Lisa's Musings

the body part that i was most conscious of in NY... feet! taken in the apt. of my friends where i was staying. they had this fiber rug that felt good to rub your feet on.....

so.... onward with the art tales



this is the work of charles benefiel. one of 3 artists i really really enjoyed at the obsessive drawing show at the american folk art museum . one of my all time favorite museums, the folk art space is a really fun place to visit. it's where i was lucky enough to see a henry darger show... they not only have all these really cool artifacts [like a cut paper piece that is TO DIE for] but they curate shows as well.

the obsessive drawing show states: "Each artist thus discovers what John Ruskin (1819-1900) said about drawing years ago, that one purpose of drawing was to record things that could not be described in words." how great is that?? you can see the other artists i really liked here .

benefiel's pieces all have to do with language. he's inventing his own symbology... thus what you see is actually telling you something [if you can read it]. i remember in the 5th grade a friend and i tried to come up w/ our own language to write secret notes in... it took forever to write and de-code the notes.... but it was fun. the artists in this show are "self-taught". they speak of making the work to help calm their minds - to overcome OCD, for reasons "other" than making aesthetic objects.Butt they are highly aesthetic and really seamlessly fit right into what so many ultra contemporary artists are practicing...I'mm not sure exactly what that says for the state of art education, or contemporary art for that matter.Thee debate about art as necessity and "untrained" artists is an ongoing and potentially precarious thing.

i also decided to go WAY WAY uptown and go to the the cloisters . it literally is like another world. a jaunt back in time. i happened to walk up w/ some NYU students [cute little art historians]. one of them was a life long new yorker boy and he had never made it up that high on the west side... funny how you can live somewhere and never really get to all that the place has to offer....



thank god they let you take photos.... this was one of the most breath-taking places i've been in a while.... you can see all 29 photos i took here . as you walk up the hill to the cloisters there's a sign that reads "quiet zone". so you wander around sort of holding your breath.... as i meandered from area to area in the building i could actually feel myself breathing. and inhaling deeply as i spied more and more beautiful things....

not to mention the park that the cloisters lives in.... and the best part? you look one way and you see water and jersey and lush... you look the other and you see project towers.... i think that sums up NY so nicely. everything condensed together. dirt poor and filthly rich, gourmet food and hot dog stands, tall buildings that surround one of the biggest parks ever.... its a mishmash, a conglomorate of opposites...Polarr notions that push and pull and attract one another in continually strange and beautiful and thought provoking ways....

oh yes but wait there's more [and if you order now we'll throw in 2 more NY tales for FREE!].... tomorrow!