Month Seven: In Conclusion

It feels good to be back. This was an easy month - photos of spoon & forks! But really, cutlery is pretty important to me, and I'm glad I had this little forum in which to express my excitement, even a little bit.

Let's talk about it in person. I'd like to hear about your favorite style of knife.

In Korea, chopsticks are made of metal, and are accompanied by a beautiful long-handled shallow-bowled spoon. I am a complete devotee to all of this.  I like the idea that chopsticks are incorporated into the standard silverware family, and that spoon style is both elegant and utilitarian. win-win-win.

Hammered Spoons by Yumi Nakamura

via Spoon & Tamago 

Yumi Nakamura creates rugged spoons that are teeming with gritty personalities. Working mainly with copper and brass, she hammers out the shapes – an ancient process that dates back to the the Yayoi Period (300 BC – 300AD) these types of metallic material first entered Japan. Back then, everything from vessels and mirrors to swords and shields were made this way.

Why Cutlery?

So, I suppose that's a relevant question, or one worth asking. After giving it a bit of thought the best I can say is that these are potentially great pieces of art, that are used in one of the most basic acts we perform: feeding ourselves. Even if it's a low-key design, it's still charming to me that something we can ooh & aah over in art-appreciation mode can also be used to shove food into our mouths.

It's design that is inarguably useful. And everyone has their preferred style. I go for the hefty chunky silverware if given the chance, but some folks like their eating utensils to be like fragile little twigs. Cool, whatever. There is a long long history of these preferences playing out in a variety of designs. I love every bit of it.

Sexy.

I think this is from Design Within Reach...? But yeah, love the "rustic" (in quotes) heaviness & the dark grey coloring.

Flatware by Arne Jacobsen, as seen in Kubrick’s 2001 Space Odyssey (1968) 

(via Selvedge Design Group)

MONTH SEVEN! CUTLERY/FLATWARE!

Ok, so I've recently had to deal with the sadly all-too-common problem of Real Life getting in the way of Blog Writing. But I'm picking this back up, dammit! And calling it Month Seven because it is the 7th month of the year, after all. Harrumph.

I've had a fascination with cutlery for years now. No idea where it sprang from, but I know I like a shapely knife, fork, and/or spoon. Now's the time to learn a bit about the history of ye olde eating utensils. Expect lots of sexy photographs, and maybe some actual facts!

MONTH THREE! NAPOLEON - THE MOVIE!

Oy, what happened to the time? Plenty of real life craziness going on = less blogging. But the month is only barely half over, and I do have a topic.

On Saturday March 24th (and the day after, and the following weekend) The Paramount Theatre in Uptown Oakland will be presenting an epic screening of Abel Gance's Napoleon. This film is beyond legend in the silent film world; it's one of those fabled long-lost-but-finally-found-and-lovingly-restored tales that we film-history nerds love. And aside from the story of its restoration, it's supposed to be an amazing movie in its own right, and it will be screened with live accompaniment by the Oakland East Bay Symphony. The entire event will be eight hours long, including two intermissions and a two-hour dinner break.

There are often lots of exclamation marks associated with the discussion of this movie. In the next two weeks I'm going to try & learn a little more about it - both to prepare for my experience (I'm attending the March 24th performance) and to just generally be able to appreciate the love and work that went into both the making of the movie and bringing it to the big screen again.

Month Two: In Conclusion

I think I'm learning a bit more about proper pacing for this project. Or at least how I'd like to pace things, which is slow & easy, and spread out thru the month. I did the equivalent of a last-minute cramming session in the past week, and while it was fun & educational, I would've liked to have spent more time with the casual learning, and less time feeling "oh god, I need to catch up." Because really, who wants that? (Not me.)

That being said, I loved loved loved Peter Ackroyd's J.M.W. Turner. (The "smaller book" if you've followed my posts.) A little book, but so thorough! In the space of a few days I learned so much, and had a fabulous time reading it over beers at Commonwealth. I finished the book last night, then came home and finally rewatched the Simon Schama Power of Art episode. Nice stuff! A great one-two punch of art education.

I have a feeling my love for Joseph Mallord William Turner will grow faster & stronger than my love for Yoko Ono. Which is, I suppose, as it should be.

This has been an amazing month of learning. Below is a quote from Ackroyd's "Turner" book that I added to Goodreads tonight, because it made me smile so much when I first read it.

Simon Schama's J.M.W. Turner

From his "Power of Art" series. Over the top & catty as ever. I love it.

This clip is from somewhere towards the middle of the show, but I like that it just sortof tosses you into the action. There are links on the YouTube page for parts 1 thru 4.

Snow Storm - Steamboat off a Harbor's Mouth (1842)

Death on a Pale Horse (1830)

Sunrise With Sea Monsters (1845)

Tate Britain: Talking Turner

From the Tate Museum, home of many Turner paintings.

Turner's art has always been controversial. This section shows how artists and writers such as Constable, Ruskin, and Matisse responded to his work; we have also invited a number of present day artists, writers, historians and others to talk about Turner, or about a particular work in the new displays in the Clore Galleries.

===============

John Ruskin was incredibly fond of Turner's paintings, and worked tirelessly to promote them after Turner's death. (At that point Turner was more mocked than revered by critics - it seems Ruskin can be credited for lot of the posthumous respect Turner acquired. May we all be so lucky to have someone like Ruskin to champion our works.)

===============

via the Tate:

John Ruskin on Turner

'Introduced to-day to the man who beyond all doubt is the greatest of the age; greatest in every faculty of the imagination, in every branch of scenic knowledge; at once the painter and poet of the day...
I found in him a somewhat eccentric, keen-mannered, matter-of-fact, English-minded gentleman: good-natured evidently, bad-tempered evidently, hating humbug of all sorts, shrewd, perhaps a little selfish, highly intellectual, the powers of his mind not brought out with any delight in their manifestation, or intention of display, but flashing out occasionally in a word or a look.'

The Art Teacher

Rufus Wainwright. All this having been done, a Turner, I own one.

Back from a Pause.

Yeesh. Being sick for a week and overwhelmed with the rest of life certainly does a number on the ol' casual-research skills. At any rate, I'm glad I ordered some books thru the library a while back because they are here and now I can read them!

You can't really tell from the photo, but Standing in the Sun is a monster-sized biography: 478pgs, including notes & index - I'm both excited & scared. Maybe I'll start with the smaller book? The book on the bottom, JMW Turner: Works on Paper from American Collections, is a little helpful, and a little frustrating; aside from a few color plates, most of the images are rendered in black & white. But I think it'll still prove to be educational.

Onward!

A little more knowledge.

Well, no wonder I had a hard time remembering Joseph Mallord William Turner's name. (Plus, apparently there is another semi-contemporary English watercolorist with the name William Turner.) But I should've at least remembered the William part, since we sell William Turner paper by Hahnehmuhl where I work.

In any case, this is my guy:

Self-portrait, c. 1799

I did make a trip to the library this morning to see what I could find, but only one of their giant art books had anything more than a page devoted to him. tsk tsk.
One of the books was from the National Gallery of Art, and featured this image -

Mortlake Terrace, 1827

It's not necessarily symbolic of the works by Turner that I like the most, but it does have a great feeling of light to it. (Which was kindof his thing.)

There was a little story in the book about how when the painting was first exhibited, a colleague of Turner's walked up to it and said something like "Hmm, it could use more of a focal point in the middle here" and then proceeded to take a piece of black paper, cut out a shape of a dog, and stuck it to the painting. Turner came by later, was apparently not upset, and in fact varnished over the paper and painted the dog into the image. The book calls it one of the more unusual artistic collaborations.
The National Gallery of Art website credits the whole idea to Turner, so there seems to be some internal debate on the matter. I think it's all very charming (tho I might not think that if someone stuck a paper dog to one of my photographs. Well, actually, that could be kindof awesome.)

MONTH TWO: TURNER!

So, I'm purposefully going into this month's topic without doing any research first, just to see how much on an ass I can make out of myself.

I had been turning this possibility around in my head, and once I saw last Tuesday's sunset, I knew it had to be.
I recently started an art class, have been thinking about art in general on many different levels, and for some reason this fellow kept popping into my head. The funny thing is, I can't for the life of me remember his first name, and aside from a general positive pleasant feeling around the concept of his work, I mostly just associate him with gorgeous reddish skies. My other connections with him are thru a Rufus Wainwright song and an episode devoted to him in Simon Schama's The Power of Art series. (Obviously not nearly enough of that episode stuck with me, so one of my assignments this month is to watch it again.)

So here we go, diving into February mostly ignorant but eager to learn!

Month One: In Conclusion.

Well, that was an interesting and mostly satisfying month of learning. My real life is full of learningness right now, so I didn't have a ton of time to devote to Ms. Ono, but I'm still happy to be working (well, "working") on this project. I have a much better idea of what Yoko Ono was about, and I want to get a book or two of her art.

The most surprising and probably long-lasting thing to come out of this was my appreciation of her music. I like the screeching! I like the pop songs! Blessings upon my friend Carol for loaning me her cd of Walking on Thin Ice. We're in agreement: it's good goofy fun.

Ultimately, I doubt Yoko Ono would've been noticed by anyone if she hadn't pursued John Lennon, which is a bummer, but she seems to have been quite a character (and I'm sure she still is.) I'm looking forward to learning even more about her, but rules is rules and starting next month (i.e. tomorrow) I'll start a new topic.

I was looking forward to reading this book until I saw that the sections were titled BEFORE JOHN, JOHN AND YOKO, AFTER JOHN, then lastly, ART AND MUSIC. What a bummer. Then I read some reviews and got even more bummed out. Glancing at the writing gave me a case of the horrors. I'm returning the book to the library unread; maybe I should've given it more of a chance, but I also feel like I don't have time right now for poorly written crap. (Unless it's coming from me.)

Death of Samantha

Several interpretations out there of the meaning of this song. I think I'll subscribe to the the theory that it's at least partly about the miscarriages she suffered thru, but really it could be about lots of things.

Yoko Ono the Graphic Novelette

Eric Kostiuk Williams has illustrated a "mini zine" of Yoko Ono's life/art. I like this panel the most.

BottomsBottomsBottoms. (Here's the video.)

image via flobberlob.

"Yoko is the most famous unknown artist in the world. Everyone knows who she is, but nobody knows what she does."
- John Lennon

Listening to a full album of Yoko Ono music for the first time in my life. Whoa. (On so many levels.)

Yoko Ono - Cut Piece, 1965

Nervewracking and pretty wonderful. She performed this in silence, so watch with your speakers turned off if you like, but the music doesn't detract, in my opinion.

Yoko Ono - Cut Piece. She sits in silence as audience members come up and cut away pieces of her clothing.

Starting with a video that links Yoko with John, but in a lovely way. The ending totally gives me the giggles.

MONTH ONE! YOKO ONO!

Saw her giving a brief soundbite in a George Harrison documentary and realized, "Huh, I don't really know anything about this lady."

I know who she is, yes. But really, try and learn much about her and you'll find it quickly gets drowned out in "JohnJohnJohn."
My goals are to learn about her as a person and an artist, while determining how tied up her life actually was with John Lennon's. I suspect an awful lot, but let's explore, shall we?