I find the best way out of having nothing to say (or nothing that one cares to make public) is to let Shakespeare say it instead. So here you are. Accept this sonnet as a token of my esteem.
LXXXIX.
Say that thou didst forsake me for some fault,
And I will comment upon that offence;
Speak of my lameness, and I straight will halt,
Against thy reasons making no defence.
Thou canst not, love, disgrace me half so ill,
To set a form upon desired change,
As I'll myself disgrace: knowing thy will,
I will acquaintance strangle and look strange,
Be absent from thy walks, and in my tongue
Thy sweet beloved name no more shall dwell,
Lest I, too much profane, should do it wrong
And haply of our old acquaintance tell.
For thee against myself I'll vow debate,
For I must ne'er love him whom thou dost hate.
11/29/2004
11/22/2004
Self-censorship
Well hello there. It's me again. I've been quite the busy maitresse these last few weeks, but I don't know exactly why. School has picked up, as has teaching, and I've just returned to Paris from a weekend in London. Wednesday will see me on a plane bound for New York, where I'll spend a week with my family reassuring them that I am not moving to Paris for good (yet).
A brief update on the functioning of my blog: as you'll have noted, I changed the template again, but can't figure out how to make the links bar come back. I lack the time and the energy to fiddle around with the HTML. Thus, links are temporarily inaccessible. As far as the lag between posts goes... well, I'm lazy/busy/tired and temporarily out of rhetorical steam.
For now, take a jump over to a friend's blog... Join Flash!topia.
A brief update on the functioning of my blog: as you'll have noted, I changed the template again, but can't figure out how to make the links bar come back. I lack the time and the energy to fiddle around with the HTML. Thus, links are temporarily inaccessible. As far as the lag between posts goes... well, I'm lazy/busy/tired and temporarily out of rhetorical steam.
For now, take a jump over to a friend's blog... Join Flash!topia.
11/15/2004
"Museums are just a lot of lies,"
or so said Picasso: "...and the people who make art their business are mostly imposters.... We have infected the pictures in museums with all our stupidities, all our mistakes, all our poverty of spirit. We have turned them into petty and ridiculous things." He said that in a 1935 volume of Cahiers d'Art. Alfred H. Barr, Jr. included this quote in his 1946 book on Picasso, published seventeen years after he founded the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.
When I was but a wee Barnard lass in my formative years as an academic, one of my favorite places in New York to go and work was the garden at MoMA. As an undergrad at Columbia I was allowed free entry to all of the museums in town, so any given afternoon, when I felt like taking the 1,9 downtown, you might have found me at a table off in the corner, next to a huge coffee, nose buried in a book, pen moving in a notebook, copying out critical estimations and interesting passages out of whatever I was reading. Background noise was faint; there were a few limpid fountains, I seem to recall, and some manicured older women sitting together and discussing the art, their travels, their younger days. There was a healthy amount of outdoor sculpture here and there, and the ground was a series of pathways crisscrossing over a pond. The garden was not very large, but suprisingly was never that crowded, and I sort of wondered if it wasn't one of New York's best-kept secrets. Really, no one must have known about it, or you would think it would have been overrun with museum-goers taking a break in between German and Abstract Expressionism.
I would never leave without running upstairs to wander through the collections, no matter how briefly. Then, as now, I stuck mainly to the pre-1945 art. After WWII my interest in painting and especially in sculpture takes a nosedive... the photography I love, but everything else leaves me cold. Shocker! I actually don't like Andy Warhol! Thanks to a rigorous background in Art History, I have the requisite critical skills to talk about late twentieth-century art and what makes it so. I just can't get into it, is all.
I was crushed, but luckily out of college, when, in 2001, MoMA shut its doors and temporarily relocated to Long Island City, Queens, to renovate the original 1930s structure into something a little more cutting edge. By the time this happened, I was also no longer living in Queens. Schlepping from Manhattan to LIC was not an option. So I bid MoMA goodbye. And now, finally, it's reopening on November 20th! It's been redesigned by Yoshio Taniguchi, and there's a writeup in yesterday's NY Times assessing the new building. Nicolai Ouroussoff writes, "The galleries, stacked one on top of the other like so many epochs, reinforce a hierarchical approach to history that will bolster the Modern's image as a ruthless arbiter of taste...It reinforces the notion - in a way not sensed at the Met today - that museums are as much about the stamp of legitimacy as about aesthetic pleasure."
I don't agree with his observation about the Met, but I see what he means about the layout. It would be interesting to compare MoMA with its British counterpart, the Tate Modern, which is organized by theme rather than by chronological period. There, the works are grouped into the following themes: History/Memory/Society, Landscape/Matter/Environment, Nude/Action/Body, and Still Life/Object/Real Life.
For a public accustomed to having Cezanne, Gauguin, Matisse, et al grouped within a few meters of each other, to organize the works according to their thematic content interferes with the traditional organization of art history and our traditional methods of appreciating artistic achievement. But really, who says things have to be in chronologial order? who says a linear perspective makes more sense than a nonlinear? Why be traditional when you can be innovative? Isn't that the idea behind modern art anyway?
The new MoMA is not a stranger to the values of mixing it up a bit-- Ouroussoff mentions several "startling" juxtapositions-- but for the most part, apparently, the new design confirms the power of the institution as author and coordinator of art history. Back to the Times: "This may irritate people who believe that a 21st-century museum should take a more populist approach. It runs counter to the idea that art, in a democracy, is a messy, open process. And it exposes the design's overwhelming assertion of control, beautiful yet chilling. But that is what powerful art institutions do: they set standards, they make evaluations. You could argue that Mr. Taniguchi is stripping away the egalitarian pose and exposing the museum for what it is."
When I was but a wee Barnard lass in my formative years as an academic, one of my favorite places in New York to go and work was the garden at MoMA. As an undergrad at Columbia I was allowed free entry to all of the museums in town, so any given afternoon, when I felt like taking the 1,9 downtown, you might have found me at a table off in the corner, next to a huge coffee, nose buried in a book, pen moving in a notebook, copying out critical estimations and interesting passages out of whatever I was reading. Background noise was faint; there were a few limpid fountains, I seem to recall, and some manicured older women sitting together and discussing the art, their travels, their younger days. There was a healthy amount of outdoor sculpture here and there, and the ground was a series of pathways crisscrossing over a pond. The garden was not very large, but suprisingly was never that crowded, and I sort of wondered if it wasn't one of New York's best-kept secrets. Really, no one must have known about it, or you would think it would have been overrun with museum-goers taking a break in between German and Abstract Expressionism.
I would never leave without running upstairs to wander through the collections, no matter how briefly. Then, as now, I stuck mainly to the pre-1945 art. After WWII my interest in painting and especially in sculpture takes a nosedive... the photography I love, but everything else leaves me cold. Shocker! I actually don't like Andy Warhol! Thanks to a rigorous background in Art History, I have the requisite critical skills to talk about late twentieth-century art and what makes it so. I just can't get into it, is all.
I was crushed, but luckily out of college, when, in 2001, MoMA shut its doors and temporarily relocated to Long Island City, Queens, to renovate the original 1930s structure into something a little more cutting edge. By the time this happened, I was also no longer living in Queens. Schlepping from Manhattan to LIC was not an option. So I bid MoMA goodbye. And now, finally, it's reopening on November 20th! It's been redesigned by Yoshio Taniguchi, and there's a writeup in yesterday's NY Times assessing the new building. Nicolai Ouroussoff writes, "The galleries, stacked one on top of the other like so many epochs, reinforce a hierarchical approach to history that will bolster the Modern's image as a ruthless arbiter of taste...It reinforces the notion - in a way not sensed at the Met today - that museums are as much about the stamp of legitimacy as about aesthetic pleasure."
I don't agree with his observation about the Met, but I see what he means about the layout. It would be interesting to compare MoMA with its British counterpart, the Tate Modern, which is organized by theme rather than by chronological period. There, the works are grouped into the following themes: History/Memory/Society, Landscape/Matter/Environment, Nude/Action/Body, and Still Life/Object/Real Life.
For a public accustomed to having Cezanne, Gauguin, Matisse, et al grouped within a few meters of each other, to organize the works according to their thematic content interferes with the traditional organization of art history and our traditional methods of appreciating artistic achievement. But really, who says things have to be in chronologial order? who says a linear perspective makes more sense than a nonlinear? Why be traditional when you can be innovative? Isn't that the idea behind modern art anyway?
The new MoMA is not a stranger to the values of mixing it up a bit-- Ouroussoff mentions several "startling" juxtapositions-- but for the most part, apparently, the new design confirms the power of the institution as author and coordinator of art history. Back to the Times: "This may irritate people who believe that a 21st-century museum should take a more populist approach. It runs counter to the idea that art, in a democracy, is a messy, open process. And it exposes the design's overwhelming assertion of control, beautiful yet chilling. But that is what powerful art institutions do: they set standards, they make evaluations. You could argue that Mr. Taniguchi is stripping away the egalitarian pose and exposing the museum for what it is."
11/08/2004
11/07/2004
photography 101
just finished posting and labeling my digital photos... find them on Ofoto. I don't think you need to sign in to view them... one of these days I will figure out a better way to host my pictures online, but for now bear with me!
11/05/2004
a request
I swear to god I'm going to die in this apartment. The plumbing in the bathroom is STILL not fixed, despite the fact that the plumber spent a significant amount of time here while I was out this afternoon; when I came home I found he had used almost an entire roll of toilet paper, the remnants of which were balled up in the trash. I don't know what he was doing with the TP but it sure as hell wasn't fixing the leaks that flood my floor several times a day. However, thinking the leak would be fixed, I just walked nonchalantly into my bathroom without preparing myself to get some traction, as I've taken to doing lately-- and lo and behold, I slipped and almost killed myself. My reflexes saved me and I grabbed the sink for support.
So the moral of the story is this: 1. french plumbers are incompetent and 2. if you don't hear from me for longer than a day it may be because I'm lying unconscious on my bathroom floor. If you enjoy reading this blog, or even if you don't but still don't want me to perish, please check in with me regularly. Thank you.
So the moral of the story is this: 1. french plumbers are incompetent and 2. if you don't hear from me for longer than a day it may be because I'm lying unconscious on my bathroom floor. If you enjoy reading this blog, or even if you don't but still don't want me to perish, please check in with me regularly. Thank you.
Simon Schama on "Godly America" versus "Worldly America"
He may have the beginning of a point, but don't you just want to rush in and deconstruct that binary? If only Derrida had lived to see this election...
Hillel Halkin in the Jerusalem Post gets beyond the dichotomy: "And yet what, really, apart from identifying you as either "religious" or "secular" in people's eyes, do the two positions have to do with each other? By pigeonholing one another, we also pigeonhole our thought processes."
Hillel Halkin in the Jerusalem Post gets beyond the dichotomy: "And yet what, really, apart from identifying you as either "religious" or "secular" in people's eyes, do the two positions have to do with each other? By pigeonholing one another, we also pigeonhole our thought processes."
11/04/2004
Electing to leave
Well, I'm not quite ready to "renunciate," but in case you are, check out Harper's list of ways to declare yourself no longer an American.
11/03/2004
Allons enfants de la patrie...
I might need to sit out the next four years here in France.
From the crazy cats over at the Daily Show:
paris blues
somewhere near my open window someone is playing the tuba...and not very well, I might add. its mournful intonations seem a propos. I just picked up a pair of boots that were being repaired at the cordonnerie and the bootman actually scolded me for not taking better care of them. I looked at him sadly, in no mood to be lectured when there are people out there who are calling the election in favor of the fascist cowboy. I went to my neighborhood librairie anglophone, the red wheelbarrow, and was subjected to some canadian chick polemicizing, predicting hell and brimstone for the next four years. I've never heard so much vitriol aimed at my country at once. I actually winced and had to move away...she made me completely forget what book I had come in search of [Philip Roth's The Plot Against America, in case you're interested].
Things got somewhat brighter up at the cash register, as the woman who worked there was tres sympa, and someone she introduced to me as a "famous writer" came in and joined our conversation.
Sigh. These are dark days.
Things got somewhat brighter up at the cash register, as the woman who worked there was tres sympa, and someone she introduced to me as a "famous writer" came in and joined our conversation.
Sigh. These are dark days.
11/02/2004
going salsa dancing with my confusion
I've taken to watching "Waking Life" during meals. All three of you out there who saw the movie might recognize the salsa quote from the Lorca-loving guy on the bridge's monologue.
The heater in my studio has been fixed and the plumbing is partially fixed. Thus, I am happier. And warmer.
But more to the point: this is a very important day. As my friend Kaitlin put it, election day is more exciting than Christmas (certainly to those of the hebraic persuasion it is!). But I've been on edge all day long, hooked on France 2 which keeps running footage of Americans standing in line to vote. Whowillitbewhoowillitbewhowillitbe?
To celebrate this important day and to commiserate with other Americans here in Paris [we're in for a lot of shit from the French if Bush wins], I am attending a party tonight from 12 am to 6 am at Planet Hollywood. Yes, Planet Hollywood. I look forward to learning the fate of the country-- the world--no, the universe!--over a plate of cap'n crunch chicken fingers (or is that hard rock cafe?). There are going to be around 600 people there, along with a lot of press and (let's hope) tight security. Oh, and the joint is on the Champs-Elysees. There's something very surreal about this whole plan. Anyway-- I'm going as a member of the Young Democrats Abroad, and the entire evening is sponsored by the Association of Americans Residing Abroad. Which means there will actually be Republicans there to throw dirty looks at when it's 4 am, Ohio went for Bush, and I'm falling asleep in my drink.
Pfeh, perish the thought. Ohio, make me proud. Vote Kerry.
By the way-- I do apologize for the somewhat philistine approach to politics I present in this blog. It's just that I'm not about to lend my voice to the chorus of pundits chewing over the same information. If you're curious to know WHY I support Kerry rather than Bush, I'd be happy to explain.
Happy voting, and see you on the flip side.
The heater in my studio has been fixed and the plumbing is partially fixed. Thus, I am happier. And warmer.
But more to the point: this is a very important day. As my friend Kaitlin put it, election day is more exciting than Christmas (certainly to those of the hebraic persuasion it is!). But I've been on edge all day long, hooked on France 2 which keeps running footage of Americans standing in line to vote. Whowillitbewhoowillitbewhowillitbe?
To celebrate this important day and to commiserate with other Americans here in Paris [we're in for a lot of shit from the French if Bush wins], I am attending a party tonight from 12 am to 6 am at Planet Hollywood. Yes, Planet Hollywood. I look forward to learning the fate of the country-- the world--no, the universe!--over a plate of cap'n crunch chicken fingers (or is that hard rock cafe?). There are going to be around 600 people there, along with a lot of press and (let's hope) tight security. Oh, and the joint is on the Champs-Elysees. There's something very surreal about this whole plan. Anyway-- I'm going as a member of the Young Democrats Abroad, and the entire evening is sponsored by the Association of Americans Residing Abroad. Which means there will actually be Republicans there to throw dirty looks at when it's 4 am, Ohio went for Bush, and I'm falling asleep in my drink.
Pfeh, perish the thought. Ohio, make me proud. Vote Kerry.
By the way-- I do apologize for the somewhat philistine approach to politics I present in this blog. It's just that I'm not about to lend my voice to the chorus of pundits chewing over the same information. If you're curious to know WHY I support Kerry rather than Bush, I'd be happy to explain.
Happy voting, and see you on the flip side.
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