Tag Archives: Art

Out of Boredom Comes Brilliance!

29 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by in General

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Linda’s art may be found on http://www.originalartonline.com/buyers/index/content/artwork/ArtistID/677. I asked her to tell me a little about these pieces, what she was doing, and what she was thinking when she made them. She has the following to say…

You may click to embiggen. (No, seriously, do it!)

Uncommonday Number 2: A Bit of Juxtaposition

28 Monday Oct 2013

Posted by in Museums, Native American Themes, Uncommonday

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Leia-Hopi croppedI seriously wonder what the folks out on the Hopi Mesas must have thought of Star Wars. I’ll leave the commentary at that, because I think the photo here speaks for itself. This piece was produced by the artist Nicolas Galanin. It was part of an exhibit at the Anchorage Museum.

Finding Your Inner Southitude: The Adventures of Lobster-Boy and His Poor Companions

03 Saturday Aug 2013

Posted by in Bad Photography, Museums, Native American Themes, Write Drunk, Edit Stoned

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Looking up at the Institute of American Indian Arts

Looking up at the Institute of American Indian Arts

Sleep done left me now on accounta the kids. Not my kids, but they stare at me all day now and mostly frown. I do my best to inflict knowledge upon them, but my evil plans are often foiled by the mysteries of the modern world, …or at least the iphone.

It fills and protects their minds even when it stays in the room!

Some might call it a field trip; I call it a collective loss of Northitude. Alternatively, we could call it turning the heat up on the ice people. It’s also called visiting some folks I happen to think a lot of, but let us save sense and seriositude for another day.

Haven’t traveled with teens since I was one. Its an experience…

“When do we board?”

God may not exist but middle seats are pretty close to proof that the Devil is alive and busy issuing boarding passes. I think he also designs the help pages for Microsoft!

I miss the gargle-bunkies and my bloggetry has gotten sloppy. Classes need work and my ecological footprint is a big boot stomp on everything I love. For now, I am Southward, …and I have hostages!

“Hey, shouldn’t we be boarding soon?”

The rules are as follows:

1) Control of musical decisions belongs to the teenagers in the vehicle. Volume is negotiable.

2) Sarcasm is a given.

3) “Family” doesn’t mean what I think it means.

4) Failure to follow rule 1 is the first step to tears and fears, but no beers, not even one.

What the Hell? Hostages aren’t supposed to make the rules! One of the kids decides to throw me a bone and plays Madonna, (cause I’m old). This does NOT make me feel shiny and new.

Precedent argues strongly for the use of a scowl in conjunction with a stern ‘No’, all of which is best delivered in response to a perfectly reasonable question. I am apparently a bad influence, and I’m almost sorry about that.

“So what time do we board?”

Santa Fe is a wonderful place to visit. Taos Pueblo and the Institute for American Indian Arts are always beautiful places. Watching my students eat Frito pies for the very first time in the front yard of our host and guide brings the beauty up a notch for me. Knowing they aren’t used to the spice is pure joy. …Yes, I’m a bad man.

“Are we boarding soon?”

Seriously, I can’t believe I am driving by so many public murals without even getting my camera out. …I got a couple of them, though, yes, I did.

The doc says I gotta eat more bananas, and my friend owes me a beer, but never mind the beer and the friend, doc says what? She tells me all about the changes in my near future as I look down at my dinner and realize that I am presently eating about the only meal in a month that might pass muster. …except for the noodles, of course.

“Seriously, when are we gonna get on the plane?”

Project Runway aside, it’s probably best to leave the gay bar off the agenda. Angry parents sound like Jaws music. The Elvis Shrine is a big can-do, and Goose is the coolest!

…and the whole thing leads us to old Santa Ana Pueblo, fittingly, during the Feast of St. Anne. So, there we find ourselves sitting at the dining table of a wonderful host, looking over more dishes than any one of us could possibly sample. It wasn’t a week ago that I found myself eating Ugruk (seal) at Nalukataq (the Spring Whaling Festival). Now I am sitting here finishing off a bowl of red chili that proved a bit too much for one of my students, and thinking how wonderful this is. Some days (and especially feast days) it’s a good day to know indigenous people. I can only hope our little trip to the sun and the spicy food finds its way into the “worthwhile” bin amongst the learning lessons of my students. …and that there is more chili to be had.

It is a bit hot outside, and my students are holding the car keys hostage in the hopes that I will show mercy.

“There will be no more ice people if you melt us!”

I can’t help but laugh.

“Has the flight been delayed; when are we gonna board?”

I’m bringing back one demon girl, but another now knows how to feed a hundred Indians with 50 pieces of Fry-bread. Empirical proof of the former is confirmed, but we are still waiting on the latter.

“Seriously, when are we gonna board?”

…and Northitude returns with sleep soon to follow.

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The Museum of Contemporary Native American Arts

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The New Mexico Museum of Art (with a fantastic exhibition by Peter Sarkisian).

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The Pecos Historical Park

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Random Murals

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Unhumorous Point of Partial Clarification: I generally don’t show pictures of students, colleagues, etc. This is just a matter of personal respect. They have signed up for work or study with the school, not a command appearance in my personal blog. …also, I have no pictures from Santa Ana or Taos Pueblo. Those would not be appropriate for an entirely different set of reasons.

Yes, I wore sunscreen

Yes, I wore sunscreen

Hats and umbrellas are frowned upon during the Feast of St. Anne. Oddly enough 4 Alaskan Natives and a Tongan don’t burn as easily as a balding white guy who normally wears a hat.

Who’da thunk it?

Vegas Street Art 3, …but First a Couple Pigeons!

21 Sunday Jul 2013

Posted by in Bad Photography, Las Vegas, Street Art

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Hot Birds!

Hot Birds!

Just how hot was Vegas this June? Well, just ask the pigeons.

Seriously, ask the pigeons.

My Vegas vacation this year wasn’t entirely a story of hyper-heatitation (it’s a word now, dammit!). My Vegas Vegation was also a story of big-ass moons, …which I failed to capture, of my friend’s Pathfinder campaign, and my Sister’s new truck. Before that it was a story of her grand-daughter, and of course it was also a story of street-performers and odd museums. It was definitely a story of Mongolian grills, Korean BBQ, and of the Komol Kitchen, …which makes the best Tom Yum Ghai Soup in the fricking Milky Way. It was also a few stories best left untold.

Okay, the untold stories aren’t that exciting. No slot machines were hassled and no hangovers were harmed in the preparations for this post.

But, more to the point, it was also a story of street art. Of course, I had already covered much of the street art in Vegas here and here. I did manage to find a few pieces I hadn’t covered before, including a wonderful historical piece in Henderson by an artist named Giuseppe Abriu. Some of them even appear to be new. So, without further mumbly -gumbo…

Vegas Street Art, Volume II: … and a Museum of What?

30 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by in Bad Photography, Las Vegas, Street Art

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Beautiful

Beautiful

So, this is the second half of my photo gallery from Las Vegas, again focusing on the murals of the arts district. (Volume I is here.) I want to thank my friend Liliana for helping get a couple of these from my crazy phone to the net.

A few items of note:

This website has a list of a hundred murals in Vegas, including quite a few that i haven’t managed to get in here.

The Erotic Heritage Museum had some interesting pieces. …and by ‘interesting’ I mean…. uh, nevermind.

A number of the pieces included here (and some I never found) appeared to be the result of an event, called the Meeting of Styles in September of 2012.

And a couple of interesting stories:

Not quite Banksy, but interesting!

Dammit!

…as always you may click on a photo to embiggenn it.

Always a Tourist in Vegas, or Look What I Found! (Street Art, Part I)

21 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by in Bad Photography, Las Vegas, Street Art

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Clowns Close-Up

Clowns Close-Up

When I mentioned that I was in Sin City for Christmas, someone on Twitter asked if there were any murals in Vegas. I hadn’t really thought about it, as I soon proved with my answer. Vegas to me can usually be divided between the bare (earth-toned) walls of most residential neighborhoods and the kitchy goodness of the Strip and its progeny. …I tend not to notice either as I go about my business.

If you look closely you can see signs of effective graffiti-abatement programs all over the town. Graffiti does not last in much of Vegas, and it doesn’t appear that most of these programs distinguish a well done work of art from a simple tag. Even a legal mural can apparently be quite a problem.

This area was home to me for a good chunk of my life, but I always feel like a tourist when I come back to Vegas. …more so when I venture near the places this town is known for. Some parts of Vegas are more Vegassy than others.

…and sometimes it’s better to be a tourist than others.

Like this time for instance!

I decided to look around and see if I could find a mural or three, just for the heck of it. I soon discovered the Las Vegas Arts District, a neighborhood that was nowhere near this colorful back in the days I called this area home. But here it is, the source of most of the pictures I posted below. They hold an art fair here on the First Friday of every months, but my own interests lay mainly with the murals strewn about the walls of various buildings in this district.

Suffice it to say that I was very wrong to think Vegas doesn’t have interesting Street Art. They have rather a lot of it. You just have to know where to look.

***

This is a two part post (cause I got a lot of pics). I’ll add a few comments on some particular locations to the second post.

(As always, you may click to embiggen!)

Denver is Cold Enough …to Celebrate the New Year with a Camera

04 Friday Jan 2013

Posted by in Bad Photography, Street Art

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Demon Mustang of the Denver Airport

Demon Mustang of the Denver Airport

As it happens, this New Year found me in Denver, camera in hand. Downtown Denver was damned cold on New year’s Eve, but the fireworks were pretty cool. I spent much of the rest of my time wandering about with a camera in my hand and a friend from Brazil at my side. Liliana caught me being bad once. Against my better judgement, I have included the evidence in this gallery.

My usual obsession with street art found its way into the lens, though I have included a few additional pics in thus set. Liliana caught a lot more than I did. I took the liberty of included a few pieces that appeared in a previous post. The murals just belong here too. they were done by David Choe, and they are beyond cool! I have by no means captured the wealth of public art in this city, much less the whole state of Colorado. Time simply ran out, so I am cheating and taking much of it back with me.

The Denver Airport airport really is the gift that keeps on giving. I finally got a decent pic of the infamous mustang, even if it was from a ways out. I also grabbed a few pics of some of the murals in the airport itself. Now I’m not usually all that interested in indoor murals, for some probably arbitrary reason, but these are worth a little attention. Painted by Leo Tanguma, these aren’t your run-of-the-mill public building murals. No these guys are full of disturbing content and subversive messages. Combined with a Demon Horse and a statue of Anubis, these murals have clothed the Denver Airport a reputation that would make Scandinavian rock band proud.

Brings a tear to my eye.

(You may click on a picture to embiggen it.)

Santa Fe isn’t Cold Enough (…but it Has Mad Arts!)

17 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by in Bad Photography, Street Art

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Railroad Station

Railroad Station

Santa Fe isn’t cold enough.

I was sitting down for lunch at a conference in Santa Fe as a snow storm settled on the town when someone asked me how the cold here compared to the cold back home. I told her it wasn’t cold enough here.

After the laughter, I explained that I had stepped in a puddle of melted snow that morning, the result being that my foot was cold and wet. This was not the sort of thing I had to worry about in Barrow, at least not for much of the year.

Santa Fe just isn’t cold enough.

Oh but it’s a beautiful city for a walk, even with the wet snow that melts around your feet and makes them wet.

***

Quite a few of these murals are from a sort of youth center, called Warehouse 21.

In other news, I added a couple pics to the photo-gallery for the Institute of American Indian Arts, in Santa Fe.

(If you click on it, it will grow!)

Murals and More in Anchorage

07 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by in Alaska, Bad Photography, Street Art

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Raven and Eagle

Raven and Eagle

When I tell people I live in Alaska, I almost invariably hear about a visit to Anchorage. Either that or a relative who lives there. It’s the geographic equivalent of saying; “Oh you live in Denver; I’ve been to Albuquerque,” except that Denver and Albuquerque are closer to one another, and more similar. There really is a world of difference between Barrow and Anchorage. The Anchorage skyline is full of mountains, and it doesn’t lack for trees. I always notice those first. And then I notice all the people.

I also notice the artwork.

From my first visit to Anchorage, I took a shine to its public artwork. There is a particular downtown alley so full of murals I find myself headed towards it every time I make it into town. And yes, I am happy this city is part of he state I now call home, which is probably why it makes sense after all that people bring it up. I never get into or out of Alaska without going through this stopping point.

…which is a very good thing.

I am particularly fond of a number of murals featuring themes from Alaska Natives. The Raven and Eagle symbolism is of course a prominent feature of Tlingit life, and a number of murals feature hunting motifs familiar to Yupit and Inupiat. A few specific highlights of the tour would include:

– The Iditarod Mural, which now includes the name of John Quniak Baker, an Inupiat from Kotsebue. He won the race in 2011.

– A rather bland looking multi-panel piece with just a hint of something devious in it. (Honestly, I don’t know if I got all the panels right, but look closely. There is an interesting twist in there somewhere.)

– A Mural commemorating Alaska statehood. It is sometimes referred to as the ‘Alaskan Mount Rushmore’. It features portraits of Robert Atwood, Bob Bartlett, William Egan, and Ernest Gruening, each of which has been generated out of a range of smaller murals. You can find out more about this piece here.

– A Whaling Wall, one of a series of spectacular pieces created by the Wyland Corporation.

– The Sun Station at the Anchorage Light Speed Planet Walk.

– The Anchorage History Mural by Bob Patterson, …which should probably get its own post some day.

– I’m particularly fond of the murals on the backside of Phyllis’s Cafe, not the least of reasons being that she was kind enough to talk to me about it for a little while. the Tlingit symbolism in the mural is no accident as Phyllis belongs to the Eagle Moiety, Killer Whale clan as I recall. She told me the mural still has a little work to go. Perhaps, I will be taking new pictures of it some time in the near future. I also enjoyed a wonderful meal of King Crab and amber ale in the cafe that evening, the perfect ending to a long trip.

I have by no means captured all the artwork anchorage streets and alleys have to offer, which is good, because I plan on going back for more.

(You may click on a picture to embiggen it.)

A Mild Bout of Southiness; Don’t Worry I am Recovering Well

16 Sunday Sep 2012

Posted by in Bad Photography

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Giant Dancers Inhabit Downtown Denver
…eek!

I recently spent a couple days in Denver, which was a lot of fun while attending a conference at the Community College of Denver on  the Auraria campus. CCD shares this campus with two other institutions, Metropolitan State College of Denver and the University of Colorado, Denver. Its a rather unique arrangement which seems to work well for the students.

Highlights of the trip included time spent at the old St. Cajetan’s church, a wonderful presentation by Carlos Fresquez, a Friday evening in Downtown Denver, and seeing the infamous mustang statue at the Denver airport. Sadly, I did not get a picture of this last one, but you just gotta love a statue so Demonic that it killed its maker. …okay maybe not, but it makes a good story anyway.

I can’t believe I didn’t get a picture of that!

So, here I sit in Hotel in Anchorage, waiting to go back home. It can be quite an ordeal getting into or out of the North Slope. I once spent 36 hours in the hands of the airlines, just getting to Santa Fe. A trip to San Antonio once took 24 hours. But the worst experience for me was a 30 hour trip from Vegas to the North Slope with 3 cats in tow. This time, the business office was merciful, and I have a nice layover in a good place …notwithstanding the storm.

I soon shall recover my full Northosity!

(If you click on the pics, they will embiggen.)