currents

Architecture of Bittersweet Happiness

Alain de Botton recently published The Architecture of Happiness. He proves to be consistently quotable. For instance, "It is in the dialogue with pain that many beautiful things acquire their value." (p. 25) Perhaps CNN has this in mind as their cameras follow California fire victims to former home sites. Journalism of misery. sigh.

Chinese, Contemporary and Speaking

Asia Society is hosting Zhang Huan: Altered States, Discussion and Lecture ( http://www.AsiaSociety.org)

In addition to the exhibition, there are two Events:
Discussion
Breakout: Chinese Art
Outside China
Wednesday, October 24, 6:30 pm

Lecture
10 Things You Need to Know about Chinese Contemporary Art
Tuesday, November 13, 7:30 pm

The End

This week, the Village Voice's theme is "The Last Night on Earth" When asked, several people mentioned store-raids and caviar. I think it is a way of laughing at just how much fear we have to live with in NYC. Here is a link to the Onion's story on "Conceptual Terrorism,"   yet another way to laugh (rather than cry).
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/conceptual_terrorists_encase_sears

Money for Blogging?

In contemporary life, it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell the difference between private voice and space and advertising space. Take a look at Mashable's list of how to make money through blogging.
http://mashable.com/2007/07/30/make-money-online/  Decide if typing an "opinion" for cash is good for the blogosphere or not so good. Since I recently heard about companies paying kids to infiltrate chat rooms to promote products....sigh

The Dalai Lama in NYC

The setting was elegant and the feeling was of being fortunate as a sold out crowd filled Radio City Music Hall to hear his Holiness the Dalai Lama. He claimed to bring no great wisdom or healing to the crowd that was not believing that it could be otherwise. He did have a sense of authority or insight on the chosen topic "Peace and Prosperity."  Funny and almost self-deprecating, he had a way of distilling large difficult topics into common sense spirituality. The world needs more leaders with his type of awareness.

EFA Studio Open House

ELIZABETH FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS STUDIO CENTER wii host OPEN STUDIOS 2007. On October 18, 20 & 21, 2007 over 80 artist-members in the EFA STUDIO CENTER will open their workspaces to the public. Come see exciting and diverse work including painting, sculpture, printmaking, works on paper, photography, installation, video and new media.


Thursday, October 18, 2007 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Saturday, October 20, 2007 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Sunday, October 21, 2007 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm

EFA Studio Center
323 West 39th Street, NYC  10018
between 8th and 9th Avenues
http://www.efa1.org

Saltz on $ and Art

http://nymag.com/arts/art/season2007/38981/

Jerry Saltz discusses the excesses of art in New York Magazine online calling the artworld "vulgar, loopy, and overheated." It is easy to form the question..."Jerry, when has it been otherwise?" After my recent 1/2 semester's tour of early modernism, I could attach those same labels to a lot of points on the continuum. Art is now big in scale, it is international and its smoozy...all of this takes money. The critical skill might be trying to find authenticity in the excesses.

Vote for Good Design!

The Cooper-Hewitt, America’s national design museum, thinks the people deserve a voice in anointing the world’s best-designed products. In anticipation of National Design Week (Oct. 14-20), the museum is inviting the public to log on to its site, www.cooperhewitt.org, to nominate their favorite objects, or vote for faves that others have already listed.

But make your voice heard soon. Voting ends on Oct. 16 at 6pm EST. Nominations will be tallied for the People’s Design Award, and the winner will be announced at the National Design Awards gala in New York on Oct. 18. That event will be streamed live on the museum’s site...