The nine-part, 40-ton stone sculpture provides seating atop a hill with sweeping views of the Art Center fields, creating a functional spaces for personal interaction. While gathering the stones for the piece near his studio on the island of Shikoku in Japan, Noguchi managed to split a huge boulder; it reminded him of Momotaro, an ancient Japanese folk hero who was born from a peach pit. The intrepid Sarah M. patiently transcribed a handwritten letter the artist wrote describing how he created it:
Having embarked on a carving of granite so easily recognized as belonging to myth, there was nothing to do but follow the instructive and not premeditated promptings the composition came to demand. Quite different from the vague idea I had in mind. It forced its way, even to the discovery of the peach pit into which a person may crawl, there to meditate inside the sculpture reverberating with the Buddhist word OM.
A place to go to. It may also be recognized as a metaphor for man as end and as beginning, a mirror to the passage of the sun. read more…
We are thrilled to publish some of resident photographer Ellen Silverman‘s work from a forthcoming exhibit at the Umbrella Arts’ gallery in New York City, “Spare Beauty: The Cuban Kitchen” her ongoing project.
This past year I travelled to Cuba three times; having a strong interest in food and food photography, the kitchen was a natural subject for me to focus on. I was welcomed into homes where I found sparse spaces, where time has stopped. Due to years of lack of money, supplies and equipment, many Cubans have been forced to adapt and improvise. These photographs reflect the personalities and circumstances of those who inhabit them. If you are unable to come to the gallery please take a few minutes to go to my website and view the photographs online.
We spotted this very intriguing question on our friend Tara Mann‘s site; it’s the title of an exhibition at Parsons. Tara took this instagram in the lobby: just a question.
(Video link here.) This video of Josef Albers‘ paintings from his series “Homage to the Square” is from a show opening at the Centre Pompidou in February. We find it a delight: refreshing and illuminating at the end of a long day. It wakes our eye to color AND gives us endless practical inspiration for applying paint in our own spaces.
(Video link here.) We love this installation at one of Issy Miyake’s stores: computer-controlled electric fans sending little gusts and sculpting an ethereal fabric. We wish we could translate the idea to home but think it’s beyond our reach. BUT we could take the idea of the etched-looking floor that we saw early on in the video, read more…
A friend once told us that when she was young, she learned to draw from Ed Emberley’s Drawing Book: Make a World. We recently checked it out, and loved how Emberley breaks down a drawing: using simple shapes as building blocks, you create objects and faces one piece at a time. Even those of us who aren’t artistically inclined can follow along. read more…
(Video link here.) Last week, Open Culture ran two incredibly illuminating videos in tandem: the first, below, is the comedian Louis C.K telling of being at a low point in his career, having done the same old comedy routine for 15 years and getting nowhere, when he happened to hear George Carlin talk about how he came to figure out who he REALLY was, and the work he was really meant to do. Carlin’s example totally changed Louis C.K.’s life, eventually bringing him massive success. The second video, above, was Carlin telling part of the story C.K. heard. The story of Carlin’s process of becoming is interesting and valuable; as usual we notated the essential bits.
I realized…that I didn’t fit. And here’s what was missing: I was missing who I was.
What I really was was an outlaw and a rebel…I didn’t give a shit. It’s important in life if you don’t give a shit. It can help you a lot. read more…
This uplifting bit of graffiti brings out the guerilla in us. We don’t WE become anonymous graffiti artists and leave uplifting (and impermanent) messages around town? All it would take is carrying a piece of chalk (easy to carry)… read more…
We love of images of people jumping and leaping and have posted quite a few: they seemed like apt visual metaphors for a life principle, of being willing to take leaps…risk…or just jump for joy. In 1959 , photographer Philippe Halsman published a series of famous people jumping. Our favorite is Eva Marie Saint, leaping with such joyous abandon.
It’s clear to us that when you jump, no matter who you are, you jump -if only a little – out of your usual stance, witness Halsman’s picture of the Duke and Dutchess of Windsor. read more…
We’ve written before about Tom Sachs, an artist whose philosophy of making we really love. Sachs’ work, like the chair seen above, shows its seams, and doesn’t conform to the idea that a piece of art – or anything – is ever “finished.” We recently came across this quote from Sachs; his attitude about transparency in design, and the idea that if you can see how things are made, you can fix them and improvise with them, really resonates. read more…
(Video link here.) When we’re introduced to a venture, our first impulse is always to ask: what’s the story behind it? What were the seeds of the idea that grew into a fully realized project? It’s the stories that win us over, which is why we’re are so taken with Jam in the Van.
Based in Venice, CA, Jam in the Van is the project of music fans looking for an uncommercialized, authentic music experience. Armed with an old Winnebago that they’ve turned into a state-of-the-art recording studio, these guys invite musicians to perform, film the unique performances, and put much of it online for free (scroll down for the current list of musicians). Music fans get to discover new artists or check out fantastic live-versions of their favorite tracks, and small independent artists get amazing free publicity. It’s such a rare and beautiful thing to see a project come together sheerly out of passion and drive. read more…
(Video link here.) It’s been an eerily snow-less winter in New York City. With the exception of a single January snowfall there has been nothing—and we kind of miss it. This post is in honor of the snow we think may be on its way…and the possibilities it brings with it.
We wrote a couple of summers ago about artist Jim Denevan and his large-scale sand drawings which totally transformed how we think about playing in the sand. Now our attention has been called to his work with snow and ice. In 2010, Denevan made the largest piece of artwork in the world on the surface of Lake Baikal in Siberia. This nine-mile spiral of circles over the ice is stunning and allows us to once again completely re-imagine the possibilities of using snow as/in art. read more…
Recently we wrote about the ins and outs of selling your books online; one comment inquired about our collection of old art books and whether or not we would sell them directly to readers. While we can’t delve into the world of online sales right now, we DO want to point you to this great FREE online art resource: the Guggenheim has put 65 gorgeous modern art books online for anyone to access.
Last week Mondoblogo posted two photos taken at Art Basel of wonderful geometrically-painted walls with doors (they are part of the blog’s illuminating challenge to identify what is actual “art” and what is not). The top is “Final Cut” by artist Ernst Caramelle. The second “a random door”…
We’re putting them in our file of cool ideas for painting a room with a door. read more…
. We recently checked it out, and loved how Emberley breaks down a drawing: using simple shapes as building blocks, you create objects and faces one piece at a time. Even those of us who aren’t artistically inclined can follow along. 
