8.17.2004
WHERE WILL WE BE ONE MONTH FROM TODAY?
(a game we like to play)
The answer? The USA!
(I really didn't mean for this to be so annoyingly rhymey.)
I can almost taste the biscuits at Dot's Diner...
+ + + + +
But right now I'm being jostled into the present, sipping tea at the counter of the cafeteria car on the train from Bilbao to Madrid. My tea remains unsweetened -- I've sacrificed flavor for art (as one should, if need be). The sugar packet contains a small plastic spoon in its own attached compartment (!) and will be a unique specimen in my treasured sugar packet collection.
In fact, the point of our trip to Bilbao (and the theme of our European segment) was art. A pilgrimage of sorts to the Guggenheim designed by architect Frank Gehry (opened in 1997). I've had a small photo of this inspired masterpiece taped to my computer for two years, and the desire to visit in person. Equal parts sculpture and building, this art museum -- sublime, sensual, lyrical, functional -- represents to me the best of human nature applied, and heralds optimism for our future.
Immense arced walls of titanium curve into towering cathedrals of glass grounded by smooth limestone blocks. Exterior moves to interior which connects back thoughtfully to exterior with windows to the river setting and city beyond. (See link at right for photos and history)
The museum houses an equally inspired collection of Modern and contemporary art, beginning outside the entrance with the playful "Puppy" by Jeff Koons, a 3-storey sculpture of a terrier covered with a skin of live flowers.
We spent the entire day immersed in the works of James Rosenquist, Mark Rothko, Bill Viola, Gerhard Richter, Jenny Holzer, Jim Dine, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and others. It was one of the highlights of my whole trip. After all, "art is why I get up in the morning" (to borrow a line from Ani DiFranco).
+ + + + +
Backing up a bit ... after our relaxing week in the Alps at the Rifugio Boccalatte with Luke and Lucy, we hiked to another (busier and less friendly) rifugio on the popular "Tour du Mont Blanc" route. Our packs are getting quite heavy, so two days of backpacking was plenty (the whole tour takes 10).
From Courmayeur, we took the train to a quaint city called Como, on a beautiful glacial lake in the foothills north of Milan. We had an idyllic couple of days, window-shopping for Italian shoes, feeding the birds, eating, and biking around the lake.
Milan was like a ghost town -- apparently all of Southern Europe heads to the Mediterranean for the month of August. Luckily, the city's main attraction, the Duomo (Gothic cathedral) remained open. I felt very small inside.
+ + + + +
We flew from Milan to Barcelona on my birthday, and spent most of the day dragging luggage around looking for a hotel. The Dramamine and PMS combined with the heat didn't help my mood. These are the moments I really notice how weary I am of being homeless and living out of bags. Erik was remarkably good-natured despite my crankiness (one of his gifts), and we managed to have a lovely celebration that evening at a local tapas bar.
We spent almost a week in Barcelona, drinking in the outstanding art museums (plus a day lazing on the Mediterranean). From Antonio Gaudi (another outstanding architect) to Dali to Miro, Picasso, Tapies -- Barcelona was a veritable art history lesson. One of my favorite exhibits was at the Miro museum, titled, "The Failure of Beauty :: The Beauty of Failure".
"The exhibition is about how great dreams and utopias that seem so splendid in the abstract are doomed to failure when we try to materialise them, because they presuppose an entirely new, ideal society that can never exist." (see link at right)
My favorite pieces were a prescient portrait of the twin towers by Joseph Beuys titled "Cosmos and Damien"; photos of precarious arrangements of everyday objects: "Equilibrium is at its most beautiful shortly before it collapses."; and some interesting drawings of utopian architecture (i.e. immense glass structures spanning the alps.)
Another favorite exhibition (along the same lines) was called "Art and Utopia: Limited Action"
(see link at right). It proposes that the poetry of Stephen Mallarme was a precursor to modern art, with its hold on language and its dissemination. The exhibition was a confluence of poetry, typography and visual art. Wonderful.
One of my favorite quotes from the exhibit: "This is not hell, but a street; not death, but a fruit stand." -- Ovind Fahlstrom
+ + + + + `
"The art of our time is noisy with appeals for silence." -- Susan Sontag
(a game we like to play)
The answer? The USA!
(I really didn't mean for this to be so annoyingly rhymey.)
I can almost taste the biscuits at Dot's Diner...
+ + + + +
But right now I'm being jostled into the present, sipping tea at the counter of the cafeteria car on the train from Bilbao to Madrid. My tea remains unsweetened -- I've sacrificed flavor for art (as one should, if need be). The sugar packet contains a small plastic spoon in its own attached compartment (!) and will be a unique specimen in my treasured sugar packet collection.
In fact, the point of our trip to Bilbao (and the theme of our European segment) was art. A pilgrimage of sorts to the Guggenheim designed by architect Frank Gehry (opened in 1997). I've had a small photo of this inspired masterpiece taped to my computer for two years, and the desire to visit in person. Equal parts sculpture and building, this art museum -- sublime, sensual, lyrical, functional -- represents to me the best of human nature applied, and heralds optimism for our future.
Immense arced walls of titanium curve into towering cathedrals of glass grounded by smooth limestone blocks. Exterior moves to interior which connects back thoughtfully to exterior with windows to the river setting and city beyond. (See link at right for photos and history)
The museum houses an equally inspired collection of Modern and contemporary art, beginning outside the entrance with the playful "Puppy" by Jeff Koons, a 3-storey sculpture of a terrier covered with a skin of live flowers.
We spent the entire day immersed in the works of James Rosenquist, Mark Rothko, Bill Viola, Gerhard Richter, Jenny Holzer, Jim Dine, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and others. It was one of the highlights of my whole trip. After all, "art is why I get up in the morning" (to borrow a line from Ani DiFranco).
+ + + + +
Backing up a bit ... after our relaxing week in the Alps at the Rifugio Boccalatte with Luke and Lucy, we hiked to another (busier and less friendly) rifugio on the popular "Tour du Mont Blanc" route. Our packs are getting quite heavy, so two days of backpacking was plenty (the whole tour takes 10).
From Courmayeur, we took the train to a quaint city called Como, on a beautiful glacial lake in the foothills north of Milan. We had an idyllic couple of days, window-shopping for Italian shoes, feeding the birds, eating, and biking around the lake.
Milan was like a ghost town -- apparently all of Southern Europe heads to the Mediterranean for the month of August. Luckily, the city's main attraction, the Duomo (Gothic cathedral) remained open. I felt very small inside.
+ + + + +
We flew from Milan to Barcelona on my birthday, and spent most of the day dragging luggage around looking for a hotel. The Dramamine and PMS combined with the heat didn't help my mood. These are the moments I really notice how weary I am of being homeless and living out of bags. Erik was remarkably good-natured despite my crankiness (one of his gifts), and we managed to have a lovely celebration that evening at a local tapas bar.
We spent almost a week in Barcelona, drinking in the outstanding art museums (plus a day lazing on the Mediterranean). From Antonio Gaudi (another outstanding architect) to Dali to Miro, Picasso, Tapies -- Barcelona was a veritable art history lesson. One of my favorite exhibits was at the Miro museum, titled, "The Failure of Beauty :: The Beauty of Failure".
"The exhibition is about how great dreams and utopias that seem so splendid in the abstract are doomed to failure when we try to materialise them, because they presuppose an entirely new, ideal society that can never exist." (see link at right)
My favorite pieces were a prescient portrait of the twin towers by Joseph Beuys titled "Cosmos and Damien"; photos of precarious arrangements of everyday objects: "Equilibrium is at its most beautiful shortly before it collapses."; and some interesting drawings of utopian architecture (i.e. immense glass structures spanning the alps.)
Another favorite exhibition (along the same lines) was called "Art and Utopia: Limited Action"
(see link at right). It proposes that the poetry of Stephen Mallarme was a precursor to modern art, with its hold on language and its dissemination. The exhibition was a confluence of poetry, typography and visual art. Wonderful.
One of my favorite quotes from the exhibit: "This is not hell, but a street; not death, but a fruit stand." -- Ovind Fahlstrom
+ + + + + `
"The art of our time is noisy with appeals for silence." -- Susan Sontag
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