tflurry's blog

I started by reading the editorial "Culture has a Cost" in the Philadelphia Inquirer, and was intrigued by the idea of the art and culture of Philadelphia.

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I noticed several mentions of Independence Mall, both in the article and throughout the paper, so I looked it up. (www.nps.gov/inde/‎)

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The official website of Independence Mall was offline due to the government shutdown, so I tried another one of the buildings mentioned in the article: the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (http://www.kimmelcenter.org/)

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I was not overly interested in what I saw on the Kimmel Center site, so I tried a google search on "culture in philadelphia", which lead to Philadelphia weekly, and upcoming events in the area. (http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/events/?advEventSearchDate=10/05/2013&eventWeekDate=10-04-2013&calendarStartDate=10-01-2013&esCat=242179)

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Of those events, one that looked particularly interesting was Bonnie MacAllister: Multimedia Fiber Art & Film (http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/events/223835316.htmlO

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I looked around for more information, and found the facebook page for the events. PHILADELPHIA OPEN STUDIO TOURS: Multimedia Art by Bonnie MacAllister (EAST OF BROAD) (https://www.facebook.com/events/170604153119404/?ref=22)

There is nothing quite like standing in the entrance of a building, looking down, and realizing that you can see through the floor. Nor is it quite like glancing up, and noticing a large naked figure staring at you from the ceiling. Then again, Isaiah Zagar is not your typical artist, so one should not expect a typical entrance to his life-work. The Magic Gardens in Philadelphia, PA are something else; completely covered in tiles and metal, glass and wood, the structure looks like something better suited to Wonderland than Philly. Yet Philly is where it calls home, and it is all the better for it; after all, in Wonderland no one would think twice about a giant wall of china and bottles. In a small residential area of Philly, the striking contrast makes the garden all the more arresting, all the better for it. The Magic Gardens, despite its name, has very few living plants in it at all; more are painted on the walls, but this is far more a garden of sights and insights than fruits and leaves. Every square inch of the space is covered in one material or another, used in the most unusual ways; things are drawn or painted onto some tiles, other tiles are arranged into figures. Some spaces have no tiles, but only ‘other’; broken crockery, smashed mirrors, carefully cut shapes and outlines. Words are a part of the presentation, but not always for the reading; some are arranged to be read, yes, but others are positioned not to be read, but so that people know the words are there; perhaps they are placed too small and too high to be read from street level.

The Dada movement was an artistic movement, that centered itself around the idea of being anti-art. It aimed to offend, to shock, to critisize, to disturb the senses; if art did one thing, Dada aimed to do the other. This was in protest to what the Dada artists thought of as a world slowly killing itself, a borgiuazie who would rather fight a war with itself than change how the society works.

Of those artists, one whom I find particularly interesting is Marcel Duchamp, the infamous artist behind "The Fountain", a urinal hung on a museum wall with a fake signature. He also created a piece called "Bycicle Wheel", currently on display in New York's Museum of Modern Art; when that sculpture was originally displayed, the artist invited viewers to interact with and spin the bycicle wheel, although that is no longer allowed now that the piece is displayed in MoMA. 

Here is my mosaic; please let me know if it is not visible. Serendipity has been giving me lip when I try to upload photos.

On Saturday, September 14, the various members of the two classes of Play in the City met with Mark in the glass atrium outside of Hepburn; I was among the first people there, got my ticket, and watched as the room filled with people in waves. When most of the group had arrived, a few stragglers rushing in behind, Mark explained the details of the trip, and we split into groups; I was paired with a woman named Agatha, and we grouped with Phoenix and Marcia.

We rode the train into town; it was full but not crowded, Agatha enjoying a conversation with a friend as I read. When the train reached our station, we hurried off; the train stops were brief enough that a stumble could make you miss your stop. A short walk took us to the library, where Mark described the plan for the day; “Go play, and make sure to come back on time for your ticket.”

I think I agree with the idea Sunstein presents that part of the charm of newspapers is the chance articles you can come across; it is a good way to come across interesting random factoids. I also see his point about how like and like breeds extremity. That said, I feel like playing Devil’s Advocate: I have trouble staying on top of, or even vaguely in touch with, the news; the nice thing about tailored news reports is that I will actually stay on top of them. Further, depending on how you tailor your news, it might come out like a Google search, where the results relate to whatever you are looking, but still have enough variance to be interesting and cover a number of fields.

It was interesting to hear what struck other people about my writing; I heard several comments on the vividness of my imagery, and the transition from general to personal. I was very pleased and amused to hear that “extravaganza” was among the most noticeable words in the paper; it seems fitting that “extravaganza” was the center of attention. The feedback I got made me feel pleased with my work; nothing quite so active as happy, but well contented, which was a marvelous change from immediately after I originally submitted my paper, by which point I was tired, stressed, and worried about other things. I hope to take from this exercise a renewed appreciation of the vividness of words, and the confidence to use them artfully.

(“Downpour on Bourbon Street” by Diane Millsap)

Whether one considers New Orleans or New York City, some concepts a City hold true. The city is huge and vast and crowded, nothing quite so much as a humongous hidden object game, rivers of nameless faces in nameless places going about their unknown businesses. Here and there are bright faces and familiar places from fond memories or exciting opportunities. A museum, a zoo, a bakery, a mahjong game--  the city is a sugar rush.  Tasty and often ending in an energy crash, which never forestalls the next rush. The city is amazing for its opportunities, adventures, the stories lucking on every street corner and every stranger’s eye. The city is exhausting- constant lights, sights, sounds, the unending press of people.  Even the exhaustion can be exhilarating; there is nothing quite like when the city starts to sing, when the car horns and twinkling lights make up an impromptu extravaganza. Although cities are often draining, they are fun and terrific places to spend time go on adventures.

There are a few reasons I choose a profile picture of a perched hawk. The first is, simply, I don't tend to put my face on the internet. Most of the people who I would want to keep in the loop regarding my everyday life, can just as easily get an email with a picture than they can look it up on facebook. The second reason, similarly, is that I really like birds of prey, and hawks in particular; they are among my favorite animals. This particular hawk seemed to be paying rapt attention, which seemed fitting. Finally, although this is rather subconscious, there is something fun about having a representation of the self that has certain cultural assossiations; a reference to something or someone the person with that picture would like the person seeing it to remember and connect to. I generally think that when one has a profile picture with cultural associations, then whenever the person with that profile picture demonstrates some small amount of one of the qualities associated with their profile picture, then that quality becomes strengthened in the reader's memory.