Time in the countryside

Being away from the city and having time to actually do things I like and need to get done, like paint, write, read, relax, catch-up, cook, grocery shop....it's a nice feeling. What I've been loving most is actually getting to grill and the space, oh the glorious, abundant space!

At first I thought, "Oh gawd I left my coffee up in the study....what a drag to walk across the studio (which is about 6 times the length of my nyc apartment) then up stairs! Ugh!" Have I grown lazy from living in the city despite all the walking required to get around in an urban space like New York? It was quite alarming to even have the thought!!

I mean, you want to surrender to laziness when it comes to things like reading a good book, not when it comes to things like grabbing a sweater 'cause you're cold! Well, at least it didn't stop me from grabbing the cup of coffee I left. As far as the space? I quickly became used to it.

I wonder how things will be once I return to my little closet-sized apartment? I do love the trade off. But then again, my mind knows it's temporary and there are a lot of chores I've been enjoying (like mowing a pretty good-sized lawn) which I know are purely due to novelty. Do I like living in the country because it's a novelty? Or do I really miss the simple pleasures?

Minimal Mac

If you're like me, you like to keep your MAC environment nice and minimal. But I'm a mess so why not use some applications and shortcuts to get the job done? Check out these useful tips on how to indulge the minimalist in you.

Public Sculpture in the Post-Postmodern Era

As the article in the NY Times today starts out, "Outdoor art isn't what it used to be." With the introduction of installation art in the 70s,  traditional monuments have nearly gone extinct and have been replaced by the more broad term "public art sculpture". The purpose has changed and most commissions are no longer created to memorialize or celebrate a person or event. How many times have you walked around (especially in large metropolitan areas) and run smack into a seemingly random object (usually oversized about 10x larger than life – at the very least), like an oversized spider, a huge car, a gigantic picnic table or Hello Kitty?

Sometimes they're amusing, other times they act as great backgrounds in tourists' photos. The more permanent "monument installations" such as Claes Oldengurg's oversized replicas of simple, everyday objects (clothespin, typewriter eraser, etc) are shocking at first and with repetitive exposure become just as familiar and unnoticed as the skyscrapers they attempt to enliven. I think more people took pictures next to Takashi Murakami's installation piece of three massive bronze spiders than they did with the classical popular Prometheus at the Rockefeller Center Plaza.

So what does it all mean?

Will there ever be a return to the "good ole' traditional monuments" of highly ranked and good-postured men on horses looking off into the distance? Will our children know about Prometheus and general William Tecumseh Sherman? (say who?!??)

I'll say one thing...as much as one can say that I'm desensitized to the temporary, site-specific oddities (in the good sense of the word) springing up around the city here and there, they're still great eye candy that turns my head and makes me, well, smile and feel a little warm all over. I don't know what it all means. We'll just have to wait for post-post-postmodernism to find our answer.