Suspended art fascinates me

By kate on January 4th, 2009

Nightmoves

This week, I finally had a chance to visit Lawrimore Project, a great contemporary art gallery here in Seattle. I was contemplating Nightmoves, by Michael Simi, which is a large circle of suspended figures that plays eerie vocal music. It reminded me of a piece of art I saw in 2004, Cosmos by Boris Achour (image to follow). I realized then that a lot of the art that has struck me most over the years has been things suspended near the ground. I’m trying to figure out what’s so compelling about something next to me hanging from the ceiling.

I think it’s the implied movement; that even though the pieces often hang still, they hold the potential for movement. They are “still” like a person standing still, rather than still like an inanimate object. Most art never moves (or moves intentionally), but suspended art is subject to chance.

Suspended art also offers its weight as a subject. You can see the air underneath it, and its weight pulling down on the string(s). These are objects that, left alone, would lie on the ground, but are hovering among us instead. If they’re light, our movements make them tremble. If they’re heavy, they defy both gravity and our proximity.

I’d love to read some art criticism / analysis on this subject, but the keywords are too common for me to find anything useful. (I’m familiar with Calder’s mobiles, but I put them in a different category because they’re typically hung high above the viewer and interact with their audience differently.) If anyone can point me in the right direction, I’d appreciate it.

Below are a few more of my favorites (ones I’ve seen in person). Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: about, art | 1 Comment »

Just trying to get through the next 30 hours or so…

By kate on November 3rd, 2008

Until now, I would have described my mental outlook on the election as “uneasy” verging on “cautiously optimistic”. Then I read this wrenching post on the Stranger Blog that dug up all the shock and mourning I went through in 2004, and my state descended more into “terror”. I don’t agree with every detail of the post (such as blaming racism for everything, when plain old fundamentalist social conservatism is also to blame), but the emotion is pitch-perfect.

I went through a lot of anguish four years ago. (If you want to dig through my archives and find the pure bile that resulted, you can; I’m not going to link it.) I bitterly clung to the Urban Archipelago idea. Thinking of that misery now still makes me emotional.

Please, America. Don’t crush me again tomorrow.

Filed under: current events | Comment now »

Freedom IS free

By kate on October 21st, 2008

This thoughtful guest editorial in today’s P-I gave me a new perspective. I hadn’t thought to challenge the right-wing mantra that “freedom isn’t free,” but this Iraq war veteran counters that “everybody is free… at the simple price of being born as a human.” Here’s a short excerpt. I recommend reading the whole thing.

The nature of freedom apparently is too abstract for some people to grasp; at its dialectical core is a built-in paradigm that holds life as fundamentally sacred, and liberty as a God-granted right. Rights do not cost, only politics do. By charging for something that is free, politics has created a new form of “freedom capital,” to be measured in blood and body counts and to be spent at the polls.

Filed under: current events, justice | Comment now »

Open Letter to my Twitter Friends

By kate on October 4th, 2008

Dear Twitter Friend,

I follow you because I know you and want to keep up with what’s going on in your life. I’m glad you’re on Twitter (especially if you joined in response to my arm-twisting). I have a problem, though. My friends’ tweets are getting to be too much for me to keep up with, and I need your help.
Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: relationships, technology | 4 Comments »

Babysitter info sheet

By kate on September 10th, 2008

We love having a babysitter. I think it’s important to our relationship and our lives to get out of the house without Ruby from time to time, and it’s good for Ruby to be able to thrive without us (and know she can). Plus, a babysitter offers a kind of active, engaged play that us busy parents can’t always provide. I can’t stress enough to new parents that you should get a babysitter at least semi-regularly.

Several different people babysit Ruby (from old friends to people in our parents group to a teenage babysitter). To make things easy for them and us, I created a little information sheet that I fill out and leave on the table (next to the phone and a pen) whenever we go out. It has important info like our address and contact details, plus things like Ruby’s bedtime routine. It has empty spaces for where we’re going, when we’ll be back, and additional info.

I keep a few of these sheets in a drawer so they’re ready to go at a moment’s notice. It frees the babysitter from having to scrupulously remember everything we quickly chatter on the way out the door.

It occurred to me that the sheet might be useful for others, so I created a template in Microsoft Word that you can download and use. Just replace everything in brackets with your information (e.g., changing [Child] to Ruby), and customize for your child’s needs.

(click to open or save)

Filed under: parenting | 1 Comment »

What he said

By kate on August 29th, 2008

MetroDad is my favorite parent blogger, and I’m fully in agreement with his most recent entry:

Last week, I was at daycare with the Peanut when an older boy came over and grabbed a toy out of the Peanut’s hand. When she kindly asked for it back, the boy pushed her. The Peanut then turned to the boy and said, “Please don’t push me. I don’t like being pushed.”

The boy’s mother witnessed the whole thing and gently admonished her son, saying that it wasn’t nice to push one’s friends. What does the kid do? He hits the Peanut and pushes her again! Before the boy’s mother can do anything, I calmly turn to my daughter and say, “You know what to do, kiddo…”

I don’t want Ruby to be a bully or aggressor, but you bet I’m planning to teach her to stand up for herself when necessary.

Today at the playground, Ruby was playing with a large wheelbarrow toy in the sandbox when a boy her age decided he wanted it. He tried to get it from her with a combination of pulling and angry grunty noises. Ruby quietly stood her ground, gripping the toy, until the boy’s mother swooped in and redirected him. Two things about this made me proud:

1. Ruby didn’t look to me to mediate. It’s an important life lesson that you need to take control of your own situation, and that your parents won’t always be there to save you. I observe so many parents hastily and constantly interceding for their children (with other children, not adults). I really think that, rather than helping, this causes weakness and dependence.

2. She didn’t react violently. Maybe it’s because both her hands were engaged in holding onto the toy for dear life, but she didn’t hit the boy or yell at him, just quietly defended her ground.

I haven’t had any explicit conversations with Ruby about this subject, but it’s probably time. I’d like her to operate from the same position of power as MetroDad’s Peanut (calm and polite, but able to back it up with force if required).