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?

Newsweek's 50 Books For Our Times

The List

I'm going to at least try to read a review of each and hopefully read at least one or two this summer.

The Uniform Project:

1 dress, 365 days

Starting May 2009, I have pledged to wear one dress for one year as an exercise in sustainable fashion. Here’s how it works: There are 7 identical dresses, one for each day of the week. Every day I will reinvent the dress with layers, accessories and all kinds of accouterments, the majority of which will be vintage, hand-made, or hand-me-down goodies. Think of it as wearing a daily uniform with enough creative license to make it look like I just crawled out of the Marquis de Sade's boudoir.

The Uniform Project is also a year-long fundraiser for the Akanksha Foundation, a grassroots movement that is revolutionizing education in India. At the end of the year, all contributions will go toward Akanksha’s School Project to fund uniforms and other educational expenses for slum children in India.

Is this for reals? As in, do you think she's actually wearing each unique outfit and only that outfit ALL day? What about when she does athletics/works out? She probably changes for that, right? Interesting idea.

Day 53. Mon, June 22 2009
Les plumes
Vintage beret donated by Sandra D. Thanks sand! Edwardian suede pumps from eBay. Miss-KK feather necklace donated by Julia Kung of Moxsie. See more at the Moxsie store.

Eugene O'Neill, Master of Mirth

Excerpt from a WSJ review of a play - currently being staged on Broadway - that I read for my American Drama class this term.

by Terry Teachout

"Was Eugene O'Neill really a great playwright? Nobody was asking that question when he died in 1953, but nowadays his greatness tends to be asserted by critics rather than demonstrated by actors: O'Neill's work is no longer seen on Broadway with any regularity, and most of the plays that made him famous in the '20s are rarely done elsewhere. Robert Falls's revival of "Desire Under the Elms," O'Neill's 1924 tragedy about an aging farmer (Brian Dennehy) whose nubile young wife (Carla Gugino) lusts after her angry young stepson (Pablo Schreiber), marks the first time that this once-shocking, now-dated play has been performed on Broadway since 1952. I wish I could say it was worth the wait, but the play is silly and the staging comprehensively ludicrous, Ms. Gugino's steam-heated performance notwithstanding.

...

Ms. Gugino, a vibrant and compelling TV and film actress who has had the misfortune to appear in two bad plays in a row, "After the Fall" and "Suddenly Last Summer," is now three for three. Here as before, she manages to slice through the surrounding stupidity and give a performance that leaves no doubt of her exceptional gifts, but everything she does is wasted by Mr. Falls, who seems more interested in simulating sexual intercourse onstage than in making the best possible use of a major talent. Mr. Dennehy is solidly competent, Mr. Schreiber surprisingly dull. All three actors spend most of their time yelling."

Is that bad that it makes me want to see the play more?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124095688406165583.html#mod=article-outset-box