As I head for the shower at the gym, wondering if I should stay longer on the bike, lift more weights, or try a new boxing class, I find the real meaning of strength lying right there in front of me.
Some people enjoy shopping. Some enjoy the action, other the object, others the fantasy of being able to “acquire” that which they feel (or society made them feel) they “lack” (beauty, strength, appeal… whatever).
Last week, while at the SoHo, I found myself enjoying window shopping. The design. Pure art. Beauty.
Last Saturday I went to the MET for the symposium “Michelangelo and His World in the 1490s”. Presented by some of the most distinguished Michelangelo`s scholars, there was a lot of in-depth info on this very exceptional artist. Here are some of the most curious trivia I learned:
He was an exceptional painter and art forger from a very early age (when he was 12 years old he forged and smoked to make it look old, church paintings) and that`s why his father enrolled in an art studio at 13, even though the minimum age was 14.
Last Thursday I went to Queens Museum of Art for a talk about NYFA Immigrant Art Project.
Besides interesting art, and an interesting (although basic) talk, here are some things that caught my attention (and yes, that IS a model of the park inside the elevator!):
May 15th I went to the #15M demosntration in Malaga (Spain). As I was by myself, and to document and support “the cause”, I took my camerca and zig-zagged thourgh the crowd, in a kind of amateur sociological analysis of the most interesting social movement in these turbulent times. Here are some not-so-random thoughts:
While no particular spacial organization can be detected in the demonstration, the group dynamics and power hierarchy (even if perceived representation power) applied their invisible forces once more to take the radicals (or most outspoken at least) to march in the front line, families in the middle, and party goers and curious at the back Most “organizers” and “speakers” and “banner-holders and support van drivers” were foreign (mainly Argentinians) Although supposedly devoid of political affiliation, the only ones showing political signs were those without direct political representation in the form of “their own party” (anarchist, republicans, etc) While there was no “organized plan of action” (I wonder if the “assemblies” could get to one without some sort of non-hierarchical order and/or structure), the #cazerolada and #lacaixaesmordor seem to channel the discontempt towards the direct real cause (superficial, first and most apparent, but not necessarily the most important) of the dire social tensions of today: banks and the financial system… although how about the political system that allowed that to happen (from corruption to “democratic” representation)?
Wednesday May 2nd, I had the pleasure to meet Fernando Sabater at Instituto Cervantes, NY.
The conversation was lighthearted and included many anecdotes and trvia, but also a good dose of Philosophy and Psychology wisdom and aphorisms (like those by Andrés Newman). Here are some delicious quotes by him:
Dont attack, dont comply Childhood is always bad: wether because it was bad and left you a trauma, or because it was good and it frustrates you to leave it behind Happyness is also hard to bear Skepticism grows, and thats why when I am about to make a statement (particularly if it is a grand one) I end up laughing.
Yesterday I went to Japan Society for the Kota Yamazaki/Fluid hug-hug (glowing) dance.
I must admit, regardless of having read the description and program, that I did not understand anything at all. Not even after hearing Kota Yamazaki explain his work after the show. So, I did the only thing a reasonable person can do when approaching art and not understanding: feel.
While the apparent lack of linear narrative or character identification makes it hard to approach, the dancers movements (rather than the much touted but ineffective light design), unobtrusive (and minimal) sound landscape by Kohji Setoh, and the elegant twist with the hanging wooden props becoming physical space at the end, played together surprisingly well.
