Exhibitions | Mountain Dale, One Acre Plot

Paul Jacobsen’s mobile dwelling

Finally a true "art in the land" exhibition not too far from New York City. One-Acre Plot is not only about casually placing sculptural objects in the landscape ---as the majority of outdoor art shows-- but truly interacts with the landscape. In the words of the curators Josh Druckman and Andrea Hill:

"Agrarian livelihood has historically depended on patience, observation, resourcefulness, physical struggle and a give (labor) and take (harvest), all which create a stake and long-term relationship with land. Majestic Farm is a 77-acre property in Mountain Dale, NY comprised of pasture, woods, livestock, garden, pond and barn. Stewarded by Brett and Sara Budde who wrestle daily with the realities of their vision, the farm is considered in this exhibition as a site of laborious intervention. Local Sullivan County artists and New York City based artists will make truly site specific work that is responsive to Majestic Farm or to facets of the agrarian principles in short-term residencies hosted by the farm."

One-Acre Plot is on view through July 10th. At the conclusion of the show, the property will be open to the public on appointment.

Majestic Farm

134 Majestic Road

Mountain Dale, NY

Michael DeLucia chain-link fence sculpture

Mark McNamara

Camminando........................................ | NYC :: Good Morning Sunshine!

It has become an habit in this hot and humid May to set up the alarm clock at 5am and make my way to the Central Park Belvedere. NYC streets at 5am offer a total different urban scape from the usual: very few cars and runners, still the background noise of the city starting its day. Entering the park I hear the usual concert of birds greeting the transition from darkness to light. It always amazes me how sounds can be associated to places ---I believe it is referred to as sound ecology.

My walkabouts take me through the Shakespeare Gardens and finally I arrive to my destination. Witnessing the sun rising is like being part of a ritual, one of the greatest rituals in the universe, which never misses to fill me with a sense of awe, while I quietly admire the beauty, experiencing what Giuseppe Ungaretti described:

M’illumino

D’immenso.

An for several minutes, I am queen of the castle. Good morning sunshine!

Performance ......................................... NYC | John Giorno "Lorca, Please Help Me" at Nicole Klagsbrun

Camminando........................................ | NYC :: Sun Rising at Central Park

Vernissage + Camminando | NYC, Chelsea + Hudson

Sun setting on the Hudson Waterfront

This evening I am finally feeling better and took my usual walkabouts---the phone tells me that I walked 7.6 miles.

In Chelsea I encountered the opening of Carsten Nicolai's moiré at the Pace gallery. Moire' patterns presented in many media and scale.

On my way back views of sunset along the Hudson, with the usual ship wreck ---if anybody knows the history please let me know.

Carsten Nicolai at the Pace Gallery

Thoughts | Words, Semantics and Arrongance

Yesterday I received an email from a PR person of a well known manufacturer exhibiting at the ICFF. She was upset because in my post I mentioned her firm product defining it "interesting but not new". She wrote that the product was new in the manufacturer line. Her email impressed me for two different reasons:

1. the lack of interpretation in the semantics of the word "new" I was referring to the overall meaning of the word new in the context of product design, not specifically to her manufacturer line
2. the language she used and arrogant tone of her letter

I removed the mention, and started wondering...and I feel quoting Francesco Guccini L'Avvelenata:

"Ma s' io avessi previsto tutto questo, dati causa e pretesto, le attuali conclusioni..."

PS Guccini in his lyrics writes of "quattro soldi"; I even don't get those from this blog....

Events NYC | Opening Night at the A&D Building: the Art and Design of Cooking

The A&D Building ---Architects and Designer Building--- hostedyesterday the annual Opening Night.

Many of the showrooms from the 58th Street building solely dedicated to interior design, opened to the public from 6 to 9 for an ongoing series of cocktail receptions flooded with White Cosmopolitan and Prosecco.

The majority of showrooms ---with the exception of B&B Italia--- presented kitchens, with an high-tech interpretation of cuisine in minimalistic stainless steels appliances and glass tile counter-tops.

The art of cooking was often illustrated by chefs preparing delicious hors d'oeuvres right on-site, as at the GE Monogram, where flat panel CCTV and video projection screen displayed in real time enlarged details of the cooking.

The epicurean atmosphere was completed by the enjoyment of views of the Bloomberg tower across the street.

More views of the Bloomberg Tower (Beacon Court)

The entrance of Davis and Warshow Showroom

Chef Heather at Bilotta Showroom

High-tech cooking: live video at the GC Monogram Showroom

Bamboo and Outdoor furniture at B B Italia

Design Fairs | NYC, ICFF at the Convention Center

Spring is in full bloom, so is ICFF, the 22nd annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City.

I have always enjoyed the fresh and innovative ideas, research on new materials often presented by the ICFF exhibitors, especially when compared to the usual stiffness and staleness of the recent current architectural projects in NYC.

The usual presence of established manufacturers --- such as Bernarhdt Design, Herman Miller, Kohler, Wilsonart --- is accompanied by a multitude of designers and schools, including Parson, the New School for Design, Pratt Institute, Yale School of Architecture. Particularly interesting among the design school is Art Future Design School from Russia, presenting furniture created from common Russian iconic objects, as matryoska.

"Green" and nature are the again the buzzwords in materials and design, often just used as cliché and quite questionable. Where is the sustainability of reclaimed wood imported from Asia ---what about transportation? And what is natural and sustainable in the recreation of trees, branches and flowers in steel and plastic?

Quite interesting ---although not new--- is the Canadian Molo line of products realized in non-woven polyethylene material, trade name Tyvek©. From modular walls to LED lighting this extremely lightweight material offers a very interesting vocabulary of forms.

Finally I found particularly of interest ---probably as related to my upcoming book on architectural geometry (to be published by Bentley Institute Press)--- the MGX by Materialise: functional and sculptural object realized in 3d-printing.

One missing element from the green + sustainability shebang: the human body.

Well, enough words; below a few images .

Tyvek© Walls and Lighting by Molo

3d Printing in Lighting Fixture by MGX by Materialise

LG Seating

LED Lightinh by QisDesign

calendar.............................................| New York, Rome, Paris, London..................| May 17-24

Tuesday, 10-16 | New York, Design

International Contemporary Furniture Fair | Javits Convention Center

Tuesday | International

see International Museum Day 2010 for locations and events

Tuesday, 16-20 | New York, Art Opening
Andrea Gentl, Martin Hyers Visible Light at Steuben Glass | 667 Madison Avenue

Wednesday 18-20 | Paris, Art Opening

Anselm Kiefer, Unfruchtbare Landschaften, at Yvonne Lambert | 108 Rue Vielle-du-Temple

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Monday, 18:30-20 | Rome, Parole Imagini e Musica

Woody Herman, Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Appunti sul Jazz, Biblioteca Giordano Bruno | Via Giordano Bruno 47

Monday, 10-17 (trade only) | New York, Design

International Contemporary Furniture Fair | Javits Convention Center

Monday, 18-21 | New York, Receptions

Opening Night, A& D Building | 150 E 58th Street

Monday, 19:30-21:30 | Benefit Auction

Exit Art | 475 Tenth Avenue

Exhibitions | Rome, Anselm Kiefer "Die Ordnung Der Engel"at Lorcan O'Neill

Regina Coeli

Anselm Kiefer opened his second solo show at the Galleria Lorcan O’Neill in Rome, Trastevere. Paintings are on display in the main gallery of via D'Orti d'Alimbert, while a sculpture and works on paper are installed in the gallery’s annex space in via della Lungara.

Quoting the gallery press release:

"Kiefer takes inspiration from sources ranging from Teutonic history, Norse mythology, and Judeo-Christian dogma to alchemy, cosmogony, and stellar astronomy. By using symbols and references from poetry and literature, he invokes humanity’s historical and spiritual past.

..........Themes of mortality, contrasted with humanity’s epic search for the secret of eternal life, are also important in Kiefer’s work. The tragic Greek mythological figure Leander and the Babylonian hero Gilgamesh figure prominently in Kiefer’s newest works on paper. Leander, who loses his life while swimming to meet his lover across the sea, stands in contrast to Gilgamesh, whose distressed reaction to his companion’s death takes the form of a quest for immortality.

Anselm Kiefer has made a new sculpture for the gallery’s annex space at the corner of via della Lungara. A celestial orb rests on the shoulders of the life-size sculptural figure, a new character in Kiefer’s group of “Women of Antiquity”. The orb, made of iron, contains gold and silver spheres that represent the sun and moon in orbit around planet Earth. Kiefer’s interest in women from ancient times highlights the remarkable strength, passion, power and dedication that females have brought to the realms of human knowledge, science and history. "

Galleria Lorcan O'Neill is located in via D'Orti D'Alimbert 1E and the exhibition will be open until September 20.

Die Ordnung der Engel

Thoughts | Why Axes Mundi

"axes" is the plural of the latin "axis"

I used “axes” instead of “axis” because "axes" is more appropriate for the plurality of the concept, beyond "antropocentric". The axis mundi is not a unique concept in my usage of the term: the axis mundis is the ritualization of the link between the perceiving self and the perceived universe, which makes a place sacred. It can be unique for each perceiving self at that time of that perception and ritualization. For instance the axis mundi for sun farm (my sacred place) is the center of East Spiral, which is marked with an orange buoy ---orange is the complementary color to the ideal blu of the water.

Mircea Eliade's The Sacred and the Profane deals extensively with axis mundi:

The cry of the Kwakiutl neophyte "I am the center of the world!" at once reveals one of the deepest meanings of sacred space. Where the break-through from plane to plane has been modified by a hierophany, there too an opening has been made, either upward (the divine world) or downward (the underworld, the world of the dead). The three cosmic levels ---earth, heaven, underworld--- have been put in communication. As we just saw this communication is sometimes expressed through the image of a universal pillar, axis mundi, which at once connects and supports heaven and earth...

Calendar........................................................... | May 10 - May 16

Friday 18:30 | Rome, Art Opening

Anselm Kiefer, Die Ordnung der Engel, Galleria Lorcan O'Neill | Via d'Orti D'Alibert 1

Friday, 18-20 | New York, Art Opening

"Reflection", Peter Blum Soho | 99 Wooster Street

Saturday, 10-17 | New York, Design

22nd International Contemporary Furniture Fair ICFF | JK Javits Convention Center |800-272-show

Saturday 18-20 | New York, Art Opening

Resurrectine, Ronald Feldman Fine Arts | 31 Mercer Street

Saturday 18-21 | New York, Cocktail Party (check for invitation)

Walt Disney Signature, Cappellini Showroom | 157 Wooster Street

Saturday 18-21 | New York, Cocktail Party (check for invitation)

Poltrona Frau, Milano Design Village | 157 Wooster Street

Saturday 18-21 | New York, Cocktail Party (check for invitation)

Flos, Milano Design Village | 152 Greene Street

Saturday 18-21 | New York, Cocktail Party (check for invitation)

Gaetano Pesce "Notturno", Cassina Showroom | 151 Wooster Street

Monday, 8:30-18:30 | NYC, Performance

Kate Gilmore, Walk the Walk, Public Art Fund | Bryant Park, Sixth Avenue at 41st Street

Sunday, 10-17 | New York, Design

22nd International Contemporary Furniture Fair ICFF | JK Javits Convention Center |800-272-show

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Monday, 18-20 | NYC, Book Signing

Annie Cohen-Solal, Leo & His Circle The Life of Leo Castelli , Gagosian Shop | 988 Madison Avenue

Tuesday, 8:30-18:30 | NYC, Performance

Kate Gilmore, Walk the Walk, Public Art Fund | Bryant Park, Sixth Avenue at 41st Street

Tuesday, 19-21 | NYC, Art Opening

Bas Princen, Refuge, Five Cities, Storefront for Art and Architecture | 97 Kenmare Street

Wednesday, 8:30-18:30 | NYC, Performance

Kate Gilmore, Walk the Walk, Public Art Fund | Bryant Park, Sixth Avenue at 41st Street

Wednesday, 8:30-18:30 | NYC, Artist Lecture

Harvey Tulcenksy "Notebook Project , Center for Book Arts | 28 W 27 Street

Thursday, 16:00-18:30 | Bari, Lectio Magistralis

Jannis Kounellis “Scirocco”, Universita' degli Studi | Piazza Umberto I

Thursday, 19:00 | NYC, Panel Discussion

Intersections: Social Issues in Contemporary Art, Remember the Upstair Lounge, No Longer Empty | 447 West 16 Street

Thursday, 8:30-18:30 | NYC, Performance

Kate Gilmore, Walk the Walk, Public Art Fund | Bryant Park, Sixth Avenue at 41st Street

Thursday, 19-22 | New York, Art Opening

Ray Sell, Stand Yer Ground, Leo Kesting Gallery | 812 Washington Street

Thursday, 16-21 | New York, Opening

Celebrate Contemporary Design, New York Design Center | 200 Lexington Avenue

Thursday, 18-20 | New York, Art Opening

Jeffrey Cyphers Wright, Roma Pas, Ruben Aubrecht, Selin Kocagoncu , AC | 547 W 27 Street

Thursday, 18-20 | New York, Art Opening

Laurent Millet "The Last Days of Immanuel Kant", Robert Mann Gallery | 210 11 Avenue

Thursday, 18-20 | New York, Art Opening

Justin Allen "Turquoise Afternoon", Robert Miller Gallery | 524 W 26 street,

Thursday, 18-20 | New York, Art Opening

Sean Henry, Forum Gallery | 745 Fifth Avenue

Thursday, 19-21 | Rome, Art Opening

Marco Tirelli, Oredaria | Via Reggio Emilia, 22-24

Friday, 8:30-18:30 | NYC, Performance

Kate Gilmore, Walk the Walk, Public Art Fund | Bryant Part, Sixth Avenue at 41st Street