There is a lot of debate and analysis on why is the US healthcare system so freakingly expensive (basic answer: greedy inhuman and short sighted powerful economic interest added to puppet politicians and sheepish voters). Here is one real life example: a friend in Atlanta told me that he went to the hospital ER after feeling intense chest pain. He knew it was most likely a strong episode of acid reflux (he had been suffering from that for some time), but it was so severe, he got scared and wanted to check.
Today I went to one of MoMA`s members-only gallery talks. This one was about their current Cindy Sherman exhibition (great website, by the way).
Rather than rambling on about Cindy Sherman`s interesting work (an obvious reference to identity, stereotypes, social criticism, art depiction, etc, with her easily recognizable periods and themes), on which there are many articles these days, here are some anecdotes:
Photography is not allowed (I really hate it when museums do not allow photography), so why do they place QRs (particularly when the phone coverage is quite bad)?
Atlanta`s Hartsfield airport has been having one of those useless scanners that show passengers naked for a while now. But the last time I was there, they were being tested, and most passengers did not go through them. Today, though, as I approached the security line, I saw that next to every metal detector, there was one of those scanners. “Wow, this is getting worse”, I thought, while seeing how almost everybody was going through the scanners.
On Sunday I went to the Independent Art Spaces Symposium and Art Spaces Directory Launch at the New Museum.
I purchased the Art Spaces Directory last week, and I believe it is an excellent work, useful informative, needed. But the symposium was… sad, to say the least: a bunch of gallery (art-spaces) curators, unable to play a PowerPoint (sic… makes me sick), and regurgitating exhibit picture after exhibit picture while vomiting names after names of artists, collectives and the like.
On Sunday I went to Cha-an. In short: a cute japanese restaurant, good food, excellent desserts, and what seems to be the best Japanese Tea Ceremony in NY (ate there, but will have to do the ceremony some other day). Definitely to the “must” list.
On Wednesday I visited the studio of Madeline Weinrib on 5th Ave., New York.
Located on an impressive loft, her new studio (it used to be located at her apartment above a small museum in SoHo) is, as one would have imagined, full of decorative and inspirational elements, plus lots and lots of fabric samples, books and pictures.
In an informal conversation, Madeline explained her move from painter to fabric designer in 1997 (although she “forgot” to mention the connexion to her great-grandfather`s company), her world-wide network of artisans and suppliers, and her obvious historical design pattern “inspirations” (curious how she considers large manufacturers are “ripping her off” by copying “her patterns”, when her work is such an obvious “appropriation” from well known historical-cultural patterns such as the zig-zag or the muslim interlocks, as she describes it in this interview).
While generalizations are usually absurd and damaging (asking “What is it like to be in a relationship with someone who has Asperger`s?” is almost as ridiculous a generalization as asking “What is it like to be in a relationship with a blonde?”) it is true that in general, working with an autistic person may be hard, living with one could be unbearable, and being one is…
Some, let`s seek relief and help in knowledge.
