Intertwined

After the Dead or Alive show, I went to another exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Design -- Intertwined: Contemporary Baskets from the Sara and David Lieberman Collection.

This was a surprisingly diverse, innovative, and beautiful exhibit. Not your average basket weaving, that's for sure. The works were very complex and beautiful. Surprising textures and shapes. Ingenious, creepy and stunning.

Pictured here, Norma Minkowitz's haunting Sisters.

Dead or Alive

This afternoon I went to The Museum of Arts and Design at Columbus Circle to see the Dead or Alive exhibit.

This fabulous group show features art made from previously live materials. Feathers, bones, insects, etc.

Each work was intriguing, evocative of pagan spiritual practices, witchcraft (yeah, it was a little on the Blair Witch side), and nineteenth century cabinets of curiosity.

Some of my favorites included Ango Design/Angus Hutcheson's Eight Thousand Miles of Home, a suspended sculpture made of tons of silkworm cocoons; Tessa Farmer's Marauding Hordes, also suspended, like a creepy mobile, mummified insects, bats, etc; Tracy Heneberger's Moon, a shiny disc made of shellacked sardines; Fragile Future 3 by Studio DRIFT:Lonneke Gordijn/Raph Nauta, a sculpture made from illuminated dandelion seeds; Tim Tate & Marc Petrovic's clever Apothecarium Moderne, depicting aspects of contemporary life through odd objects placed in apothecary jars; Helen Altman's complexly textured installation, Spice Skulls -- a grid of skulls each made with a specific spice or dried ingredient, such as cedar berry, coconut, and artichoke leaves.

My absolute favorite, however, was Jennifer Angus' Victorian Fancy, a large, box, decorated with Victorian style wall paper, with inked images of insects superimposed; magnifying windows are placed on each wall of the box, and when you look inside you see a delightfully creepy little world, covered in pretty wall paper, but with actual beetles and bugs forming shapes and formations. In the center is a dollhouse, also decorated with insects. It was truly lovely and enchanting.

I was less taken with a life size, ride-able motorcycle made in part from cow bones (and looking like skeleton on wheels), Damien Hirst's butterfly wing piece, Prophecy; or a three-walled room covered in rooster feathers.

The New York Philharmonic in Prospect Park

Last night I saw the New York Philharmonic perform in Prospect Park (this picture is Central Park, swiped from the NY Times website).

I picnicked with two friends and we a had a lovely time. Cava, artichokes, cherries, and babaganoush.

The evening was conducted by Andrey Boreyko. The program included Tchaikovsky's "Polonaise" from Eugene Onegin; symphonic dances from Bernstein's West Side Story; and selections from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet.

The intermission came after West Side Story, and during the long break the audience got a bit drunk. So, for the Romeo and Juliet there was lots of talking and people walking around, and it was more difficult to enjoy. Still, the music was great, as was the company, and it was all topped off with a gorgeous fireworks display.

Dolores Claiborne

Based on a Stephen King novel, Dolores Claiborne isn't really a horror film at all; nor is it much of a mystery. It's more of a suspense melodrama (I guess that's what they mean by "psychological thriller").

The story is about a maid accused of murdering the woman for whom she worked for thirty years. Her estranged daughter is informed of the case and comes out (to remote Maine, I believe) to help. Both Dolores (Kathy Bates) and her daughter Selena (Jennifer Jason Leigh) are hardened, difficult women, and the lack of feeling between them supplies most of the movie's tension. The story about the murder is interwoven with a narrative about the mysterious death of Dolores' abusive husband. She was suspected of murdering him, when her daughter was 13, and the psychological make up of her character -- her rage, her solidity, her love for her daughter, is the most interesting thing here.

However, I found the dialogue and acting overwrought. Jennifer Jason Leigh's one-note bitterness was particularly tiresome. I usually like her a lot, and appreciate the roles and movies she chooses. But in Dolores Claiborne she was just a generic damaged woman...

American History X

I watched American History X with my class yesterday. I had seen it in the theater when it came out and don't recall liking it then. I decided to show it because it brings up important issues relating to hate crime.

Ultimately found myself left unsatisfied with this 1998 drama exploring the white supremacist movement in the US. While beautifully filmed, the movie felt contrived to me, with each character speaking from a particular *position*– most characters were incredibly, unrealistically, well-spoken. That said, American History X did try to provide an analysis of hate. Unfortunately, it left me with more questions than it answered. I don’t feel like I have any more insight into hate, nor do I have insight into the “transformation” that the main character underwent.

Although, if I remember correctly, this movie was controversial when it came out, I doubt it inspired any really insightful debate.

The Accused

I screened Jonathan Kaplan's The Accused(1988) in class yesterday. We watched this in conjunction with chapters from Diana Scully's Understanding Sexual Violence.

The movie is about prosecuting a gang rape case, and it explores a number of significant cultural issues about how we understand rape, particularly rape myths that blame the victim.

It's kind of a straight forward issue-y movie that in some ways isn't very interesting. Jodie Foster's anger and vulnerability as the rape victim were very well portrayed, but I guess courtroom dramas never really totally do it for me.

I first saw The Accused when it came out. I was in college and it seemed at the time that feminists were very vocal about bringing sexual violence against women to national attention; that young women were particularly aware of the significant sexism inherent in rape myths. In a way the movie did not hold up after twenty years because somehow this issue has become less socially/culturally relevant. I wonder how the young men and women in my class received this (I'll find out, of course, tomorrow).

New York City Ballet

I went to the ballet last night! Saw the New York City Ballet perform three dances:

1. After the Rain with music by Arvo Part, choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon. This dance was very sparse, the music very modern, and for a while I found it a little difficult. It contained two parts. The first part featured three couples and was interesting and choppy. The second part drew me in much more, it was an intense, languid, erotic duet, danced by Wendy Whelan and Craig Hall. I was mesmerized...

2. The second dance was called The Lady with The Little Dog. Choreographed by Miroshnickenko with music by Rodion Shchedrin. I didn't care for this piece very much. The music was difficult for me, and there was something tedious about the telling of story. The dance featured a main pair, and a chorus of male dancers, and I very much enjoyed the men. Their choreography was quirky and playful and was my favorite part of this otherwise kind of drab piece.

3. The third piece was wonderful and joyous! Balanchine choreographing Gershwin. (Called Who Cares?). It was a happy mixture of jazz dance idioms mixed with ballet and it was so very fun to watch. It was complex and beautiful and happy.

All in all, a terrific evening.