Choreography - Ohad Naharin

Mr. Gaga - A film by Tomer Heymann - Trailer from Heymann Brothers Films on Vimeo.


Below is a link to a NY Times article on Ohad Naharin and his dance language "Gaga."

http://nyti.ms/1KtdOXB

Free Form Sculpture

Janet Echelman builds living, breathing sculpture environments that respond to the forces of nature — wind, water and light— and become inviting focal points for civic life.

Exploring the potential of unlikely materials, from fishing net to atomized water particles, Echelman combines ancient craft with cutting-edge technology to create her permanent sculpture at the scale of buildings. Experiential in nature, the result is sculpture that shifts from being an object you look at, to something you can get lost in.

Recent prominent works include “Her Secret is Patience”, which spans two city blocks in downtown Phoenix,  “Water Sky Garden”, which premiered for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, and “She Changes”, which transformed a waterfront plaza in Porto, Portugal.  Her newest commission creates a “Zone of Recomposure” in the new Terminal 2 at San Francisco International Airport. Upcoming projects include the remaking of Dilworth Plaza in front of Philadelphia City Hall -- turning it into a garden of dry-mist.

Below is a video which further explores Janet Echelman's sculpture:

Also, see Janet Echelman's website at www.echelman.com for more stunningly beautiful examples of her sculptures.

Architectural Photography

Copied from CNN.com, Style, 1/5/2016

 (Article written by T. Wrigley):

From Stonehenge and royal palaces to the skyscrapers that define a modern city's skyline, great buildings can encapsulate their eras. 

"Every great architect is -- necessarily -- a great poet", said legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright. "He must be a great original interpreter of his time, his day, his age." 

But unlike poetry, buildings struggle to travel. When the work is many stories high and forged from concrete and glass, disseminating its era-defining genius requires something a little more lightweight.

The annual Arcaid Images Architectural Photography Awards champion artists who "translate the sophistication of architecture into a readable and understandable two dimensions, to explain and extol the character, detail and environment of the project". 

The Portuguese photographer Fernando Guerra was this year's overall winner with his image of Richter Dahl Rocha & Associés' EPFL Quartier Nord in Ecublens, Switzerland. Shot at dusk, the picture is a mesmerizing collation of color, light and people -- portraying a structure alive and in motion. 

Fernando Guerra's award-winning shot 

"I was waiting all day," Guerra remembers. "Five minutes before I took it, the place was completely empty because everyone was inside their quarters watching the football and I was just cursing the silence. But then suddenly the match ended and everybody came out and I got it. I didn't think about the photo for some time, it was only after I edited the work that I saw I had something special." 

Over the years, important partnerships have sprung up between architect and photographer, such as that of Le Corbusier and Lucien Hervé. Inspired by avant-garde artists like Mondrian, Hervé rejected the tradition of taking wide shots of a building, instead fashioning flowing, yet abstracted, series that focused on the details. The results were cinematic: an emotional journey through a building, rather than simply a standpoint outside it. Le Corbusier was rapt -- he described Hervé as having the soul of an architect, and often changed his plans in response to his work.

California's Julius Schulman was undoubtedly one of the biggest names in the field. His images of houses by Frank Lloyd Wright, John Lautner, Richard Neutra and, perhaps most famously, Case Study House #22 by Pierre Koenig, not only helped forge those architect's careers, but became the visual language for the post-war resurgence of the American dream. His photograph of Koenig's house created an instant mythology that lasts to this day -- it was 1959 in Los Angeles, the city of angels, the future, opportunity, hope. But it was also a cause of conflict. Koenig believed the picture had transcended the architecture it portrayed, his reputation as an architect being subsumed by Shulman's as an artist.  

To see all of the photographs & read the entire article, please follow this link:

Read More

To see some of Julius Schulman's photos of Case Study House #22, please follow this link:
Julius Shulman (1910-2009) http://www.archdaily.com/29457/julius-schulman-1910-2009
or consider watching the documentary, "Visual Acoustics" available from Netflix or for rent on YouTube.

Pastel Portraits - Capturing A Piece of the Soul

     This week's topic is focused on art -- capturing a piece of the spirit ......in a portrait, or a landscape or even in an abstract painting.  As this video states, the artist may obtain a photographic likeness of the subject but the real point is to try to convey some of the feelings within.

TED Talk - Our Basic Purpose/ Richard Layard

     On my drives to/from Tahoe, I usually listen to an audiobook or a course of some kind.  Most recently, it was "Man's Search for Meaning," by Viktor Frankl.  Dr. Frankl was a psychiatrist and a survivor of Auschwitz, who, based on his experiences, postulated that "meaning"(purpose?) was at the core of a mental attitude that could survive almost any hardship and that this attitude could be willed into existence (at least that's my interpretation.)

    I'm embedding a video from a TED talk(a favorite source) which embodies Dr. Frankl's tenets in a more easily understood and more current context.  Note that it is 22 minutes long.








This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. What should be our basic purpose in life? What kind of society should we live in? Prof. Layard argues that the objective for our society should not be to become richer and richer. Wealth, he claims, is related to happiness only up to a point - and where the two diverge, we should not forget that the promised happiness was the only reason we attempted to become richer in the first place.

RICHARD LAYARD is best known for his contributions to happiness economics. You are likely to know him as the author of “Happiness: Lessons from a New Science” (2005) – a book which redefined the simplistic economic link between income and happiness. He is also the
co-founder of the Action for Happiness movement, now counting over 30,000 members. In both 2012 and 2013 Professor Layard co-edited the World Happiness Reports. Professor Layard’s studies have over the years considered unemployment and inequality. Moreover his recent work on the importance of non-income variables contributing to aggregate happiness has focused on mental health.

My Introduction to Downhill Skiing

It was Xmas day. My husband's favorite resort is Alpine Meadows so that's where we went. I don't think I would normally recommend Alpine as an ideal first time lesson resort (not that much available for beginners).

As mentioned, the only reason I went was because my husband begged me to. I had tried downhill skiing once about 20 years ago. As I hadn't prepared to go downhill skiing (a group of friends were staying at a cabin and the people who downhill skiied asked me to come along and try it). I had jeans, which they said would be fine---absolutely wrong!!! I fell down a lot, was cold and miserable and vowed never to do it again.:

So that first day, my husband made sure I was well outfitted. A friend loaned me a hot pink ski suit to wear; we rented equipment and I had all sorts of other stuff from my husband to ensure that I had what I needed (Xmas presents devoted to ski stuff).

We got off to a late start, so I took the 1:30 PM lesson. The instructor's name was Walter and the class had 3 other Asian women in it.

Walter asked why I was there and I told him it was only because my then boyfriend had asked me to try it. You can imagine what he was thinking...

We worked on very simple things, like just feeling comfortable moving around with long sticks attached to your feet. We made our way around the small green area around the Subway lift. We got on and off the subway lift a couple of times--which was very exciting!:

I remember that it was a powder day. Not a huge storm but just enough to feel like you were floating a little. It was very cold but I was very comfortable in my outfit. I forgot that I was sick with a cold. I remember thinking how beautiful everything looked and how fresh the air felt. I was amazed at how comfortable I was.

I wasn't particularly adventurous. But the three Asian women and I were having a lot of fun and laughing a lot.

Our biggest accomplishment at the end of the lesson was to go down a little hill. Top speed no doubt very slow...but nevertheless thrilling. Walter was surprised that I "went for it". I had a small feeling of success but more than that was really surprised at how much fun the whole thing was.:

It was a very different experience from the one 20 years before. Most notably, I was dry the whole time, totally comfortable temperature wise and having a lot more fun. I think Walter was (is?) very good at his job and that helped a lot.

In terms of preparing to ski for the first time, I do think it makes a world of difference to have the right equipment and , honestly, if you have access to an experienced skiier, that helps a lot too. Make sure you have warm/comfortable ski clothing, good equipment (probably best to rent from the resort....my husband had rented skis for me to bring along and I remember Walter suggesting it would be easier to be on shorter skis....).

Also, definitely take a lesson from a ski pro. A pro will know how to tell you what you need to do (or at least have a much better idea and all sorts of drills to practice to try to get the point across). My husband never attempted to coach me (smart man!) to any great degree.

It requires some time to get used to skis. People who start out younger and have a lot of athletic background seem to pick things up faster. I was 48 three years ago and I've done certain athletic things (tennis, cycling, etc) but I wouldn't describe myself as a natural athlete at all. But I think anyone can keep progressing if they want to (so what if it takes longer?).

It is hard to articulate just how rewarding skiing can feel. Maybe I had a very small taste when I went down the little hill on the first lesson. But, somehow, when you combine the beauty of the surroundings, being outdoors and being physcial, learning to trust your body, surrendering to the feeling of falling, the rush of speed (to some degree), the feeling of flowing and being in harmony with everything....it is an experience that is incredible! Also, to be afraid of something but to overcome the fear and do it is also really rewarding. I have never experienced a sport that is as fulfilling.

Bill & Melinda Gates - Philanthropy

Published on Apr 2, 2014

n 1993, Bill and Melinda Gates—then engaged—took a walk on a beach in Zanzibar, and made a bold decision on how they would make sure that their wealth from Microsoft went back into society. In a conversation with Chris Anderson, the couple talks about their work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as about their marriage, their children, their failures and the satisfaction of giving most of their wealth away.

A Poem -- Yes

Yes

I drove 4 ½ hours today

to escape the dead-end

of going nowhere.

Hope beckoned,

Snowflakes glistened hello.

So I uncuffed myself,

broke out the smile

and I started to remember

how to glow again.

It'a a work in progress; I hope to develop it a little bit more.

At last, I am home again (second to the home of Henry), back in the mountains.  I have escaped the shackles I locked myself into.  I have left the fortress of the "house" to enter  the world.

It's a treacherous place but, here, in the mountains, in the snow, I feel natural, encircled by her love.

I can't explain why that is. But thank goodness for it.  It is a holy place where she (Mother Mountain) tries to teach me how to fly above the day day, above the constant force pulling me down.

The Magnificent Diana Nyad

Published on Dec 23, 2013

In the pitch-black night, stung by jellyfish, choking on salt water, singing to herself, hallucinating ... Diana Nyad just kept on swimming. And that's how she finally achieved her lifetime goal as an athlete: an extreme 100-mile swim from Cuba to Florida -- at age 64. Hear her story.

    

 What a spirit this woman has!  Persistent, courageous, at the prime of her life at age 64.      How brightly the light shines from within her!