tall building, or is it inefficient and 'wastes' energy? I wonder what the optimum height is for a building, or if there is one.

Article linked here for more info on the Burj Dubai.

Found Invisible Shoe

Remember these mirrored shoes I posted a while back? I found them again on another blog and they're called the "Invisible Shoe" by Andreia Chaves, one of several "footwear concepts" she's created. Read about it here:

http://www.yatzer.com/feed_2043_the_footwear_concepts_of_andreia_chaves

MOMA

I went to the MOMA on Sunday, which is where this new painting in the banner is from. It's entitled Gaea by Lee Krasner (American, 1908-1984) 1966. Oil on canvas, and it's large at 69" x 10' 5 1/2" (175.3 x 318.8 cm). The colors are much more vivid in person.

My companion and I went through the museum pretending it was a store, contemplating whether or not to purchase each piece of art/furniture and in which room we'd display/use them in our houses (I stole this idea from a friend who lived in the city last Spring). Ugly or slightly disturbing items were relegated to the second guest bedroom, but we were both stumped as to where to place the brass boat propeller. (Master bath??) After the museum closed, we went to the MOMA store and did the same thing, except every object on display there was actually for sale -- and they were each just as clever as their counterparts in the real museum.

Some other paintings from the MOMA under consideration for the banner:

 

Girl with Ball, Roy Lichtenstein (American, 1923-1997) 1961. 

Oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 60 1/4 x 36 1/4" (153 x 91.9 cm). 

   

No. 3/No. 13, Mark Rothko (American, born Latvia. 1903-1970) 1949. 

Oil on canvas, 7' 1 3/8" x 65" (216.5 x 164.8 cm).

  

Mark Rothko. No. 10. 1950. 

Oil on canvas, 7' 6 3/8" x 57 1/8" (229.6 x 145.1 cm).  

     

Shimmering Substance, Jackson Pollock (American, 1912-1956) 1946. 

Oil on canvas, 30 1/8 x 24 1/4" (76.3 x 61.6 cm).

They're all so much more beautiful in person. Maybe the next banner! Can you tell what my favorite two colors are?

Tim Burton at MoMA

I was in NYC this past weekend and got a chance to see the Tim Burton exhibit at the MoMA. It felt like I was at a chaotic circus (probably intentional) but I also was quite disturbed. Having seen a documentary about Disney animators that included footage of Burton as a young, awkward, and, quite frankly, creepy-looking animator, I appreciate of how creative and talented any cartoonist/director/illustrator/drawer is.

With Burton, however, everything has some sort of disturbed, cynical or morbid edge--it's very distinct and apparent in any of his work, but walking into that exhibit, I was almost overwhelmed by it. It almost felt like I was going into some sick child's room where he goes to torture puppies. Some of the drawings were beautifully grotesque, others were charming, and still others were humorous. But never was there any joy. It's amazing how teenage torment could provide so much fodder for Burton--he is incredibly prolific and aware of human reaction and emotion.

Burton is hauntingly clairvoyant.

Go see the exhibit (but not on the weekend because it was a MADHOUSE even when I went on a Monday morning).

Believe it

Q: Remember how I always say shoes are an art form?

A: See title

I have no idea who even makes these. I suspect they're a prototype of some sort.

My younger sister commented, "Those are the SAME SHOES my Barbie had! The same heel color too!"

I'm sure Prada would love to hear that.

One of my favorite of many favorite color combinations.

Pierre Hardy aces it.

The Acne bootie for this year? Just as I was starting to love last year's with the little mirror along the bottom of the platform!

I actually think I like last year's better. Here it is:

Kandinsky at Guggenheim

If you like that painting in the banner, you can see an entire exhibition of Kandinsky's work at the Guggenheim in NYC [1071 5th Avenue (at 89th Street) on the Upper East Side] from now until January 13, 2010. I'm definitely going to make a point of visiting.

On View Now  
Special Exhibitions

Kandinsky

September 18, 2009–January 13, 2010

P.S. Starting May 15, the Guggenheim will start pay-what-you-wish Saturday hours from 5:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m.

"paper plates" and "sugar cones"

I used to be really into ceramics back in high school my senior year, particularly after I took all of my AP tests and no longer had to go to class in June and could work in the art studio for massive portions of time during the day. I find myself in a somewhat similar situation now, with a lot of inspiration all around me. These are plates by Sin by Virgina Sin, and I think I could create some personalized facsimiles in the ceramics studio here at school since I've just bought a year-round pass to the studio.

Same goes for these sugar cones:

It's a feat to be both adorable and genius, but these make the cut.

Banner choice explanation

The painting we currently have on display in our banner is Several Circles (Einige Kreise) by Wassily Kandinsky, 1926.

I chose this painting because a Kandinsky painting is heavily referenced in one of my favorite American plays, "Six Degrees of Separation" by John Guare, and I had actually never taken the time to look up what Kandinsky paintings looked like outside of reading the descriptions in the play, and I guess this artist was at the tip of my brain.

I've actually reviewed the play in one of the earlier blog entries. I read it as part of my American Drama course with Professor Donald Pease - quite a bombastic and fantasmic orator - last spring. I realize now that I really loved that class and I wish I had taken more English classes during my time at Dartmouth. Aside from practical concerns or excuses like completing my major/minor, I think I've been a bit intimidated by English classes because I've been terrified that they'll somehow reveal that I'm not as good at the subject as I think I am. Perhaps I'll try to audit another class like that this winter or spring. I love literature!

Here's another Kandinsky I love:

Wassily Kandinsky, Improvisation 31 (Sea Battle), 1913,

National Gallery of Art, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

Next blog color scheme, perhaps?