I have changed my blog top or so I am going to call it. The photo actually comes from a fantastic art museum/gallery in rural New York called Dia:Beacon. The pieces are titled Torqued Ellipses done by Richard Serra. If you haven't been to this museum, which I went to last year when it had its big opening, you need to. It totally redefines the idea of a museum in the Tate Modern sorta way.
Dia:Beacon Statement about Richard Serra: Rolled-steel plates, each two inches thick and weighing twenty tons,
stand abutted. This forthright, direct presentation, characteristic of
Serra's aesthetic, gives little hint of the fundamental newness and
potency of the experience offered in these monumental works—and also
fails to betray the prolonged and difficult process of their
realization. By Serra's account, the initial idea for this body of work
was breathtakingly simple: take an elliptical volume of space and
torque it. After an inspirational visit to Francesco Borromini's San
Carlo alle Quattro Fontane church in Rome in the early 1990s, he began
to try to devise such a space. Experimenting with two small wood
ellipses held parallel but angled to each other by a dowel, he created
a "wheel" from which he cut and rolled a template in lead. By varying
the angles at which the ellipses were set to each other, or by
modifying the overall proportions, or by introducing a second component
within the first, he gradually assembled some thirty models for
large-scale sculptures. With the aid of a computer program, he then
calculated the positions and angles at which sheets of steel would need
to be bent in order to realize such works at full scale. The problem next confronting Serra was to find a steel mill capable of
this exacting task, a difficulty compounded by the fact that the job
required a special type of roller and by his need to work with the
maximum-size plate available, that is, with sixteen-foot sheets. After
considerable research, it became apparent that there were perhaps only
two rollers in existence that could carry out the project. Beth Ship, a
shipyard and rolling mill outside Baltimore, agreed to undertake the
work without fully comprehending the complexities entailed. Several
trials were required before the first sculpture was completed, in late
1996.
I rarely ever talk about music here which I am just starting to notice. So for a good kick off, I think everyone who reads this blog needs to go out and BUY every album Sigur Ros has ever made. They are a haunting yet spectacular group from Iceland. One of them is super cute and gay, too, if that makes it easier. But, the lyrics (in Icelandic) are amazing and so are the melodies. I cry mostly every time I listen to them. They let you stream/download from their website but you should really grab the cds. Their \website also has their video's which are equally as impressive since they are more like video art than an MTV music video: Sigur Ros
Also as another musical selection, go and listen to I Dare You To Move by Switchfoot. I have no idea why I have been addicted to this song lately but I can't stop listening to it everywhere I go. It is inspiring and makes me feel like I am in high school again. It also makes me feel like I am living in the O.C. haha.
In other good stuff, I went shopping today at an Outlet Mall where I spent a good amount of money on some gifts for myself for this holiday season. Calvin Klein and Quicksilver (to make me look like I live in California and am 18) outlets are fun ;) It was a good time well spent with a good friend. And speaking of good friends, I ended up feeling like a fat girl after my big pre-Thanksgiving feast at my friend Greg's house last night. Christ, the drug in the turkey knocks you on your ass. Whew.