Thursday, November 18, 2010

I am very impressed with the turn posting has taken lately, so I thought I would contribute something along these new thought provoking lines. I intend to put a discourse on my reading habits and plans as well, but for now I will discuss my artistic interests.

First, this a show that Deborah and I are going to see this weekend.
http://www.corcoran.org/colorandlight/index.php.

I have found that I really enjoy modern art that focuses on clean lines and shapes, but in an organized way. I also really enjoy color, but again, I like clear definition rather than jumbles and swirls.

Within that realm, I really enjoyed an exhibit Deborah and I went to some time ago by Anne Truitt who constructed 3D artistic pieces. The pieces were all rectangular based shapes and often with interesting color schemes. http://annetruitt.org/

The other discovery I made was of Yinka Shonibare MBE. He designs still lifes of manequins dressed in colorfull costumes and staged in interesting constructed settings. He had an entire exhibit at the African Art museum here in DC (he is Nigerian, I believe) that include many of his sets and some photos of highly costumed scenes. Unfortunately, the largest set was ruined (in my opinion) by its overtly sexual depictions. I got what he was trying to say, but I still thought it detracted from his original and highly creative form. http://www.yinkashonibarembe.com/

I think I found this so interesting because it seemed to bridge my interest between art and design. While thought of as two separate fields, I believe they are intricately related (though you can have one without the other). If you have every walked down 5th Avenue in NYC and looked at the window displays of Bergdorf Goodman, you will see what I am talking about. In fact, I would make the arguement that fashion is probably the art that generates the largest following in the US (if not the world). For clarification, I am not including performance art such as music or cinema, though the runway shows are somewhat of performance art themselves. Some might argue that this more like artful design in some cases, but then is architecture art?

I discovered this photographer while wandering around SoHo. http://www.peterlik.com/tree-hope
It turns out he has many galleries, but I do like the vitality of his photos.

Lastly, I have grown to be very interested in cloth and textiles. I hope to decorate my man cave with great suit cloths I find. In fact, I would have to credit in men's clothing (both fashion and style) with openning up my interest in other design fields and now art.

A very big happy birthday wish for Christopher.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Some frequent reading

Great idea Chris, and thanks to Andrew for joining in. Here are some things I like to check, not every day but frequently.

Essays, reviews, articles:
Arts and Letters Daily

For witty and literate writing, by a retired medievalist:
Gladly Lerne and Gladly Teche

Germany:
Der Spiegel deutsch
Der Spiegel English

The best sports commentator in the state:
Dave Sittler

And to follow the on-going transformation of downtown Oklahoma City, check the very well-informed articles by Steve Lackmeyer that appear several times a week, along with his blog:
Steve Lackmeyer

Interesting finds

I heard about this site on the radio (yes, NPR). I think it appeals to the academic side of the family.

http://savethewords.org/

My Daily Reading List

I am in a good mood today, and I thought it would be fun to get an update from everyone on their favorite links that they read frequently. Specifically, I was hoping for a few of the quirkier or more specific links, since many of us probably look at the main pages for the WSJ, NYTimes, Washington Post and ESPN. Here are a few of my favorites:

News:
Thebrowser.com
The Economist
David Brooks
Sky & Telescope

Fitness:
Crossfit.com

Sports:
Stories on OU Football (of course)
Tuesday Morning Quarterback

Food:
Washington Post Food Section

Thursday, November 04, 2010

The Economist or Runner's World?

Choosing what to read is definitely a tough call...

IMG_3600

Monday, November 01, 2010

Fall Scene in the East


The climate grows cooler, the sunshine is less frequent, autumn arrives, but this young man is out taking a stroll.