WAP, JBE, etc.
Sep. 14th, 2003 02:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidYesterday afternoon I meandered around Union Square checking out the installations for the Windows Art Project with Queue and Theora. This is the first year it's in Union, and I'm glad to see that not everything funky is always in Davis Square, however good a place it is. Spreading the wealth...
There are 22 locations listed on the map as having art to check out, two of which are pieces by Hilary Scott. On one of the wide sidewalks is a no-right-angles-need-apply little house with windows to let the passers-by look inside. His other piece is in a storefront, and has arches and some kind of pulley that has two 'rocks' balanced with one larger one (the whole piece made out of the florists' foam he likes to use).
On the whole, however, this year's theme of Spaces & Places seemed more difficult for people than last year's Food for Thought. A number of pieces seemed to have nothing in particular to do with the theme, such as the two-headed bunny (really, more like a four-eared-yet-no-headed bunny). It was ok, but not so interesting, and seemed to lack any connection. Other installations just weren't interesting to me.
However, there were a couple of things that were great. One was the huge map of Somerville that people were encouraged to annotate, and already had many things marked on it.
Another was the display of all sorts of birds' nests, which were done by Corinne Champagne and Marscella Stasa, at 346 Somerville Ave, I think. There were a lot of birds' nests, some of which might've been found and augmented, while others might've been made. Each one hung on a string or strings, and had interesting things inside: a shard of glass, a crab's claw, a bit of wire, etc. One had an egg, surprisingly. The piece that struck me most had two nests, one tinier one above the larger, with a snake skin twined among the string holding them up. Really interesting.
The other one that was most striking to me was Amy Fisher's installation in the windows of New Asia, at 328 Somerville Ave. This had lots of Chinese food items used to make two landscapes. I was fascinated by an umbrella, the shade made of bits of chopstick wrapper, decorated with tea bags, the tags hanging down. There were also noodles, and fortunes, and dried mushrooms, all used in interesting ways.
Last night was the CD release party for Jim's Big Ego. [www.bigego.com requires Flash.]This was supposed to be at the Cambridge House of Blues, but they'd double booked, and so the concert ended up being in a park in Harvard Square, the one I think of as being by Grendel's, though everyone else seems to identify it as the one by Peet's (I need to update my mental maps.). The House of Blues is closing today, so I suppose they're paying for their incompetence... (No, there's no causal relation at all. Just convenient.)
I got there a bit late, since it wasn't long after Shabbat ended. There was already a crowd, and eventually we found the cluster of known people, at the front right. Not long after, there was a lucky bench grab, so Scholargipsy, JB, Joellll, and I could sit in relative comfort while enjoying the music. It was also good to see the others I knew, including Gavin, Ruth, and Cthulhia, et al.
At first, I was surprised at how loud it wasn't, then realized that they were playing outside businesses that were still open. I was glad to hear some songs that were familiar (many of which I was surprised to see on the new CD; I hadn't realized they hadn't been released before), and some new wonderful ones. Of course I had to acquire a copy of the new CD once I'd found out that it had a song titled Math Prof Rock Star. Perhaps I should've gotten one for the math prof cousin, too... It was a perfect night for a concert outside, cool enough to be enjoyable, enough ambient light, all that. The crowd was with the band, singing along with lots of the choruses (should that be 'chorii'? :-), enjoying the permuting of the first stanza of In a Bar to "In a Square", contributing many interesting things for napkin poetry, calling them back for an encore. Lots of fun, all around.
I'd forgotten the sheep figurine the bank officer had at his desk. It looked rather like a Wallace and Grommet sheep, so I commented on it, in the midst of all the paperwork I was filling out. I was told that the sheep 'did tricks', then couldn't stifle a laugh when pushing on its head produced a brown jelly bean from its posterior.
Yesterday I got to see two wonderful spider webs. One was pretty much perfect, swaying in the breeze, a wonder of construction. The other had a biggish bug in the middle, and had been patched, but was still fascinating to see. I wonder how hard it would be to photograph one without beads of dew or rain on it.
I was walking up Vinal St. yesterday, and noticed for the first time a front garden totally unlike any others I've seen. There were walls and arches woven of branches, shells hanging here and there, and decorating the ground, between the greenery, and a small pool. This doesn't sound so appealing, but it was really a good use of a pretty small space. I think I should go back, when I don't have a destination or a schedule, just to appreciate it. Perhaps sometime when the community garden with the labyrinth across the street is open.
Also good: a new Joan Bauer book.
There are 22 locations listed on the map as having art to check out, two of which are pieces by Hilary Scott. On one of the wide sidewalks is a no-right-angles-need-apply little house with windows to let the passers-by look inside. His other piece is in a storefront, and has arches and some kind of pulley that has two 'rocks' balanced with one larger one (the whole piece made out of the florists' foam he likes to use).
On the whole, however, this year's theme of Spaces & Places seemed more difficult for people than last year's Food for Thought. A number of pieces seemed to have nothing in particular to do with the theme, such as the two-headed bunny (really, more like a four-eared-yet-no-headed bunny). It was ok, but not so interesting, and seemed to lack any connection. Other installations just weren't interesting to me.
However, there were a couple of things that were great. One was the huge map of Somerville that people were encouraged to annotate, and already had many things marked on it.
Another was the display of all sorts of birds' nests, which were done by Corinne Champagne and Marscella Stasa, at 346 Somerville Ave, I think. There were a lot of birds' nests, some of which might've been found and augmented, while others might've been made. Each one hung on a string or strings, and had interesting things inside: a shard of glass, a crab's claw, a bit of wire, etc. One had an egg, surprisingly. The piece that struck me most had two nests, one tinier one above the larger, with a snake skin twined among the string holding them up. Really interesting.
The other one that was most striking to me was Amy Fisher's installation in the windows of New Asia, at 328 Somerville Ave. This had lots of Chinese food items used to make two landscapes. I was fascinated by an umbrella, the shade made of bits of chopstick wrapper, decorated with tea bags, the tags hanging down. There were also noodles, and fortunes, and dried mushrooms, all used in interesting ways.
Last night was the CD release party for Jim's Big Ego. [www.bigego.com requires Flash.]This was supposed to be at the Cambridge House of Blues, but they'd double booked, and so the concert ended up being in a park in Harvard Square, the one I think of as being by Grendel's, though everyone else seems to identify it as the one by Peet's (I need to update my mental maps.). The House of Blues is closing today, so I suppose they're paying for their incompetence... (No, there's no causal relation at all. Just convenient.)
I got there a bit late, since it wasn't long after Shabbat ended. There was already a crowd, and eventually we found the cluster of known people, at the front right. Not long after, there was a lucky bench grab, so Scholargipsy, JB, Joellll, and I could sit in relative comfort while enjoying the music. It was also good to see the others I knew, including Gavin, Ruth, and Cthulhia, et al.
At first, I was surprised at how loud it wasn't, then realized that they were playing outside businesses that were still open. I was glad to hear some songs that were familiar (many of which I was surprised to see on the new CD; I hadn't realized they hadn't been released before), and some new wonderful ones. Of course I had to acquire a copy of the new CD once I'd found out that it had a song titled Math Prof Rock Star. Perhaps I should've gotten one for the math prof cousin, too... It was a perfect night for a concert outside, cool enough to be enjoyable, enough ambient light, all that. The crowd was with the band, singing along with lots of the choruses (should that be 'chorii'? :-), enjoying the permuting of the first stanza of In a Bar to "In a Square", contributing many interesting things for napkin poetry, calling them back for an encore. Lots of fun, all around.
I'd forgotten the sheep figurine the bank officer had at his desk. It looked rather like a Wallace and Grommet sheep, so I commented on it, in the midst of all the paperwork I was filling out. I was told that the sheep 'did tricks', then couldn't stifle a laugh when pushing on its head produced a brown jelly bean from its posterior.
Yesterday I got to see two wonderful spider webs. One was pretty much perfect, swaying in the breeze, a wonder of construction. The other had a biggish bug in the middle, and had been patched, but was still fascinating to see. I wonder how hard it would be to photograph one without beads of dew or rain on it.
I was walking up Vinal St. yesterday, and noticed for the first time a front garden totally unlike any others I've seen. There were walls and arches woven of branches, shells hanging here and there, and decorating the ground, between the greenery, and a small pool. This doesn't sound so appealing, but it was really a good use of a pretty small space. I think I should go back, when I don't have a destination or a schedule, just to appreciate it. Perhaps sometime when the community garden with the labyrinth across the street is open.
Also good: a new Joan Bauer book.
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Date: 2003-09-15 08:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-09-15 08:47 am (UTC)