Sights: February 2005 Archives

Urban Planners, Architects and Designers are very rarely the subject of drama. This, even though our lives are crying out to be made into reality shows. Buildings appear,parks disappear, communities disappear, developers rejoice, communities complain, budgets get cut, arguments over color destroy, paranoia kills. I am sure we all have out share of big and small designer dramas and dilemmas!

So the new play "Boozy: The Life, Death and Subsequent Vilification of Le Corbusier and, More Importantly, Robert Moses",that just opened in New York piqued my interest. The play is a blend of fact and fiction, mixing charcters and stories to talk about the making of public space in a democracy, created in a style described as an "absurdist brand of revisionist history."

[Guest-posted by Anirvan]

A trip to the MOMA to see the Lichtenstein exhibit was completely worth it. The paintings were grand.

We also stumbled onto a really amazing piece by Rosana Castrillo Diaz, called simply "Scotch Tape".

"Rosana Castrillo Diaz’s 30-foot “drawing” made entirely of loops of cellophane tape spans the gallery wall like a delicate veil."

What caught our eye was the shadow of the piece on the wall, which we thought was THE piece. Only when we were closer to it did we discover the tape. Wow.

The "Cakes" in the window of the ACCI are delicious looking--on closer look revealing that they are actually made of fabric--by artist Zhenne Wood. If I had one of those at home I would be craving chocolate cake all the time!

May be this acknowledges that visual cues to the environment are as important as other tools in finding one's way around cities. What it doesn't acknowledge is that the physical environment constantly changes and real time efforts to freeze it in time is highly time and resource consuming. Imagine doing this for University Avenue where turnover is so high. How does one keep up?! Already the Darling Flower Shop location has moved a block and Comic Relief has moved to Shattuck.

Will this enable us to memorize landmarks as we navigate the city? Will all those landmarks be only commercial establishments?

Personally I love good old maps--I shiver with excitement when I discover in front of me that curve or that unique zig zag that has been captured on the piece of paper I hold in my hand. However it was fun to see the street our house is on.

The copyrighting of public space. A photographer setting up to photograph Anish Kapoors recent sculpture in Millenium Park was stopped and asked for a permit. Pay to take a picture of public art? The sculpture itself is gorgeous and photography would be a great way for people relate and interact with it. There does seem to be quite a few pictures on the we though so not sure why this photographer was stopped. In any case it brings to light issues about the privatization of Public domain and its disappearance from public life.

Cool Pictures of the "Cloud Gate" under construction.

While in India we were asked to pay for a photography permit when we visited the Hill Palace in Kerala. It seemed odd and maybe I should have clarfied that the photos were for personal use. Photography was allowed outside only.

Inspirational
Born into Brothels: A documentary by Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman about Zana's work with children in the Sonagachi redlight district in Kolkata. The documentary chronicles the experiences of Zana and the kids as she, a photographer begins to teach these children of prostitutes to photograph their own lives.

And don't miss the opening of Christo and Jean-Claudes' "Gates" at Central Park February 12th. Is it art? If you are in NY see it and decide for yourself. I wish I was there.

Another interesting happening in New York is an exhibition titled Groundswell: Constructing the Contemporary Landscape.

Khushru recommends Bright River. It sounds great, I am looking forward to seeing it.