USS Maine National Monument, Merchants’ Gate, Central Park
August 11th, 2019
Birded!
Tag: nyc
Coupled Up
In Central Park. How many pairs can you see?
Central Park, N.Y.
August 11th, 2019
Treasures from Chatsworth
François Boucher || A Young Woman, traditionally identified as Madame de Pompadour, 1752 || Black chalk with stumping and red chalk, heightened with white chalk, with touches of pastel 
Pippin Drysdale || Constellation VII, 2018 || Set of eight porcelain sculptures made by the artist in Western Australia – sitting on a Louis XIV style gilt bronze-mounted brass and tortoiseshell inlaid boulle marquetry commode by Charles-Guillaume Winckelsen, Paris, c.1867 
Pietro Tenerani || Psyche Abandoned, 1st half of the 19th century || Marble 
Raffelle Monti || Veiled Vestal Virgin, c.1846-47 || White marble 
Canaletto || Venice: A View of Santa Maria Salute and the Entrance to the Grand Canal from the Piazzetta, c.1729 || Oil on copper panel 
Canaletto || Venice: A View of the Doge’s Palace and the Riva Degli Schiavoni from the Piazzetta, c.1729 || Oil on copper panel 
John Singer Sargent || Evelyn, Duchess of Devonshire, 1902 || Oil on canvas 
Michael Leonard || Lady with a Little Bird, 1981 (Portrait of the current Duchess) 
Michael Leonard || Stoker and George (Portrait of the 12th Duke), 1981
[The current Duke of Devonshire is known as Stoker]
Lucian Freud || Woman in a White Shirt, 1958-60 || Oil on canvas 
Lucian Freud || Portrait of a Man, 1971-72 || Oil on canvas 
Treasures from Chatsworth: The Exhibition, a rare chance to view some of the pieces comprising the legendary Chatsworth House Collection, was on show at Sotheby’s New York, in 2019.
August 11th, 2019
Laura ad infinitum
Michael Craig-Martin, Digital portrait of Laura, Lady Burlington, 2010. The computerized portrait is live, changing colors every 5 – 15 seconds. The program randomly selects the color and duration of each unique sequence.
The portrait was commissioned by Lord and Lady Burlington, the son and daughter-in-law of the 12th Duke of Devonshire.
Using a black line portrait of Lady Burlington, Craig-Martin’s software divides the image into nine different color areas (hair, skin, lips, eyebrows, etc.). A 52″ monitor projects the portrait, which is vertically mounted to resemble a typical framed painting. The software changes the color of the image every 5 to 15 seconds, but this is no loop – instead, the software is programmed to randomly select the colors and timing of each sequence, resulting in millions of possible image combinations. The result is truly a sight to behold.
Born in Dublin, Ireland, artist Craig-Martin attended the Yale University School of Art before working as a tutor at Goldsmiths College in London; Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin are just two of the many young artists he taught. His work is found in a number of public collections, including the Irish Museum of Modern Art, New York’s Museum of Modern Art, New York, Tate and the Centre Pompidou.
Laura’s portrait was one of the Treasures from Chatsworth: The Exhibition, on show at Sotheby’s New York, in 2019.
August 11th, 2019
Shadows of Investigation
The United Nations under X-Ray.
Caitlin Blanchfield and Farzin Lotfi-Jam || Modern Management Methods
An investigation of the United Nations Headquarters building through archival documents and X-rays.
Open Call: Group 2 @The_Shed [JUN 19 – AUG 25, 2019]
August 3rd, 2019
Shadows of Sacrifice and Relief
Analisa Teachworth || Tribute Pallet
Open Call: Group 2 @The_Shed [JUN 19 – AUG 25, 2019]
August 3rd, 2019
Shadows of Solace
Prickles and Tickles
Open Call: Group 2 @The_Shed [JUN 19 – AUG 25, 2019]
August 3rd, 2019
It’s all just a love contest || The Shed
Launched as part of The Shed’s inaugural year program, Open Call was a large-scale commissioning program for early-career NYC-based artists.
”Poetry Slot Machine rewards participants with poems by 14h-century Persian poet Hafiz instead of the chance winning of money. Participants pull the handle to reveal a set of randomized passages from Hafiz’s poetry, traditionally read for guidance for the future.”
This was my reward.
Open Call: Group 2 @The_Shed [JUN 19 – AUG 25, 2019]
August 3rd, 2019
The prison with the best view ever
In Castle Williams, which was built in the early 19th century to protect New York Harbour, then used as a prison during the Civil War, following which the US Army improved the facilities by adding insulation, heating, running water, and, eventually, electricity, and used it as a US Army Prison. In 1915, it was made a branch of the Fort Leavenworth Disciplinary Barracks, of which the prison facility at Alcatraz in San Francisco was also a branch.
When they weren’t admiring the view to Manhattan and New York Harbour, inmates were listening to music from a Victrola (record player) they had purchased with money they had made taking in laundry, or took typing and steno lessons, offered through the Y.M.C.A., likely taught by female volunteers. And, while in Alcatraz, the prisoners had the backbreaking task of building their own cells out of heavy stones, ”hard labour” at Governors Island meant mowing the lawns. There were those that tried to escape, of course, but it was not an uncommon to see soldiers who had gone AWOL surrender themselves outside of the Battery Maritime Building, hoping to be imprisoned at Castle Williams.
Anyway, “Castle Bill”, as it was lovingly called by its residents, remained a branch of the US Army Disciplinary Barracks until Governors Island’s closure as an Army base in 1966. The Coast Guard did not maintain a prison in Castle Williams but readapted it for their own needs by using it as a community center featuring arts and crafts classrooms, a ballet studio, meeting rooms for the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, a daycare room, and a teen club.
And when, in 1996 all Military and Coast Guard operations seized, the enlisted men, women and their families that lived on the island year-round departed, living behind them a small town. Since then, the facilities – the island itself, are slowly being converted into a public park.
It still has the best views to Manhattan and New York Harbour.
Info source: nps.gov & govisland.com
Governors Island
July 7th, 2019
The Humble Fabulist 