6:217

Yesterday's news. Literally.





:217project; image dianamuse

Inspiring weekend, everyone. Wherever you may be.





:image dianamuse, kandinsky at the guggenheim 09

5:217

It's February. Get your red on.






:217project; image dianamuse, west 112th st.

timekeeper

Pierre Huyghe sanded down a few layers of paint at Secession in Vienna, revealing the colorful past of previous exhibitions.







:pierre huyghe, timekeeper, via today and tomorrow

4:217

The I.D.: A riot of bare limbs belonging to the eight-story beauties beyond our rear windows. They do a fine job of mimicking bronchial trees, don't you think? Neural networks, too.



See what I mean?













I think these images give added meaning to the term, "the lungs of the city," which refers to urban parks. The phrase is famously attributed to Frederic Law Olmsted, although he didn't actually coin it. "The lungs of the city" is a form of the earlier expression, "the lungs of London." That phrase has been attributed to William Pitt the Elder, British Prime Minister from 1766-68. It appears that Hyde Park was the original "lungs of London." Sometime during the 19th century, the phrase was generalized to refer to major urban parks.




:217project; photos dianamuse

Good weekend, everyone. Wherever you may be.








:think pink 81, taiwan

There are lots of good writers. There are lots of hugely skilled writers. There are lots of us who write about many subjects with curiosity and diligence. But there are very few writers who find or forge the key that enables them to unlock the hearts of their readers and of their fellow people. And Salinger did that. He did it repeatedly. And whether he was silent for 40 years or miserably grumpy for half a century, I don't care. He did that. And he alone did that. He wrote with all his stars out and the world shines brighter for him. (Adam Gopnik, NPR interview, 1/28/10)

: image dianamuse, my first copy (purchased ~1972)

3:217

Good morning, New York City! You realize that by about 1:52 this afternoon, all that pretty pristine white powder will have morphed into a flow of putty-colored slurge that accumulates in three-feet-wide ponds at every corner. That's snow for you. Just doing its job.

(I do love the dash of taxi yellow in the upper right. It orients me to time and place.)





:217project; image dianamuse

2:217

If Adam (top panel, looking all naked and mortified) could have glimpsed the beauty in store - check out those dancing jewel-tone reflections on the wall behind him - maybe he'd have grokked that being expelled from Eden wasn't such a bad thing after all.




The I.D.: I took this shot of the Paschal candlestick at The Cloisters in December. The decoration of the hexagonal candlestick is organized in three tiers: The upper register is devoted to the Old Testament (Adam and Eve, the Expulsion of Adam and Eve, etc.); the second register features various saints; the third register (out of view) is loaded with apostles.

Did you know? The Cloisters is patterned on the monasteries that mushroomed during the Middle Ages - a rambling structure of halls, chapels, cloisters and gardens intended to evoke, rather than duplicate, the originals of which they once were part. Contrary to what some believe, The Cloisters is not an entire monastery brought stone by stone from Europe and reassembled on its perch in Manhattan's Fort Tryon Park.

Much of the art collection came from that of George Grey Barnard, an American sculptor and collector of medieval art, who had already established a medieval-art museum near his home in the Fort Washington neighborhood. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. purchased Barnard's entire collection of art and architectural remnants as a gift to the Met; this collection, combined with a number of pieces from Rockefeller's own collection (including the Unicorn tapestries), became the core of the new Cloisters' holdings.

The Cloisters gets its name from its incorporation of five cloisters - the covered walkways where monks strolled, prayed and did manuscript illumination as well as their laundry - from the French monasteries of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa, Bonnefont-en-Comminges, Trie and Froville. The museum opened in 1938.




:217project; image dianamuse

Good weekend, everyone. Wherever you may be.






:andrea übelacker, alle meine filzstifte (all my markers)

limited print auction

Several talented photographers have offered up prints of their artwork at auction, with all proceeds going to the relief efforts in Haiti. Sponsored by switchcities, the auction is open through Friday, January 22.




:image kristel wyman, krakow, 16 x 24 print

1:217*

Can you identify the sculptural relief from this close-up shot? Anyone? Anyone?







Completed in 1934, this elaborate relief by Alfred Janniot decorates the entrance to 610 Fifth Avenue (aka La Maison Française) in Rockefeller Center. This bronze wonder represents Paris and New York joining hands above the figures of three graces. Poetry is on the left. Can you guess the identity of the two other figures before scrolling down?




Yes. Beauty and Elegance. Bien sûr.





* my first entry for this year's 217project (217 original swoond/dianamuse photo posts in 2010); many, probably most, will be images of our fair manhattan in perspective of varying degrees. i better get a move on.

:images dianamuse

nyc donations to haiti: plane departs tuesday

MONDAY, JANUARY 18: Just heard from Lane at charity: water. The plan is still GO for the plane to leave tomorrow. Please get your donations to 200 Varick Street by 5 p.m. TODAY.


There’s a plane leaving NYC for Haiti on Tuesday, 1/19, and charity: water needs your help filling it with cargo. As you may know, charity: water is a non-profit organization that brings clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.

Members of the charity: water staff have been in close contact with their field partners; they are turning the charity: water office in Manhattan into a drop-off point for the following items (those most urgently needed in Haiti this week):

Blankets*
Tents*
Sleeping bags*

Soap
Feminine hygiene products
Medical gloves
Bandages/gauze
Cases of bottled water

* these items can be gently used

If you can make a donation, please stop by the charity: water office at 200 VARICK STREET on Monday, 1/18, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. DO NOT MAIL THESE ITEMS TO THEIR OFFICE.

IF YOU CAN CARRY THE DONATIONS BY HAND IN ONE LOAD: Please enter through the front door at 200 Varick St. You will need a photo ID to enter the building. charity: water is located on the 2nd floor, Suite 201.

IF YOU ARE A BUSINESS OR ARE DONATING IN BULK: Please email Lane Wood to schedule a drop-off time. Lane's e address: lane.wood[at]charitywater[dot]org

All supplies will be transported this week by Partners in Health and distributed where they are needed most. charity: water's other partners in Haiti, Concern Worldwide US, are sending supplies from Ireland and still have a pressing need for donations.






charity: water; image courtesy boston globe

breathe

This image is the product of a drive-by photo shoot that I committed (from the passenger seat, I assure) while traveling through the mighty Rockies earlier this year. A favorite Edward Estlin Cummings poem seemed an apt accompaniment. And for your listening pleasure, scroll down to the YuleTube treat below: a reading of the poem by e. e. himself.

Joy, peace, love to you, my darlingests.

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any-lifted from the no
of all nothing-human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

- e. e. cummings

:image dianamuse

what i'd wear to the holiday party...

...if I'd been invited AND if I were an iconic Asian beauty trained in the art of Geisha AND if I were more self-possessed AND if I were a certifiable nutter (though I'm making headway on that last one).

Truthfully, I just wanted to give you some exquisiteness to gaze upon - and to tell you that I miss being here with you.



But wait. There's more.
I could see getting married in this. In fact, I could see getting married just to be able to get married in this.

Mercy.






:vogue december 05

everything is illuminated

We tripped the light fantastic through Soho (or Sohoma as I call it because of the neighborhood's unfortunate resemblance to an overrated suburban American shopping mall, a new-century playground for the Bridge and Tunnel set) and Chelsea over the weekend before last. We were treated to this year's moveable feast for the eyes, courtesy of The New Yorker.

As we stepped out of Location One on Greene Street, the diagonal rows of weathered glass alongside the base of the stairs caught my eye. The sidewalk vault lights looked to be casting their warm amber tones up and out from underground. I love these humble representatives of 19th century New York. Let me share a bit of their story....


Beginning in the 1850s, sidewalk vault lights became a common feature amidst the burgeoning manufacturing districts of America’s urban streetscapes. These cast-iron panels, fitted with clear glass lenses, were set into the sidewalk in front of building storefronts. They permitted daylight to reach otherwise dark basements (or “vaults”) that extended out beneath the sidewalks, creating more useable or rentable space for building owners.

Vault lights typically extended four to five feet out from the building line toward the curb. Each panel was screwed to a cast-iron saddle and the iron framework that spanned the basement vault. They were cast with molded iron knobs set around each lens to protect the glass and improve the footing of passers-by. Originally simple glass lenses were set in the panels, usually with a cement grout. Advances in daylighting technology, including the development of prismatic glass pendants that refracted the sun’s rays further into basement areas, and the use of reinforced concrete panels made vault lights popular through the 1930s.



If you find yourself scouting for treasure in New York City (admittedly not much of a challenge - there are riches on every. single. last block), you might consider a look-see on Greene Street. These enduring survivors of a bygone day will not disappoint.





:image dianamuse; post title courtesy of this beautiful film

the goog at 50

This year, the Solomon R. Guggenheim museum celebrated its 50th birthday (join the crowd). The Guggenheim first opened its doors on October 21, 1959. To kick off this golden anniversary year, the Guggenheim presented Frank Lloyd Wright: From Within Outward, its best-attended show ever. The exhibition closed on August 23; we got in just under the wire.




The show featured 64 Frank Lloyd Wright projects, including privately commissioned residences, civic and government buildings, religious and performance spaces and unrealized urban mega-structures — as well as more than 200 original Frank Lloyd Wright drawings, many of which were on view to the public for the first time. I was delighted to come upon a rendering of the Marin County Civic Center, a Wright creation that had some prominence in the landscape of my childhood. The design left a deep imprint on my visual brain.



One of our favorite exhibits was the Gordon Strong Automobile Objective — a proposed (and unrealized) concept that was to be built on the summit of the Sugar Loaf Mountain and serve as a destination for short motor trips. The spiraling roadways - cantilevered to allow full views — were to be supported by a vast dome, 150 feet in diameter. Under the dome, Wright proposed a planetarium to be surrounded by a circular gallery containing aquaria and natural history exhibits. So cool. (This image, just below, courtesy designboom — I'm borrowing this one because we weren't allowed to take photos in the exhibit itself, only on the ground floor.)



David van der Leer was appointed the Guggenheim's assistant curator of architecture and design last fall. His initial focus was organizing the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibition. I like what he says about the museum itself: "It's a great piece of architecture and it's the biggest object in our collection."



Did you know? Lego added Wright's Guggenheim Museum and Fallingwater to its new Architecture series. The other structures in the line include the Sears Tower, John Hancock Center, the Empire State Building and the Seattle Space Needle.







:images dianamuse; check out the mega-versions (and a couple of postcard-size efforts) at beautimuse - click here

nilism

We have some serious relief mapping of Egypt under way here at the homestead — thank you, middle school curriculum. I stopped in my tracks when we fell into this satellite image of the Nile River delta. I mean, come on. Do satellites realize how lucky they are?
No sign of strife or war or squabbling over toys from this vantage point. Such deceptive calm.

For review: The Nile Delta is the delta formed in Northern Egypt where the River Nile spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It's one of the world's largest river deltas — from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the east, it covers some 143 miles of Mediterranean coastline. It is a rich agricultural region, both densely populated and exceedingly fertile.





:world perspectives/getty images, satellite view of the nile river delta

Good weekend, everyone. Get your march on, wherever you may be.






:image irwin klein, peace demonstration, 41st st. and 6th ave.

:nobel peace prize winners - archive

Happy treasure-hunting weekend, everyone. Wherever you may be.




:image dianamuse