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Trunk of an aged sycamore tree, outside Rosedale Conservancy:
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Autumn leaves, viewed from an office window overlooking 19th Street, NW:
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The second of three morning yawns:
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Archive for the ‘Photos’ Category
Early December Photos
Saturday, December 14th, 2013Ginkgo leaves on a city sidewalk
Friday, November 22nd, 2013On my street the ginkgo trees — those living fossils — have dropped their leaves. An unstaged photo taken Monday morning after an overnight shower:
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Clouds over DC
Friday, November 8th, 2013These clouds — looking like a flotilla of cotton puffs moored in cool blue space — brought magic to the sky above downtown Washington, DC, in the early afternoon of Thursday, November 6, 2013.
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Halloween 2013
Friday, November 1st, 2013.
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Separated at Birth?
Friday, October 11th, 2013.
“Separated at Birth?” — that’s the name of a diversion Wikipedia describes (in typical dead-pan fashion) as “a light-hearted media device for pointing out people who are unrelated but bear a notable facial resemblance, implying that they are twins who were separated soon after being born and presumably adopted by separate families.” (Whew!) This usually involves celebrities.
For a previous post on the subject, see here.
I’m thinking we should expand participation in the play. Maybe invite inanimate objects?
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1. Nam June Paik, Robot (1990), Multiple (edition of 91) assembled from light bulb, electric and plumbing parts, 20 1/2 x 7 x 5 in.
2. Diane Arbus, Child with a toy hand grenade in Central Park, N.Y.C. (1962), Copyright the Estate of Diane Arbus.
NOTE: The Robot sculpture appears at a Freeman’s Auctioneers sale, November 3, 2013, as Lot 166. The catalog includes an alert. “*Note that the bulb is not original. We have been advised by the estate of the artist to replace with any small, low wattage bulb.”
I’m imagining a conversation between two persons sitting in the audience the day of the auction when Nam June Paik’s Robot comes up for bidding:
“Is your robot as smart as this one?”
“Nah, mine’s a dim bulb too.”
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Why are publishers pseudo-soiling their new book jackets?
Friday, October 4th, 2013A couple of years ago I noticed a flurry of books, written by and about women, whose covers featured images of women in a strange pose: turning aside and away, showing not their faces but their backs to the potential reader. See examples here.
Now another strange phenomenon has appeared: book covers or jackets with a worn, “distressed” look, as if their designers wanted to pre-deliver the tatters and soiling that come from handling a cherished volume over a long period of time.
Examples include a new paperback edition of Gertrude Stein’s Paris France (with subtle age-staining applied front and back); a soon to be released novel by Daniel Alarcón (with similar pseudo-soiling of its cover, simulating the residue of sweaty palms); and that new biography of J.D.Salinger (with pretend nicks and creases fondly recalling your own well-worn copy of Catcher in the Rye).
Set these books on your coffee table, and your “I-much-prefer-used-bookstores” bona fides won’t be questioned.
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On the tables at Costco, 9-27-2013 . . .
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What Might Have Been . . . And What Is
Sunday, September 29th, 2013In 1999 architect Frank Gehry won the competition to design an addition to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. On an adjacent vacant property the Corcoran used as a parking lot, the striking new structure would double the space available to the museum and Art School.
In an exhibit shown at the museum in 2004-2005, Gehry presented his revised design, as shown in the photos below. Note: the Corcoran’s 19th-century Beaux-Arts building is on the left side of the model.
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By 2005 the Corcoran board chairman had scuttled the plan, due to funding inadequacies. In July 2011, the empty property was sold off to make way for a commercial office building. It is now nearing completion. Below are photos of the site taken September 25, 2013.
One could have a lively debate over whether the new structure is as ugly as the dull cast-concrete commercial building directly across the street, reflected — intentionally? — in its mirrored facade. But it would be hard to dispute, no matter where you stand, that here is sad instance of a missed opportunity.
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Dogs Hangin’ Out on the Street — a Google Street View, No. 2
Sunday, August 4th, 2013.
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Location: Intersection of Las Illusiones and Las Margaritas, Santiago, Chile. Image dated January 2012.
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Dogs Hangin’ Out on the Street — a Google Street View, No. 1
Sunday, August 4th, 2013.
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Address: 8 Rue des Noisetiers, near intersection with Rue des Acacias/Rue des Tamaris, 78114 Magny-les-Hameaux, France. Image dated September 2008.
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