Coccolithophores are microscopic algae that first appeared 220 million years ago, and flourished during the cretaceous period. They produce peculiar plates called cocoliths out of calcium carbonate, and incorporate them into an external shell. They constantly remove carbon from the atmosphere as they die and sink to the ocean floor, producing chalk. This is an important feedback system in the global carbon cycle.
And here we are, stitching, knitting, crocheting away..
Please contact me or email communityartgarden@gmail.com if you are in the Boston area and able to clean up your closet. We need your help.
The Community Art Garden calls for visitors’ participation in growing an Art Garden in a day. Participants create flowers using reclaimed sweaters to “plant” in the Rose Kennedy Greenway. The space is transformed, challenging people’s usual perception of the city while raising awareness of the need for more green spaces in urban environments, the importance of individual participation in the community, and the growing clothing waste.
To find out more about the Community Art Garden, click here and go there to read more about FIGMENT.
Lovely rain all week (read:all month) in Boston.. I think we have a real market for this (in winter: a moonsuit, but this for spring - much more elegant):
Luckily it's "good for the flowers" and Belle Isle is coming back to life:
I noticed I've been into yellows lately.. to Oops' despair:
This is the FIRST year he lets me put clothes on him (he's 10!) and it makes me smile every time. Even yesterday, after a minor surgery, he had to wear a t-shirt in lieu of a bandaid and a cone, and even though I hated to see him dopey and stiff, I couldn't help laughing at this sight:
Here are a few random things that I came across or did during the week and which I want to share:
I would have loved to see this sound/visual installation by French artist Celeste Boursier Mougenot at the Queensland Art Gallery in South Brisbane Australia that just ended in April:
See more picture and read about the project on Flickr here.
Last night, we went to the Gateway Art Fundraiser in Brookline; it's a place where artists with disabilities get to practice their art full time, a bit like Creative Growth in Oakland, Ca. We got this great piece of art by Donna Johnson:
Oh, and I went to Brimfield on Thursday hoping to find some trinkets I could integrate in jewelry.. I didn't but of course had to get a few pieces of linen:
This one reminds me of the Japanese mosquito netting (Asa Kaya) but it comes from Turkey. And I couldn't resist another grain sack with mending:
I can never quite explain why I'm so attracted to those used & darned textiles; maybe it's because of the history they hold, or the fact that so much time was spent fixing them in the simplest yet most beautiful way. Anyhow, it's a bit of an addiction and I have a closet full of them:
And that's only a small part... sick, no?
Talking about addictions, if you haven't listened to this broadcast of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me on NPR with Michael Pollan, it's one of their best and it always cracks me up; Paula Poundstone's addiction to RingDings rivals with mine to textiles..
I feel I've so neglected this blog lately and I am missing it..
The Art for Japan event went great last Friday, we sold 26 pieces of artwork during the party, and $3,700 will go back to relief organizations in Japan. I decided to give half of it to All hands in support of Amya Miller who is a Boston volunteer who left her life here to go help out in Japan for a couple of months. I've been reading her blog and there's no better reminder that tragedies are still ongoing there. If you haven't donated yet or feel like helping out a bit more, please take a minute to visit her blog or page and donate or send a word of support. I admire her efforts and strength.
I myself felt like I'd been ran over by a truck after the fundraiser, but am trying to get back into my routine and it feels a bit like this (make sure you have the sound on). The video is by Francis Alys and I am intrigued by his "When faith moves mountains" project at Moma:
"Alÿs’s motto for When Faith Moves Mountains is “Maximum effort, minimum result.” For this epic project the artist invited five hundred volunteers to walk up a sand dune on the outskirts of Lima, Peru, shoveling in unison, thus displacing the dune by a few inches. Demonstrating a ridiculous disproportion between an effort and its effect, the work is a metaphor for Latin American society, in which minimal reforms are achieved through massive collective efforts. "
I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted but have been super busy "doing" things, with the Art for Japan fundraiser coming up this Friday, and the few new projects I set out to do all at the same time:
I am toying (again) with the idea of opening an online store, and decided to go back to jewelry making. I found these few pieces that I made a few years ago, and they go me inspired to start again:
I have been playing with teeshirts and swaddling on a jewelry scale and want to experiment with mixing in other components such as metal or beads. Right now it looks like this:
I also started knitting this panel with paper yarn that I found at Habu last week:
Oh, and when in New York, I found some super soft leather hides that I couldn't resist.. and want to make bags or accessories with. I'll post pictures soon, it's very much "work in progress" with all the struggles that come with it : )
So voila.. a bit scattered, aren't I? I enjoyed watching this little clip this morning, based on a letter from Sol Lewitt to Eva Hesse , and I feel I'm doing plenty of "something" and "anything" :)
