Public Art

I love this story about Paul Ramirez Jonas’s piece “Key to the City” commissioned by the public-art organization Creative Time, in cooperation with the City of New York and how one young woman responded to it, creating her own performance piece as it were.

New York has some great public art programs that cause you to interact with the city and its denizens in unexpected ways. Several years ago, I participated (for want of a better word) in artist Janet Cardiff’s “Her Long Black Hair” funded by the Public Art Fund. In that piece, you picked up earphones at a kiosk on Central Park West and donning them followed “clues” along a route through Central Park. The role of the mysterious woman (seen in a polaroid from the back) remained ambiguous, but none the less the piece triggered one’s imagination. The result was powerful, haunting, even a little creepy as one wandered through the park. It made you experience it in such a a different way.

And of course who could forget “The Gates.” So fabulous. I loved it; I love it gone. Presence/Absence. It was a thing of beauty; it also drew attention to the natural beauty of the park: one appreciated the trees and green even more after the orange fabric was removed. It also had a wholly unexpected yet powerful effect, turning New York giddy as if it was wearing a giant party hat. (Which it kinda was.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/24/arts/design/24keys.html?scp=3&sq=Key&st=cse

Michelangelo

There's an article in today's Science Times about how two researchers (a medical illustrator and a neurosurgeon) have hypothesized that Michelangelo "embedded" in his Sistine Chapel fresco a human brain in God's neck.

All I can say boys is, keep your day jobs. Like many who step out of their fields of study, these two have a bit of an axe to grind and furthermore are proceeding from the wrong direction. Sure, Michelangelo was known for his in-depth anatomical study which included dissections. And there are similarities in the shapes they've picked out, but this is a coincidence. I'm sure if you looked hard enough you could find all sorts of shapes to fit your argument in the shadows and modeling that make up Michelangelo's masterpiece. The fact remains there is no logical explanation for why he'd put an organ on God's neck. It just doesn't make sense. But wait there's more, someone else spotted a kidney in another part of the ceiling.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/22/science

/22brain.html?scp=2&sq=Michelangelo&st=cse

Artnosh is born

Artnosh is a blog devoted to my writings, mostly on Contemporary Art, about which I am passionate. The publishing world is trying to figure out where it's headed, and it's important for writers to keep current. An Internet presence seems vital these days.

I write for a variety of publications, so Artnosh is my home base where everything is consolidated; you can dip in for a snack, or make a real meal out of it!

It's my soap box, but I do invite dialogue.

Sarah Sargent