On CHIHULY Ground

A visit to the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx could have been extra ordinary in any day, except for these unholy hours until the 29th of October(it could be more than extra ordinary this time). The glass master himself Dale Chihuly gave New Yorkers a most rare gift to be inert in awe and be drunk with the marvel of his work. Dale Chihuly was born in Tacoma, Washington in 1941 and he carries with him a long list of credential in design and art, most explicit; one could attest it is not easy to negate from. The man is a genius and palpable to insinuate...happy. Chihuly's art is variegated in size from a bursting yellow chandelier-like sculpture to crystalline red spires almost traversing the heavens. He resonates through glass the airiness of his art work despite the dense weight. Vibrant, radiant, inviting, intoxicating the feel is illusory yet vehemently real. The thrust of each individual glass takes a life of its own. Floating gigantic christmas ornaments dance on water with the brush of a breeze. A towering rose crystal totem greets you to the Conservatory. Surrounding the pond are transluscent grass blades of lime green and spears of lilac and fiery red as if they have been germinating for a long time in the garden and finally when Chihuly came, it was time to kiss the sun. What an allegory to see colorful glass art cohabitating with the floral world, perfect is an understatement. If this is not enough to unburden your weariness during the day, you should see Chihuly's work at night. When lights scream out of each curve and line, each color and tint; without digressing that some things are better than Disneyland.

(Chihuly's glass sculpture is a temporary installation in New York City, please visit his website at www.chihuly.com for notes on his tours and permanent installations) To view a video and some photos of his work visit www.theflounders.multiply.com

The Positive Side of Rachel Whiteread

As you move along the contemporary art exhibit of MOMA, figuring out where to get a bite to eat.Your legs start to whimper after an almost two hour trek on the floor, you notice at the corner of your eye this white glare of a room purposely calling and drawing you in. British born Rachel Whiteread invites you in a chamber of books, books, books and shelves, fourteen feet high; imitating to float in mid air. Dubbed as the "negative space" sculptor, Rachel Whiteread's creative magnetism propels a force courting the hidden side of things. As you look at "Paperbacks", ponder into books you have read and only remember what came out of these books as we leave them stacked or in shelves, collecting dust and grime. Hardbound, borrowed, hand me down books withstanding fluctuations of heat and cold; surviving. The plaster and steel casts of the interior of these books turned inside out channels the mind into years of memories left behind. All inclusive of the good and bad albeit pages undefiled.(The absence of real books and the immortal facet of what is not usually seen behind those shelves gives a whole new meaning to libraries).

A video of Paperbacks 1997 by Rachel Whiteread can be viewed at www.theflounders.multiply.com

Mona Hatoum in Motion

Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum, who was born in Beirut, Lebanon and presently resides in the United Kingdom will blow you away. The behemoth steel arm atop a bed of sand,within an open 13 feet in diameter by 27 cm. high, steel vessel; would almost take up a quarter of the room. It is a large scale expression of her 1979 moving sculpture "Self-Erasing Drawing". The steel arms are toothed on one side making ridge marks on the sand and the opposite side imitates a spatula which will eventually smooth out dent lines made by the other. This kinetic work of Hatoum moves at a rate of five rotations per minute. It is a show stopper given the enormity of its presence. Yet, there is more to what it pronounces. The slow and even shifts of the blades, the linear-curving marks and erasure it leaves on the sand and the liberty of any embellishment in Hatoum's work---simple. The convergence of ideas bullet from all direction as one perturbs motionless, facing "Plus and Minus" and its hypnotic glory. Think of cliche's..nothing is permanent in this world except change or there is a time for everything even how people constantly migrate and would delineate from the static and immobile. Despite the discourse of events that happen to human strife and the natural, there remains the balance of things. Very human; spoken willfully from the inanimate.

Mona Hatoum's work is a new acquisition of New York's MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) from August 2006 till April 9, 2007 in the OUT OF TIME: A CONTEMPORARY VIEW exhibit. To see a video of her work visit www.theflounders.multiply.com

Labyrinthine Sojourn

So; anything under the purple sky and the terra cotta sun becomes a welcoming shawl. Walks and drives and curt stops along the way, makes one wonder, question, appreciate and learn. We quietly saunter in strides leaving traces of hidden smiles.