Graffiti

Now this is the sort of project I'd love to do. It gets the kids involved, and it gives them a voice. Not to mention an outlet.

Not that I think all graffiti artists deep down really just want a hug. Maybe some do, and hey, hugs are nice, but a lot of the time there is something that needs to be said and the best fourm and means of communication are the side of a subway car and a can of spray paint. Or it's a question of a lack of means to other artistic media and places to use them.

But it's nice to see teachers doing things like this with their students. And I also have to say it's good to see graffiti getting positive attention. Some of it is just beautiful and a LOT more interesting to look at than plain grey subway cars and the ads plastered all over them and the platforms.

This is the sort of art I like to teach too.. kinda makes me want to get some supplies and interested students and go nuts...

Just an FYI... The picture I posted is not from the show in the article. This image is one of the ones that came up when I Googled "graffiti, New York City". And I like it because it's a good example of what's out there, even though it's on a building and not a subway car.

The Nutcracker

I came across this review in the NY Times of the 2005 season of "The Nutcracker". When I was a kid, my Mom or Grandma, or both, would take me to see this every year after Thanksgiving. In fact, I think that's why I enjoyed Thanksgiving so much because it ALWAYS meant an afternoon in Lincoln Center to see the New York City Ballet perform at the New York State Theater. And that ALSO meant we got to go on the subway and have giant pretzels and see Santa on the street corners and look in the store windows. Then we would go to meet my Dad at work and all ride home on the Railroad together. (The fact that my brothers were never included in this was nice too. Sometimes it's nice to do things with just the girls, especially things like this as small boys tend to not be interested in ballerinas and make retching noises at the romantic parts.)

It's nice to think back sometime about the things that made me tick as a kid. I loved this ballet, and still do. I took ballet lessons and dreamed about being a ballerina and dancing with the Nutcracker Prince and fighting the Mouse King. And every year I looked forward to going to a performance and every year had a wonderful time.

Since then, I've seen other companies dance The Nutcracker, but it's never the same. Some of the European companies don't use the Ballanchine choreography. (Gasp!) Sometimes the girl's name is Clara, and the sets and costumes are different. Not that the dancers are bad and the choreography second-rate, it's just not the same. Of course, watching on TV isn't the same either and not to pooh-pooh Buffalo, but Shea's is NOT the State Theater, and downtown is NOT Lincoln Center.

Maybe it's because it's Thanksgiving weekend and I'm not going to the ballet that's got me all nostalgic. But this is the time of year to be in NYC. I'm here now, but I'll be making my way back upstate tomorrow and it's just not the same. And I have to be careful; I'm in the process of a job hunt that will most likely bring me away from Buffalo and I don't want fond memories of Manhattan at Christmastime and The Nutcracker to color my choices too much.

Sorry if this was rambling... Just that time of year I suppose.

Harry Potter

The above link is to a NY Times review of "Goblet of Fire". If you haven't read the book and don't want the movie spoiled, don't read it. Stuff is given away in the first paragraph.

The newest Harry Potter movie comes out this weekend.. Think it opened today actually. I have to say that I really do enjoy this entire frachise. And I was skeptical about the movies because the books are just so rich. But I think what has happened is that the creative process here has been helped by directors who recognize that there is a big difference between a movie and a book, and that has made all the difference. The movie version of "Azkaban" worked because they adapted the essence of the narrative to a different medium. There were times when I nearly forgot that there was an element that wasn't in the book or presented in a new way.

As the film version of the series continues, that is going to have to be a crucial factor. These kids are getting older and the situations and dangers they are facing are getting more intense. In fact, this poor kid is facing things no kid should have to deal with. No grownup either for that matter.

Does anyone else feel really sorry for Harry? I mean, the kid's an orphan and gets dumped on abusive relatives, at school he's got the bully thing, which isn't so much about the Malfoy thing as it is about Snape. Then he's off dealing with the evilest wizard EVER and his main back up are Ron and Hermione. I don't know.... They're good books though and I hope this new movie is as good in it's own way.

Personally, I'm looking forward to Mad-eye Moody and how the film deals with Harry's expanded experiences with girls and the wider Wizarding world. The Quiddich World Cup look really cool too.

ELVIS

ELVIS
Originally uploaded by refinnej.

Nothing much to say, really.... There's just something about Elvis, so I made the icon..

Actually what I'm REALLY trying to do is use this as my Avatar, but Blogger won't let me post it from my picture files.. They now will allow me to do that within the body of a post, but for some reason I need a URL to put a picture in my profile, which is what I'm trying to do here. The problem with that is that my pictures are online at Flickr, which is awesome.. But when you click on the picture, rather than seeing a page with just the image on it, you are directed to my Flickr page. I think this is a Mac thing. I'm using Flickr because it seems to work the best with OSX. Plus I like it and I can blog from there, so all is well in the universe EXCEPT in the matter of putting up an avatar. Which would be the Elvis! icon I made, and is now posted here.

See, it's the little things that will get you every time...

Helpful Illusions

Now this is really cool. There is an art therapy program that takes Alzheimer's patients into museums, like the Museum of Modern Art, and it seems to have beneficial effects. The NY Times article is here.

The phenomenon has not been researched in the same way that music has, but it appears that the part of the brain that deals with the abstract is not as effected by Alzheimer's as the parts that deal with things like brushing teeth.

I read articles like this and I wonder why I'm not pursuing a PhD or a degree in Art Therapy.

Well, I'm not as interested in being an art therapist as I am in studying why it seems to work. Why do we respond to visual art, in all it's forms, the way we do? And is there a correlation to attitudes of creativity? Would research into this area explain better why methods such as Image Streaming seem to work so well? And can this research ensure that the visual arts get as much attention and funding in the schools as math and science? I'm pretty sure there is research into art education and SAT scores, and I'm not just talking about the Mozart Effect.. I'm talking about the specific act of making, interpreting, and studying the visual arts.

I suppose I can do all this eventually.... There's time.

The painting, by the way, is "The Guitar Player" by Picasso and was downloaded from Artchive.

More Space

I seem to be working on a theme here...

Anyway, I came across this review of a show at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles called: "Ecstasy: In and About Altered States," organized by Paul Schimmel with Gloria Sutton. It's an exhibit consisting of installation pieces, and the title is self explanitory.

The beauty of an installation piece is the kind of space it, and the viewer, occupy. Sculpture exists in the same 3D space we do.. It almost dosen't matter if it is on a pedestal, or of a different scale.. it's beside us. Painting is a 2D illusion of 3D space, but that illusion can be extremely compelling, and can take us into our minds in weird ways. I suppose that to some viewers in some circumstances, that illusion can seem more real than "reality". But an installation piece invites us inside... We can get into it's space and it can get into ours. It can make us question reality in ways that painting and sculpture can't because it can interact with us directly.

This is one show I wish I could see. I'm someone who lived in her own head for many years, and sometimes still do... Shows like this one help me question what I see. (That's possibly a side effect of being alone for many years. If the time ever comes that I'm no longer alone, I may have a different perspective.)

But generally, I tend to be drawn to art that can join me inside my head.

Giant Eggs

Speaking of sculpture, I found this picture and caption on Yahoo this evening: A woman approaches an artwork called 'Big Chook', made of fibreglass and high gloss epoxy marine paint, on Tamarama Beach in Sydney November 2, 2005. Australian artist Jeremy Parnell says people frying themselves on the beach for a suntan inspired his piece which joins 100 artworks contributed by international and Australian artists at the annual outdoor Sculpture by the Sea exhibition which is in its ninth year. REUTERS/Will Burgess


Now this is another example of the kind of space that a painting just can't occupy...

Space

About a year and a half ago the Albright-Knox Art Gallery here in Buffalo had a show of sculpture. It was interesting because for the first few months they had two parallel exhibits: one was masterpieces by Rodin, and the other was of modern pieces. That in itself was really interesting to see.. the juxtaposition of old and new. (On the left is "The Thinker", which is the piece most folks think of when they think of Rodin.) And each took up an entire wing too.. so you could get a really good feel for what the pieces had to offer.

The thing that gets me about sculpture is the physical space it occupies. It's something that's unique to the medium. I don't care how big or powerful a painting is, they are made to be seen head on, usually. But sculpture can just kind of leap out at you in a way that paintings can't. You can also get that sense of movement, which is the thing I like best about sculpture. "Striding Man", also by Rodin, is a good example of what I'm talking about. It doesn't matter that he has no arms, you can see him moving as if he were trying to walk off the pedestal. Paintings can get this across as well, but there is something about sculpture that you can't really get away from and that is because it occupies the same space that we do. Chances are that when you're looking at a painting, it's on a wall, floor, ceiling, or whatever. But it's not really standing next to you.. It can FEEL like it is moving, or about to leap out and grab you or something, which is really cool, but it's more of an illusion.

Anyway, the modern pieces across the hall from the Rodins were something to see and it's one of those shows that will always stay with me. And it's because of that sense of space. Almost an invasion of space with some of them. And some were quite confrontational. The pieces in this exhibit seemed to follow you around.. Like you were in a crowd of people who aren't sure what to make of you, so they follow to make sure you aren't up to something sneaky. But there was one that stuck with me in particular... It just... SAT there.. Not moving and taking up all this space. And you HAD to deal with it because it's that huge and therefore must be confronted. There is no way to NOT look at this piece.

But then the show ended and the pieces moved on to other things. Imagine my surprise when I'm checking out Yahoo and come across this:It's called "Big Man" by Ron Mueck, and it's currently on display at the Grand Palais in Paris.

Up close, it's kind of creepy... He is just so sad.. And so lifelike.. Except for the size.. And that just adds to the emotion. He's really hitting us over the head with it. And it does, for all it's size and pose, have this sense of movement... Like he's going to get up and scream, or punch the wall, or stomp around. Even in the photo, I feel that. I almost want to tell those people to back away and not disturb him.... Or maybe that's because I got to see him up close and that's what I remember.

And it's such an emotional space that he occupies... It's hard to get away from.

But isn't that the way of it though?