MLK

"Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds."
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.-

*Photo from CNN.com*

Stella McCartney Does Green

Just goes to show you that you can be a chic Green Mountain girl after all!

Souvenir

"For centuries, travel has captured our imaginations. From the pyramids of Egypt to the islands of the South Pacific, we continue to find a special kind of romance and excitement in travel. Returning with the evidence of our journeys, we present our carefully chosen objects as mementoes of our trip, proof of our visits to distant places. Come share this spirit of travel and a passion for collecting through an exhibition of souvenirs and trophies representing the diverse places tourists have visited over the centuries. Curated by students from UVM's Museum Anthropology class, this installation of objects from the Fleming's collection provides a passport into the history of tourism. The familiar becomes exotic through such items as a pair of Turkish slippers, a marble fragment purportedly from the Parthenon, an ornate souvenir spoon from Philadelphia, and a Japanese doll. Collected as emblems of prestige or simply as mantelpiece adornments, these souvenirs reflect the global nature of tourism and its continuous and evolving appeal." (from Robert H. Fleming Museum)

This show, entitled "Tourism: Curious Conquests and Unlikely Trophies" opens on January 16, 2007 and runs through June 10, 2007 at the Robert Hull Fleming Museum at the University of Vermont.

*Photo from Fleming Museum; Carved whale tooth, 19th century; Marble architectural fragment; Photograph album, 1892; Photograph album, 1909; Ichimatsu doll, pre-1940, Japan; Postcard album, ca. 1900-1910; Tiger claw dagger, mid-19th century, India.*

Vegan Sexy

"People are more conscious today of what they're wearing, why they're wearing it and how it affects the environment," said Robert Burke, a fashion retail consultant in New York. To ignore such issues "is not sexy today." (NYTimes)


Whole Foods, Kaight, Linda Loudermilk, MooShoes, NY Artificial, Pangea, Moral Fiber, Real Fake, Novacas and Matt & Nat are just a few of the companies out there garnering the attention the vegan shopper, from the kitchen to the wardrobe. As The New York Times reports, "To their minds, vegan chic, once an oxymoron, is a glossy new marketing handle. Clothes and accessories once shunned for their aura of hair-shirt deprivation have acquired a hint of luxury." And with celebrities such as Stella McCartney, Natalie Portman, Alicia Silverstone, Woody Harrelson and Joaquin Phoenix, the aesthetically pleasing, morally-pleasing trend doesn't conjure the hackneyed image of a Birkenstock-clad, nut n' crunch neo-hippie, but a savvy fashionista with an eye for innovative and socially-conscious design.

Read more here.

*Photo from the New York Times; top, cotton Stella McCartney sweater, Ecoganik pants, tank made of corn fiber by Moral Fervor, Stella McCartney cotton purse, natural stone pendant by Cole Lopez; bottom, denim dress made of hemp and recycled polyester by NaturevsFuture and a woven cotton and wood bag by Stella McCartney. .*

"Radical Lace & Subversive Knitting"

And you thought Madame Defarge was the only subversive knitter! Vermont jewelry-maker Barbara Zucker will be featured in the upcoming exhibition "Radical Lace & Subversive Knitting" at the Museum of Arts & Design (MAD) in New York City.

"A provocative and timely exhibition of work by international artists using fiber in unexpected and unorthodox ways, Radical Lace & Subversive Knitting illuminates a field of creative practice that is fresh, surprising, and engaging. Featuring 27 artists from seven countries, this exhibition will exhibit work that ranges from Althea Merback's microknit garments (1:144 scale) to large-scale, site-specific installations. Artists employ a variety of media, from traditional yarns and laces, to found objects and video, and explore contemporary currents in art practice of socially engaged, participatory work." (MAD Website)

Ms. Zucker has developed "Knitted Necklaces," a line of jewelry featuring knitted bands, with a sculptural curved or V-shaped clasp worn in the front with a unique mechanism designed for maximim versatility. Her Knitted Necklaces were featured in the Spring 2004 issue of Vogue Knitting International, also the sponsor of the MAD exhibition.

*Photo from Museum of Art & Design, Yoshiki Hishinuma, Cassablanca, 2005, Machine knitted wool*

El Anatsui at Hood Museum at Dartmouth

"This inspiring exhibition of metal "tapestries" and other sculptures by El Anatsui, one of Africa's most powerful contemporary artists, celebrates Africa's rich artistic and cultural heritage. El Anatsui uses found objects such as metal liquor bottle wrappings and tin cans to create spectacular metal cloths, including Hovor, which the Hood Museum of Art has acquired, and two recently completed works that will be exhibited for the first time. The works in this exhibition reference broader concerns about the adverse affects of globalization, consumerism, and waste. Organized by the Oriel Mostyn Gallery in New South Wales, this is El Anatsui's first solo exhibition to travel the United States." (from the Museum's website, read the full press release here).

Happy New Year & Happy Birthday...to ME!!!

Ok...so perhaps it's a bit gratuitous to post about my own birthday, but truly the cake is quite the piece of art...I mean, check it out, the pink shoes fashioned out of fondant...genius! Well, let's raise a glass to a new year of fantastic art....art that pleases, beguiles, questions, answers, challenges, subverts and makes a statement; to exploration, experience and excellence. Cheers!

Revisions

I'm working on revising this blog...look out for more updates and more art soon...in the meantime, I'm going to go hit the slopes! Though it is winter here in Vermont, there is a lot happening here in the Burlington arts scene. Burlington City Arts has a new exhibition opening on December 31, 2006. Get your art fix in before the 2007 season!

OK so I haven't been so great about covereing the Vermont Arts scene lately so let's get back on track!

Vermont Arts News

Fashion Forward Vermont Seven Days' articles explores the fashion scene in Vermont....

Arts Preview A preview of what's happening now on the New England arts scene.


In Memoriam A new wing in the Fleming Museum on the University of Vermont campus honors the work of Professor James Peterson, an anthropologist who was killed last year while researching in Brazil -

"The Robert Hull Fleming Museum is pleased to announce the opening of the James B. Petersen Memorial Gallery of Native American Cultures. This newly-installed, long-term exhibition explores the material cultures and artistic traditions of indigenous peoples of North America through art and artifacts from the Museum's collections.

Drawing upon the unique breadth and strengths of the Fleming's collections, the exhibition features outstanding examples of Navajo textiles, Plains quillwork and beadwork, carvings from the Northwest Coast, pottery from the Southwest, baskets from California and New England, and lithics from Vermont, among others. Highlights include a stunning Chilkat blanket, examples of both historical and contemporary Abenaki baskets, and the "Colchester Jar," which dates back to ca. 1500 and was unearthed in Colchester in the 1820s. Through objects that date from pre-contact to the present, the installation explores a number of themes, including the continuity of cultural traditions, innovation resulting from exchange between Native American cultural groups, and the impact of contact with peoples of European descent. Moreover, the gallery highlights diverse views and approaches by displaying texts by Native Americans from both local and national tribes alongside those by Museum staff and University of Vermont faculty."

Image(inary) Possession

The print above is a modern take by Bansky (the artist who redid those Paris Hilton album covers!) on Warhol's famous series on Marilyn Monroe. This time she is replaced by the ubiquitous image of Kate Moss (truly isn't this woman in every designer advertisement? Not only is she the primary model for David Yurman, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Burberry and Versace among others, she was just featured in an editorial in this month's Vogue magazine. Not too bad in light of the critical reaction last year when she made headlines for her party girl lifestyle!).


In an age in which image almost always triumphs over substance and visual imagery permeates our everyday experience questioning our personal identities, Kate Moss serves as the perfect modern Marilyn, a woman marketed for her carefully, and sometimes carelessly, manufactured image. One of the funnier Kate Moss promos is her work for Nikon in which she points a camera toward the viewer. Though Kate is seemingly grabbing her power (in much the same way Olympia claims her sexuality in Manet's famous painting. Although in the case of the traditional interpretation of the camera as phallic symbol, perhaps Kate is also taking the power away from male gaze), the advertiser lays claim on her. The punchline to the ad reads, "And Kate's not so bad either." In the world of promotion, Kate belongs to the public.

Marie Antoinette

Here are some of the images from VOGUE Magazine:

Marie Antoinette Redux

Sophia Coppola's latest film, "Marie Antoinette," traces the life of the young, beautiful, reviled, and perhaps misunderstood young Austrian royal who became the Queen of France. Coppola, whose films focus on the private lives of young women (The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation), investigates the life of this "teen queen" beyond the decadence, the frills, the fashion, and the gossip that often follows a young celebutante, to use the modern day vernacular.

The film couldn't come into the public realm at a better time. At the same time that it calls into question our own modern decadence and reliance on material aesthetics to bring us happiness, it is also the catalyst for a new slew of aesthetic desires and creations in the fashion world. Coppola's film has set off a new trend - a return to frills and decadence. Whereas last year's fashion trends followed the bohemian stylings of Mary-Kate Olsen, this years trends turn on the reimagined lives of disenchanted royals. VOGUE magazine devoted a good portion of its fall issue to the teen queen, with Kirsten Dunst, her avatar on the cover, with articles inside by the likes of Kennedy Fraser re-examining Marie's life. Books are filling the shelves at bookstores as well.

The cultural phenomenon this film has touched off is amazing to me. I just hope that while enjoying the beauty on the surface, we as viewers follow though for Coppola by critically thinking about Marie Antoinette, no just as a political figure or a symbol of royal hedonism, but as a young woman living in a complex time, thrown into a complex situation at a very young age.

Here are some sites to check out:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/15/books/review/Schillinger.t.html
http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/marieantoinette/index.html
http://www.chateauversailles.fr/en/240_Marie-Antoinette.php

Big Red Barn

While in Moretown, Vermont took this snap - the blue and red look pretty brilliant.

Art or Convenience?

Saw this along the recreation path in Stowe, Vermont.

Latte Art

This New York Times article is pretty funny! The lengths people will go for for THE cup of coffee!

Seeing Double

My sister and I went to the last day of the Champlain Valley Fair today to snap some pics....will post with commentary during the week. I hadn't been to the fair since I was ten years old, and even then, I think I only watched the hog races! This was quite a different experience, acting as observer...

Burlington Literary Festival

Mark your calendar for this: http://www.sevendaysvt.com/bookfest/raquo-schedule.html

Contemplation

The twin objective in life is to look in while looking out, look out while looking in.

Pop Acrylics

I saw some fantastic paintings at 1/2 (the tiny, intimate bar nestled into the first block of the Church Street Marketplace). They are gorgeous little slice of life paintings to me. You can almost sense what the subjects are thinking. Though the brushstrokes are quick and denote movement, there is a sense of contemplation taking place as well. This may be a stretch of aesthetic identification, but they made me think of something Liechtenstein would do were he armed with acryclic paints. What do you think??

Material Girl

Nancy Dwyer's latest show, "Entitled to What," showing at the Firehouse Gallery critiques our contemporary material culture: our desire, urge and need to collect material objects to express our identity. Surely the possession of items codifies our existence, but in an age of such decadent excess in which the gap between those who possess and those who don't is ever-widening, what, as Dwyer questions, are we really entitled to?





The most impressive piece Dwyer offers is a wall of "stuff." Objects are offered to the viewer on multicolored paper plates. One instantly gravitates to those things she identifies with or those things she actually possesses herself (yes I do own a Jane Fonda aerobics video!). My eye was attracted to shoes, a book by Camille Paglia, eyeglasses, treats, a mirror. Once the viewer has latched on to things of personal significance, she starts to question other objects on the wall. Really you could stare at this piece for a lengthy chunk of time and have a lot of fun with it.