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Visiting Storm King

We took a little day trip up to Storm King with some friends this past weekend on the most terrifyingly summery day of Autumn.

B seemed to love it. Of what we saw, I think that Calder’s The Arch and Noguchi’s Momo Taro were his favorites. I think he was just bowled over by the scale of The Arch, every time he saw it on the horizon he shouted “SCULP-TURR!!”. And he got a real kick out of sitting in and rambling over Momo Taro.

I was 90% sure that he and his little friend were allowed to crawl all over Noguchi’s piece based on Storm King’s guide and map. But I didn’t really know the extent of it until I looked up the piece on Storm King’s site just now.

The full realization of Momo Taro depends on the interaction of visitors, who are invited to not just touch, but to enter, to sit, and to unite their bodies with the work — to participate in its existence. Noguchi’s flat bench provides a welcome site for rest and contemplation. The “center” of the piece — the hollowed-out granite “peach pit” — serves as a peaceful retreat. Even on the hottest summer days this interior remains cool. Noguchi expressed his wish that visitors, especially children, would not only climb into the cavity but also sing inside it and enjoy its special aural resonance.

🥲 Wish granted! B’s buddy declared the “white one” to be her favorite sculpture when they left the park.

And B was such a trooper, he walked all over the Meadows and Museum Hill before we took a loop around the park in the tram. Then we headed back to the cafe for some lunch and picked up the stroller to walk all the way over to see Andy Goldsworthy’s Storm King Wall.

I was looking at the map on our way home and couldn’t believe how much we missed considering we spent about six hours there. We basically didn’t do the North Woods, Maple Rooms, or South Ponds at all. But it was never about completionism, it’s a good excuse to plan a trip back soon. Would love to go in the summer to check out Moodna Creek as well, though I don’t think it’s safe for swimming.

Not gonna show any photos of sculptures because too many of them have B in them, and there are better photos of them online anyways. But the landscape was gorgeous, so here’s some overexposed sky and grass.

A partly cloudy sky in autumn with tall grass in the foreground

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Ceramic cat by a young David Hockney

Life-size black and white ceramic cat by David Hockney

Ceramic Cat
David Hockney 1955

On loan from Jean and Paul Hockney.

This cat was given to David Hockney’s brother and sister-in-law as a wedding present in September 1955. It was one of approximately four cats made by the artist whilst a student at Bradford College of Art. After the model was produced the mould broke, making this sculpture unique as it was the only one with indentations. Subsequent versions were produced with a smooth finish and in different colours.

This life-size ceramic cat with stubby little legs is in one of the display cases in the ground floor of Salts Mill alongside many other pieces by David Hockney.

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Maria Blaisse and her work

Maria Blaisse, Gomma, 2003, tubes. Image from Augenweide (i.e. Beatrice Oettinger). (image source)

The other evening, a friend introduced me to Maria Blaisse’s work as well as the lovely book The Emergence of Form published by nai010. The dedication evident in her output is incredible, and her canal-side studio in Amsterdam sounds pretty great. Wish I could find one of the images from the book online, it’s a black and white photo possibly taken in the 70s of her working on a woven piece with an enormous knot in the middle that’s easily twice her height. Will just have to buy the book (like I need an excuse).

Sidenote, Augenweide (source for the image) is a very enjoyable browse, glad to have come across it.

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On Kitty Anderson’s talk about Carol Bove’s work, and on visiting the Barnes Foundation

I recently attended the talk Supporting Structures: The use of plinths and platforms in Carol Bove’s work at the Henry Moore Institute. Kitty Anderson’s talk coincided with the Carol Bove / Carlo Scarpa exhibition in the Institute’s main gallery spaces.

Installation view of the Carol Bove / Carlo Scarpa exhibition at the Henry Moore Institute

Installation view of the Carol Bove / Carlo Scarpa exhibition at the Henry Moore Institute, Gallery 1. Photo via blog Books & Boots (image source)

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Carol Bove on being an artist, excerpt from AKADEMIE X

One question is, how do you create a way of being in the world that allows new things (ideas, information, people, places) into your life without letting everything in?

Carol Bove’s work is currently part of the Carol Bove / Carlo Scarpa exhibition at the Henry Moore Institute. Sam pointed out a recent tweet from the Institute sharing the article linked above, v. glad to come across it and that Artspace was able to publish the extract in full.

Hope to get my hands on this book. In the meantime, see further extracts from AKADEMIE X on Artspace (links at bottom of Bove’s excerpt).

Incidentally, the exhibition is excellent, revisit it when it’s not quite as busy.