non-linear time: evening at a friend’s house where i got to meet all my girlfriends, dynamic convos at spot coffee this morning, afternoon tea with a friend who taught me all about manga and anime, and lunch at peppa pot jamaican cuisine.
in rochester, and the first place i had to visit, of course, was the french quarter. ethan, who has grown up in front of our eyes, recognized me. even after three years of being away on long island. unbelievable. this is a new, pared-down location but the food is as good as ever.
I have loved Kenyan American artist Wangechi Mutu‘s beautiful and unsettling work for decades now, and I had missed her solo exhibition ‘Intertwined’ at the New Museum, so it was a thrill to see it in New Orleans @neworleansmuseumofart. “Representing the full breadth of her practice, this exhibition encompasses painting, collage, drawing, sculpture, film, and performance. Mutu first gained acclaim for her collage-based practice exploring camouflage, transformation, and mutation. She extends these strategies to her work across various media, developing hybrid, fantastical forms that fuse mythical and folkloric narratives with layered sociohistorical references… Wangechi Mutu: Intertwined traces connections between recent developments in Mutu’s sculptures and her decades-long exploration of the legacies of colonialism, globalization, and African and diasporic cultural traditions.“ I loved the Subterranean series (a stunning fusion of woman and nature) and was moved by Mutu’s work on the Rwanda genocide which is displayed on a ‘wounded wall’ full of bullet holes rubbed with blood-red pigment. Reminded me of Gaza.
front beach this morning, 73 F
beautiful views from biloxi bay bridge, ocean springs, mississippi. went for a brisk walk/ run this morning and met a lot of friendly people. unbelievable sky. lunch at knuckleheads where we finally got to eat some po boys.
yesterday afternoon at the sculpture garden, new orleans museum of art: ‘the twelve-acre sculpture garden at NOMA is one of the most important sculpture installations in the united states, with over 90 sculptures situated on a beautifully landscaped site among meandering footpaths, reflecting lagoons, spanish moss-laden 200-year-old live oaks, mature pines, magnolias, camellias, and pedestrian bridges.’ the sculptures mesh beautifully with their environment and the moss-covered oaks seem ghostly, dream-like, unreal.
yesterday brunch at satsuma cafe on dauphine street and a walk around the neighborhood where i found a beautiful palestinian flag. knocked at the door to thank the homeowner and met mark, a retired lawyer, who feels enraged by the genocide going on in gaza and wants to make his solidarity public. we talked for a while and he gave me his card: “u have a friend in new orleans now”
more nola – waited in line for 30-40 min for beignets from cafe du monde yesterday. walked all over the french quarter, easy access from franklin ave where we are based. bought some local art from an artists’ co-op and postcards at the french market. love the unapologetically vibrant colors here.
today i got to meet madera rogers-henry of the recycle project and ric kasini kadour of the kolaj institute – a side of new orleans, its art scene, and people i’d love to learn more about. yummy brunch at who dat coffee and fabulous dinner at N7. drove to riverbend (violet) and passed thru this pecan tree tunnel. this morning we saw wonderful views of the city from crescent park. nola has such a chill, artsy vibe. but u know what truly aligned things for me in a big way? the free palestine graffiti i found all over the city. i’d love to create art here!
this morning our favorite hike in the birkshires with wonderful views of mt williams, mt prospect and mt greylock.
yesterday we spent the afternoon at mass moca (one of my favorite museums in the world). always so much to enjoy and absorb, but i will never forget TO THE MOON, a virtual reality experience by laurie anderson and hsin-chien huang.
“to the moon uses images and tropes from literature, science, science-fiction space movies, and politics to create an imaginary and dark new version of the moon. during the 15-min experience, the viewer is shot out from earth, walks on the surface of the moon, glides through space debris, flies through DNA skeletons, and is lifted up a lunar mountain.”
after i put on my headset, the walls around me began to fold and the floor started to disintegrate. it was a wtf kinda moment. soon i was in space with stars falling around me. i was able to fly to the moon by extending my arms which i could see in front of me, wearing a spacesuit. the seat i was in could pivot 360 degrees so i could look everywhere around me. my shadow (again clothed in a spacesuit) was below me, replicating all my movements as it would have in real life. on the moon i saw ancient sailing ships, dinosaurs, polar bears, and strands of numbers coming at me. at one point my arms turned into giant floppy plush snakes. later they became crystalline amalgamations of numbers. i decided to fly into a rock formation and liked how it shattered. debris hit my helmet, there was dust and the sound of breakage. towards the end of the 15 min, my body seemed to separate – the astronaut part of me peeled itself off and was now hurtling thru space. then laurie anderson’s voice in my ears:
“you know the reason I love the stars is because we can’t hurt them, we can’t burn them, we can’t melt them, we can’t make them overflow, we can’t flood them—so we keep reaching for them.”
if only that were also true of other human beings.
this morning we walked 5 miles along the mohican trail here in williamstown. the trail was completed just a month ago and its name honors the stockbridge-munsee band of mohicans upon whose ancestral lands the trail has been built. fall is beautiful in the berkshires.
my interest in european painting is mostly focused on hands and lush textiles. this is how i reframe a lot of european art. it makes it fresh and interesting.
it’s rainy today so we spent the day at the clark art institute. first up their exhibition on human ecology and the work of carolina caycedo: “ancestral knowledge and environmentalism are at the core of caycedo’s work, which pays homage to community leaders and native elders, often female, who care for the natural world. she also depicts medicinal traditions of the mohican people native to the land the clark now occupies.”
then a visit to the clark’s permanent collection. was quite taken by the work of frederic remington and winslow homer.
