cai guo-qiang

cai guo-qiang and the best use of gunpowder in all the land, EVER. you MUST check out the video of him creating "descending wolves" in front of a crowd at the guggenheim. WOW.


how very original. i love his work. it stopped me in my tracks and made me talk out loud to myself. i feel like high-tailing somewhere right now to see it in person.

about the artist..."Cai initially began working with gunpowder to foster spontaneity and confront the suppression that he felt from the controlled artistic tradition and social climate in China at the time. While living in Japan from 1986 to 1995, Cai explored the properties of gunpowder in his drawings, an inquiry that eventually led to his experimentation with explosives on a massive scale, and the development of his signature explosion events, exemplified in his series, Projects for Extraterrestrials. These explosion projects, both wildly poetic and ambitious at their core, aim to establish an exchange between viewers and the larger universe around them."


there are all kinds of videos on the site. be sure to check out some of the large scale explosion projects. great artist and great website. he really invites you in with the videos. i love it!

all photographs via cai guo-qiang.

xavier veilhan

the mobile looks beautiful in this setting. such contrasts. but he snaggged me with the rhinoceros. i just have a real thing for rhinoceroses. no biography on his site, but if you visit xavier veilhan, and you speak french or spanish, there are a couple of videos - one of which is translated from his native french into spanish. if he says something spectacular, come back and fill me in!




The Rhinoceros, 1999. Painted polyester resin ; 170 x 140 x 415 cm/ 67 x 55 x 163 inch. Collection Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris.

my marrakesh

i can not imagine that you all have not met maryam, a human rights and democracy specialist trotting the globe by day, a builder of peacock pavillions, dream guest house in marrakesh by night and a blogger of gorgeous middle eastern culture by...who knows when she fits it in. i go to her site regularly to live vicariously a life of following the wildest of dreams full tilt.


maryam is a finalist for Best Middle East or African Blog in the 2007 blog awards. i hope you will click here and show her some love. then head over to my marrakesh and enjoy the beautiful, the exotic and the out of the ordinary. be careful, it's addictive.

all photos via my marrakesh

goudji

interesting fellow, master goldsmith goudji. born in soviet georgia, studied at the academy of fine art in tbilissi, and at 21 was forced to leave georgia when suspected of complicity in his friends' attempt to cross the iron curtain by swimming to turkey. goudji fled to moscow where he "However, refused to work for the glorification of the regime and limited his contribution to designing items for interior decoration and monumental iron gates. He also created models for commemorative medals and designed stamps. But, most of all, he took advantage of opportunities to travel and meet other creators, while continuing, Goudji met, observed, imitated and assisted two old goldsmiths who beat copper, day in, day out, producing the same pots and pans for sale on the market.This was to be his only training in an ancient craft that can only be passed down by apprenticeship. Two months later, he knew how to beat copper, work repoussé metal, weld, rivet, and tin."

goudji married a french woman but was not allowed exit to meet his wife in france for five years. goudji says, "I was born in Paris at the age of 33. "

"In the Soviet Union, Goudji had been prohibited from working with precious metals. However he had sacrificed a few small silver spoons so as to offer his friends brooches made with colored stones found on the beaches of the Black Sea. It was his only experienceas a silversmith until his arrival in France.

Goudji both loves and needs to create. For obvious economic reasons, his first parisian creations broaches, necklaces and belt buckles - were initially made of recuperated copper and latten, bought at the Porte de Clignancourt fleamarket in Paris. From1975 onwards, his copper alloy creations were silvered by electrolysis. Thanks to these small works - first modest, later sumptuous - Goudji rapidly became well-known among lovers of contemporary jewelry.Always unique, due to the technique employed, this first batch of jewels quickly came to the notice of Hubert de Givenchy, but Goudji was unable to accept the idea of mass-production under any name but his own: his first personal exhibition in Paris was presented in 1975 in the Sven gallery."

lots of interesting information on goudji, his technique and materials can be found on his website. very interesting and very beautiful, this would be my choice to replace drum playing chicken riding elephant. obviously, the chicken can make himself comfortable.

photographs by marc wittmer.

house in my head

i would like to see this libertine lounge (above) by todd bracher for triode dressed up like this (below), built in as a window seat, which is part of a bookcase wall dressed in the same fashion. i have put it in the modern house in my head.



i would also like the table (below) dressed like the table (above) although the veneer would be impossible with those legs and that is the whole reason i want the table. really killer legs by julien armand.



these little doo dads (below) are not part of the imaginary equation.

real life

i wish i had some before and after pics but i am the world's most impatient project starter. i am an exceptionally quick draw with the sawz-all. that sawz-all and i are thick as thieves and as soon as my hubs turns his back, we are on it. more than a few times hubs has returned from a trip to find a kitchen or a wall or two missing without a trace. nothing that spectacular happened in this room...

this is our condo, the result of my failure to commit to life here. everything is recycled from the last house and the house before that except for this obscenely uncomfortable sofa. i wanted something narrow with no arms. total disaster (are you listening lee industries?) this is the first time we have not made our own sofa and it will also be the last. i have added extra cushions on the back but it really doesn't help much. and they really don't match.

uncomfortable sofa, grade school art

my room is too narrow to get a pic of the whole fireplace wall. all the mess on the table and in front of the fireplace are lamp making parts. we sit here on the floor for days and make them. i drew the charcoal on the left of the mantel in a fundamental drawing class. it was my copy of a master, pavonia, by lord frederick leighton. i was so happy with myself that i had it framed. then a friend walked in one day and said "why do you have a portrait of madonna?", and when she says madonna, she does not mean the virgin. back to the drawing board...

one day the perfect over mantel piece will present itself. until then, drum playing chicken riding elephant. so chic, so fancy.

a lovely cabinet by talented hubs.

jesus, mary, bear and donkey. i have a thing for these old wind up toys. i also have a thing for portraits with wonky eyes. this mary has a wonky eye. my friend nancy gave me the elf baby. she makes the tiniest little babies out of clay and crochets them tiny outfits. she keeps plates of tiny heads in her refrigerator... i will put my elf in a terrarium. design note: if you back your bookcase in mirror on an exterior wall, find a mastic that does not fully harden. sadly, three pieces of our glass cracked last (their first) winter as seen here. we used plain mirror mastic.

collection of fine sculpture.

piglet, model for fine sculpture.

bob sherman

my favorite piece of real art that i own is the photograph "garland cow" by my friend bob sherman. i love it for so many reasons; the color, the texture, the architecture, the dark man in the striking white beard and striking red robe, the exotic locale steeped in a deep history of everything i have never known... and then there is the cow. the cow, WALKING DOWN THE STAIRS behind the striking dark man. WALKING DOWN THE STAIRS, MUNCHING THE FLOWER GARLAND he managed to get from around his neck. i can't get enough of that. i enjoy it every day, the idea of being there in a moment of something so beautiful and so silly in such a heavy place. i don't know, i just really feel it.

bob was born and raised in queens, ny and began taking pictures with his kodak brownie hawkeye around the age of 7. now he is always off to some far-flung, fabulous land soaking up some life. i have selected the following photographs from his website, including my own, and asked him to tell me a little about them. i will post his beautiful portraits separately


Garland cow: taken in Varanasi, India , 2/97. Varanasi is the holiest city of India. Garlands of flowers are a common form of showing devotion and worship. This part of Varanasi is on the Ganges River. The photo shows the steps, called "ghats" that lead down to the river. I was in a boat on the river when I took this shot. I was at least 200 yards away from the man in the shot and I was surrounded by many other boats. Yet the first 4 times I attempted to take the shot the man in the scene covered his face. An hour later I walked up to the man and he spontaneously said to me that it was rude of me to attempt to take his picture without first asking him. I immediately agreed and we spent the next 1 1/2 days talking about the necessity of the experience of lonliness on the spiritual path.


Afghan horsemen: taken in Band-i-Amir Afghanistan, 7/75. These men are playing a game called bushkazee in which a dead goat is "the ball" that is taken to the opponents goal. The bushkazee can last for days and spectators need to be on horseback to see the entire game. I was standing in the middle of their "playing field" when I took the shot. Band-i-Amir was a spectacularly beautiful place. The surrounding mountains look like a scene from Monument Valley with the addition of 7 amazingly beautiful lakes. The area is in the middle of nowhere so hopefully it has not been destroyed by recent events.


Varanasi alley: (left) taken in Varanasi, India, 3/03 in a back alley of the oldest bazaar. This is a 3 1/2 minute time exposure that was taken at 4 in the morning. The blue cast is how film records shade. If one looks closely there appears to be a ghost at the end of the alley. In reality this is a man that has a bicycle at his side. As soon as he entered the alley he froze when he spotted my tripod. He was only in the shot for the last 20 seconds of the exposure. It was so dark that his image appears ghostlike. The time before dawn is quite magical in India.
Pink Prayer: (right) taken in another holy India City, Haridwar, 2/05 at around 8 p.m.. The Ganges River here is quite clean as Haridwar is much closer to the source of the river. There are chains along the river here because the current is so strong. Bathing in the river is a vital part of worship. Every night there is a wonderful prayer ceremony performed at the river that involves many burning candles. This shot was taken just after the cremony ended.

bob is also a clinical psychologist and sends a "daily dose" with a photograph every day and tells me something like this: "Each indecision brings its own delays and days are lost lamenting over lost days... What you can do or think you can do, begin it. For boldness has magic, power, and genius in it. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe". you can sign up for that via his website

Fenway Park: Under Left Field Grandstand - photo by rnolan1087.

claude nature, paris

i have taken the decorno original content challenge this week so you will be hearing a bit more about me. not usually something i write about...but here goes.
so, my visit to claude nature. this spring i went to paris for the first time ever and naturally, upon my arrival, the weather took a turn for the worse. in a few hours the rain had arrived to stay for the duration of our trip and it was pouring rain that drove us into claude nature the very first night, just trying to escape the downpour. we fell into the door looking like we had just swum over from the ile st louis and it was not until i wiped the fog from my glasses that i realized my great fortune. it was a REAL cabinet of curiosities, cases and cases of insect specimens, fossils, shells, just enormous beauty from the far reaches of the earth. if i ever realize the dream of my own boutique, it will have a section devoted to just this.
the couple keeping shop (the owners i assume) did not speak a word of english but we had a lovely visit nonetheless. the more interested and exclamatory i became about the specimens, the faster they would talk and the more treasures they would drag from the back.

when i chose the saddle color bug with the curved horn for my box, the woman proudly produced from the back a specimen 100x it's size. seriously the size of a teacup puppy and sporting a tremedous horn. as my good fortune continued, the man who ordered the giant bug like mine arrived to pick it up. i told him in butchered french and grand hand gesture how i admired his bug and he returned the favor, patting me on the back and shrugging (i translated this as a good natured "i agree with your taste, but see how mine is so grand?"). so there we were, me selecting bugs, mr. big bug and shopkeeper giving me feedback in fast exclamatory french, opening and reopening box after box of strange specimens, the holding up to the light, the looking at the backs, the reading of the scientific names, the measuring, the pinning, the remeasuring and finally standing back in admiration. two hours later.
this little box of bugs does not even measure 8x10" but the experience was so great. it is amazing how genuine interest and and a little kindness completely erased the language barrier.

here is my box of bugs on the bookcase that my husband built. a few weeks ago my son came home with the tessellation artwork that matches the bugs exactly. go figure! soon i will replace the scotch tape with a frame. i love it.

and here is a better shot of the hubs handiwork. his cabinet making improves with every house. he is now quite good and i am quite lucky.

francis bacon and the kindness of strangers

crucifixion 1933, said to be his first success. the work came across strong enough to be purchased by telegram by foremost english collector sir michael sadler. later the same year sadler sent an x-ray of his own skull to be incorporated in one of 2 further crucifixion pieces he purchased that year.

study for a portrait, man screaming 1952 is a masterpiece lost for 40 years after a collector bought it in the early 60's for £3000. it resurfaced at christies, london in 2000 and was expected to sell for around £1.8m. obviously they were very excited to have it show up! his screams, no matter the screamer, are considered by some the best in the art world.

apparently francis was highly allergic to dogs because of his asthma. they show up in quite a few works throughout the years, as does a major series of unsettling shrieking popes suggested to mirror strong feelings about his father and the horrible war years. but that's another post entirely.

and now, the kindness of strangers.


i would never have found this great francis bacon website with tons of history and explanations had jessica of the the shiny squirrel not mentioned in a comment that whitney mcveigh reminded her of francis bacon. because of her quick note, i looked up an artist i had never heard of and enjoyed something completely new. thank you jennifer!

if you are ever visiting and recognize or are reminded of something, i hope you will leave a quick note if you have the time. i appreciate the chance to look at things in a new way and explore something completely new altogether. all i know of art and design and architecture is whether i react to it emotionally. even if i am moved by the architecture of a building, my immediate reaction is to want to hug it, to pick it up and carry it around and i feel frustrated that i can not. maybe it's not a bad thing that i can not pick it apart academically, that i can just enjoy it how i feel it. or not. either way, after a little research, learn a little about the building, the architect, and it's place in history i can appreciate it beyond wanting to hug it (although the urge never leaves me). so, if something crosses your mind while you are here, i hope you will leave a note and that concludes more about me than you bargained for!

now i am off to investigate the shiny squirrel.

desire to inspire by midcenturyjo

midcenturyjo has opened a new etsy shop for her illustrations. i hope everyone will head right over and share some love and support. bravo jo!

jo and kim from desire to inspire not only inspire me daily with design and architecture from around the globe, they are lovely about supporting other folks in their art, their websites and other endeavors. i am happy to have the privledge of returning the favor.

whitney mcveigh

something about these works by whitney mcveigh. my favorite is above. while investigating, i came across this entry on her blog. how very exciting and good for her! oh what i would give for such an invite...endless gratitude for sure.