Cai Guo-Qiang, Light Passage -- Autumn

I had seen this artist before but I fell in love with his work after seeing it in person in Philly. The photo definitely doesn't do his work justice. Guo-Qiang uses gun powder to create his works. He literally blows up his art. Yet the results look amazingly ephemeral and airy and I love it. This work represents a part of a four part series of the seasons. The coloring and the floating quality of this one makes me think of Fall. There was also an installation in the gallery called Fallen Blossoms where he hung a trail of golden leaves about ten feet from the ground. Again, amazingly beautiful. One of my new favorite artists to watch.

J.M.W. Turner, Burning of the Houses of Parliament

I adore Turner's work. I think he was really ahead of his time. This painting is just beautiful and I love the abstract quality of the brush work. The way that he is able to make the colors glow with that brilliant yellow is just phenomenal. I love that you can feel his passion through his paintings. Really fantastic image and I got to see it recently in Philadelphia.

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Haven't blogged in quite a while. Not sure why exactly. Partly a lack of inspiration, partly because my time has been consumed by a combination of work and John's visit. So John has been here a while and he's kind of moving in. I'm still fuzzy on the details. This has caused a bit of trouble with the roommate. I think things are going to be ok, but now there is a bit of animosity between the two.

Anyway, getting into the month of March has been a bit of a stress on me as far as my thesis goes. So far this semester, things have been very go with the flow and allow things to progress as they will. But after a progress meeting on Monday, my March is now full of imminent deadlines. By Monday, have a thesis. In two weeks, turn in an outline. And by the end of the month, finish a first draft. It's all somehow becoming very real. And I'm still struggling a bit to find a direction. I think I want to continue with environmentalism and feminism but I'm not really finding a way to combine the two approaches. Mini-scholarly crisis which has to be solved by Monday.

Once again, I'm going to attempt to recommit myself to this blog and post more often. Gotta find more art that gets me excited though. I wish I could be in NYC this weekend because it is the opening of the Whitney Biennial and the Armory Show. Two major events for contemporary art that I would kill to be a part of.

Black and Gold Super Bowl!!

So, it's Super Bowl Sunday and who would have thought that I'd be so invested in football. Really, I didn't jump on the bandwagon with the rest of the crowd once they started winning, although it seems that way. At the beginning of the season, I was living with John so I had no choice but to be excited about Saints football. Once he left, I got my roommate involved by telling her that their symbol is the fleur de lis. Anyway, it has been fun following a winning season and maybe I'll be a fan for life.

Update -- We WON!!! Such an exciting day for Louisiana.

100

I've been holding off on posting because this is my 100th and I felt like it should be commemorative in some way. I wanted it to be brilliant, and now it's just going to be sad. Because now something has come up and I definitely need a place to purge these feelings all over this blog.

My best boy got accepted to the Peace Corps today. I tried to sound supportive and encouraging when he told me earlier and I am sincerely proud of him, but he could see right through me and just kept asking if I was upset. At the time, I was ok; I knew that it was a definite possibility that he'd get in. But I didn't expect to hear it today; I didn't even know he had his interview today. And now that it's sunk in, I'm really sad. I'm just so disappointed. I graduate in May and he doesn't have a job so I thought we would finally have a chance to be together. It just seems like every time I see the light at the end of the tunnel, something happens and then the tunnel gets longer. I just don't know if we will ever be able to be together. I looked it up and he's going to be gone for over two years. He wants to make it work, wants me to visit and wants to stay together. He said it couldn't come at a better time cause we are stronger than ever. I agree that our relationship is stronger than ever but I don't think that I am. When he's gone, we will be talking even less than we do now and this is already killing me. I just don't know if our relationship can survive another long period of time away from each other. I want to make it work, I don't want to give up but I don't know if I can deal with being sad all the time. I just don't know if I'm strong enough. And I don't know why the universe seems to continually sabotage this relationship.

Richard Serra, The Matter of Time

So my inspiration is creeping back slowly. I've been inspired enough to find something I like, though not certain that I'm inspired enough to write something brilliant or telling. What I know is that I greatly enjoy Serra's sculpture. He is considered a Post-Minimalist in his earlier work although his style has changed a lot since the 1960s. Most of his later work are on a massive scale (as you can see from the people in this shot). Because of this our interaction with the works is really the most important part of the experience. He really has succeeded in creating environments that we enter into when viewing his work, both physically and visually. And again, I think there is something really beautiful about the form of his pieces. The color of these sculptures is particularly captivating and I think it adds an element of warmth to what would otherwise be cold, impersonal steel.

Anselm Kiefer, Engles

Still feeling uninspired, but I thought I'd post something anyway. I love this sculpture by Kiefer. Saw it in the Modern in Fort Worth and it was quite moving in person. I love the textures of his paintings. His works are extremely tactile. There is also something really beautiful and poetic about flight imagery. I love the combination here of flight and a book.

Update

School starts in a matter of days and I'm still stuck on a whack sleep schedule. Not good things to come, I have a feeling. I have to teach on Wednesday at 8:25 AM, so that'll be the test I think. I'm also considering sitting in on a couple of Sascha's classes this semester, just to keep things a bit more structured. I wanted to sit in on Judy's class but now I don't much want to see Judy. We'll see if she changes my grade. I just think things will be awkward because I have some resentment toward her. Now, I have to turn back to internships (and jobs) and start working on cover letter/writing samples once again. Oh what fun this will be. Also, can you apply for an internship and a job at the same place? Not really sure if that's a thing you can do, but the MCA in Chicago has a fellowship and a job I'd be interested in applying for. Unfortunately, with the laziness has come a lack of inspiration, in the artistic sense. Just haven't been motivated to update the blog as of late. I'm hoping to get back into it soon, but I've gotta find some motivating art.

Sorry for the stream of consciousness that seems to have snuck into this entry. Definitely part of the lack of motivation/inspiration going on.

When you and I are alone, I've never felt so at home

Spent the long weekend with John and it was pretty fantastic. Spending time with him always reminds me how much fun we have together and how much I really like him. At this point, things are just so comfortable. I can fully be myself and I can over-share as much as I like and although he sometimes rolls his eyes at me, he's always listening and caring for me. When I'm with him, I can literally feel just how much he loves me. It's really one of the best feelings in the world. I guess I am just looking for safety and stability after all. And even though we are still doing this thing long-distance, after this trip I feel like I have that.

And we did have the talk. Some might say that it was way overdue, but in some ways I think it had to happen when it made sense to us. And maybe the circumstances weren't ideal, but it felt right at this time. In some ways, I was waiting for someone else to come along and sweep me off my feet but at this point in my life I just don't know if that's gonna happen because my feelings for him are just so strong. I know that you can't anticipate what life will throw at you, but right now I'm just happy to be with him, despite the distance. This is the relationship that I want. Though now planning for next year becomes a bit more complex.

I've also been listening to Owl City a lot more and the 'Saltwater Room' is really moving me lately. "So tell me darling, do you wish we'd fall in love?/ All the time."

Louise Bourgeois, Arch of Hysteria

Louise Bourgeois is a very prolific female artist who started working in the late 1940s and is still alive today at the age of 98. She is quite fantastic and her work is extremely personal. Most of her art is about pain, physical and mental, that springs from her difficult childhood. This work is definitely a part of that, but at the same time it is uncannily beautiful. The form of the pieces is just incredibly striking. And the choice to create the piece in gold is magnificent. It has a feeling of opulence but at the same time is quite terrifying. I think her work is a great example of attraction/repulsion. I think there is just something about the form of the human body transformed into a circle that draws me in. There is something really wonderful about the purity of geometric form. Very Greenbergian of me.

On a related note, I think I might be a formalist. Still a feminist at heart, but I'm realizing my latest works have a real emphasis on form. Even some of my latest post as well.

Anticipation

John is coming in tomorrow and I'm just thrilled. I've been pining; it's ridiculous. It's just been such a long time and I miss him lots.

Sick Day

I absolutely hate being sick. I think it's the worst. It's just incredibly boring to be stuck in bed for days at a time with nothing to do but feel sorry for yourself. And let me tell you, the past few days I've gotten really good at feeling sorry for myself.

On a brighter note, I got an A on my Jackie Winsor paper and I'm really psyched. This is the first semester that I've actually gotten an A on a graduate school paper. That means things are finally looking up, I think. Anyway, now I'm certain that I'm going to work on her for my thesis. Unfortunately, Sascha says that I have to choose between the environmental angle and the feminist angle, which makes me squirm because I'm not sure I can pick one. I think I know that the environmental angle is more original and makes more sense but the I really don't want to drop the feminism because it really is who I am as an art historian, or who I want to be. One article she gave me combines the two in a successful way so I'm going to read it and see if I can somehow do the same. I'll let you know how it works out.

I'm going to spend the day editing the paper so I can use it as a writing sample for internship applications. I also have a cover letter to write so let's hope that somehow gets done as well.

Baby, it's cold outside!

This is my favorite Christmas song. In fact, I listen to it year round. The only thing Christmas-y about it is the fact that it talks about snow. But I love the story. It's great how he looks for any excuse to keep the girl around. Maybe it's just about sex, but I think the sentiment is really sweet. I just want someone that will make excuses to be with me.

Ben Lerman (He Plays the Ukelele)

Going to see Ben Lerman tonight in NOLA. So excited, I can't even tell you. I've never enjoyed musical comedy much before, but this guy is quite brilliant. Will report tomorrow on how the show goes.

Update -- Show was incredible. Really funny shit. Ben Lerman was on his game and had a killer set. I totally geeked out on him after the show and am a bit embarrassed about that now. I think the exact line was: "You're my favorite guest. Everybody probably says that, but I really mean it." Yeah. I was a little star-struck.

Judy Chicago, Dinner Party

Detail: Emily Dickinson place setting

This is a seminal work for the Women's Movement. Even though the ideas that this work embodies are problematic today, I think the piece is really meaningful and beautiful. Visiting the work at the Brooklyn Museum was like going on a pilgrimage and the experience was really spiritual for me. Chicago's goal was to make a work that included women where they were originally excluded. Men had the last supper, but women have dinner parties. The work is essentializing as it boils women down to the one thing that we all have in common, the vagina. She believed that the imagery containing a central core was something that existed with female art for centuries as well as something that modern women could relate to. The Dinner Party represents 39 significant women from history that contributed to the improvement of women's status within each time period. As we move through time, the plates get more and more three dimensional. My favorite place setting is Emily Dickinson's. I love the frilly lace that she uses on the plate.

I really could go on forever, but for this post I really wanted to just outline the merits of the piece, and not its faults.

Virtual Tour

Worst Week

Had a bad week consisting of numerous things that I don't want to share with the blogosphere. (Shocking, I know.) Now I'm just working to get home. Luckily the semester is almost over and by Monday I will be officially done. Really, it can't get here soon enough. I have never been this excited to get to LA in my life.

Paper Writing Wrap-Up

Paper writing marathon/Competition with Jess.

We make arbitrary deadlines and see who has more work done at those points.

So far we are each up $1. But tonight is the final round and the loser has to buy insomnia cookies.

Right now I'm at 2 pgs. for Egypt and 10 pgs. for American. Unfortunately, I have a few more things to add to the American...

And Egypt has way too many footnotes. Debating if I care/how this will affect my grade...

Thankful

Champagne tasting: great idea in theory.

Had way too much fun at Thanksgiving lunch this year. Was out by 7:30.

This year I'm thankful for my friends. Also thankful that I still have one more semester before I have to enter the real world. (At least grad school is good for something.)

Frederick Leighton, Flaming June

I love this painting. It is strikingly beautiful. The orange is so vibrant and lovely it really seduces you. Or me at least. It is part of the aesthetics movement in which artists were interested in creating art for art's sake (although the term came later). During this time the artists were interested in creating works that really demonstrated the play with the medium of paint. I love that they were interested in the craft itself and really making works that speak to this. Unfortunately, the works are also somewhat misogynist in that they most often show beautiful women that are lazy, sleeping, and passive. The stereotypical female during the 19th century.

More Whining

I hate not knowing what people are feeling. I don't understand why you just can't tell me outright. I know I'm the freak for telling everyone my feelings all of the time, but doesn't that make it easier for you? If you know, you don't have to wonder.

I hate fighting with the people I love. It seems like such a waste of time. I just want things to run smoothly and to resolve problems when they arise so I can sleep at night.