Museum of the Moving Image, Queens, NY

One more super fun spring 2012 stop that I neglected to mention! Our last visit to New York before we officially left the Northeast.

Queens, New York:

Museum of the Moving Image

Neither of us had ever been to this museum so we were pretty excited. 

Headphones dangle from the ceiling, you are invited to listen to audio from either one of the two films screening. One was a modern, computer age style film and the other was a classic, silent film. By juxtaposing the classic film with the computer-y soundtrack or vice versa, you observe how different and unexpected soundtracks effect the way you experience visuals.

Nightmare on Elm Street IV: THE DREAM MASTER! I'm a huge fan of the series.

The animatronic from The Exorcist, one of the scariest movies I have ever seen.

Alex makes a stop motion animation! We also went into the sound booth to record some dialogue for...Some Like It Hot and Coming To America. 

Red Grooms' Egyptian Theater.

On our way out we grabbed some black + white cookies and took a stroll around Battery Park in lower Manhattan.

Adieu Lady Liberty.

Recent Museum Adventures: Art of the Arab Lands at the Met.

After about eight years of renovations, the Met opened fifteen !! new galleries all dedicated to art of the Arab lands. They are divided according to time and place. I've been waiting since last winter for this occasion and it did not disappoint.

Facts:
15 permanent galleries
19,000 square feet of space
13 centuries represented
1,200 objects on view (and all of them are on the Met's website!)
10% of the entire museum collection

Alex and I, with about five hundred other people, had such a fun time wandering through all of these rooms. The energy was just fantastic, like Christmas morning anticipation. I didn't even mind that it was so crowded. I was just happy that everyone was so appreciative, interested, and excited. Anyway, it would be impossible to really get to know all of these works of art in one, or even two or three visits. Knowing this, we took our time breathing in the rich atmosphere instead of pushing through trying to reach each piece. Every few minutes one of us would stumble upon something extraordinary for sharing. I was surprised that I was so into the rug collections. Especially the one pictured below. The colors and ornamental compositions are breathtaking and it goes on for miles!

 Spanish Ceiling and a selection of rugs in Gallery 459.

Detail of the inlaid wood ceiling.

 Gallery 456 Moroccan Court, hand built by a team of artists from Fez.

Admiring the Zoomorphic Incense Burner, Iran, Seljuk Period, 1040-1196, pierced and engraved Bronze.

Persian Tombstone with Mihrab, 12th c., Marble.

18th c. Damascus Room with fountain in the forefront, Syria.

Gallery 463 Mughal South Asia (16th-19th centuries)

Fruit Bat Painter attributed to circle of Bhwani Das India, Calcutta, ca. 1777-82 Pencil, ink, and opaque watercolor on paper.

Before we left the museum we walked through some of the Asian galleries since I had been teaching Eastern art for the last few weeks. I don't think I'd ever really spent any time in those galleries before, so I'm glad I finally made it. We also breezed through Ancient Greece where I nearly fell over when I saw this. 

 Dipylon Vase Dipylon Master, from Dipylon Cemetery, c.750 BCE. AKA Funerary Krater.

This vessel, from the Geometric Period of Ancient Greece, shows a cremation ritual and the response of the attendants. The top register, center, features a lone horizontal figure framed by a checkerboard pattern burial shroud. This is the deceased on their funeral pyre. On either side are mourners raising their arms in agony. Though the figures are abstract, comprised of geometric shapes hence the name of the period, the tone of the krater is clear. This work of art is important because it marks a period of transition in the treatment and expression of death in culture. Prior to this time period focus was on the needs of the deceased, art was made to please them in the afterlife and show how wonderful they were while alive. But now we see the perspective of those still alive; the experience of the mourners.

I don't know why seeing this moved me the way it did. There are dozens of Greek vessels and I've never been especially drawn to them, but for some reason this one is special. More than the others it presents a very honest and personal moment. I think the abstract quality even enhances that, because it's as though the artist wasn't sure how to express the feeling, but felt compelled to do so in whatever possible way. It's larger than I expected. The repetition of the raised arms succeeds in commanding attention. 

BUT FOOD:

Anticipating my hunger schedule and museum fatigue, Alex had put together a taste of the Upper East Side. We had poppyseed pastries at a Hungarian cafe, impeccable tuna semplici at a seriously delicious Italian cafe full of energy, good looking Europeans and fancy UES ladies. I swear I saw Joan Rivers there! We made eye contact and I nearly tripped. Finally we sampled the best Madeleines around at Daniel Boulud's posh Bar Pleiades. Long gone are the days when, starving and impecunious, I dined exclusively at my 8th Avenue deli for deeply satisfying and ridiculously cheap (vegetarian) bagel sandwiches. 

College Application: FIT, 1997.

My wacky uncle helped me with my winning application to the Fashion Institute of Technology. This poster was part one. I should note that it was mostly written by my uncle, he has limited knowledge of the fashion world. Uncle B. worked for the public access television station in Bennington, Vermont (CAT-TV), so we put together a glamorous video of me modeling my odd collection, complete with mixtape music and carefully selected images projected as my background. Part two of the application, VHS in the mail. I also remember writing a very cerebral, stream of consciousness essay about mascara and the creative effects of the sun filtering through heavy velvet drapes. Art school!





$100,000.00 Reward

for the holder of this photo:

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Shown here is one of the earliest known photographs of Jamie C'menlio, who is perhaps today's most hip and eloquent designer. The picture, which shows the acclaimed Ms. C'menlio modeling a vintage Jean Paul Gaultier ensemble is all the more rare because it was snapped by the late Gianni Versace during one of his summer residencies in the Soho section of Watertown, New York, the world-renowned art community.

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Money for the photo--which, if found, will be donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art's Fashion archive--has been raised by many luminaries including Tommy Hilfiger, Donna Karan, Issac Mizrahi, Todd Oldham, Anna Sui, and Vera Wang...

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To be sure, there has been much controversy surrounding this case. There have been several reported hoaxes involving the famed "Girl by the Chair", as the picture has become known, including one of a man claiming to be the designer's uncle, Bob Comenole, now serving federal time in Leavenworth Prison for the fraud.
To contact Mr. Comenole {who remains defiant, insisting that the celebrity is in fact his niece} in his prison cell, you may e-mail directly: Inmate RJC111157

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To see more of Ms. C'menlio's work, see:
La nouvelle collection COUTURE


I remember the day I got my acceptance letter. My mother had gone out of town and so I threw the most fun house party in history. Legendary I say. We danced so much that frozen windows shattered. The neighborhood death metal band, Pagan Holiday, attended. Costumed photo shoots took place in the snow banks out front. Someone slipped on a banana peel. That resulted in an seemingly infinte round of laughter. It was unforgettable. Early the following morning a friend, who had arrived very late to the party, surprised us with a box full of breakfast treats. When I opened the door to greet him, I also brought in the mail. There it was. And it was equally nerve wracking and amazing, opening it with all of my best friends around me, wearing remnants of my costumes, in a dreamy post-party afterglow.

Nikki S. Lee, Parts.

The photo in the post below (showcasing my thrifty yet luxe find at the Cambridge Antiques Market) made me think of a photographer that I have admired since my days at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Nikki S. Lee, a Korean artist, is similar to Cindy Sherman in that she takes on wildly different personas, making self-portraits. However, Lee often integrates herself with more commitment, joining whichever culture she wishes to emulate. Some of her projects include self-immersed documentation on senior citizens, Latinos, skateboarders, and drag queens. These are the kinds of ideas I had as a kid in my small, homogenous town.

I  particularly like Lee's project entitled Parts in which she, in a variety of guises, poses with a companion. The finished image shows only Lee and a brief, but lingering reminder of the person that has been cropped out of the image.

Part (14), 2002.

Part (23), 2003.