Smittened Chairs

 

My dear friend Michelle Sinclair sent me these images as a gift. They were taken at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs. I’ve been meaning to post them for sometime. I guess now that summer has passed, it’s time for that winter longing…

Being a Girl

It’s just one of those days where emotion conflates to nostalgia, heartbreak, euphoria all in quickened montage. Funny how memories do that for you. They remind you of all of those beautiful moments and linger on the broken reality of decay. These days I’d rather reminisce about my grandmother, her stern house rules, her ruthless but entertaining speak, her penchant for color (think hot pink 70s pantsuit and 80s indigo clogs) and patterns galore. This woman I have in my life is a queen. She set a firm example of control, dignity, and the wonders of gelatin. Serious pin-up for handsome nails and thick hair. I digress as I circle contently in florescent polaroid shots of the mind. These next few videos are dedicated to the silliness of grandma Margaret and the steadfast integrity of my sister, Elena, both strong female spirits. The three of us can make a mean batch of nachos, slap our knee in satisfaction, and laugh wholeheartedly at the follies of life. 

Jenny Holzer

Shirin Neshat

 

I keep this image with me. Hang it on a wall to remind me of imagination and identity. Words and woman. Breath and focus.

The Book Effect

Now That It’s Snowing: The Extension Chair

How cool is this chair by Sjoerd Vroonland for Moooi? It’s based on a Michael Thonet chair from 1859. I could really use this extension version for my entryway. All of those winter coats pile up in unforeseen places.

See http://www.vroonland.info/

Good Looking in 2012

Ah! My resolution is to hold on to the happy times. Drink it in. Savor it. Life is too short to dwell on those other myriad inequalities.

Pairs

Happy New Year Love

Enforced Disappearance with Ai Weiwei

Sharing with you the opening of an academic paper I wrote for my philosophy-heavy architecture course. I joined notions of time from Italo Calvino’s Six Memos for the Next Millennium, the disembodied poetics of The Beats, with a dash of Foucault and Kundera to whip up my thesis titled, “Multiplicity and the Disembodied Poetics of Ai Weiwei.”

Five black and white “arresting” images depict a Chinese model being strong-armed, handcuffed, taken away, interrogated, and stripped naked under government custody. The images, though heady in content and context, impart a delicate beauty. The violence is staged, muted, restrained and controlled. This is, after all, the pages of W Magazine, a fashion editorial deftly titled “Enforced Disappearance,” developed in collaboration with the artist Ai Weiwei. It is his first work of art since being released from government custody having spent 81 days in a Beijing jail. He is still under surveillance and not permitted to leave his Beijing home. Imploring his media savvy, Weiwei used Skype to direct the W team from his home in what The New York Times described as “his disembodied self, open on the laptop.”
“Enforced Disappearance” is a poetic re-enactment of Weiwei’s own time in jail. It is also informed stylistically from his past. In the early 80s, Weiwei studied art in New York and took snapshots of everyday street life. That collection of images is titled “New York Photographs 1983-1993.” The “Disappearance” editorial draws inspiration from a series of Weiwei images depicting the Tompkins Square Riots of ‘88, a punk revolution against gentrification of the Lower East Side. According to Tate Etc, Weiwei’s witness to those American riots “…helped instill an unwavering belief in individual freedom and social justice.” With this editorial and the means in which it was created, Weiwei employs the multiplications of time and place, new technologies, global experiences, and negation of nations. He says “The conflicts between individuals and authorities—be they economic, cultural, political, or religious. I am using my personal experience to address a condition. “ His disembodied approach culls from many movements and ideologies. The editorial then becomes “a hyper novel with many beginnings” and with many meanings through time.