Thursday, September 28, 2006

Quote: Art is experience

"Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced."Leo Tolstoy

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Quote: Kindness and wisdom

Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom. -Theodore Rubin, psychiatrist and writer (1923- )

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Art: Can art change the world?

A very good article by Jerry Saltz in the Village Voice- The Whole Ball of Wax: Can Art Change the World? A Holistic Theory
An excerpt:
"In concert with other things, however, art can change the world incrementally and by osmosis. This is because art is part of a universal force. It has no less purpose or meaning than science, religion, philosophy, politics, or any other discipline, and is as much a form of intelligence or knowing as a first kiss, a last goodbye, or an algebraic equation. Art is an energy source that helps make change possible; it sees things in clusters and constellations rather than rigid systems.
Art is a bridge to a new vision and the vision itself, a medium or matrix through which one sees the world, and that grants that pleasure is an important form of knowledge. Art is not optional; it is necessary. It is part of the whole ball of wax."

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Art: Anna Schuleit - two steps of courage and three of doubt

Anna Schuleit was awarded a MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant.
An excerpt from her website about how she finds art projects:
"How does the idea of a project present itself to you?...
By running imaginary tests. Canceling out yesterday's colors. Engaging in doubts as if they were your primary reason for being there. Taking two steps of wavering courage forward, and three of certain doubt back. Somewhere inbetween the piece begins to take shape."

Monday, September 18, 2006

Art: Is the museum a place for contemporary art?

A good article from the Boston Globe - The Art of the New.
Excerpt:
The paradox of a contemporary museum becomes most overt when an institution that deals in established status enters a realm where doubt is both inevitable and essential. It isn't clear that the museum is the best place for new objects to be tested. With so much invested-financially, culturally, and even politically-in these institutions, their tendency is to cover up the vital uncertainty of the moment (everything from the quality of the work to its meaning and eventual role in history) with a wealth of supporting material.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Music: New CD - The Rapture and Junior Boys

Junior Boys: So This is Goodbye - Synth-pop, subdued, melodic, rich
The Rapture: Pieces of the People We Love - Dance-y, jittery, infectious

Monday, September 11, 2006

Art: Exit Art (9/11)

How best to commemorate 9/11. I seem to have it on my mind a lot this year.
I read about the Exit Art exhibit from the Library of Congress on this Artful Manager post. To quote:
"...the Exit Art collection, which asked for creative responses to the attacks, confined to 8-1/2 x 11 pieces of paper. They received over 2400 from all over the world.
Art is clearly not a frill. It is a force."

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Art: Engage Islamic art on its own terms


A good article form The Gaurdian: It's time to engage with Islamic art on its own terms - not as a bridge between east and west.
To quote:
When you hear the words "Islamic culture" these days, you are less and less likely to think of a carpet. But a carpet forms the centrepiece of the Victoria and Albert museum's new Jameel gallery, displayed in a glass case, but laid out on the floor, as a carpet should be. To preserve its colours, it is kept for 20 minutes out of every half hour in gloom. On the half hour and the hour exactly, the lights click on. Whatever they have been looking at, visitors turn, astonished, as if the gates to a beautiful garden have been thrown open. Even the guards come forward for another look. The subtlety and complexity of the pattern, the depth and richness of the colours, and the gigantic scale of the invention almost defy description. Ten minutes pass, and the lights click off; all around there are audible sighs of satisfaction and pleasure.
...
At present, our interest in Islamic culture, if it exists at all, seems to be limited to these two things: a museum culture and a culture of dissidence. Our attention is like a light shining in that general direction for 10 minutes every now and again, before plunging back into darkness. If we want to promote exchange and a proper respect, we ought to start taking an interest in living Islamic cultures. And in the first instance, that will probably mean not relating everything, from glassware to carpets, back to the actions of a few suicide bombers.

Friday, September 08, 2006

Music: New tunes - J Dilla


J Dilla - The Shining
Got about half the album from iTunes. Amazing samples and beats.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Shop in Kalangute market, Goa. December 2005

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Quote: Problems and humor

I think the next best thing to solving a problem is finding some humor in it. -Frank A. Clark, writer (1911- )

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Quote: Morality and theology

Whenever morality is based on theology, whenever right is made dependent on divine authority, the most immoral, unjust, infamous things can be justified and established. -Ludwig Feuerbach, philosopher (1804-1872)