is being online hampering your creative expression?

The NYT Magazine's On Technology essay by Jenna Wortham this week speaks to much of what I (and I suspect my friends) have been thinking about lately. How can wide freedom of creativity and connectedness happen online? And in what ways does the very fact of it being online limit the conversation?

“The internet should be a place with no rules, and freedom, but it’s not,” Piñero said. “There is a certain pressure to conform to certain aesthetics.” It was something I had noticed myself. Each social-media platform tends to reward certain behaviors and styles of posting, all in the interest of building fans and followers who are invested in the performance of a persona (maybe even more so than the Geppetto-like person orchestrating it all). Instagram is a place for intimate-seeming photos, Twitter for clever quips and collaborative memes. Facebook demands an unmitigated rawness that can be terrifying at times. With all, the works are often made to fit the platform, not the other way around.


read the article here.

5 reasons to visit the dali museum

1. The architecture is beautiful. If you have an affinity for the pyramids at the Louvre, you will love this building. (Apparently, the Dali Museum's architect worked with I.M. Pei on the Louvre's renovation).The bulbous glass-fronted site overlooks the water and makes the center atrium feel light and spacious. The central spiral staircase, referencing the golden spiral (and some snails and shells) you will spot through out the museum, makes kids excitedly anticipate the visit. In fact, I can not think of a child who would not react to the "wow" factor of this building.

2. The outdoor space is great. On the water, even in hot weather there is a breeze, so you can let kids blow off some steam before you head inside. A tree festooned with old wrist bands fashioned into garlands, a hedged labyrinth, a huge mustache sculpture and physical representations of Fibonacci numbers and Pi piques interest and offers a preview of Dali's integration of science, art, nature and theatricality that awaits the visitor indoors.

3. The art.  Dali's surrealist art is fascinating and can lead to interesting observations and connections from kids. My one son loved looking for the bugs that are present in much of his art, my daughter really liked the hologram and sculptural work he did, and my other son enjoyed the amusing mustache photographs by Phillipe Halsman. There are small intimate portraits, detailed still lifes, massive, room-sized paintings with optical illusions, and films. The wide variety of Dali's oeuvre ensures that each visitor will find something to connect with and enjoy.

4. The food in the cafe is really good. Reasonably priced wine, tapas plates, and wonderful gazpacho made this a hit with our family. And as superfluous as it might seem, a great cafe can really make the visit so much more pleasant with children. One can fuel up before taking in the exhibitions or stop for a little break and let it all soak in between galleries.

5. The Dali Museum is very kid friendly. Perfect for a morning or afternoon museum jaunt, the Dali more than meets the needs of children museum goers. In addition to the above mentioned points, we were offered a fun scavenger hunt project that was just silly enough (with funny poems to solve) and easy enough (with generous hints and help from the friendly security guards) to keep my kids enthralled. The little prize they were offered at the end was good move too. 


If you are in the central Florida area visiting the beach or a big mouse, you might consider taking a day for some cultural enrichment at the Dali. I highly recommend not only the museum, but the downtown St. Petersburg area in general. There are several other great museums and lots of fun places to grab some food. 


If you are unsure about visiting museums with kids, I wrote a little guide here. 

how to visit art museums with kids

My background is in art history, so when I had kids, I thought they would be little art historians - enthralled with the stories of the great masters and highly sensitive to the formal elements of art. They would certainly be able to have conversations with me about how line affects mood. And they would never giggle at naked bodies in art.  Yeah, so anyway - I had kids and of course our relationship with art turned out not to be so tidy. BUT, I have discovered how to enjoy experiencing art with children and we (usually) love spending an afternoon in a museum together. 

Here are some ideas that have made it all a bit more manageable.

1. Be prepared. Well, of course. It should go with out saying that kids should be well rested with full bellies. I have tried it otherwise and it was not worth it. It is good to remind them of the rules in a positive way (no running, yelling or touching). And it might be useful for you to brush up on the artist and time period, however that leads to the next point. Which is...

2. Lower your expectations. Do not expect to lecture your kids on what you know about the art. Do not expect to get to read each didactic label or even to see every piece of art. When museum going with kids, it is much better to have an open ended agenda. Wandering through the exhibits with out a definite plan allows for surprises and more immediate reactions and connections to the art work. Instead of looking for the famous pieces, adopt an attitude of adventure and discovery. Tell your kids (and yourself), "Let's see what we find."

3. But you can still check out any kid resources the museum has to offer. Sometimes they are simply awful - like worksheets that the kid would be so busy filling out they would not even get to interact with the art. Or, they lead the child around from piece to piece, not allowing the viewer to discover anything on their own. But every once in awhile you might just run across a real gem. 

For several summers, the Orlando Museum of Art has exhibited some great children's book illustrators and has set up a reading center with couches and bean bags and books right in the middle of the gallery. It encouraged us to look at the art, hangout, and look at the art some more. It was a great concept that served families well. 

Two summers ago, while in Washington, D.C. we visited the National Gallery Art. I thought my kids would not last long, but I really wanted to try to at least stroll through. The guard offered us some automated phone device guides. I was reluctant - because usually they are too wordy and work against the group dynamic by separating each person with their electronic device. But he insisted, saying they were new and really good for kids. So, we tried them and they were amazing. We were all so impressed we ended up staying for hours and it was one of the best museum trips of the entire vacation. (The short recordings would play the instruments that were featured in an art work or recreate the scene with background noise and a simple narrative. My kids were drawn in immediately.)

4. Learn how to ask big, open ended questions to get a conversation flowing. 

Which is your favorite? Why? (especially good in a room full of abstract art)

What do you see?

What story/feeling/idea do you think the artist is trying to communicate/tell us?

How do you think this was made? (my kids love this question - especially with sculpture).

Play ISPY to encourage close looking (my youngest son loves this and it works well with both abstract and representational art)

How does this painting/sculpture make you feel?

And do not be silent about sharing your feelings and thoughts on what you like or are confused about. Kids really benefit from listening to adults "think out loud" and demonstrate the process of figuring out complicated material.

5. To seal the deal of this great art adventure, if at all possible, have a drink or snack in the museum cafe. This is an important part of museum going. It allows your mind to soak in all you have seen, and very often in a nice surrounding. I usually have small journals with me, because my kids always want to draw immediately after they have been through an exhibition. Also, if you can, enjoy the museum store.  You can buy cool little trinkets or postcards to remember the visit by. 

*bonus idea

A membership to a local museum makes it easier to stop in for short visits so that going to see art becomes a normal part of your routine. Besides supporting the arts, usually a membership gives reciprocal benefits to other museums. We recently realized that when we upped our museum membership to a higher level, the reciprocals were amazing and paid for the membership quickly. It is definitely worth investigating.  

Do you go to museums with your kids? Any other tricks you have to make the experience fun for everyone?

john cage, installation art, sound layering

We recently went to the engaging installation piece, John Cage 33 1/3 Performed by Audience, at the Tampa Museum of Art. We actually stumbled upon it after seeing the Romare Beardon exhibition and were surprised and then delighted as we played.


The exhibition was originally installed in 1969 at UC-Davis and this restaging is in honor of Cage's birth, 100 years ago. In the middle of a large room, a circle of 12 podiums hold record players. Bins on the side walls contain a few hundred records. Museum goers are invited to play one or many records, at whatever level they chose - mixing and overlaying sounds. 


What a blast! Buoyed by the eclectic collection (opera, world, punk...) my husband and I immediate began loading up record players and adjusting volumes. Our kids were a little shocked. I mean, I do tell them we need to NOT TOUCH in museums and BE QUIET. When they finally realized that we were part of the art, they began participating too. 


What I really love about this piece is that we have been recently playing with sound around here. This experience just pushed it all to a new level of experimentation and playfulness. Layering sounds and physically manipulating records and volume knobs released the abstract notion of untouchable sound into something we could touch and mold - very similarly to what we do more easily in painting and sculpture. And by questioning the definition of music and even what might be pleasant to listen to, we learn that we can question basic assumption about anything.


We only have two record players at home, so I have been trying to figure out how to replicate at least a little of this exploration at home. I am thinking about gathering all the cd players (although I am not as keen on that) and maybe even playing along on the piano, guitar, organ, drums... or what about incorporating sounds from the vacuum cleaner or coffee grinder? What about all the electronic noise making toys (the ones I hate)? Try playing them all at once or in a sequence. 


How might you play with these ideas?


For all I think, read and write about creative living with children, I strongly believe that exposure to great, complicated, avant grade, weird, conceptual and/or installation art/film/music is paramount. EVERYTIME we engage in art, we are inspired and take something tangible back to our own atelier.

black violin

We just went to see Black Violin in concert and loved it. If you are looking for some upbeat, classical, hip hop, dance music - they got it.

One of the best parts of our daytime show was the message they delivered to the kids. First, they encouraged everyone to always think outside the box and not to blindly follow their friends. Good advice. And secondly, a point which I truly believe and preach, is that in order to succeed you have to work harder than everyone else. Talent is not the key - perseverance and hard work are. It is like the 10,000 rule. If you do it right, the hard work will be fun and fill your life with passion.

Enjoy!

think inside the box: paint a horse

In the town where I live, there is a studio where you can paint a predetermined picture with a group of people, all while being led step by step by a teacher. In my open ended, exploratory, process oriented mind this does not sound fun. But, my mom was interested and so I decided to go with her and some other family members. 

Surprise! It was great and so much more enjoyable and interesting than I imagined! My mind was able to relax and completely focus on color, line and texture (as opposed to laundry and parenting). I left feeling refreshed, energized and getting as close to flow as I have in a while.

I often think about breaking rules, challenging assumptions and questioning paradigms of mainstream culture. I love rabble-rousers and extreme originality. This did not seem like the place to cultivate those ideals. But then again, the owner of the studio has some of those exact qualities I admire. So, even though we were all crowded in, painting the same horse, we were each able to connect with some good energy and access some new creative insights.

I have to remember that sometimes you can be creatively inspired by thinking inside the box, conforming to some rules and guidelines, and following. It was a good lesson for me.

What about you? Have you taken a class like this? What did you think?

bug art

Imagine my surprise, when I stumbled onto this really wonderful art exhbit at our local science museum.
Jennifer Angus transforms real bugs into elaborate wallpaper like designs and arranges them in weird doll house scenes where power dynamics are subverted.   The viewer has to get close to really see what is going on and then immediately gets sucked into this other world.

Many of the non-bug features of the diormamas are nautural materials like beeswax or leaves.









How brillant is this? If you love creepy, Victorian/Gothic design, this show is for you. What kid (or very cool adult) does not like a big goliath beetle locking up humans in a chicken coop?






If you have bug fanatics in your house, check out her work.  And then get ready to find shoebox scenes with cockroaches in your dining room.

This show is headed to the Craft and Folk Art Museum in LA at the end of May.

domestic art

 

So, my background is in art history and American studies with an emphasis on domestic culture and architecture. Can you imagine how in love I am with these paintings?  Holly Farrell is a self taught (!) artist who started painting at 28 years old.

 

Her nearly photo realistic paintings are both portraits and an archeological record of the domestic and mundane. By elevating common household objects into high art, she encourages the viewer to look closer at her environment and the things that occupy it.

 

The chipped mixing bowl, that is thoughtlessly grabbed and used a few times a week, becomes a relic of sustenance and care given.

 

The couch remembers all that has past between people while on its cushions.

 

Barbie is both a toy and perhaps the embodiment of certain ambitions and/or barriers of the women who might be just outside the picture plane.

I love how Farrell's work encourages me to think about the material culture in my own home and the homes of my past. Our connections to the objects in our lives are strong and real. I have heard that the elderly are more likely to decline when they are moved from long term homes into nursing homes because there are so many disconnections from material objects that it is overwhelming. The butter dish, the silverware, the can opener, the broom.... all these things connect us to our reality in powerful and physical ways that deserve to be considered.

I would like to document some of the objects of my life through photography and writing as an exercise in attention and thoughtfulness.  How about you? What would you document?