The desire and need to preserve artifacts has predated our existence. Man has communicated by telling stories, through saving bits and pieces of history, by communicating through pictures or memories. Some call it nostalgia, others call it living in hyper-reality. Museums, arts and culture have always played a vital role in societies. In many ways they define and shape the personality of civilizations and give meaning to our existence. They represent our past and present and point towards our future.

In the current digital age one can access museum collections online, take virtual tours, look at archives and search for almost anything and everything. Now Guggenheim, MoMa, Louvre, MFA etc. are just a click away. Online advertising and publicity has helped many museums attract visitors and generate revenue. Where famous museums get their share of active publicity and advertising both online and in the real world, we rarely hear about museums like “The National Museum of Iraq” in Baghdad.

Such museums lose their identity unless someone steps forward to preserve the past. The Iraqi Museum represents the rich, vibrant culture of Iraq. A place that documents it’s history and showcases artifacts from the various civilizations that lived there. One would imagine that such a place would gather a great many visitors but sadly that is not the case. CNN officials state that the museum “houses some of ancient Mesopotamia’s rarest artifacts, but what is even harder to find at Iraq’s National Museum are visitors. “

Google and the U.S. government have teamed up with the museum to work towards showing the world the historic collections present at the museum. Google is said to have taken 14,000 photographs of the artifacts to document the various collections. Yahoo News reports that, “The museum holds artifacts from the Stone Age through the Babylonian, Assyrian and Islamic periods.” Google chief Eric Schimdt visited the National Museum of Iraq today.

Google plans to create a ‘virtual museum’ and showcase these images to the world. The Associated Press states that, “The museum was ransacked in the chaotic aftermath of Saddam Hussein’s ouster in April 2003, and only reopened to visitors early this year. Schmidt, who toured the museum with U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill on Tuesday, said it was important for the world to see Iraq’s rich heritage and contribution to world culture.” Schmidt in an address to the Iraqi officials stated that “The history of the beginning of — literally — civilization is made right here and is preserved here in this museum…I can think of no better use of our time and our resources than to make the images and ideas from your civilization, from the very beginnings of time, available to billions of people worldwide,” (- The Associated Press).

This seems to be the first of many more positive developments yet to happen in Iraq. By early next year we will be able to witness the rich Iraqi culture online. This step taken by Google holds strategic importance and will help create a positive footprint for Iraq in the future. It’s amazing to see how digital media transforms the world around us and helps us all stay in tune with the Global economy.

View more news in the following video on Yahoo:

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=16807215&ch=4226714&src=news

Image 1 from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120739539

Image 2 from http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/11/24/iraq.virtual.museum/

This article is also published on the Amvona blog at http://www.amvona.com/blog/capturing-culture-the-google-way.html?blogger=sun

Kandinsky at the Guggenheim, NYC. Photo James Perkins

]]> http://thejamesperkins.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/guggenheim-triptych/ Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:39:43 +0000 James Perkins http://thejamesperkins.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/guggenheim-triptych/

Guggenheim, NYC. Photo James Perkins

Guggenheim, NYC. Photo James Perkins

Guggenheim, NYC. Photo James Perkins

Thakoon Mirror Mosaic Sandals, $1150, net-a-porter.com

Take a close look at these photos of Thakoon’s mirror shoes.

Thakoon Mirror Mosaic Sandals, $1150, net-a-porter.com

Thakoon Mirror Mosaic Ankle Boots, $1195, net-a-porter.com

Thakoon Mirror Mosaic Ankle Boots, $1195, net-a-porter.com

Do they remind you of anything?

When I first saw them, I couldn’t help but think that I had seen them somewhere before – on a much larger scale. In fact, Thakoon’s mirrored beauties remind me of two well-known buildings. Judge for yourself.

First up is the Frank Gehry designed Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.

Guggenheim, Bilbao, wikipedia.org

Guggenheim, Bilbao, wikipedia.org

Next in line is Michael Lee-Chin’s The Crystal, a new addition to The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada.

The Crystal, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, wikipedia.org

I’m not certain that Thakoon’s mirrored shoes were inspired by these two buildings but I definitely see a connection here. As a fan a fan of both fashion and architecture, I love when these two worlds collide!

Photos courtesy of wikipedia.org and net-a-porter.com.

Guggenheim Museum Watercolor

I’ve started a new process for working on watercolors, and this painting is the first result.

I’ve decided to work on smaller paintings – 9 x 12 inches, 140lb Hot Press Arches paper. I’m leaving them in the block so I’m not worried about stretching etc.

I’ve made some transparency grids and I can place these either on the computer or on a photo and use that to make a drawing. Once I have a drawing, I am applying 8b pencil to the back and then tracing the front part while the drawing is on top of the watercolor paper. This way I can  work on the drawing as much as possible and really work it without worrying about scuffing up the watercolor paper too much. I can also make notes on the drawing for reference as I do the painting.

I am planning on using images that I can put light layers of paint on and build them up, focusing on warm & cool areas, and tonal values.

The Guggenheim painting is based on a photo I took last spring. I like how the shadows are. I am working a lot on trying to see the warm and cool areas better, as well as the colors that make compose those areas.

I have to figure a way to get better photos of the finished work – this is a little blurry. I could scan them at work but it seems like a little much carting the paintings around and all the extra work just for this blog. Maybe I can get a real bright light so I can use a higher shutter speed. I don’t really feel like getting too elaborate. The flash works, but it bleaches out the paintings.

This is a vintage Dec. 2001 Art News Magazine. On the cover are motorcycles from the Guggenheim Museum in Las Vegas “The Art of the Motorcycle” exhibition.

2001 December Art News Magazine – Modern Masters & Motorcycles available at www.DadsVintageAds.com in the “ Motorcycle Gifts & Collectibles ” category

Search our Magazine Back Issue Index for old Motorcycle Magazine Back Issues for sale.

To search our full inventory of Vintage Motorcycle Advertisements, Articles, and Road Tests CLICK HERE.

The guy who likes to leave his phone on the street has got another habit (also phone related) which is annoying. He will still be pressing snooze for the alarm he has set an hour and a half after it first went off. Why not just set it to go off later instead of waking me up early for the past 2 days! Plonker.

I had a later than intended one last night, there’s a Dutch guy who works here who I was having a few drinks with. A very clever and interesting bloke though also quite weird. He is either a compulsive liar or has had a Forrest Gump/Benjamin Button style life in his short 23 years on this rock. I’m not sure which it is.

The weather is great here today, it’s in the mid 20s. So it will make for a good day of wandering about.

The first place I went to was the San Mamés Stadium. They do a tour but once again I had more or less hit siesta time. I saw the outside at least and I’ll see how I’m doing for time later and maybe take a proper look then, I’m not really that bothered though if I have to leave it.

The main bus station is right next to the ground so I had a look at the bus times to San Sebastian. Pretty much every half hour, so that’s nice and easy.

While walking down the main shopping street on my way to the Guggenheim I nipped into the Lacoste shop as I always do. I don’t know why I bother as even though they have some mega threads, their stuff is so expensive. I saw a nice jacket. €310. I didn’t have to mull that one over for too long.

As much as I like Spain, it will be a bit of a relief to get into France as I’ve found it pretty difficult trying to order food, very difficult at times in fact. Before my next visit a crash course in Spanish might be in order.

The Guggenheim was good. It cost me €11 to get in though if I was 26 rather than 27 my student card would have got me in for €6.50. Doh.

There isn’t actually that much in there, I managed to get s decent look at eveything in 2 hours. Some of the stuff seems very pretentious to me. Mainly some of the video installations on the ground floor, ‘Zidane’ being a good example.

I really enjoyed the massive exhibition of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s work. I’m hardly very well up on architecture but I could appreciate how amazing some of his designs are, about half of which were actually realised.

I liked the abstract and surrealism stuff too, that sort of thing appeals to me. The works they have by Kandinsky and Gottlieb is particularly good.

The building itself is also very impressive. If you’re in Bilbao and you don’t intend to go inside the Guggenheim, you should at least take a walk down the river to it just to see the exterior.

Crikey it’s a strange bus infrastructure in Basque country. I got to the bus station at about 18:15 with the intention of getting the 18:30. I then bought a ticket from the automated machine for €7, all hunky dory so far. When at 18:35 my bus still hadn’t turned up at platform 2, 3 or 4 (as the screen stated) I was a touch concerned and begun to check the destinations on the other buses nearby and show my ticket to the drivers just in case. It was lucky I did as with the 2nd one I tried it was my bus apparently, even though it had Santander (which is in the opposite direction) as the destination and was parked at platform 8. Barmy these Basque lot.

The hostel (Olga’s Place) is okay, nothing special, but it will do for a few nights. It’s located on Zabaleta Street strangely enough.

There’s nothing on the agenda for tonight, just get some grub then take it easy. Over.

PS One last thing, as I type this on the PC at the hostel I’m being forced to listen to a conversation between the most boring couple you could possibly imagine, as dull as it gets. I’m not sure I want to go to New Zealand anymore.

Últimamente no salgo de Bilbao. Al final va a tener razón el diputado popular con apellido de jugador de la naranja mecánica (reconozco que no la toca del todo mal el tío), de nombre Eduardo, que dice que cada día estamos más cerca de Bilbao. Él lo lamenta; yo, en cambio, estoy encantado. De hecho, no me importaría ser de Bilbao. Del centro de Bilbao.

(Del Bilbao del Guggenheim de Gehry, del Bilbao de Isozaki, del Bilbao del Domine, del Bilbao de Moneo, del Bilbao de Mari Jaiak, del Bilbao de las salas de conciertos, del Bilbao del Casco Viejo rehabilitado, del Bilbao de Pelli, del Bilbao del tranvía, del Bilbao del Athletic, del Bilbao de las tiendas de jóvenes diseñadores…)

A lo que iba… Decía que últimamente no salgo de Bilbao: concierto de Los Planetas en la Fever, aeropuerto destino Bxls, y esta tarde vuelvo para participar en la primera edición de Telepolitika, un nuevo foro sobre Comunicación Política que tiene muy buena pinta, y que está organizado por la Asociación Vasca de Asesores y Consultores Políticos, el equipo de investigación del Euskobarómetro, y la Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y de la Comunicación de la Universidad del País Vasco.

En el programa-telepolitika hay temas interesantes como el papel de los spin doctors, las redes sociales, el city marketing, la comunicación de crisis o la problemática NIMBY; buenos ponentes, con inauguración de lujo a cargo del maestro Gabriel Colomé; y la participación de profesionales de todo España con ganas de poner en común lo que saben y lo que no saben sobre Comunicación Política. Ya os haré un resumen a la vuelta. Ruth, que viene también, seguramente os lo contará en directo a través de twiter y facebook.

Today was a fun day because 1) I had off from work! and 2) I got to go into NYC specifically to do artsy things! I went as part of a tour with the friends of the Princeton University Art Museum. The first part was going to Evergreene Studios, an architectural arts firm that specializes in conservation, restoration and some new design. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures but seeing the studio was amazing. In two different parts of the studio they were working on huge murals, one with life-size figures. One guy was even applying gold leaf to the canvas which is something I’ve never seen. It looked so perfect and seamless. In another part of the studio they were making wallpaper by applying all these finishes to a special kind of paper. That whole experience made me think about my background in art history and why didn’t I ever think about conservation?! Oh, now I remember, it was the whole art and chemistry thing…But still check out their website and think about how important conservation and restoration are to keeping our heritage alive!

The second part of the day was a trip to the Kandinsky exhibit at the Guggenheim. I love the Guggenheim mostly because it was the last building built by Frank Lloyd Wright, one of my favorite architects of all time. It’s a great modern space for showing art work, though this opinion has been highly contested since the design plan was first introduced by Wright. The Kandinsky exhibit, which is open until January, is one of the biggest shows of his work. It’s arranged perfectly in the Guggenheim, travelling up the ramp as his work evolves from his time in Germany to Russia and France. I am not a huge Kandinsky fan though he was important to the evolution of abstraction in painting which leads to some of my favorite artists like Pollock, Rothko and Robert Ryman. The vivid colors and biomorphic forms in his art are stunning and offer a colorful approach to understanding abstraction. The exhibit itself was beautifully arranged though the te

xt seemed to repeat itself in an effort to enrich Kandinsky’s story when he really didn’t have much to tell. It wasn’t enough to get me interested in Kandinsky besides knowing his style and where he’s from but I loved seeing it in Wright’s space.

"Fallingwater", una de las obras más famosas de Wright, fotografiada por Ghost-Rider (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ghost-rider/)

El Museo Guggenheim Bilbao pone en marcha el concurso de fotografía “Arquitectura y entorno” en la red social Facebook, inspirado en la exposición que actualmente el arquitecto norteamericano Frank Lloyd Wright muestra en el recinto.

Para participar, cualquier persona, ya sea profesional o aficionado, podrá presentar instantáneas en las que plasmen el tema que bien refleja el título, es decir, que muestren su visión personal sobre edificios, construcciones u otros elementos arquitectónicos que estén bien integrados con el paisaje. El plazo para presentarlos finaliza el 31 de enero del próximo año, y los ganadores podrán conseguir reproductores Mp3 y Netbooks de Samsung.

Tan sólo hay que subir las imágenes, hechas con cámara de fotos digital, analógica o incluso desde tu teléfono móvil,  al grupo del museo en Facebook, pudiendo añadir un máximo de tres. El requisito para participar es tener mínimo 15 años, y, queriendo darle una visión internacional, puede hacerlo cualquier persona desde cualquier lugar del mundo.

El personal del museo que conforma el jurado elegirá a partir del 23 de noviembre y hasta el final del plazo la imagen de la semana. Cada una de estas imágenes escogidas será premiada con los productos tecnológicos antes mencionados, y será publicada tanto en la red de Facebook como en el microsite del concurso el 12 de febrero (en el que además podrás encontrar toda la información del concurso).

Wright, en sus proyectos tecnológicos, siempre buscó la armonía entre a naturaleza, las personas que lo habitan y el edificio. Esta cita del fallecido arquitecto, creador del Guggenheim de Nueva York, refleja perfectamente el espíritu del concurso:

“El edificio como elemento arquitectónico nace del corazón del hombre, consorte permanente del terreno, compañero de los árboles, verdadero reflejo del hombre en el reino de su propio alma”.

When this NYC trip happened a few months ago, I had just returned from Africa and one of my brothers got married 3 days later. This left me little time for blogging. So I shelved these pictures for a while and forgot about them until now. Here you go!

video art!

EDIT: I really feel I should add that the above video art featured a girl in an 80s prom dress getting pelted, usually in the face, with tomatoes. She broke her “Ta-da!” pose just long enough to wipe the pulp out of her eyes, the trooper.

What’s lacking in this post will be any details whatsoever on the galleries or artists. I have all of the press releases upstairs somewhere, but seriously this trip was like 3 months ago so they’re not particularly handy right now. These exhibitions are all over by now anyway. Next time I’ll be more on top of things.

Oh, just a random collage glued onto the wall of a building, picturing a T-Rex moments from devouring a little girl who happens to be dreaming of cats. Who even knows what’s under that black smudge.

We also stopped by the Guggenheim for a Frank Lloyd Wright Exhibit. No pictures allowed once you begin ascension up that big crazy spiral. Sorry.

Perhaps the most fulfilling part of the day, we stopped by the famous Tom’s Restaurant, or better known as Monk’s Cafe from Seinfeld. As a hardcore fan, it’s kind of been a dream of mine to get this picture taken. One more thing checked off that list. Now all I have to do is backpack across a few more continents and most of my life goals will be complete! The inside of this cafe was charming; Seinfeld paraphernalia everywhere. We spilt a vanilla pistachio milkshake, which was pretty freaking delicious, though I eat dairy very, very rarely so it kind of made me want to throw up everywhere. Oh and the cutest thing about this cafe, Scotty told me in the men’s bathroom someone had scrawled “NEWMAN” in tiny letters on the mirror. I’m not sure why but I love that.

La lumaca che avevamo in giardino da piccoli, risplende ingigantita e bianca, arrampicandosi in spire lente fino alle nuvole. Kandinsky mi ha insegnato oggi la crudeltá del bianco e delle geometrie senza cuore, ma anche l’universale racchiuso in un punto – tensione e risoluzione – rosso, se suona una tuba.

La sinestesia di suoni colorati, colori rumorosi, che il russo ha inseguito tutta una vita non l’ho vista. Ho visto davvero l’alfabeto nuovo che ha creato, lasciandosi dietro il mondo che vediamo, riconoscibile.

Ho visto anche opere di cui la descrizione, scritta in caratteri minuscoli, grigi su grigio, difficili da decifrare, mi ha affascinato piú dell’opera stessa:

“Come giovane artista che definisce la sua carriera all’inizio del XXI secolo – in un momento di profonda riflessione e crisi globali – la Kraus mette in scena il trend verso il degrado e il caos conosciuto come entropia, trovando una bellezza funerea nel fallimento letterale e simbolico della forma”.

Non sono sicuro di capire, ma rimango affascinato dai suoni e dal vago senso di finale che ci aleggia sopra.

http://www.guggenheim.org/

Como consequência do projeto de revitalização de Bilbao, iniciado na década de 90, o museu Guggenheim emerge como um dos edifícios mais visitados e comentados no mundo. Por sua arquitetura de alta tecnologia e suas formas inusitadas propostas pelo arquiteto norte-americano Frank Gehry. A execução do museu só se deu devido a utilização de softwares complexos que solucionavam os difíceis cálculos estruturais. Como método de projeto de Gehry foram feitos inumeros modelos e croquis de maquete até que se chegasse a uma composição que agradasse. As placas metálicas da fachada são de titânio curvado, os fechamentos são de pedras e vidro que harmonizam a composição visual. A fachada metálica tem referência no passado da cidade como grande construtora de navios e sendo um importante porto pra Espanha, já sua forma muitos dizem que lembra um navio. O projeto foi altamente criticado por ser considerado mais importante que as obras que estão expostas em seu interior, por seu elevado custo e pelo caráter quase experimental de muitas das inovações usadas em sua construção, que fazem com que os custos de manutenção e limpeza sejam elevados. Dentre as obras expostas estão as da coleção da Fundação Solomon R. Guggenheim do museu de Nova York, do governo basco, obras contemporâneas e grandes nomes como Kandinsky, Picasso, Pollock, De Kooning.

Museu Guggenheim Bilbao
Abandoibarra Etorbidea 2,
48009 Bilbao, Espanha
Telefone: 94 435 90 00‎
http://www.guggenheim-bilbao.es/

Help…I’m stuck, originally uploaded by CVerwaal.

When I looked up at the Guggenheim museum shop in New York City, this woman appeared to be stuck in Frank Lloyd Wright’s curves. I snapped a quick shot with my Olympus Trip 35, Zuiko 40mm f2.8, on Fuji Superia 400. This picture seems to work better in BW, so I converted it in photoshop.

Hace menos de un mes que hablaba del [maxxi] de Zaha Hadid cuando aparece una de mis apreciadas críticas de Nicolai Ouroussoff en el New York Times [modern lines for the eternal city]. No sólo comenta el extraordinario significado que tiene el que una arquitectura como la de la iraní desembarque en Roma sino que explica de una forma excepcional las sensaciones que se tienen al moverse por el edificio desde que uno se acerca al lugar hasta que se adentra en sus salas. Es sobre estas últimas, sobre su alargado, suave y curvilíneo desarrollo, por cuyo aspecto y sensación le parece como si las rampas del guggenheim de frank lloyd wright se hubiesen desenredado.

Galería de fotos de  [roland halbe] y [helène binet]  via NYT [Inside maxxi] + [europaconcorsi]

***UPDATED*** completo reportaje fotográfico de [Luke Hayes] via [dezeen]

I think in all my 4 years, almost 5 years  imagine that, in 3rd level studying Fine Arts, I have never been so influenced and i guess wowed and engaged with the French Artist Louise Bourgeois.

Born in Paris  (1911  to present ) her practice is mainly sculpture…having stumbled upon Louise Bourgeois thanks to my Design Tutor (Jean Bradley) way back in 2005, I was in awe of her work, its scale, material, and subject matter.

Having a retrospective in 2008 i was so so so lucky to see her exhibition two times. One in Paris at  Centre Pompidou again in New York City  at the Guggenheim

Over 3 decades of work scultpure, painting, print, installations, her work is all about her childhood,her upbringing and mostly about her Father and how he had an affair, which she witnessed as a child, Bourgeois manages to escalate and fill her work today with unrequited love, anger, loss and comfort and sorrow

Works that stick to me to this day include “the destruction of the father” 1974,  “Spider” 1999, and  ”seven in bed” 2001.

Here is an interesting clip from a BBC documentary featuring Famous British artists Tracey Emin, Stella Vine and Antony Gormley discuss the art works of Louise Bourgeois, interviewed by Alan Yentob for BBC in 2007.

(all pictures taken by me)

Every time I hear a Fiona Apple song, I remember and miss my righteous indignation.  My love of righteous indignation may have been my most passionate and long-term relationship, in fact.  And for returning home, after a quarrel, a bitter, wistful song is just right. You never loved me.  Use me.  It will always be this way.

Last time I was in New York, I sat on the sidewalk, looking across Central Park East, listening to Ms Apple wail and bemoan the shallowness and elusiveness of her lovers, and eating an ice  cream sandwich from a street vendor to restore my strength after lumbering up and back down the Guggenheim spiral and I thought, oh, my wretched shipwreck of a romantic life and I’ll always be alone, although I am full of desire and passion.  It was vain and lovely and the weather was quite nice also, easy late summer with pigeons clucking and construction workers busting up and pasting back together the great landmark, and I licked my black cookie smudged fingers at the end and folded the wrapper and tucked it in the trash.  All delicious.

Without the righteous indignation, there is me and how I make excuses for myself, and can so completely lose myself in a moment, where I am, that I believe in an escape plan for setting aside the needs of whomever or whatever is waiting.  I ran into So-and-So.  I was right in the middle of something. It’s not evil with a capital “E,” it’s just my boring, commonplace asshole core.  There is just me, lapping up conversation or peacefully brewing in the juices of someplace, with no notion of people who are waiting for me or wondering about me.  Or me, snapping like a rubber band at you instead of easing up on myself and saying I’m sorry.

I could bemoan my faults further, but actually the whole point is that hurting people you love is pathetically banal.  Easy to do, easy to explain away, easy to shrug off.  It’s not like the SS coming to your door to demand you give up your Jewish neighbors.  Most of the really painful, grating friction in life doesn’t come in moments of inspiring drama.

The righteous indignation is the last thing I’ll give up from my adolescence, the very last thing.  I’m losing it after I got my first frown lines and my first age spot.  Way after my virginity, but thankfully, before having children.  I do miss it a little, though.  It goes down so easy.

New York is more than America’s largest city: it has been and continues to be the inspiration behind much of the country’s most enduring pieces of art and literature. From Langston Hughes to Jonathan Safran Foer, and Jackson Pollock to Mark Rothko, New York City has been the thriving hub of many an American cultural movement since the beginning of the 1900s. This fact is made even more evident by the city’s wide array of museums and art galleries, the most prominent of which are The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), The Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum, among a host of others.

Both artistically and architecturally, New York’s Guggenheim Museum
(http://www.guggenheim.org/new_york_index.shtml ) (technically called The Solomon R. Guggenheim, classic motorcycle, Museum) is one of the city’s most interesting landmarks and artistic forums. The eminent novelist E.B. White once said, “New York is to the nation what the white spire is to the village,” and it might be possible to say that, artistically speaking, the white spire of New York is the Guggenheim. Situated at the corners of 89th Street and 5th Avenue in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, its architect Frank Lloyd Wright set out to make the building look like what has been described as “a white ribbon curled into a cylindrical stack,” and was intent on his avant-garde design making the Metropolitan Museum of Art look like “a Protestant barn”. Though widely condemned at the time, the building is now seen as one of New York’s finest – as is often the case with the best pieces of architecture.

Originally set up in 1937 as “The Museum of Non-Objective Painting”, the Guggenheim was principally established to exhibit work by early modernists, like Piet Mondrian and Wassily Kandinsky. In particular, it continues to exhibit the work of Kandinsky and Jackson Pollock on an ongoing basis. Recent exhibitions have included various showings of Russian and socialist art, Robert Mapplethorpe and the Classical Tradition, David Smith: A Centennial and the images of Baghdad-born artist Zaha Hadid. Its future planned showcases include the work of Lucio Fontana, and Spanish Painting from El Greco to Picasso. This eclectic range of artists and artistic works demonstrates the ongoing commitment of the Guggenheim Museum to its original goal, to showcase the work of new modernism, whilst still embracing new forms of modern art, classic motorcycle, in the twenty-first century. Although “high” modern and postmodern art have been the main artistic lines pursued by the Guggenheim, it has also been host to a variety of commercial art, including seasons exhibiting motorcycles and Giorgio Armani suits.

The Guggenheim Museum in New York is part of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, a non-profit organisation founded in 1937 by eminent philanthropist Solomon R. Guggenheim and artist Hilla von Rebay. Since the establishment of the first Guggenheim in New York, the foundation has gone on to open further museums, classic motorcycle, in Bilbao, Venice, Berlin and Las Vegas, and is in the process of establishing another Guggenheim in Abu Dhabi. For the artistic holiday maker, a perfect vacation idea might be a trip around the world to all the Guggenheim museums. This idea is not even as expensive as it might seem: for example, there are Hilton Hotels in all of these cities, and using the Hilton Honors (http://hhonors, classic motorcycle, .hilton.com ) rewards system, travelling art fans can use their accumulated points to reclaim hotel rewards as well as air miles with a variety of different airlines, to make their worldwide Guggenheim tour a vacation with a difference.

When I first had the idea for this experiment, I got to thinking about Tino Seghal.  I’m thinking about him again today thanks to a link from @mcachicago to a very good article about him in W’s Art Issue. Reading about his work and his perspective on the art world always sortof simultaneously makes me swoon and shake my head with disbelief (which for the record, I love.)  The Guggenheim website has this to say of his upcoming solo how opening a the end of January:

Organized as part of the Guggenheim’s 50th-anniversary celebrations, Sehgal’s exhibition comprises a mise-en-scène that will occupy the entire Frank Lloyd Wright–designed rotunda. One facet of the artist’s practice, quasi-sculptural choreographed movement, will transform the ground floor of the rotunda into an arena for spectatorship. On the spiraling ramp, another aspect—direct verbal interaction between museum visitors and trained participants—will predominate. Sehgal’s works expand the concept of what constitutes a contemporary art object, offering the viewer an immediate engagement with the realization of the work presented.

If you’re in NY, I hope you’ll go see it and then tell me about it….although really, that’s not the point at all.  *sigh*

+ Cancelado el proyecto del Museo Guggenheim en Huentitán, Jalisco,
+ Génesis de los Sueños de la Fascinante y Encantadora Evelyn Lambert
+ ¿Por qué las Envidias, “grillas” y Protagonismos Danan tanto a México?

Durante las Cuatro Estaciones de su vida en Ocasiones Fueron identificadas como Las Tres Gracias del Arte, Quizá por sus afinidades en el mundo del arte, coleccionistas como, críticas, curadoras y mecenas. Convivieron en tardes húmedas del Verano veneciano, como tambien los ocasos otoñales. Peggy Guggenheim trabajo Durante los años en su legado: Fue la creadora de la Bienal de Venecia. Evelyn Lambert, y habito Tuvo un palacete obra de Palladium, donde tejió su mejor sueño para cuando viniera a México. Y Possy Feick, junto con ellas, Tuvo un activismo artístico y cultural intenso Dentro de la Fundación Solomon R. Guggenheim.

Evelyn – La Dama fascinante y encantadora, como la describió la cronista María Helena Novela en carta a Pepe Iturriaga – mantuvo siempre el propósito de venir a vivir a México, su amado país adoptivo Lo hizo y realidad Cuando Vendió su residencia veneciana de 40 habitaciones. Con parte de su colección de arte se instalo en una agradable finca en El Callejón del Sapo, en Cuernavaca, para dar Vuelo a su sueño principal.

Cierta mañana de febrero del año 2003, recibo una llamada:

- ¿Puedes venir un rincón con mi amiga Evelyn Lambert? – me preguntó por teléfono Víctor Manuel Contreras, uno de los más prestigiados escultores contemporáneos de México.

- ¿Ya decidió darme una entrevista? – contesté con una pregunta.

- Tú ven.

Dos semanas Después, en agradable día de primavera, la fascinante y encantadora dama Evelyn Lambert, era la anfitriona de comida y en singular, a la vez que ordenaba escanciar el vino, habló:

- Se va a hacer realidad mi sueño: México Tendrá un museo Guggenheim.

Por esas fechas, Evelyn ya Tenía de su lado el donativo por 30 Millones de dólares de su amiga Possy Feick, asi como el visto bueno de la Fundación Solomon R. Guggenheim para Promover la construcción de un museo en México, como el de Nueva York , el de Venecia, Berlín, Las Vegas o Bilbao. El siguiente paso era encontrar el complemento mexicano.

Evelyn Quiso mucho a México ya los mexicanos y entre sus tarjetas de presentación y promotoría cultural, Estaba la de fundadora y presidente del Patronato Guggenheim-México con dos finalidades específicas: Establecer un museo en nuestro país y, eventualmente dos. Prehispánica Los primeros pasos y gestiones se orientaron hacia Xochicalco, la ciudad que Estaría LLAMADA A Tener, en sus proximidades, un museo escultórico al aire libre. La segunda, el Museo en la Barranca de Huentitán, en el Fundo Municipal de Guadalajara.

Guggenheim-México contacto a Diferentes Instancias Gubernamentales y empresariales, para llevar adelante sus aviones y abundante Aplicar el donativo de la señora y Feick la Decisión de la Fundación Solomon R. Gugghenheim. Así, nuestras promotoras llegaron hasta la Asociación Guadalajara Capital Cultural, que se interesó en Desarrollar el proyecto. La señora Peick propi $ io varios viajes y eventos en Nueva York y la Fundación invirtió dos millones de Dólares en financiar el estudio de viabilidad del proyecto. Siendo alcalde de Guadalajara, Fernando Garza Inició el Procedimiento para donar 64 mil 413 metros cuadrados al proyecto.

Todo iba muy bien hasta que la salud de Evelyn Empiezo a quebrantarse, situación que dió Quizá un pastel que la oranización tapatía sencillamente desplazara al hada madrina del Museo … ¡Y ya no la tomaron en cuenta!
Paulatinamente, la organización Guggenheim-México Fue desplazada del quehacer de los tapatíos.

En su momento, la Fundación con sede en Nueva York Lanzó la Convocatoria Internacional a la comunidad de Arquitectos, para Presentar a concurso el proyecto del museo previsto para Jalisco. Una grata sorpresa para México Fue saber que el ganador Fue el reconocido arquitecto mexicano Enrique Norten, presidente y fundador de TEN Arquitectos. Los bocetos que este post Ilustran Corresponden A su proyecto.

La semana pasada se dió un conocer la noticia fúnebre: Juan Ignacio Vidarte, director del Museo Guggenheim de Bilbao y Director de Estrategia de la Fundación, declaró en Bilbao: El proyecto del Museo en Huetitán, Jalisco, está muerto.

Fue categórico y afirmó que el proyecto para Guadalajara “está muerto, fundamentalmente por Una cuestión relacionada, en este caso, con la crisis económica, que impidió a las Autoridades Mexicanas Tomar las Decisiones que debian tomar en el Plazo Adecuado “.La pérdida económica al quedar cancelado el proyecto SUMA Los Dos Millones de dólares que se invirtieron para un estudio de factibilidad realizado en 2007, Así como los 50 millones de pesos que se recibieron para el Fideicomiso Pro-construcción, con presupuesto federal y estatal de La iniciativa privada, por Manejado Guadalajara Capital Cultural AC

Peggy Guggenheim, Evelyn Lambert y Possy Feick, Las Tres Gracias del Arte, Ya están en la eternidad. Sin duda, ven desde arriba su museo realizado, sobre el cielo de Huetitán. Los mexicanos, no.

Guillermo Guillermo Mora Tavares, octubre, 2009

Madrid envuelta en nubes de polvo y nieve. Recorro calles abiertas hasta el Retiro vestido de otoño en busca de vegetación que restaure el aliento. Como los troncos centenarios de Manhattan. El último paseo por Central Park. Robles naranjas y dorados tiñen el lago de trazos impresionistas. Entre dos cuadras, un óvalo luminoso de paredes que se curvan hacia infinito. La silueta inconfundible del Museo Guggenheim de Frank Lloyd Wright cumple cincuenta años. 

Me enamoré de Wright cuando un Gary Cooper imponente y sosegado se enfrentaba al millonario sin escrúpulos de “El Manantial”. Recuerdo el discurso del arquitecto Howard Roark defendiendo al creador frente a la sociedad de consumo. Pregunté a mi padre qué era un arquitecto. Es alguien que levanta edificios. Pues tendrá manos muy fuertes, contesté convencida. Como las de mi padre, capaz de levantarme con sus palmas anchas sin el menor esfuerzo.  

Leí la novela de Ayn Rand, incondicional del maestro de la arquitectura orgánica, y soñé terrazas en praderas abiertas como Wright, un nombre que me acompañó a través de las décadas. En imágenes de Blade Runner y Black Rain (la casa Ennis-Brown y la fábrica Johnson & Son), con la voz susurrante de Garfunkel en So Long, Frank Loyd Wright, (“Puente sobre aguas turbulentas” Simon & Garfunkel), en colecciones satinadas de hogares privilegiados  entre cascadas y desiertos (Fallinwater, Taliesin). 

Y el Museo Guggenheim cuya apertura en octubre de 1959, tras dieciseis años de bocetos, conmocionó al mundo. El sueño del coleccionista de pintura no-objetiva interpretado por el mejor arquitecto de América. El museo definitivo. Una obra de arte en sí misma que conjuga humanidad y Naturaleza con alegorías geométricas. “El círculo, el infinito; el triángulo, la unidad estructural; la forma helicoidal, la aspiración; la espiral, el progreso orgánico; el cuadrado, la integridad”. (F.Ll.Wright, 1912).

Fotos: M. da Silva

El Guggenheim. Escenario único que envuelve las alma que traspasan sus puertas. Desde la cúpula hasta la planta baja en un movimiento fluido y elíptico que evita pasillos y aglomeraciones. Detenerse provoca un ligero mareo, el equilibrio moderno no entiende lo oblicuo. Un espacio curvo que se define por el movimiento de los cuerpos dentro de ese espacio. “Me encanta este edificio cuando esta vacío, la sensación de misterio creada por vacío, luces y sombras. Me encanta el edificio cuando esta ocupado, el sentimiento de celebración que genera. Una celebración de Arte y Arquitectura”. (Diana Agrest. 1994) 

Observo una foto de Frank Lloyd Wright nonagenario sentado al lado de la maqueta del museo que no vió terminado, con su sombrero de ala plana y el bastón entre las manos entrelazadas. Unas manos únicas que dibujaron puentes hacia el  infinito.

Frank Lloyd Wright. Museo Guggenheim-Bilbao. Hasta el 14 de febrero de 2.010.

I’ve been dying to go to NYC this season to visit the Guggenheim’s massive Kandisnky exhibit. He is my absolute favorite artist and I’m still in awe of 4 private collection pieces I saw at MOMA last year.

Found out about this in August but with my work travel schedule I just couldn’t fit in a weekend to go. It’s on view until January 13 and my schedule is clearing up but bbrrrr…..it’ll be chilly.

The video on the Guggenheim website I just watched might persuade me to brave the elements, however.

Check out my Kandinsky inspired birthday cake from two years ago beautifully baked and desinged by my friend Olivia of Sweet Catastrophe Cakes.

…here are some beautiful images of our dancers performing excerpts from ”Connect Transfer” and “Folding” in the rotunda as a part of the Works and Process series. (Photos byYi-Chun Wu)  A slideshow different pictures from the night can be viewed on the Ancient Paths, Modern Voices website here.

“Folding” (below) was performed as never seen before, offering spectators various vantage points unavailable to audience members in a traditional theater setting.

Here also is just a taste of the enlightening dialogue between Shen Wei and Anna Kisselgoff as excerpts from the company’s repertoire were presented.   It was truly a facinating night of up-close-and-personal performances and insight into Shen Wei’s technique, inspiration, and thought processes.  These were posted live on our twitter account during our Sunday night performance.   

7:54 PM :  Live from the Guggenheim tonight at 7:30pm Eastern Time! Follow us @SWDA!

7:55 PM :  So–technical difficulties, but here we are! Anna Kisselgoff, chief dance critic of the New York Times for 20 some years introduces SWDA

7:56 PM :  AK=Anna Kisselgoff, SW=Shen Wei, ok?!

7:57 PM :  We are here to explore 10 years of SW and his company, founded in 2000, entering its tenth anniversary season in 2010

7:58 PM :  AK: SW was born to a family of artists in Hunan, trained as painter, dancer, calligrapher, founds the first modern dance co in China

7:58 PM :  AK: What is inspiration for RITE OF SPRING; SW: structure of music as starting point, focus on rotation of body parts, simple human mvmt

7:59 PM :  SW: handpainted floor covering that is in dialogue with movement

8:00 PM : An Excerpt from MAP–2005 work in collaboration with music by Steve Reich, 10 dancers on the Guggenheim stage whirling like mad

8:00 PM : AK: What is inspiration for RE- TRIPTYCH (2009)? SW: Re- invokes concepts of rebirth, renewal, rethink. Do not have this word in Chinese!

8:03 PM : AK: What is inspiration for 3 parts of Triptych? SW: 1: Tibet, 2: Angkor Wat (Cambodia), 3: Silk Road. personal journeys that became dance

8:05 PM : EXCERPT RE- 2: Inspired by friezes on ancient temples at Angkor Wat, music from a local group of artists injured in cambodian civil war

8:08 PM : SW: Sculpture pushes me to think of movement in different way. Movement of one character in frieze inspires movement of another

8:06 PM :  AK: Re 2 a frieze with movement tumbling out of it: very unusual–what is inspiration, SW?

8:09 PM :  SW: We use internal energy, technique that creates movement by breath or feelings, feel you have no bones, you fly, chi affects muscles

8:09 PM :  AK: next piece inspired by Tibet, SW invited Tibetan nun to sing at NYC premiere, a large Tibetan mandala on stage. What inspired technique?

8:14 PM :  SW: Journey in Tibet; experience of gravity, difficulty of breath. How translate to movement? Spent 2 weeks in studio with dancer in dark!

8:14 PM : AK: SW created a book of photographs in Tibet, proceeds go to support orphanage in Tibet, SW was moved by humility of people and landscape

8:16 PM : AK: What was inspiration for part 3: Silk Road?

8:16 PM : SW: Took 40 day trip to Silk Road, to see how different cultures influenced each other. What separates East and West? What is shared?

8:18 PM :  SW: discovered theme in China/East: unified, shared experience; Western: focus on individual, personal journey

8:22 PM :  SW: Part 3 done with eyes closed. Pretty dangerous! Focus on unity/individual in connection. AK: A conceptual work! SW: Music by David Lang

8:23 PM :  Moving up to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Rotunda: Excerpts from FOLDING (2000); NEAR THE TERRACE (2001); CONNECT TRANSFER (2004). Thanks for following tonight!!