Poof!

From the 2013 NYC Armory Show

Having one of those 

I wish I could just disappear

days.

On the bright side,

next week we head to Tokyo and Taipei!

Worrying Is for Wusses.

Make that sign, art guy,

so I can put it next to my

Hang in There cat poster.

Nick Cave Horses in Grand Central

I went with some friends to try to see the

Nick Cave horses that were at Grand Central last week.

Unfortunately, so did every other person.

So we didn't get in,

but it was kind of nice out,

so at least we got some air.

This is what we missed:

You know Nick Cave.

He did this song:

NYC Armory Show 2013: Part 4: Some Cool Art from Jon's Phone

Tilda Swinton is sleeping under this.

Just kidding!

It was Jon himself.

Just kidding!

This was art nonetheless.

I think it's called Sleepeh.

An artist was signing/giving away Andy Warhol Brillo boxes or something.

I didn't get one or see where they were getting them from,

but it looked neat.

These acrylic legs are Matthew Barney-esque, no?

Word art is in these days.

This is awesome art.

It's represents the worst times of the winter holidays.

I bet there are already cards and T-shirts on etsy with this print.

They're synchronized enough to make a tree

out of their poop,

as if the poop tree is walking jauntily toward them too.

The men are in a yoga position.

They have such terrible diarrhea 

that it shoots through their underwear!

They're average weight men

that are identical except for their facial hair

and their underwear. 

Art made up of hundreds of unsmoked cigarettes.

The machine was automated to push holes through the tape.

It was interesting and random.

A woman suggested it was Braille.

A cool photo taken of a building not in this area.

We need cool colorful buildings architects on the eastern seaboard.

Enough of this steel, red or orange or beige brick, and glass garbage.

Color our concrete jungles for us sexy beasts!

You entered this galley's booth with a flashlight

to look at the art.

I don't know why.

The gallery was from Istanbul.

There's something so appealing about the circle it creates.

The rose gold gleaming and all.

Copy of the score by John Cage:

Jon says it's probably the most famous piece of 

experimental music.

The music is the ambient noise of the silence of the musician

not performing.

(This just underscores my anxiety at a live performance.)

Jon thinks I closed the video,

but it's still playing.

Scary stone babies.

Ma-ma?

Map of Old Businesses Around Bryant Park

Ergh!

I cannot locate the name of this type of map,

but I know I wrote it down.

Let's just call it a directory of commerce in the area.

I like how it reminds me of a Google map,

but all the little names fit in the littler spaces,

and it's all in a nice font.

A lot of stuff has changed.

Like a lot.

This is from the library exhibit Lunch Hour.

NYC Armory Show 2013: Part 3: From the First Armory Show

Jon said that he overheard

the person explaining that this

piece was featured at the first armory show.

I just thought it looked kind of cool.

NYC Armory Show 2013: Part 2: Some Pornographic Seals

Yeah, this is probably not safe for work (NSFW),

but here are a few sexy seals

that were featured as wallpaper

behind some less interesting artwork.

And in case you need to balance out with what's below,

click play on this:

  

NYC Armory Show 2013: Part 1: Intro

It's a pier that you pretend is an armory

for a few days

that houses a huge collection of art from

galleries all around the world and the country.

But here's a better explanation.

Jon and I went back in college and a few other times.

It never seemed as popular as it did today.

It was $30,

but since there were galleries from around the world,

it was like the best contemporary pop-up show

in all the world at that moment.

We could literally see our apartment

from the show,

so it seemed best not to waste the opportunity.

Every cube was a different country it seemed.

Instead of just a few people

who really seemed like ardent collectors,

there were all types of people

who were just interested in seeing new/classic modern art.

It's a nice change that they have real food options now too.

A Little Dorothy Parker at the NYPL's Lunch Hour

Pam, Nat, and I went to the Lunch Hour exhibit tonight.

It was pretty neat.

There's a lot of information and interesting materials.

There were things to touch and interact with too.

In an exploration regarding the writers dining at the Algonquin,

they featured the lovely Dorothy Parker

It's interesting what Dottie's handwriting looks like.

Here's one of her poems:

Inscription for the Ceiling of a Bedroom

I must up, to make my way.
Though I dress and drink and eat,
Move my fingers and my feet,
Learn a little, here and there,
Weep and laugh and sweat and swear,
Hear a song, or watch a stage,
Leave some words upon a page,
Claim a foe, or hail a friend--
Bed awaits me at the end.

Though I go in pride and strength,
I'll come back to bed at length.
Though I walk in blinded woe,
Back to bed I'm bound to go.
High my heart, or bowed my head,
All my days but lead to bed.
Up, and out, and on; and then
Ever back to bed again,
Summer, Winter, Spring, and Fall--
I'm a fool to rise at all! 

Katherine's Hepburn's Pants at the NYPL

I love, love, love living in Manhattan.

It's disgustingly expensive to live here

(did you see the article about the middle class in the NYTimes?)

but there is so much free stuff!

Unfortunately, the headache of getting into or out of the city

from anywhere else in the world 

to take advantage of this stuff 

is usually not worth it.

I'm saying that if you're in town,

it's awesome, but asking someone to trek in

is kind of asking a lot.

Take this Katherine Hepburn exhibit

 at the NYPL in Lincoln Center

for example.

It was free, and it was wonderful because it was free.

Definitely a must-see if you were around and had a half hour to stop in.

Though, most people would probably prefer making an effort to see 

an Audrey Hepburn costume exhibit, I'm sure.

Still, Katherine was adorable 

in her crazy accent/pants-wearing ways.

Her costumes in her plays and movies weren't as beautiful,

but they helped create her memorable characters.

Other stuff, like sketches of herself, and a Dorothy Parker review

of her play (Dottie hated it) were nice touches.

It's hard to tell if I'd be able to fit into her clothing.

Some seemed too long for my stature,

some seemed too small for my waist.

Others seemed huge.

I feel like the pants display would be a good campaign for Gap 

or maybe an older women's clothing store.

They should make replica pants.

These are cute, especially since pleated pants,

aren't the worst things in the world any longer.

By the way how cute is that hat?

Pinterest wish list that baby.

Jeff Koon's Tulips in Bilbao and New York City

Jeff Koons is a kind of strange-but-interesting man.

Did you see him on Colbert?

We saw one of his Tulips pieces in Bilbao

when were were at the Guggenheim in 2010.

Created in an edition of five versions, 

his later work Tulips (1995–2004) 

consists of a bouquet of multicolor balloon flowers 

blown up to gargantuan proportions 

(more than 2 m (6.6 ft) tall and 5 m (16 ft) across).*

That's us there

in the tulip balloons.

It was a really cool museum.

In November, I passed by this weird thing in front of Christie's

on my way to lunch.

I thought that was the piece--

wrapped up balls--

which was a bit avant garde for Christie's.

But then I passed by it on my way

to something in Rock Center later that evening,

and I came across this instead.

And it was pretty cool

on water

since the reflections were not only on the balloons,

but also in the water.

The windows across the street were especially making this piece all shiny. 

Jon's former coworker's girlfriend

works at Christie's.

Her job is arranging this stuff,

and this piece in particular was challenging according to her,

since Koons wanted it on ice.

We had a really nice and warm November,

so ice would've been dumb.

The little puddle was just perfect for it.

Fun fact:

The largest sum known to be paid for a work by Koons 

is Tulips, 

which was sold for US $33,682,500 (£21,219,975) 

at Christie's New York 

on November 14, 2012 

(Lot 35) in the Post-War & Contemporary Art Evening Sale.*

It's pretty cool that I saw it

just hanging outside of my office

on the sidewalk

like a bum.

All $33,682,500 of it.

*wikipedia!

Al Hirschfeld's Secret Hiding Spot

Tucked under the steps, 

of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 

like a kid wizard,

is a display of Al Hirschfeld's desk and chair.

On display is a rotating print of his work--

unfortunately this is a crappy photo,

so you can't really see what's on the page here.

The chair is like an old barber's seat

but even more optimized for absolute comfort.

The desk is marvelously old and loved.

I remember being so confused about who Al Hirschfeld was

when I was twenty-one.

I was at Alfredo's

with a publisher and editor

for whom I'd been interning,

and it was my good-bye lunch/happy college graduation lunch.

They were talking about Al Hirschfeld and Ninas.

I nodded and smiled and played my quiet-but-wise-beyond-her-years card.

I think it worked.

The first time I was at Alfredo's--

sometime earlier in college--

I hadn't even noticed the Hirschfelds.

His worked is tucked away almost everywhere.

Armory Swings

So Jon and I popped by the Armory

on Lex and 66th

on the final day of this exhibition,

and we saw that the line basically wrapped around the building.

So we walked around to the back

to a window,

and we took a photo of it.

It was just like being there,

but not having to suffer for it.

This NYTimes piece does it better justice

than waiting two hours on line—

and then some more to swing—

with some really cranky people.