Amid the daily deluge of bleak, enervating news about the effects of climate change, we’ve been noticing a strain of defiance: Messages that engender energy and activism rather than despair and paralysis. They offer a thought-provoking and heartening view.
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New York Magazine’s recent article about designer Todd Oldham’s house in the Poconos is a revelation: an over-the-top, completely original color-riot of a country house. Its many cool ideas are driven by an unexpectedly liberating design philosophy.
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A post-it marks a quote in The Hummingbird’s Daughter, the beautiful battered novel we found in the Little Free Library near our house. We’ve been mulling its essential lesson about allowing things to happen for weeks. And thinking about artists who use chance in their work, giving up control to allow unexpected things to happen.
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This lamp by English lampshade designer Mark Betty has this description “Lamp and Brown Paper (or whatever you want)” . The brown paper rolled into an asymmetrical cone and secured with a pin seems to have been made in a single gesture. Like all Betty’s shades, it has its own unique personality, as though it were alive…
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There has been a lot written about embracing your mistakes, but for us, Miles Davis nailed how to make it work, as recounted by a young Herbie Hancock in this tiny video; he experienced Miles’ approach in action.
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For weeks, Czeslaw Milosz’ very personal anthology of poetry, A Book of Luminous Things has sat on our table to open anywhere for an unexpected view of our world. It’s made us realize that when we read a poem, it starts a conversation within us and with other things…
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A photo I stumbled on on Instagram made me loosen up my fevered drive to create bookcases for my many books, some of which are in boxes. Stacked — loose — can be so beautiful…
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It hadn’t occurred to us to think beyond the idea of S’mores we’ve had in our head for eons. Then we stumbled on a complete re-envisioning of the three elements that blew our mind in the most pleasurable way.
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We love this skeleton of a picture frame hung pictureless on a wall. As we gaze into its empty space, we find ourselves imagining all sorts of things while we enjoy its austere shape. It reminded us of the old silver frame we gave to artist Maria Robledo years ago. Picture frame as magical objet.
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In the weeks leading up to artist and poet Etel Adnan’s death, our instagram feed was flooded with images of her work as though the world could feel her passing. Her striking paintings have been called “talismans”, “declarations of love”, and reminders of what Adnan called “day-to-day bravery”. Seeking out her work and writing, we found her big wisdom.
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Long out of favor due to the glut of cheap clothing, products and materials, mending and repair is on the rise again. That’s got us looking into the deeper meaning of mending.
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We love this clip of abstract expressionist artist Ed Clark describing how he came defy the limitations of the paint brush by painting canvasses laid out on the floor with a push broom, the old-fashioned super-wide broom janitor’s used to wash big swathes of floor. His improvisation reminds us of the way ideas can ignite or connect in an instant to yield solutions with mighty effect.
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Tabula Rasa, The New Yorker’s series by the great John McPhee features “the saved-up, bypassed, intended pieces of writing.” McPhee’s spare, vivid descriptions reminded me of the essential lesson legendary photographer Lisette Model taught her students, most notably Diane Arbus.
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One of the very best views of the New Year we’ve seen is from Lebanese-American poet and artist, Etel Adnan. Shortly after we read it, this poem* from the great 13th century Chinese poet, Stonehouse jumped into our hands. Amidst darkness that seems so pervasive, they gave just the reminder we needed.
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At the ever-illuminating @upstate_diary, we suddenly found ourselves looking up through wintry trees into a vast moving star-scape. It transported us to a chilly night in the country. It led to reminders of cosmic views of the everyday.
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We recently stumbled upon an image of two staircases side-by-side, the steps staggered, with no banister or partition between. There was no commentary. It reminded us of artist Beatrice Wood’s perfect description of Marcel Duchamp’s revolutionary Fountain that upended the art world and changed the way viewed art, and artists.
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“I obey time, but do not try to manipulate it” said South Korean artist Myonghi Kang, referring to her painting “Le temps des camélias” (“The Time of Camellias”), which took her 30 years to complete. We are heartened by her assuredness and courage, even, striking in a world where the pressure to be productive seems to inform every moment.
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A favorite instagram is gallerist Brett Gorvy’s, which pairs an artist and his/her work with a poem. It makes for a powerful dose of illumination. Take this sublime photograph by the great photojournalist Harry Benson*, of a young Brice Marden painting with a long-handled brush, illuminated, as if by fireworks, by a poem by Margaret Atwood. Perfection. Which got us thinking about that amazing brush…
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A compelling Kurt Vonnegot quote came over our transom recently, the prolific and best-selling author’s answer when asked his thoughts on replacing human contact with electronic contact. It cuts to the heart of who we are as human beings.
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Spotted at artist Izhar Patkin’s instagram: the tent he has on his New York roof deck with an interior painted by Scooter LaForge. We can imagine hiding out in its dreamy magic… A fragment of a Mary Oliver poem comes to mind:
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