who knew, well learning something new everyday keeps us young.
May 24, 2012
always an interesting read, especially on a rainy day like today
Currently, Francesca Woodman has two shows in New York: at the Guggenheim and a separate selection of blue prints at Marion Goodman. To look at Woodman’s photographs is to constantly read the environment through the psychological and vice versa. At the Guggenheim, I related the logic of Lucy Soutter’s essay Dial “P” for Panties: Narrative Photography in the 1990s; the examination of female self-representation and how such constructions are built, layered, and interpreted in the composition of photography.
The following selections from the ICP’s permanent collection were pulled to show how women photograph themselves and each other, especially in relation to environment. Works by Justine Kurland, Katy Grannan, Dayanita Singh were included in Another Girl, Another Planet, the 1999 photography exhibition curated by Gregory Crewdson and Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn— Another Girl, Another Planet was the basis for Soutter’s essay.
But this time, let’s not look at these photographs…
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Space; the final frontier, now where have i heard that before
May 23, 2012i’ve always found space and NASA space pictures interesting. i know nothing about astronomy nor physics but the concept of where we really live amazes me. as does all these inner workings of our bodies because it’s all done in the dark where the only thing i seem to be good at is stubbing my toes.
but thanks to Discovery magazine and Phil Plait of Bad Astronomy i can learn something or at least look at pretty cool pictures.
these are the type of pictures i ‘d like to show at Winkel & Balkticks upcoming lab gathering but so far not received a response from them, there is a meeting tomorrow night thursday in Brooklyn to talk about the event. 135 Plymouth St, 208, Brooklyn @ 7:30
today the space i will be looking at is the inside of my epson 7600 printer to clear a clogged head. maybe i’ll learn something new besides a few curse word phrases. it’s a grey day out so why not give it a whirl. sounds like fun huh? well after spending weeks getting two exhibits together one at annex 24 in lancaster, pa the other one here in nyc at kahve , 774 9th ave, nyc, ny i am a bit worn out of framing stuff.
the latter is part of hell’s kitchen artist studio tour which seems to be about parties as they have an opening one fri another one sun night. oh well lots of performers living in the neighborhood. this can be a very confusing event because of the all volunteer nature of the event also the president of hka.org is a bit disorganized although he means well. i am not a party person per say so i stayed home enjoying working on the house. i do enjoy stepping back and seeing something substantial for my efforts.
BTW here is a link for my portfolio at ‘Art Takes Times Square’ that i would appreciate my readers to click through, thank you click on Collect me button on top, it doesn’t cost anything to become a judge.
- Your portfolio URL is:
http://jeneyoutt.artistswanted.org/atts2012 - Here are some tips to help you on your way:
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Andromeda’s majestic spray of billions of hot stars
Well, what can I say about this devastating and jaw-dropping picture of our nearest spiral neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy?
[Click to massive chainedmaidenate. Do it!]
Well, I could start with HOLY HALEAKALA!
This image is a collection of 11 separate observations of Andromeda taken by NASA’s GALEX satellite. Launched in 2003, GALEX (which stands for Galaxy Evolution Explorer) scans the sky in ultraviolet light, specifically targeting galaxies. Hot stars produce UV light, and so does the gas it illuminates, so by looking in the ultraviolet astronomers can learn about how galaxies are constructed. In the decade since its launch, GALEX has been phenomenally successful, cataloging hundreds of millions of galaxies, some as far as ten billion light years away!
This image of Andromeda is simply stunning. It’s comprised of two colors: what you see here as blue is higher-energy ultraviolet light, and red is lower energy (closer to the kind of light we see). Right away you can see that objects emitting the higher-energy UV are confined to the spiral arms, and lower-energy emitters are spread out across the galaxy. That’s exactly what I would expect: massive stars, the kind that really blast out UV, don’t live very long. They’re born, live out their short lives, and die (as supernovae) pretty much near the spot where they formed, which is in spiral arms. Lower mass stars live long enough to gradually move away from their nurseries, populating the rest of the galaxy.
Also, star formation at the very center of the galaxy probably occurred long ago and shut down, so we don’t see many or any massive stars there.
One thing I didn’t know is that the arms of Andromeda are more like rings! The galaxy is at such a narrow angle that it’s hard to tell, but if you trace the blue emission, the pattern does look more like a ring than a spiral. This jibes with earlier images in infrared taken by Spitzer Space Telescope (which I’ve inset here) and a huge and incredibly beautiful newer one taken with ESA’s Herschel far-infrared telescope (and OMFSM you want to click that link).
From what I’ve read, it’s not clear why the spiral arms appear to be more ring-like. Which I love. Why? Because Andromeda is the nearest big spiral galaxy in the sky, a mere 2.5 or so million light years away. It’s easily visible to the naked eye from a dark site, and I’ve seen it myself countless times using my own eyes, binoculars, and telescopes ranging from small ones up to Hubble. Yet there it is, in all its huge and obvious splendor and beauty, still able to surprise me. That rocks.
And a note about GALEX: NASA recently handed off its operations to Caltech, a very unusual move. The satellite was put into standby mode in February, and I was worried it would be shut down permanently. However, Caltech signed a three-year agreement with NASA — while NASA still owns the satellite, Caltech will now be in control of GALEX’s science mission, managing and operating it. At the end of the agreement it can be renegotiated if GALEX is still in good operating condition. This is an interesting idea, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. I love that GALEX gets to continue operations, but handing off science missions to private groups makes me a little uneasy. In this particular case I think it’s fine — Caltech is a research institute after all — but the precedent may have unforeseen consequences. We’ll see.
Still and all, it’s good to see new life breathed into an important and wonderful instrument like GALEX. I certainly hope it will continue to produce cutting-edge science for years to come… as well as amazingly beautiful images like this one.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Scanning Around With Gene Gable on creative pro com, 1939 graphic illustrations
May 17, 2012A garage-sale find of three small children’s books highlights some great 1937 illustrations from a little-known artist by the name a Th. D. Luykx.
Kids grow up these days taking a lot of things for granted. The electricity that comes out of the wall, the gasoline in our cars and the steel in our skyscrapers are all just there and have been for so long it doesn’t seem like any big deal. I don’t even know if we teach kids about the history of these and other industries — much of it would seem like ancient history I suspect, and does it really matter how electricity is made or what goes on in a steel mill? Kids these days are probably a lot more interested in how iPhones are made.
But in 1939 when the illustrations in this installment were published, there was still a lot of fascination with big industry, and we were proud as a nation at the infrastructure we had built for these things. Today’s images come from a series of three books published by the George Duplaix Company in New York: “Oil Comes to Us,” “Electricity Comes to Us,” and “Steel.” The authors are different for the three books, but the illustrator, one Th. D. Luykx, is the same, and each book follows the same format.
I tried to find out more about Luykx, but a rudimentary Google search only brought up references to these books and nothing else that I could find. Could be these were a one-off effort, at least of books where credit is given to the illustrator.
And I can’t really tell in which medium Luykx worked in — the illustrations are brightly colored and, in many cases, limited to two colors, red and black. The high contrast and stark lines indicate a mechanical rather than illustrative process; there are halftones in the printing, and some colors seem slightly out of registration on close inspection, so I suspect each color was produced as a separate layer in whatever process Luykx used.
The books are pretty straight forward, telling in pictures and limited text the stories of how we make steel, how we drill for and refine oil, and how electricity is produced and brought to the home.
Like so many printed products of the time, full color is limited to certain spreads, and the artists was limited to two colors for many illustrations. These make for the more interesting work as far as I’m concerned.
Illustrating kids’ books is always a challenge, especially when dealing with technical topics. Luykx did a good job of being technically accurate and fairly detailed, but general enough to appeal to kids with limited knowledge of the subject matter.
I’m not sure why I was so taken by these three books — together they make a wonderful set and I have to wonder why the publisher did not do more (at least no others show up on Google). Perhaps it was a series that just didn’t take off.
But I’m glad I found them and will keep my eyes open for any additional work by Luykx. It would be interesting to see if he did fine art as well. His technique seems very unique to me.
i’ve read creative pro emails for years having learned some pretty cool stuff along the way. this is just a small part of what they post, if you find it interesting i’d drop by and give it a glance. creative pro
revised images for Artist in the Hells kitchen weekend
May 15, 2012i must have sold those images as they ain’t here so back to plan B or maybe it’s still plan A, either way i am not fond of getting old and not remembering things. it happens, oh well life could be worst. so here we go on the new images that will be in frames.
veiled woman
swirl
sunrise
moor’s pass
oh well at least i know everyday i am not perfect.
Hell’s Kitchen Artists in Studio Tours Friday May 18 – Sunday May 20, 2012
May 15, 2012once again i’ve decided to participate in this artist tour only this time i decided to show my pictures in a public coffee shop Kahve , 774 9th Ave, NY, NY so i didn’t have to baby sit them. i’ve so much work going on in my life right now i felt i couldn’t give it the time required. coffee shops in this area are a dying breed as landlords ask for higher rents making it hard for small businesses to survive and artist to stay in the neighborhood. i live here because it’s close to all the theaters where i work. how many people get to live within walking distance of where they work?
i chose some of my simple dance images
Blue Dancer
along with it’s partner
Orange Dancer
sometimes in these types of events not everything goes according to plans but i hope this one does. if you’re in New York City and want to see some of the local artist do download the map, i hope there is a map, and stop by to meet the us.
Press release:
The 4th Annual Hell’s Kitchen Artists in Studio Tours Friday May 18 – Sunday May 20, 2012.
Fourth time’s the charm…
Is it the fourth year already? Call it tradition, call it grass-roots social movement, call it a permeating underground murmur waiting to erupt but it is a undeniably a standout fact – the independent & FREE Hell’s Kitchen arts festival has established itself as one of New York’s prominent art and social events and is here to stay.
Last year, for three frivolous entrancing days at 95 venues thousands of artists, performers and revelers opened their studios, businesses, clubs and have taken to the streets; With the support of gutsy local venues and a few visionary and generous finance and realty staples the vision thrived and gotten stronger and bigger.
A new audacious voice has been presented: At The Edge – A sprightly magazine pulsating and overflowing with vivaciously blunt, refreshingly outspoken, scorchingly authentic artistic and literary expression in all forms and colors, giving a stage to dozens of the neighborhood’s (and the city’s) diverse bubbly creative forces & leading art establishments.
This year’s event will celebrate a second issue – printed and circulated in over 10,000 copies to avid readers around Hell’s Kitchen, midtown, downtown, & selected hot Brooklyn ‘art-hoods’, it is a communal exclamation to be reckoned with.
We’re Gonna Set the Streets on Fire! (Not literally, except perhaps our stunning alumni fire and belly dancer….)
Smack in the heart of Manhattan, right beside the indulgent Chelsea, the fizzy debauched theater district and the financial dynamo of midtown, another juicy slice of the city dares you to take an outrageous bite.
The Fourth Annual Hell’s Kitchen Artist Studio Tour is a free event taking place May 18th – 20th where scores of artists and performers open their homes, galleries, theaters, businesses and studios (their hearts also) for a self-guided and mapped tour. Participating artists consist of individuals with well-established and honored careers, as well as emerging artists striving to get their voice out there and make their mark.
At this three day unruly, insatiable Art Bacchanalia all art forms and mediums will be represented, including fine art, sculpture, music, fashion, photography, theater, dance, comedy, body painting, public spectacle and much more.
With no less than six Parties featuring continual entertainment of all genres! For 30 hours over 3 nights, major & informal after parties each evening, exhibiting some raw and refined local vibrant talent at venues from classy lounges to murky speakeasies to intimate Art salons, patrons and visitors are sure to be tickled with just the right thing to satisfy their taste and fancy.
Wealth of artists to tantalize your senses.
Batteries of blazing artists, from raging social commentators to crisp impressionists to sly, depraved surrealists – a singled out individual from this Armada of talent candy will undoubtedly hit your sweet spot.
We know you get it; give us a call for more sizzling inside details (galleries and venues maps, artists’ profiles), spread the word, pick up an issue, come impulsively knocking by – we’re here for this city and its people, we know you won’t leave us hanging.
May 15, 2012
Why do we have to wait that someone dies to think about the hardships of living alone in older age in an hotel room?
In San Francisco nearly half (44%) of the 18,000 hotel room dwellers are over 65. While most studies underline that the majority of older hotel room dwellers are male, in San Francisco the majority of older SRO residents are surprisingly Asian and women. Unfortunately only a crisis raises some red flags, like the articles on the recent death of a 91-year-old woman (see below) in Chinatown.
Hopefully I will manage to realize one of my dreams: study older Chinese hotel room dwellers in San Francisco. I have a great application in my folder. I want to break the myth that older Chinese are connected and self-sustaining. Bo, an 81-year old men living alone in a tiny room in the heart of Chinatown, opened my eyes to…
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Winkel & Balktick site survey, taking Jene Youtt along for the ride
May 11, 2012well monday night i went to Winkel & Balktick production meeting for their forth coming event. we, mary and i have been to one before but because of schedules we didn’t persue anything . mary isn’t interested in these large scale events hey i’ve been on the road with big rock & roll bands.i.e. the rolling stones so what could they throw at me that i hadn’t seen.
last weekend having gone to our opening at Annex 24 we were having breakfast in lancester pa at a bob evans restaurant when the waitress got into a conversation about my tatoo and shared with us she had been to a rock concert at watkins glenn where the dead, the band and the allman bros.played which i had worked on. red dog of the allman bros. had dosed me with LSD backstage so i sat out most of the show sitting on the front edge of stage right follow spot platform watching the show. i guess i was up about 50′ feet or so on the tower, but hey this was rock & roll.
but i digress from the meeting, i guess it was all that LSD i had taken in my youth.
the meeting/gathering got a late start but free beer was flowing and everyone was talking to each other getting to know whom ever.
loft
windows
more group
but finally the meeting came to order when winkel & balktick made their presentation on the may party and described their upcoming events starting with the june weekend LAB event.
flappers
now we all introduced ourselves in sound bites and then off to see the new venue. they had a school bus for all of us which reminded me of ‘the merry pranksters’ and ken kesey considering the varied education levels of the group i am sure some of them knew who ken kesey was but i remained confident none of them had enjoyed acid.
i must remind my readers i am not an event photographer nor do i ever hope to wake up as one. the bus was interesting i sat next to a fellow who introduced himself to a young woman sitting on the other side of me as ‘pirate’ then went on to describe his web site as, i am not sure exactly, as hate & bile where he planned to put his work on. at that point i was glad i hadn’t asked him on his introduction ‘where his ship was tied up’
old guys aren’t as interesting to talk to i guess, we don’t have much to contribute, sometimes just letting the conversation flow one can learn so much. so i just relaxed bouncing around brooklyn on my way to queens fooling around doing what i do, taking pictures.
inside of bus going to queens
pretty cool huh?
but we get to site and all get out in parking lot file into building and get taken on our tour
group portrait
no the elevator doesn’t work just a good photo op. then we wander around being shown the spaces so that we may get use ideas and come up with proposals, hey this is a business trip.
winkel
balktick
one of the spaces
let us not forget this is a deserted pfizer factory and who knows what they made there or what experiments may have taken place in that building. i am not sure how to explain this picture as i as taking pictures of the walls and i discovered this on my cameras CF card. could these things still be wandering the halls when we were not aware of them?
strange creatures
hey i got home safely, even in the dead of night from queens on a nyc subway, leaving our friends where they belong.
the world has lost some wildness with Maurice Sendak’s passing
May 9, 2012Maurice Sendak, who died at 83 tuesday, has been called the Picasso of children’s literature, and godfather to generations of readers. He won nearly every major prize for children’s literature plus the National Medal of Arts. And no wonder. Just look at these titles: In the Night Kitchen; Higglety Pigglety Pop; Outside Over There; Chicken Soup With Rice; and of course, the most loved and famous of all, Where the Wild Things Are.
worlds greatest parents riding NYC subway
here is a video from Bill Moyers interview with Sendak and comments from Moyers. Our own tattered copy is a Moyers family keepsake. We read it to our children when it was first published forty years ago. We’ve read it to our grandchildren in the last decade and we fully expect that one day they will be reading it to their grandkids, too. But let me share a Sendak secret with you: A seven-year-old hearing this story couldn’t have more fun than a 70-year-old reading it.
In our candid 2004 conversation, Sendak revealed some of the early childhood memories and surprisingly dark influences behind his work. Shaped by immigrant parents and the tragedy of the Holocaust, Sendak provided frank insight into his complicated psyche, and a rare window into the soul of an acclaimed artist. He also discussed how he shaped the character of Max, the mischievous lead in his blockbuster book, and what he might have been like as an adult:
“People often say, ‘What happens to Max?’ It’s such a coy question that I always say, ‘Well, he’s in therapy forever. He has to wear a straitjacket when he’s with his therapist.'”
Enjoy this look back at the man behind some of the most magical literature ever conceived.
see NYTimes article here.
RIP
Flying was never this adventurous before the underwear bomber
May 8, 2012like your mother said ‘before you leave the house wear clean underwear.’ has never before been more important than now. i am sure the TSA will be checking you status the next time you fly, what with the discovery of a new underwear bomber plot. the question is only how? any suggestions?
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