Diego Rivera at the MoMA

I’m a member of the MoMA.  And one of the reasons why I became a member is because I’m a huge fan of Diego Rivera.  He had the second solo exhibition at the MoMA in 1931-1932 and 80 years later, his murals from that show are now on display.  Entitled Murals for The Museum of Modern Art, I went to see his exhibition on MLK day.  One of my pet peeves is crowded museums (and crowded subways, crowded stores, etc etc) but I thought that it was worth going and besides, I plan on going at least a few more times.

I downloaded the MoMA app for the iPhone and let me tell you, it is one amazing app.  It’s very interactive and useful.  I never was a fan of audio tours but this app also includes the audio for the show, and it was the best way to ignore and forget about the crowd.

The paintings were amazing.  But due to the massive crowd, I thought it would be best to take in those monumental pieces on a quiet day.  I focused on the information about fresco paintings as I didn’t know much about the process.  As explained in the blurred image I took at the exhibition, Rivera went to Italy to study the fresco technique.  The application of layers of cement and fresco mortar (aged lime putty and marble dust) was used during the Italian Renaissance.  As the murals from that period exist today in pretty good condition, it shows that fresco is a way of making murals durable and long lasting.  What I found most fascinating about the fresco technique was the term, giornata.  Meaning day in Italian, it refers to the area of the fresco painting that can be completed in a day.  In the same image below, MoMA shows how Rivera painted Agrarian Leader Zapata in three days.  He was clever enough to hide the transitions of layer applications along the outlines of figure and objects in the painting.  Reminds me of how tattoo artists cover up previous tattoos with a new ones (photos courtesy of OG Tattoos).

 

Going to see this exhibition is a must but if you won’t be in NYC before it closes on May 14, The MoMA’s interactive website on this exhibition can be viewed here.  Rivera’s approach to fresco is further explained here.  It also points out what buildings are represented in the mural, Frozen Assets. Quite helpful!

Subletting in NYC

First and foremost, Happy New Year!

Secondly, this blog is what people call “first world problems.”  So reader beware.

Excuses alert: One of the reasons why I haven’t been blogging is that I needed to find a sublet apt.  And finding a sublet is one of the most stressful things I’ve ever done.  It is like looking for a job; you’re on Craigslist every second emailing potential places and IF they respond back, you visit the place, they interview you, and you have to wait whether or not you’ve been picked.  And you can’t really plan ahead because you can’t really start looking for a place until at most a month prior to your move out/in date.  In the one month that I looked for a place, I applied to about 100 places.  Out of the 100 places, I had a handful of interviews.  And out of those interviews, I was chosen twice.  I turned down the first place (it smelled funny okay?) and the second place was confirmed 5 days before I had to move out of my other apt.

The place I ended up moving to is in East Village – a prime spot in Manhattan where everyone goes out to bars and restaurants.  And I was ecstatic.  The first week I was there friends were telling me where they were going out and it’d be a block away from where I live.  Best part of my room – I’ve a view of the Chrysler Building.  My two roommates are sane, mature, clean people who I get along with really well.

Now the downsides of subletting – you’re not on a lease therefore you don’t really have any rights.  But hey, those are things that are not that important especially since I’m only at this apt for 6 months.  Right?

I found out that my roommate (who’s on the lease) has been charging me more in rent than himself, and he has the bigger room.  I’m not surprised; in fact, I was expecting it.  I told myself, it’s only 6 months, I get along with my roommates, and East Village is a great location.  Plus, the rent was within my budget.  But I woke up in the middle of the night last night and haven’t been able to sleep since.

“Oh but it’s happened to me so it’s okay for me to do it.”

That’s his rationalization.  No morals.  No conscience.  He’s motivated by greed.  Everyone else is doing it.*  Because he was fucked over, it’s okay to fuck other people over.

There’s a great article about why people do things psychologically because everyone’s doing it, even if it’s wrong.

I haven’t confronted him about it just yet.  Then again, is it worth it?  He can charge whatever he wants.  He could essentially live rent free.  But is it right?  No.  Does he care?  No.  Although it’s shady, everyone else is doing it, so he feels safe because he’s mentally part of the group.  Survival is in numbers.  He’s not alone and vulnerable (and finger-less and ear-less**).  But what about guilt?  I guess when one’s swimming in money, it’s quite easy to suppress it.***

But it’s okay because guess who’s cleaning the toilet with a certain someone’s toothbrush?  (Just kidding.****)

I didn’t mean to start off 2012 whining and complaining about life.  My life for the most part is pretty awesome.  I can assure you 2012 will be an exciting year, and I can’t wait to blog about it!

 

*So Why Can’t We?  (Great album.  Totally listening to Linger right now.)

**If you haven’t read the article, go read it!

***I’m essentially funding his vacation trip next month to New Zealand.  Asshole.

****Or am I?

10 Years Ago….

10 years ago, I wasn’t in New York.  I was fortunate not to lose any friends or family on that dreadful day.  I don’t really have a story to tell other than I was just a college student watching what was happening on the news.  And I was in complete shock.

10 years later, I’m in New York.  Today, I’m going to venture out into the city and grab me a slice of New York pizza with my New York friends.

9/11/01.  Never Forget.

Run run run run run run…

A storm’s a brewin’…

I had no endurance as a kid.  In school I dreaded any type of long distance run – in high school it was either four laps around the school’s track (one mile) or one lap around the entire high school (longer than a mile).  In middle school, it was again one mile or one really long lap around campus, down a dirt path right next to campus and then uphill behind the school and back in.  Ugh.

In elementary school we had annual sponsored runs.  In order to raise money, we would ask family and friends to pledge us money based on the number of laps we would run in 30 minutes – usually people would donate anywhere from 10 to 50 cents a lap but I remember being so ecstatic when my babysitter pledged $1 per lap (this was way back in the early 90′s).  Then someone advised me to breathe in with my nose and out with my mouth – I thought this advice was a secret, magical technique, and it would make it much easier to run really fast, and I’d never get tired.  Sure enough when 8 year old Van started running, applying this supposed secret magical technique, the outcome was initially confusion – why are my legs getting heavier!?  Why is it hurting more and more to breathe?!  Eventually my body morphed from a proper runner’s stance to shoulders slouched,  head barely up, and legs dragging across the field.  And eventually there was disappointment.  I think I managed a mere 15 laps or so – below average I believe.

All of this I happened to recall after I dream I recently had.  I was running.  I kept going and going and going.  And going.  It felt good, no, it felt comforting, to be able to run for such a long time.  Every breath was an extra boost of energy to the point where it was effortless to keep running.  I had no idea where I was going or where I was but it didn’t matter to me.  I didn’t know how fast I was going but it didn’t matter to me.  There were no goals, no pledges, no pressure.

I woke up and felt energized.  But slightly disappointed when I realized it was just a dream.  Then again, I think if a hurricane was chasing after me, I’d have no problem running as fast as possible.

False Relationships?

I started writing this back in January…

The other day my colleague handed me a newspaper (yep, they still exist) and pointed out an article for me to read.  After a couple of minutes struggling to read an article from an actual newspaper, I googled the article and finished in online.  To sum up the article, it was about the negative and positive views of the progression of the Internet.

One argument the article noted was that the Internet creates “false relationships.”  Now I’m all about the interwebs.  Although the riots through England were incited with the help of BBM and Twitter, I truly believe the pros outweigh the cons.  My mom, who has recently joined Facebook, told me about how excited she was chatting with her brother (she lives in California, and he’s currently in Singapore) on Facebook chat.  I have cousins from a rural town in the Philippines who are able to speak with their dad on a regular basis thanks to Skype (same one based in Singapore).

Speaking of Skype, I’ve been in a long-distance relationship for 3 years now.  A question I regularly get is, “But how do you know your SO is not cheating?”  Well, due to Gchat and Skype, we chat quite often, Gchat during work (shh!) and Skype after work and weekends, more so than couples who actually live together.  Unless said SO is fooling around at the crack of dawn, I’m pretty sure there’s no cheating involved.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s incredibly difficult.  But it’s reassuring when there are moments like receiving drunken phone calls from said SO – like declaring “Fuck the 19th century, I’m a modern man.  We will not let distance get the better of us” or most recently a drunken tour guide of London after midnight (BST) thanks to Skype via iPhone 4.

My dad recently saw one of his brothers and he mentioned he hasn’t seen nor spoken to him in five years.  Five years?!  I told my brother I couldn’t imagine not speaking to him for that long – he’s based in Cali, and I’m on the other side of the US in NYC.  AIM (Yes AIM, go figure.  I tried converting him to Gchat.  Oh well) keeps us regularly in contact.

Being an avid traveller (yes, two l’s), I’ve been fortunate to make friends all over the planet and emails, Skype, Facebook, Gchat, Twitter, Instagram, etc keeps me in touch with them all in a cost effective matter.*

So you tell me if any of these are false relationships.

*Although I must admit, getting postcards and letters are quite nice.

Steinunn Thorarinsdottir, Peter Blake, and Picasso

I get 10 vacation days per year (damn you Europeans with your 25 days plus holidays).  However, I also get a Creative Day, which means I can take a random Wednesday off every quarter of the year.  I’d rather get 14 vacation days but whatever.

So today I started off my Creative Day nursing a hangover and treating myself to an egg, bacon, and cheese sandwich while catching up on Eastenders.  Once I felt like a human being again, I ventured to Dag Hammarskjold Park for its weekly Farmer’s Market as well as Steinunn Thorarinsdottir’s* Borders, an exhibition featuring her iconic life-size sculptures of people.  I was incredibly fortunate to go to her opening a couple of months ago where I was able to meet the artist herself and mingle with UN affiliates, artists, and art dealers (yup, whutovit?) I was amused how the people as well as the Farmer’s Market integrated with the sculptures:**

I read somewhere ages ago that Nicole Kidman is terrified of butterflies.  If this is true, then she would be utterly freaked out by Peter Blake’s works currently on view at the Mary Ryan Gallery.  This guy’s been around for awhile – he’s the dude that did The Beatles’ album cover for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band yet has only exhibited in New York three times.  I absolutely love his works, and I’m officially saving up for one of his prints (and my first art work!).

Then I went to Gagosian to see Picasso and Marie-Therese – L’Amour Fou.  Crazy love indeed – the man was obsessed!  To see Picasso’s muse in all mediums and in different styles spanning from 1927 to 1940 was incredible.  It was a well thought out show.

(I wasn’t able to take any photos as security was pretty tight, including one who was singing to himself.)

I ended my Creative Day gorging on donuts at Doughnut Plant where I actually sat next to the owner, Mark Israel, who beat Bobby Flay in Throwdown! with Bobby Flay.  I highly recommend the Creme Brulee, Blackout (chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate), and Salted Peanut Butter.

Art, donuts, and I forgot to mention, a basil plant that I’ve dubbed Basil.  A  successful Creative Day.

*Did you know that dóttir, means “daughter” in Icelandic?  So when a daughter is born, she will take her father’s first name and add dóttir as her last name.  Björk’s last name is Guðmundsdóttir (daughter of Guðmund), and if you’re curious to hear how it’s pronounced, click here.

**Initially I was going to use one of my Lomo cameras but since I forgot to bring it, I used the Hipstamatic app on my iPhone.  I feel like I’m cheating on Lomo as I’ve now embarked on a secret love affair with Hipstamatic.

Irina Werning’s Back to the Future

The artist Irina Werning invited people to replicate their old photographs in her Back to the Future series of photographs.  I did this years ago with my cousins.  As teenagers we remade a photo we took as kids – same location but different attire.  I think they thought I was strange for the idea but they were happy to take part in it.  Unfortunately this was prior to owning a digital camera so both photos are stashed, you guessed it, somewhere in the back of my closet at my parents’ house.  (I swear, my closet is like a labyrinth filled with all sorts of embarrassing stuff that I think my significant other is looking forward to going through when we visit this year.)

Even though I couldn’t post my recreated photo, definitely browse through Werning’s series.  This does give me an idea – one day when my cousins and I are together at my parents’ house (where the original photo was taken), I’ll make them recreate the photo again.

Feng Mengbo and The Talent Show at PS1 MOMA

I was eagerly anticipating on Feng Mengbo‘s installation, an interactive exhibition featuring a large-scale video game.  Entitled Long March: Restart (2008), the viewer can play as a Red Army Communist soldier from China battling various enemies in a Super Mario Bros-like setting.  As I was standing at the end of the room, I found it amusing  watching everyone in the middle moving in circles as they watched the game being played, all while taking these “illegal” photos:

Proper installation shots can be viewed here.

At another exhibition at PS1 MOMA, The Talent Show, I was impressed by another interactive video installation – Peter Campus’ Shadow Projection (1974):

I’m way too lazy to give a synopsis of the exhibition itself so it’s best that you read it here.

Joe Fig’s Inside the Painter’s Studio

Growing up I was terrified of pets due to witnessing my friend being attacked by two dogs when I was about six.  Then at about 10 years old, I fell in love with the Littlest Pet Shop toys (even browsing through the Wiki site got me nostalgic as it lists the toys that came out each year in the 90′s).  Ten year old Van thought this would be the safest way to have pets plus no need to clean up after themselves!  I had a mini pet shop that served as a case for all my little plastic pets.  My fave ones were the turtles – one could pop his head in and out of it’s shell, ack!  And I still have it, in my room at my parents’ house shoved in the back of my closet collecting dust.

In my 7th grade math class, we had to construct a 3D mini version of our dream house.  We were of course learning about measurements, surface area, etc etc, but I was totally into it – from the actual design of the house to picking out all the furniture, paint, and wall paper.  I even added a garden.  And my love for miniatures continue to this day, as you can see here:

(It’d be fitting to also post a photo of my significant other next to my action figure of my significant other but I don’t think it’d be appreciated by the significant other.)

Joe Fig, an artist based in Brooklyn, recreated, as Caroline Stanley of Flavorwire describes it, diorama-like mini reproductions of artists’ studios. (Remember making dioramas in elementary school?  If not, you must recall The Simpsons’ episode where Lisa steals her rivals’ diorama based on Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.”)  Fig wanted to explore the working methods of noted artists such as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, but artist statement aside – These mini studios.  Are.  Awesome.  These would obviously put my 7th grade 3D paper house to shame (especially now since it’s probably crumbled up in a box somewhere in my closet).  He even created mini versions of some of the artists themselves.  Ack!  I can’t get over it!

Images of these miniatures, along with photos of the actual studios themselves, are now featured in Fig’s book, Inside the Painter’s Studio.  But I hope these mini replicas go on display soon!

Radical Dude

I miss school.  Not the essays and forced readings but the learning part.  I’ve become distracted by my routine to not even bother learning anymore.  I do follow up on daily current events and after a long day at work, sometimes I just want to watch Eastenders.  (Don’t judge!)  Anyway, on this rather cold (but sunny) Saturday, this is what I’ve learned today:

Radical Sign

Free Radical

Ultraradical

Something to ponder (that’s being pondered already):  Is avante-garde becoming more conventional?

Now my brain hurts.  Time to watch Eastenders.