Black Friday

Took a trip to Long Island City, Queens to the Socrates Sculpture Park. There seemed to be a home or housing theme. This was my favorite:And then to the Noguchi Museum which was a peaceful experience.
click to enlarge.

Thou Shall Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Wife

or apartment.
Can you see the tree that is growing through the roof of the factory?

Apt with view off the Jefferson Stop
Brooklyn, NY

Autumn In New York

Devoe St. Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Autumn has always been my favorrite season. Here in New York the leaves are in the middle-to-end phase of changing color. The sun has been difussed by a thin sheet of clouds for the last week making everything dreamy.

Billie Holiday sings Autumn in New York

I hope you all have a lovely thanksgiving

Nietzsche's Master-Slave Morality

Tension stirred as Tosca swatted at Zoey in his poorly chosen hidding place. Zoe made a move. He had to. With Tosca positioned on his right he had a clear shot from underneath the couch to the hallway. The dirty clothes pile in the bedroom promised safety if he burrowed quickly. Snap. Whap. Zoe was down before he passed the coffee table. I grabbed the spray bottle filled with water. It was time from human intervention. But before I took aim the strangest thing started happening. The wrestling ceased. Tosca's front and back legs laid over Zoe's body. Their bodies curved seamlessly with Zoe's back lining his predator's chest and belly. They held this pose motionless for whole minute.
Master Morality
Nietzsche defined master morality as the morality of the strong-willed. For these men the 'good' is the noble, strong and powerful, while the 'bad' is the weak, cowardly, timid and petty. Other qualities that are often valued in master moralities are open-mindedness, courage, truthfulness, trust and a sense of self-worth. -wiki
Slave Morality
They are particularly wary of the things that their oppressors value as "good". The essence of slave morality is utility: the good is what is most useful for the community as a whole. Since the powerful are few in number compared to the masses of the weak, the weak gain power vis-a-vis the strong by treating those qualities that are valued by the powerful (the things that cause their own unsatisfactory condition) as "evil," and those qualities that enable sufferers to endure their lot or improve their condition as "good." -wiki

Why Man Creates

by Saul Bass

No One Belongs Here More Than You. by Miranda July

"With one foot in the bath, I stood waiting for her to return. I waited an unreasonably long time, long enough to realize that she wouldn't be back tonight. But what if I waited it out, what if I stood here naked until she returned? And then, just as she walked in the front door, I could finish the gesture, squatting in the then-cold water." -Something That Needs Nothing

Miranda has a knack for indulging thoughts and vunerabilities that most of us try to forget. I am particularly fond of the story's title.

Weekend: Party Animal

Much of Zoey's weekend was spent looking adorable.
At least 20 mins. of my weekend was spent rummaging through a bin of plastic dinosaurs. This one was the best.
Sidebar: be sure to drop by YDA and watch this great find.

Adam Parker Smith

fun stuff at Prinska C. Juschka

All In Favor Say Lightsaber

Most of you have already seen this but lets just make sure.via Mervopolis
Another refreshing take on advertising here. thanks b

Sam Winston

Winston is featured in the latest issue of Grafik Magazine. I think a show between he and Marian Bantjes would be almost unbelievable. It would at least be a beautiful dialogue.

Unite!

Charlie Chaplin is brilliant. thanks s

Columbia MFA Student Work

Since we were just talking about Ms. Walker, I went to check out the work at Columbia University.

below work by Yasue Maetake
reminds me a little of Louise Bourgeois...
below work by Dasha Shishkin
Are we playing peeping tom here? I don't think so but I did at first. Is this talking about society? What's the dirt for? Its funny, I feel embarrassed for people when they openly ponder the meaning of a piece of "art" or used the word are in public, unless they are a close friend. Anyway, I am intrigued by the image.below work by Mara Sprafkin
I imagine that this is a piece on how much waste we produce.

Kara Walker

Previously at the MET, Kara Walker now has an exhibition at the Whitney. She is well known for her silhouetted images that explore race, gender, sexuality, violence and identity. In 1997, at the age of 28, she was one of the youngest people to receive the MacArthur fellowship. In 2007 she was listed among Time Magazine's 100 most influencial people in the world of arts and entertianment. She now teaches for the MFA program at Columbia University. I will also shamelessly mention that her father was the Chair of the Art Department at Georgia State University, my alma mater. holler if ya heard...

Buckminster Fuller

While researching for another post wiki lead me to a page full of Buckminster Fuller quotes.
Quickly: Richard Buckminster Fuller was an American visionary, designer, architect, poet, author, and inventor. He was the second President of Mensa. Read more here.
I especially love those on the potential of the independent mind.

"It is not for me to change you. The question is, how can I be of service to you without diminishing your degrees of freedom?"

"I never try to tell anybody else what to do, number one. And number two, I think that’s what the individual is all about. Each one of us has something to contribute. This really depends on each one doing their own thinking, but not following any kind of rule that I can give out, any command."

"There is something patently insane about all the typewriters sleeping with all the beautiful plumbing in the beautiful office buildings — and all the people sleeping in the slums."

"Thinking is a momentary dismissal of irrelevancies"
-Buckminster Fuller

Met Sketches

I love the simplicity, the line weight...I think the way the lines curve and curl reallly capture the nature of the statues. Not sure that I articulated that well... me like.
by Santiago Castaño
Sketches of sculpture from the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Masculin, Feminin

Another great Santi pick, Jean-Luc Godard's Masculin, Feminin, 15 Fatis Precis. One of these precise facts being, "This film could be called The Children of Marx and Coca-Cola." I won't repeat the informative wiki entry but I will profess my love for non sequiturs in films. (I'm sure this would follow true with books as well if any one cares to make some recommendations.) Its a low budget black and white film with gorgeous young things working through thoughts on love, sex, politics and individual ambitions. And these non sequiturs, these tangents... well Santi suggested that they were to remind us that we were watching a film and with the medium comes the freedom in conduct. I also think maybe each of these odd vignettes explores a philosophy of fate or living...this thought isn't quite complete ...Tell me what you think if you watch it.

Rot Mouth

Tosca has had teeth pulled before. Four to be exact. Hopefully this extraction proceedure will be the last. Yesterday I brought him home with 7 less teeth, including one fang. Yes, yes, I am taking care of him. His blood work is perfect and I feed him "natural " food... he's just got a rotton mouth. Maybe its his karma for crying though the night and sh*tting outside his box. I digress, this is a somewhat cruel line of pondering and his karma is really none of my business. Anyway the vet gave him an anesthetic and he was still coming to when we arrived home. This drugged out behavior was highly amusing. He was like any drunk person: motor skills are clearly affected but ambition in tact. He insisted on a wobbley accent to the table top despite my efforts to keep him safe on the floor. But no worries, he spent the rest of the evening starring with dialated eyes at the patterned formica. One can only assume what goes through a cat's mind in this state. Sidebar: Santi's new lamp in the background. I am a fan! Also it makes me think that Tosca should be a lamp for Halloween.

Circle Line

Dad came in town last weekend and we took the 3 hr. Circle Line boat ride around Manhattan. Lots of amazing bridges and very educational! I highly recommend it. We started at around 49th start on the west side and moved down toward the statue of liberty, around the tip, up...and so on until we had circled the island.
Here are some photos.

The Cat Came Back

thanks Santi

Have a Heart