Yuken Teruya

Yuken Teruya — amazing paper cutting. Here he's turning toilet paper rolls back into trees—a remarkable feat of recycling. And you wonder what I think about when...I need say no more.

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He Said, She Said ...

It's the usual thing. Kurt and I went out to photograph the circus elephants as they walked into Manhattan in the middle of the night via the Midtown tunnel. We waited for about 2 hours in the pouring rain and got our best photos, and not of the elephants. As usual it seems to be a case of Mars vs Venus. Decide for yourself...




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Au Natural Part 2

Continuing with our concept of natural intervention, I've come up on a couple of resonant oddities relative to the placement of rocks.

One is a story on Current by Elisabeth Wood, It follows two weekenders who spend their weekends balancing rocks and have been doing it for the last seven years.


The second is a project at cool(E)motion. A series of large rock sculptures were created hoping to draw attention to climate change.

The third group are photographs by Kurt of balanced rocks in upstate New York at Ashokan.

Interventions all, societal, political, spiritual and maybe even artistic.










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Au Natural Part 1

Being in Louisiana for a while has the effect of making one think about nature more than usual for a New Yorker. And when I spied this vine it made the usual connection to the work of Andy Goldsworthy.

I was also struck recently by a comment made by Cora Cohen when we were at the Joseph Beuys: Make the Secrets Productive exhibition currently at Pace Wildenstein. She reminded me of his idea of social sculpture as a gesamtkunstwerk. Whether that interaction is societal or political can depend on one's point of view. So is interacting with nature politically or automatically green? In my case, I am only a natural bystander, photographing things as I find them without any alterations as seen here, always looking for spots where nature mimics the man-made. In Andy Goldsworthy's case he does an active intervention via natural materials collected from the site. We are probably both descended from Beuys view of interaction although somewhat far afield.







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Ad Woman, Mad Woman

I've enjoyed watching Mad Men and have been curious about the potential for merchandising, fully expecting to see barware sets and fitted dresses with poufy skirts. What surprised me was when the New York Times covered the launch of the four Mad Men dolls for Mattel that come under the Barbie rubric. Surprising because in America dolls are very wholesome. Given Don Draper’s propensity for adultery, he and Betty may be firsts for the Barbie world as stand-ins for Barbie and Ken. The other two Mattel Madmen dolls represent Roger Sterling and his former mistress, Joan Holloway. They must be the first extra marital Barbies. The dolls come with period accessories like pearls and padded undergarments, but no cigarettes, martini glasses or cocktail shakers.






I have a major thing about Barbie not only because I grew up with her, but also because at Hyperspace Cowgirls we created a Game Boy game for Mattel, Barbie Fashion Pack, and because I love the work of artist, David Levinthal, who has two incredible Barbie books. They are, as are all his works, "political" and worth seeking out.

Lastly with my triple obsessions of Mad Men, Barbie and dress up, I discovered that one can Mad Men oneself. AMC's entertainment allows you to create your own persona within the Mad Men universe. Here I am the ground breaking first Jewish Creative Director at Sterling Cooper, meeting with Kurt and Donald Draper for drinks after work.




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03/20/10 On the Side

Yesterday in Chelsea to visit several galleries: Friedrich Petzel Charline Von Heyl; Alexander and Bonin Willie Cole; David Zwirner Marlene Dumas; Thomas Erbin Animate Matter; Paula Cooper Dan Walsh; Senior & Shopmaker Thomas Nozkowski; David Krut Print workshop William Kentridge; Mitchell-Innes & Nash Joe Bradley & Chris Martin; Cheim Read Bill Jensen. I went, I saw, and this is some of what I captured on the side.

Saints Preserve Us!

Saints preserve us! How Louisiana is that sentence? The night I saw/heard the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, they also showed a wonderful short animated film by Tancotoons. I've tracked it down...enjoy!