“Turn Up The Bass”

The title of this show is way too upbeat for my current somber, post-election mood, but the work in this recent exhibition was so phenomenally good that it has to be mentioned here. My words are not going add much that isn’t already visible in the pictures so please forgive me while I stick to…

Love Thy Neighbors

I got drunk with a couple of neighbors Monday night. It happened unexpectedly as we joined forced to do some work for our annual shareholders’ meeting, and I was happy for the opportunity to get to know these people better. The conversation revolved around our sense of disbelief and devastation after the election, and the…

Light in the Dark

Went to see Carmen Herrera: Lines of Sight at the Whitney on Saturday night. Spent a good couple of hours there (partly because I was waiting for a friend to arrive, late) and it’s a show that’s worth every minute. My only complaint is that the show doesn’t include more works by this 101 year…

We Are All One

These are truly dark days in my adopted country. I, like the majority of people both in- and outside of this nation, didn’t think there was a chance for the chips to land the way they now decidedly have. At a friend’s house on election night, I had a brief fit of rage around 11:45…

Support

Something we all need from time to time. Even a rusty old pipe, apparently.  

The Unfolding of Time

Since stumbling upon Rebecca Solnit’s piece in Harper’s a few months back, I’ve brought myself up to speed by reading her books “Men Explain Things to me” and “Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities.” I found some of it difficult to get through–particularly the sections on violence towards women–but aside from that I…

Understanding

Strolling through Brooklyn Bridge Park last night, a friend and I happened upon Martin Creed’s big sign as the sun was setting over New Jersey. It’s installed right by the water in a newer section of the park and sits on a large pedestal with stair-like steps that offers a different view–both of the work…

Moral Imagination

Late last year I attended a pre-Sundance screening of the documentary “How to let go of the World and Love all the Things Climate can’t Change.” In this film, the director Josh Fox (who also made the Academy Award nominated “Gasland” and its sequel “Gasland II”; films that were crucial to securing the recent victory…

About Hope

While hope generally has a positive connotation, it is not an entirely uncomplicated subject matter. In his book “When You’re Falling, Dive” Mark Matousek writes: When we attach ourselves to a single outcome, it’s easy to become hope’s hostage, to imprison ourselves in optimism, entrap ourselves through inflexible craving for a premeditated result. Hope of…

Cynicism and Hope

So Rebecca Solnit’s words on naïve cynicism have stayed with me and continue to quietly simmer at the back of my mind. In the past few days, as I have come across stuff–say, a paragraph, image, or real-life observation–that bring my thoughts back to her rich and thought-provoking essay, the gentle simmering has briefly erupted…