Poetry | Why Is Everything I Know Wrong? | by Gavin Keeney

WHY IS EVERYTHING I KNOW WRONG?

Who is it
That has proved
Ethics superior
To morals?
Who is it
That has shown
Naturalism
Is best?
What force
Has made money
The Answer
To All;
The negation
Of anything
Remotely divine?

Who is it
That knows
To argue the law
Is to argue for rules
That in essence
Destroy
Both virtue
And truth,
Both morals
And laws;
What passes
As law
Is the passing
Of laws.

GK (01/21/11)

Vernissages NYC | "The Clock" @ Paula Cooper Gallery

Photo credit: Paula Cooper Gallery

Time is the centerpiece of "The Clock" the 24-hour long video work by Christian Marclay, premiered in the US at Paula Cooper Gallery tonight: a 24-hour screening started at 6 pm and will end at 6pm tomorrow.

The French artist edited a multitude of film excerpts 'quoting" the passage of time. Many different timepieces, including clock towers, wristwatches and alarm clocks,
narrate the passage of time synchronized with the actual time when the video screening happens in the gallery.

As an artist myself working with different concepts and manifestation of time I found "The Clock" very clever and quite intriguing ---yet lacking of depth. It was entertaining and amusing, and definitely a tremendous effort (I would like to learn more about "the making"); a question I kept asking myself going back home in this extremely cold night was "Why"?

But I don't think a question often asked in the contemporary art scene at least in mainstream NYC art galleries.

24-hour screenings will be organized every Friday through Saturday during the course of the exhibition beginning at 10 am. More information can be found here.

Vernissages | NYC, Chelsea January 20

L'insoutenable légèreté de l'être @ Yvon Lambert

L'insoutenable légèreté de l'être @ Yvon Lambert | Christian Boltanski

L'insoutenable légèreté de l'être @ Yvon Lambert | CerythWynEvans

L'insoutenable légèreté de l'être @ Yvon Lambert | Theo Mercier

L'insoutenable légèreté de l'être @ Yvon Lambert | Dennis Adams

L'insoutenable légèreté de l'être @ Yvon Lambert | Lawrence Weiner

John Beech The State of Things @ Peter Blum

Thoughts | Cross Country Skiing and Buddhist Change

Views of Sun Farm while skiing

“Everything changes, nothing remains without change.”
Gautama Siddharta,563-483 B.C.

Buddhist thinking focuses on change and transformation as characteristics of reality. It is in the Buddhist philosophy and spiritual practices. I always understood this essential interpretation of reality at an intellectual level but only recently I have started to experience at a personal level how adapting to change is the most fulfilling way of living. It so not as easy for me as I make it sound, a very bumpy road with a lot of switchbacks, just to use a quite common metaphor. But still learning to appreciate the possibilities instead of following out of reach desires, can bring unexpected and rewarding surprises.

A few days ago I had a quite important experience which may sound very banal: A few days ago I had a quite important experience which may sound very banal: for the first time in nine years I wore a pair of skis and went cross country skiing.

On February 17 2002 I had a major down hill injury, caused by somebody else (not by surprise he is a partner in a large NYC corporate architectural office) lack of attention, which resulted in a broken femur, 3 surgeries, 6 weeks on a wheelchair, intense physical therapy. Although I totally recovered, reaching a fitness level higher than before the injury, I was totally terrified about skiing.
Until I finally reached the conclusion that downhill skiing was not the right activity: not only for the implicit great risk of being victim of accidents because of somebody else's carelessness, but because is highly invasive of the natural landscape and not sustainable. At this stage of my life I am trying to be very sensitive to environmental concerns so even without the fear caused by the accident downhill skiing would not be appropriate for my ecological awareness.
So I for the first time in my life I tried cross country skiing, and really enjoyed the peacefulness and closer connection with nature brought by this winter activity.

Camminando | Biscayne Bay, Flagler Memorial

photos and text by Irene Sperber

Flagler Memorial - A 96 ft obelisk located on the 2 acre man-made Monument Island in Biscayne Bay is visible from downtown Miami and the western side of South Beach. Four 18 foot Italian hand carved cast-stone statues cling to each corner of the obelisk representing, pioneering, industry, engineering and prosperity. It was restored in 2009 after years of neglect.

Built in 1921 by the founder of Miami Beach, Carl Fisher; the monument was erected to honor Henry Flagler who built the Florida East Coast Railway, opening up South Florida to support his hotel ventures up and down the coast all the way to Key West.

Late day sun skimming across Biscayne Bay as a storm darkly gathers on the horizon creating a dynamic light

Typical daylight in Biscane Bay

The Memorial with downtown Miami in the background

Performances and Vernissages | NYC, January 14

Yesterday, during my walkabouts in very cold NYC evening I unexpectedly ran into two quite stimulating events.

Mark Borthwick music and video images performance at Martos Gallery, was quite evocative and totally immersive. It unusually involved all the five senses, with the smell of burning incense and even taste ---from the food offerings prepared impromptu on the gallery floor.





The Camera Club of New York presented self portraits of Linda Salerno, Selections from the Black Mirror Series, curated by Allen Frame and Martin Kunz, a series of experimental large scale photographs.
The exhibition was presented in collaboration with Centro Luigi Di Sarro in Rome.

Events | ART DECO WEEKEND 2011 Miami Beach

A Deco Car and the Parade -photo credit: Irene Sperber

ART DECO WEEKEND 2011 Miami Beach

Friday, January 14, 2011 - Noon - 11PM
Saturday, January 15, 2011 - 10AM - 11PM
Sunday, January 16, 2011 - 10AM - 8PM

For 25 years Miami’s South Beach has been honoring the historic Art Deco District with a variety of themes highlighting the era 1925-1945.

This year’s Theme: SELLING GLAMOUR & STYLE (1920s and 30s)

Participate in Guided Walking Tours, Fashion, Furniture, Cars and parade

Lectures include:
Miami as a Cultural Intersection
Tropical Art Deco’s Influence on the 1939 World’s Fair
Selling Art Deco Preservation
Films:
The Easiest Way, It should Happen to You. Lover Come Back, The Ad & the Alter Ego

For Information Visit: Art Deco Weekend
Or call 305-672-2014.

My First Recording of the Sun Rising in 2011: NYC. Central Park