Flake out kittens

By sketchh.

Along with the Christmas pattern booklet I'd like to finish by the end of August, I'd also like to do a booklet with some extra-bright wild and crazy designs. I have a few designs already and I just have to decide which to include. I also have to type up the patterns and make each one again. I wish I had some brighter colors in the stash but perhaps the theme of the booklet will change. Here are three possibilities so far:

The last hat is cuter than it looks in the photo but the colors washed out. I need to get a photo on an actual human.

Anyway, I have a lot to do this month. Good thing DH has decided we're buying a house here (across town) and moving ASAP. Eeek!

Curiosity kitten

In Normandy, we stayed in an old manor house that was inhabited by two adults, two cats, and four kittens. The kittens, we were told, had two modes of activity: "They sleep, and they play." By skycaptaintwo.

"Me, You and Everyone You Know": Filming art, Arting film

Seeing the film Me, You, and Everyone You Know, I kept getting the impression that it's a series of performances and installations, rather than an actual "life-like" story. They all had a punch, they were beautifuly written, conceived... and that was strange. Something unusually pure about it. Of course, it isn't about the film being "unrealistic". It is about it being a specific type of creation. And I'm afraid I'm having some difficulty describing just what that is.
But take some specific qualities of the film: the characters are sketched rather than painted. Sketched quite well, but nonetheless - they are hinted at and not "described". There is little or no small talk, nothing that can allow us to go deeper, beyond the surface of an action. I believe this is because at the heart of the work lies the need for composition, understood as the composition of a painting or performance rather than the composition of a character. The actions, events, situations, always seem to point to, or refer to, or use the language of, contemporary art.
Example: the two boys, both beautifuly discreet and calm characters, make ASCII drawings. And at a certain point, one of them shows the other a drawing he invented: a map of the neighborhood with "me and you and everyone we know" on it, in the form of dots. It might sound as a perfectly normal thing for boys to do. Well, it's not. And the level of asbtraction is quite high. Which doesn't mean it would be impossible for a twelve-year-old to come up with something of the sort. But it has the fresh scent of good contemporary art much more than of the spontaneous creation of a young adolescent.
It makes the entire experience of watching the film an unusual one. Of course one can enjoy it - it's a great picture - but once you feel what I'm trying to tell you, you simply can't stop thinking of someone writing it. Creating it. Composing it, like some installation.
Guess what. The director and star of the film - Miranda July - is actually a pretty renowned visual/performance/etc artist. This is her first feature film, and until now she has been doing installations and performances, many of which quite similar to the ones her character makes in the film. She is also the co-author of a brilliant web project that has been blogged about quite a lot, Learning To Love You More.
Doesn't this bring a lot of issues to the table?
If visual art can fit so well in a feature film, why not keep with the latter format? Isn't it more important, given the total lack of interest of the wider public towards contemporary art and the amazing success of the film (Golden Camera in Cannes, etc...)?
How close can a film, as in, regular saturday night film and not andy warhol film, be to a visual art work? Can't we judge it as such?
How does our judgement change once we accept something as a film or an installation /video art? Of course it does, and tremendously so. But isn't there something to be discovered by each of the disciplines - in the way we see the other work? For instance, for me a film is much easier to accept as such, to follow, to believe in, while video art creates great spaces for asking questions, for changing my approach, from a dynamic to a contemplative state. Oftentimes, though, the video art could use a little of the pragmatic follow me approach of a film, and vice versa, a film could use a little games with distance, so we can breathe.
Another issue: does the more accessible film equipment (Me, You... was shot on video, though it's still damn expensive video) mean that there is space for artists to go into/play with the more mainstream stream? Or is still going to be an offense to even think of mixing the two?
These questions are sometimes schematic, because I feel a need for schemes, for perspectives, points of view.
It's nice to know Matthew Barney is not the only visual artist making feature films. Although we shouldn't forget there are film directors who also make visual art (Lars von Trier, Peter Greenaway...).

ps.: Miranda July also wrote a blog, openly admitting it was part of the indie film industry strategy to promote the film. Nice nonetheless.

Sun stripes

By Jef...

Buddy

Buddy, my cousin's cat - La gata de mi primo ;) By Titania1980

Never judge a dog by its cover

Both sculptures are by Quinjing Jing.

See also this wonderful video.
(via)

Maltese Puppy Gallery

sources : google images.

A little handful

eyes barely open... cold and sneezy... only one other sibling... what happened to your kitty-mom??? WE brought you and your sister to our home to nurture you... we will never be the same... By bf.

Toy Piano - why is Margaret Leng Tan so fascinating?

The European Mezzo TV channel tells you everything about "culture" you need to know:
1. It is a ridiculously small milieu. Just look at their site. It is not much more developed than your average friendly grocer's home page.
2. It is snobbish. Ubearably snobbish. It does not intend to introduce art to new audiences, it does not intend to render the experience of art more... well, more anything than it already is. You need to get it, to get it. Just look at their site. The few introductions to future programs are ridiculously small, superficial and badly translated ("she inflames the audience"....).
3. It has no money. Just look at the site.
4. It seems not to care. It makes no effort to be user-friendly (the TV program on the site is in Excel, for the love of God!).
5. From time to time, it brings you the most delicious moments you could ever have hoped for.


Margaret Leng Tan's recital was such an enlightening moment. Leng Tan plays the piano. She comes out of the vein of John Cage. And moves forward. How can you move forward after Cage? Are we not stuck, as after any serious avant-garde artist? It might almost seem a permanent paradox: the true revolutionaries leave little space for their students. But if you look carefuly enough, there is plenty of room for others. And so, Leng Tan, after playing around with several of Cage's games (she is a Julliard graduate, so that meant mainly prepared pianos and such), tried the toy piano.
Today, she is considered the magician of the toy piano. Moving consequently into the exploration of the "toy sound", she established herself as a real master.
But Lang Tan is not my main interest here. What I found curious about what I saw was that the sound of the toy piano is so fascinating. Is it because it's a toy? Because it's so "simple", "naive"? Because it wanders around the frequencies, often destroying the "natural harmony" completely?And if so, what is it about this that attracts us? Maybe, and this is just a hypothesis, it's because this childlike simplicity is a relief. We can step down from the pedestal and actually enjoy it, without necessarily appreciating it as the scholarly art amateurs we are does. The playfulness is nearly destructive, it almost breaks the whole illusion of art, but then, not quite. It maintains the charm, the power, and yes, the beauty, while allowing us to move away. Only what sort of movement is it? Is it really the creation of distance? I would say it is rather assuming a distance, taking it as a starting point, which allows to be as close as we wish, making up our own rules, our private relation to the piece, uncontaminated by the judgement of style, technique, interpretation. That does not mean all of these elements do not play a role - they do. But we are happy to stop judging it, to put ourselves into the oblivion of spectatorship.
This became clear when Lang Tan played a very well known piece, Mozart's Turkish March, and I started listening to the interpretation, the technical aspects, the mistakes, and it wasn't as appealing. What I really needed was something simpler, easier maybe, but more immediate, more bare, less dressed up in the fancy clothes of "culture".
This brings me to another point, which could be developed: aren't the minimalist works - that have been appearing in the last couple of decades in various art fields - this type of search for a bare art? An art that, beyond the discussion of "hi" and "low", starts with an "a-b" that allows us to enter easier, to travel further, and to feel more at ease, just as if this were a simple toy, that by some chance (which, as Cage knew well, has little to do with chance, although it can spur from coincidence), by some chance becomes this: good.

Listen to Margaret Leng Tan here and here. I must admit, though, that these aren't the works that impressed me most.

I've been meaning to show you the huge Talavera rabbit we bought in Santa Fe. Isn't he cute? I have to find the right plant to put in him. I also bought a teeny-tiny white rabbit container at CostPlus World Market that I use to store my gourmet gray salt. Rabbits are taking over the house!

Knitting? What's that? I still haven't started the socks but I figure I'll find the energy soon to at least choose two colors.

Peaches seems to be doing well on her new diet and exercise plan. I think she's looks less pudgy but DH just laughs at me about the whole thing.

Comet kitten

This is our new kitten, Halley (after Edmond Halley). We didn't need another cat, but with a face like that, how could we say no? She was born May 21, 2006, so she's not quite 2 months old here. By ragesoss.

tango take two

By Elizabeth Mobley.

Tango kitten

This sweet little guy needs a new home in the Birmingham, Alabama area. Please see www.fcdf.org for more information! He is a sweetheart (even if he didn’t love his bath). By Elizabeth Mobley.

There'll be another picture of this cute little chap tomorrow.

I am totally in love with this Rowan sweater - Demi from Vintage Knits. I love the yarn and color and I love the longer tapered ribbing on the cuffs. Unfortunately it is just too hot here to wear a pullover. No I don't mean now in July - I mean even in winter it is never cold enough that I wear any of my other 10 million wool sweaters.

Oh well. Instead I'm going to make this Knitty summer pattern but make them into socks instead of leg warmers. I just have to figure out how to fix my printer first to print the chart.

Boba Fett kitten

This is Boba Fett. Can you tell his daddy is a Star Wars fan? Thought so. By AP.

Kitten on recharge

This is Jango Fett. Sleeping? No, he's recharging. Trust me. By AP. Boba is just as cute and will making an appearance tomorrow.

Bill T. Jones - The honest demagogue

I have just finished watching an interview with Bill T. Jones. I have seen him perform both live and on video. His story is touching and controversial. He is an authority.
But he is also a demagogue. There is a way of presenting oneself which has something incredibly irritating. Some sort of self-confidence and a way of declaring one's own experiences as universal truth.
You can only say this does not imply a similar attitude on stage if you've never seen Bill T. Jones on stage. The man constantly talks to the audience, his dancing is show-and-tell, it is lectures, sermons accompanied by dance, or joined by it, explained by it. And the tone of his voice has something distant, impersonal, that disturbed me. Now, I've also heard it during the interview. His powerful voice becomes too powerful, and sentences like "Dance is the first art." leave no space ofr anything else. No other areas, interests, points of view. And he is not saying this is what he thinks. Even when descirbing his most personal experiences, he says "The only way one can go through losing someone one has loved is by becoming what one has loved in that person". He doesn't say "I". He speaks for the rest of us. Demagogue? Prophet?
It is strange to discover that what I have been considering as an art of intimacy has the flavor of prophetic discourse. Can this be honest?

Unamused kitten

A picture of my 8-month old Siberian cat Tasha, very much not amused that the human is interrupting her nap to practice photography :) By Timothy Roberts.

Ready for bed

By jackdorsey. Normal service resumes on Friday.

Feral kittens

By I'mClaude. Chris - the web kitten - is away for a few days so you get your daily fix of kittens early. Be sure to come back later!

Jump tomorrow!

--------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> WORLD JUMP DAY REMINDER >>>> http://www.worldjumpday.org/
--------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------
20 JULY 2006
Only days to the historical WORLD JUMP DAY!
You have asked to be notified one day prior to the event.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Send your images and videos of your jump and get the chance
to win a special WORLD JUMP DAY T-shirt!

For information about uploading, emailing or sending your
images/videos a special page will be available on the WORLD
JUMP DAY website shortly after the jump has occurred.

Please be sure to begin jumping at the calculated time of
11.39.13 GMT on 20 JULY 2006. The duration of the jump
should be no less than 2 Minutes. Timing is very critical
in this experiment. We thank you for your help.

Have a good Jump!
Your WORLD JUMP DAY Team
www.worldjumpday.org

PS: Just remember that this time is calculated for Lisbon. Check the web page for your local jumping time!

One of my favorite New Mexico stories happened right after we moved here. We went to a party in July and it was around 105 degrees. The party was at the enormous showcase house of the builder who built our then-house (much smaller of course). All the windows were open and there were a few ceiling fans. The party guests sat outside, in the direct sun, right next to these huge honking smoking grills the caterers had set up. I watched the makeup melting right off the women's faces.

So at this inferno of a party I mentioned how much I would like to get air conditioning for our house and everyone at the party looked at me like I was insane. Really. I was sitting there wilting on one of the hottest days of my life trying not to touch anything metal to any part of my body, my eyeballs were burning, and everyone there insisted they rarely even used their swamp coolers. New Mexicans love the heat I guess.

Since then I've tried to "embrace my inner lizard" as DH says but instead I think I'll just gaze longingly at this photo of some of my wool mittens and gloves in snow - lovely, lovely snow.

My Portuguese flag

White kitten

By Jef Poskanzer.

The poet's responsibility: the Peter Handke Affair

This is far from the first time Peter Handke is being controversial. And it's not the first time he describes the "Serb question" in a scandalizing way.
But after he spoke during Slobodan Milosevic's funeral, all hell broke lose. All cultural hell.
Shocking? Certainly. The question is: why?
Among the many fascinating opinions, one exchange I particularly appreciated.
Botho Strauss:

Those who fail to see guilt and error as the stigmata (or even as stimulants in some cases) of great minds, shouldn't busy themselves with true poets and thinkers.

And Guenter Grass, answering:

Heine – like Goethe too, by the way – remained a fan of Napoleon until his death. The horror and the terror that Napoleon spread, how he used up his armies on the way to Russia – all of that was of no consequence for his admirers. Heine runs equally afoul of today's criteria whereby Handke is condemned for his absurd, one-sided support for Serbia... Handke has always tended to adopt the most nonsensical arguments and counter-positions. But what I dislike about the current discussion is the double standard, as if you could grant writers the right to err as a special kind of favour. The writer Botho Strauß said something along these lines (text in German here)... I have a hard time with granting writers a kind of bonus for geniuses which excuses their partisanship for the worst and most dangerous nonsense.

After this whole affair, Handke gave several interviews. Some of them (copy here) witty and slightly aggressive, others invoking Yugoslavian history to explain, to justify. But how well does he know history? I certainly am no specialist in this matter, but whenever someone explains history too well, even it is to correct what someone else said, I have my doubts, and look for a second opinion.
Probably the most fascinating thing about this affair, is that a poet still has that much power. Yes, you will say, but acting as a politician. No. Acting as someone for whom the polis matters. Zoon politicon - the social animal.

Pixel in repose

The light was playing through the window, and the red chair he was sitting on cast a great contrast to his orange fur. By a2gemma.

The Brown Dress Performance

365 days. one brown dress. a one-woman show against fashion.

Have an idea. Make it simpler. Make it one idea. Then work on it. Mould it, so it lives, not like a number, but like a word. Study it until it makes sense. (I love the expression to make sense). Try it. And again. Live it. Assume this is it, and it isn't any better, but it isn't any worse. And since you assume it, it can only get better. Which, if you check the site I found it at, as well as the author's, Alex Martin's, journal, did happen.

David Gallaugher's grass-lined wheel

FOR
Excellent. Funny. Smart.
It's a brilliantly simple idea. It makes us think - and smile. It is all about ecology. And nature in the city. And taking a real break from all of this. And let's all live together like one happy family.
And above all - don't take it all too seriously. Because it's conceptual - i.e., it is about the concept more than it is about what comes out of its realization. Because it's unpretensious - i.e., it doesn't intend to change the world (at least not the whole world at once). Because it's pretty - i.e., it is a relief from all this...hmmm... down to earth thinking. Oh, and because they got to hear a lot of hamster jokes, apparently.

AGAINST
How do you know where you're going? How long is the grass going to last? So this is the version of nature that architecture students have for us? Don't ask what nature can do for you, but what you can do for nature.

BOTTOM LINE
I like it.
"Even in the Public Gardens [in Halifax, NS], you're not allowed to walk on the grass."
(which is a much better statement than another reported one: that they want to "draw attention to what he considers a North American obsession with manicured lawns.")

ALTERNATIVE
Teresa Murak, Procession (1974)

thank you Jan for the link!
UPDATE: The photo of the Grass Wheel is by Andre Forget, a Halifax-based photographer. I'm terribly sorry for not putting the credit before. It is often difficult to execute on the internet (to get to the original source), but it's mainly laziness, and not incapacity or bad will, that is to blame.

Miata in the igloo

oh yes. i just unpacked it today... seems like she likes it!! :D By cabrolina

Curling kitten

By Clav

I think I'm going to add a fourth color to these gauntlet mittens - perhaps some gold or royal blue bobbles sewn on the gauntlets. Yes, that will be a bit over the top but most gauntlet mittens are already over the top as it is. I'm hoping this pattern booklet will be available for sale to benefit pet rabbit rescue by the end of August.

Peaches' new aerobic program mainly consists of me chasing her around the house, annoying her tremendously. I'm pretty sure I'm getting more exercise than she is. In today's photo Jack is shocked to notice that Peaches actually has a triple chin.

Also, speaking of over the top, I predict Barbie guy Robert Best will win Project Runway Season 3.

Bibby

By Lil Erna.

The light

By samideluxe

Cypher

His name is Cypher. He's named after my boyfriend's main World of Warcraft character. By picsonthefritz.

A kitten in the hand is worth 3 in the bush

By Makeshift.

I did manage some boring socks last week. As you know, I hate self-patterning sock yarn but this Parade was on sale at Knitpicks and it is sport weight (I like thick socks). Actually after knitting with it I'd say it is closer to fingering weight so it wasn't really worth the experiment.



The big news around here is that Peaches has been put on a diet. I worry because she gets uncomfortable with the heat and she needs to lose a pound or so. It is hard though because she dearly loves her treats but she's completely off fruit except for a grand total of 4 craisins every evening.

She's a total couch potato who barely moves as well and I'm devising some ideas to start up a bunny aerobics program. Needless to say, someone has some serious attitude about all this. If bunny looks could kill, DH and I would both be long dead.




Go see Lisa's version of the Caledonia sock pattern I posted!