Cat Dreams by Margaret Diehl

My husband dreamed he was about to kiss me and Fitzroy stopped him, because I was a vampire. The next night I dreamed that a man was killing people (on board a ship?) and he found me listening in on the plans. I said I wouldn’t tell because I was in love with him in his other shape—an orange cat. He was a little disturbed by this until I pointed out that people fell in love with cats all the time. A nearby woman confirmed this. Then I said, “Don’t be jealous. You’re the cat; the cat is you.”



OK, we’re more than a little nuts. When we go out, we feel sad the cats can’t come too. We think Mouchette wants champagne, satin shoes and a diamond bracelet and Fitzroy needs a gang of guys to go clubbing with. Meanwhile, they just wish we’d clean the kitty litter and feed them more often.

I suppose there are instances when anthropomorphizing is a problem—like if you’re a zoologist trying to get tenure—but for a cat owner what’s the harm? I may dither a bit too much when I make plans to travel but in the end, I will go away. And in the back of my mind, I’m thinking: the crazier I get, the easier it will be to write a children’s book about a talking/magical/superhero what-have-you cat. I’ll just write down my daily musings and people will say,“ What an imagination! How good you are at remembering what it’s like to be a child!”

Once I wanted to be John Keats or Virginia Woolf. Now I’d be thrilled if a generation of children grows up with Fitzroy as the cat they want their own new kitten to emulate.

Today we’re going to MoMa to see the James Ensor show and whatever else strikes our fancy. We might even have a cocktail in the bar. (Note to self: pretty shoes, eye shadow.) The little ones will stay home, or lying in wait for each other under the couch. I’m my mother and it’s 1962.

Margaret Diehl
http://www.mkdiehl.wordpress.com

Congrats to Susan Boyle!

The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck

Governor's Island

On a recent August Saturday, I went to Governor's Island for an Art
Chakra Excursion hosted by Renee Riccardo and Anne-Francoise Potterat.
It was a small group which we chalked up to it being a very hot day.
Our group met near the visitor's center on Governors island to the
right of the ferry exit. The island seems like a small town, a time
capsule from the early sixties, just waiting for all who arrives to be
surprised and amazed by the island itself and the Creative Time PLOT09
installations. We were on the island for the entire afternoon and we
only saw a few pieces. There just isn't enough time. It is a many
faceted experience and its great just to lie in the grass. The island
provides hammocks and people were sleeping in them right next to our
yoga class near the chimes.

Klaus Weber's "Large Dark Wind Chime (Tritone Westy)", an over-sized wind chime made with tempered aluminum, was our first stop. We arranged to have a yoga class there with Anne-Francoise teaching under a giant tree that must be at least 100 years old. We arranged ourselves in a circle and Anne-Francois began the chakra breathing segment of the class with our eyes closed. The sound of the chimes was overwhelming and because they were so loud, a little comical. They lent themselves to meditation, even though they play the "devil's music". In the middle ages one could be excommunicated for using those tritones in music. The Church was afraid the tones could be sexually arousing. The sounds mixed with the the chime of a nautical bell nearby. It was a cornucopia of sound; with children playing, all manner of conversations and helicopters overhead. With the breeze, the sun's heat, and the senses of the body magnified from closing our eyes the experience of the chimes was strong and inescapable. The chimes, considered 'the devil's music' and always to be avoided unless...well, I suppose we were mightily exposed to it.

Renee Riccardo

Between You and I

After the yoga, Renee led us to Alexander McCall's installation, "Between You & I" in the St. Cornelius Chapel. It was a great way to follow
the yoga experience. It's a light sculpture:"The fields of light interact with one another, the visitors in the space.... like two human companions, they attempt to comprehend themselves in relation to one another". One needs to let the eyes adjust, it is a little like a fun house at first, and once that happens, it is spectacular. The next stop was the The Bruce High Quality Foundation's film "Isle of the Dead" which "tells the story of a decimated art world coming back to life in zombie form." It is screened in a movie theater that is in a small town Mayberry-like structure. The film is very amusing, it seems to relate in some way to generational uncertainty, rapid change with no crystal ball telling the future. Renee talked about her
experience as an extra in the film. In the film the zombies
eventually meet in the movie theater, (the one we were in) and sing a
song from the sixties, the name of which escapes me, as they follow the
bouncing ball. The zombies, and Renee was one, endured take after take.


In one of the Victorian houses was Edgar Arceneaux's "Sound Cannon Double Projection": an infrasound, a sound that is almost too low to be heard. There were warnings that some people can't tolerate it. Infrasound can cause "bizarre feelings such as anxiety, extreme sorrow, paranoia, or even the chills". There is a theory that the vibration can make a place feel haunted. It certainly did seem haunted but Governor's Island is like a time capsule, (maybe one house has to be haunted) that one hopes will be preserved. There are installations in house after house.Tercerunquinto's storyboard and video of an act of defacement on the island s notable as is AA Bronson and Peter Hobbes, Queer Spirit invoked "historical, queer, and marginalized practices as a way to heal the past and acknowledge the present".



Mark Wallinger's "Goat and Sheep" piece divided us all on the ferry. Because I had a bicycle I couldn't go to the upper deck. The ferry takes a
few minutes but I waited for almost an hour both to board and waited to board on our return. It is great to ride a bike on the island. You can
rent them. As the curatorial statement remarks: "the Ferry is a reminder, rendered in playful terms, of the dualities that we mull over every day: good versus bad, right versus wrong, and us versus them." I was a sheep and I wish I had been a goat.


It was a long afternoon, with still much to see and Renee provided just the right
amount information with genuine enthusiasm and engagement and she didn't overwhelm us. The tour would have been a little longer if it hadn't been so
hot. We all wanted to relax, Renee's and Anne-Francoise's flexibility and spontaneity is part of what made the excursion so enjoyable.

Anne-Franciose Potterat, seated Marjorie Schwarz

amount information with genuine enthusiasm and engagement and she didn't overwhelm us. The tour would have been a little longer if it hadn't been so
hot. We all wanted to relax, Renee's and Anne-Francoise's flexibility and spontaneity is part of what made the excursion so enjoyable.

Tagaq rocks by Eva Yaa Asantewaa- reposted from InfiniteBody

Tanya Tagaq is an Inuit born in Nunavat, the extreme Northern Canadian territory she describes as "little islands at the top of the map." She is also one of the most famous throat singers in the world, having collaborated with Björk and the Kronos Quartet. Barefoot, bare-shouldered, and barely wearing a black satin dress that looked like huge interlocking fish scales, this sassy ocean goddess of formidable weather and her accompanying musicians performed for one hour, singer-tanya-tagaq-performs.last evening, at the National Museum of the American Indian's Diker Pavilion--a space the oft-controversial singer, loathe to censor herself, could not resist calling "sterile." She also opined--twice--that New York's current muggy heatwave was hateful, and I really can't disagree with either argument.

Now, one hour doesn't sound like much, but that's only if you don't yet know about Tagaq and were not among the lucky crowd. One hour, in this case, represented two songs. Yeah, I know...but they were lavish, mind-blowing songs, more like sonic shamanic journeys as led by an Inuit Diamanda Galas. Are you scared yet? You ought to be.

Part of what makes Tagaq controversial is how she has taken an Inuit tradition--two women facing each other and performing the primal, sometimes eerie sounds of throat singing--and turned it into a solo virtuoso trance session supported by a range of contemporary music. The other part is how sexual she makes it all. Why, it's more sexual than hard rock because it is specifically, abundantly woman-sexual. Tagaq sources her voice in "the babymaker," as she calls it, and very much within the context of her culture's deep engagement with nature, red in tooth and claw. Let's not get into her anti-PETA rants. Don't go there.

She pants, hoots and howls, keens and babbles, turns gruff or flutey, all the while writhing and crouching, one hand splaying and articulating, eyes closed in ecstasy. With her viola player and percussionist keeping a steady, stately din, she throws back her head and simply yells. A promised "sweet little song" might indeed start out that way but quickly morph into something that makes your skull vibrate and try to lift away from your brain.

Song #1 clocked in around 40 minutes. The second--the "sweet little song"--was perhaps 15 minutes. One hour is probably enough Tagaq Therapy. But one more natural wonder awaited me outside the museum--a brilliant sunset over the nearby Hudson. Afterglow?

Learn more about Tanya Tagaq in this excellent interview on target Innerviews and check out Myspace. And don't miss her next time!


(c)2009, Eva Yaa Asantewaa, InfiniteBody

Paper Piracy: Art Exhibition in WPB

This weekend I attended the opening reception of “ Paper Piracy” in Northwood Village, a neighborhood in West Palm Beach that is in transition. Artists have moved into the area with hopeful antique dealers.

I spoke with three artists in the exhibit about their intentions for the show. Some of the questions asked by them were, “What is privacy?” “What are privacy rights” “When do we stop holding onto privacy? How do we control it? How do communities develop? One could ask , Through piracy?”. Other words that were woven into the conversation were “poached”, “reclamation”, and “lost and found”. Northwood is in the throws of gentrification.

Carolyn Sickles is a textile artist and weaver. She exhibited two concentric circular woven sculptures that seemed to float on the floor. The outer circle is made from handmade paper and the inner circle from woven fabric. Carolyn is a storyteller and explained that the center of the piece represented the precious part of one’s self that emerges from the negative experiences in life that attempt to contaminate it. Northwood was a vibrant community at one time. Many of its residents were middle class homeowners. Eventually the drug trade took over and the community degenerated as its residents moved out or died. In recent years the arts have moved into it. The community is in the process of revitalization, is becoming precious.

Sue Stevens exhibited large photo collages of industry juxtaposed with family photos. In one of them a viewer can see a father and son positioned in a tunnel. The artist told the writer that the father and son were on a fishing trip. Their placement inside the tunnel creates suspense. What effect does industry have on families? Privacy?

Ryan Toth is a painter who survived 9-11 and saw the dust cloud barrel down the street as people fled the scene of the tragedy. He did CPR that day. Memories still haunt him and intrude into his daily life. Buried thoughts are transformed through art to resurface onto canvas and paper.

In another painting Ryan’s dog holds a pink octopus that hangs from the tight grip of his jaw. The viewer becomes the proud pet owner as the dog brings us a treasure from the sea. The dog faces us and is positioned in the center of the page. However his eyes are empty and have no pupils. He does not make contact with us and seems lost in thought.

All three artists transform personal experience through art making and explore the boundaries of privacy.

The show will run until August 30Th.

Eg2 Gallery

Educational Gallery Group

A Community of Young Artists

408 Northwood Road

West Palm Beach, Florida 33407

Open Tuesday-Thursday From 6PM-9PM

Friday- Saturday 6PM-10PM

Sunday and Monday-Closed

Matty Goldstein-Emerging Artist to Watch-WPB

I attended the recent “blackout” art exhibition at Howley’s Restaurant in West Palm Beach, Florida. Do see the show. It is located at 4700 South Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach, Florida and will be up until the end of the month.

Matty Goldstein’s light boxes stole the show. They are Pop inspired kaleidoscopes caught in moments of time, small vibrant billboards with symbols of the natural world, for example a buffalo and chicken that float in a field of popular icons like Elvis and avatars.



I asked the artist to tell me about his artistic process while he ate dinner with two friends. He described it as one of construction and deconstruction, a metaphor for humanity’s search for self in our natural world now dominated by information technology.

Matty was born in New Haven, Connecticut in the US and was raised in the nearby woods, about sixty miles north of NYC. In January of 2000 at the age of 17, he enrolled at The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, in Boston. While there he was involved in the local art scene. He was one of four members in a collective known as “The Assembly”. From murky basements to fine art galleries, they wrecked havoc through provocative performance, installation and mixed media displays.

In the summer of 2003, Matty got a gig as an intern for the prestigious Christie’s Auction House, in New York City. While there he learned about research and how to the sell art. He set up the sound system and image catalogue for auctions and became remarkably efficient with a photocopy machine. While working in an upscale environment he spent his evenings in the city’s squats and parks.

He returned to Boston with a 1985 Buick Electra. Matty received his Diploma in December of 2003. Between his bike messenger experience, painting, warehouse work and telecommunications, Matty surived to begin work on his 5th year project. This was a year of intense independent work towards a professional gallery show. In 2004-2005 he was an intern for the Gallery Artist Studio Project (GASP). GASP was owned and run by internationally celebrated artist Maria Magdelena Campos Pons. During this year, he worked closely with her as well as his main mentor Gerry Bergstein. For the 5th Year Show, Matty displayed a massive room installation accompanied by 5 painting/assemblages that are, “bigger than you”. His installation was moved for permanent insallment at GASP Gallery in Brookline, MA. After a year of display the city complained that the installation worked as a dwelling for rats. The art was removed .

After completing his studies at the Museum School, Matty went to California to relocate in Los Angeles. While in LA he worked for Martin Lawrence Galleries as an assistant curator. He worked with artwork by Picasso and Warhol and restored damaged pieces in the Martin Lawrence inventory. At the time he was hopelessly strung out on heroin. He returned to the East Coast to kick his habit. He bounced between Connecticut and New Jersey. He was eventually sent to sunny Florida for rehabilitation in February 2007.

In Florida Matty teamed up with IWAN, BTW and has been making artwork. He is in full swing. His new light box series is a result of work in the sign industry. He told me that he searched for a new medium for his sledgehammer. In time, his “Barricade” installation at the IWAN concept production facility will develop. Stay tuned!