Monday, August 21, 2017

Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, through my pinhole camera

by aleks

I mean through my strainer/colander - I read one can get the same effect through tree leaves, but I only had a presence of mind to produce the  colander...

Seattle, 8/21/2017 - solar eclipse of 8/21/2017 through my strainer


It got spooky, weird and  dark, as if someone dimmed the sun for a moment, and then it gradually went back to the bright sunshine.  it must be how the nuclear winter might look like..  We had a hummingbird visitor for the moment of the eclipse:

Seattle solar eclipse of 8/21/17 - a hummingbird joins us 

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Yayoi Kusama 草間 彌生 or 弥生 Kusama Yayoi at SAM

photos by Tony
SAM • 8/14/17 - Yayoi Kusama in her own words (recorded interview is a part of the exhibition)

Yayoi'Kusama's first stop after leaving Japan was Seattle, where she had a solo show in 1957 at the now-long-gone Zoë Dusanne Gallery, before moving to New York City the following year.

SHE IS BACK!! Or, her art is at SAM till September 10th, 2017 -  the wildly popular exhibition Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors has new hours and new tickets available for everyone who wishes to see her artwork - check SAM's website.

If you are interested in buying Kusama's work, or up-to-date exhibition listings you may want to check the  Yayoi Kusama page at Artsy -  their mission is to make all the world’s art accessible to anyone.

SAM • 8/14/17 - they only allow 3 people into each mirrored room: as you see - reflected indefinitely 

From Wikipedia: Yayoi Kusama (草間 彌生 or 弥生 Kusama Yayoi, born March 22, 1929) is a Japanese artist and writer. Throughout her career she has worked in a wide variety of media, including painting, collage, soft sculpture, performance art, and environmental installations, most of which exhibit her thematic interest in psychedelic colors, repetition, and pattern. A precursor of the pop art, minimalist and feminist art movements, Kusama influenced her contemporaries such as Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, and George Segal and exhibited works alongside the likes of them.

SAM • 8/14/17: a bit like looking inside of a kaleidoscope

From June 29/2017 Review  Seattle Times: '“Infinity Mirrors” surveys the art of Kusama, the 88-year-old Japanese avant-garde artist who has been in and out of the spotlight for over six decades. As the title suggests, and at the request of the artist, the exhibition focuses on Kusama’s mirrored installations, rooms you can enter or peek into, and find yourself be surrounded by giant polka-dot balloons or glowing yellow pumpkins or thousands of reflections of hovering lanterns...[..]

SAM • 8/14/17 - line for seeing inside of polka-dot room
SAM  8/14/17 - Yayoi Kusama, 草間 彌生


SAM  8/14/17 - Yayoi Kusama, 草間 彌生

SAM  8/14/17 - Yayoi Kusama, 草間 彌生 - a room where YOU can add polka dots :)

Sunday, August 6, 2017

Wandering and Wondering in pics


text by Joan Laage, photos by aleks
August 6th, 2017 • Peace Park in Seattle - Sadako Sasaki's sculpture is covered with origami cranes,  as always, on Hiroshima's anniversary. Today somebody also fashioned her an origami cranes vest...

Butoh is a contemporary avant-garde dance form which erupted out of the turmoil and loss of identity post WW2 Japan. Hijikata Tatsumi, known as the principal founder, created the first butoh piece in 1959. Butoh combines dance, theater and influences of Japanese traditional performing arts with German Expressionist dance (Neue Tanz) to create a unique performing art that is both controversial and universal in its expression. Butoh has evolved to become an international art form with artists and groups devoted to teaching and performing it throughout the world.

SJG • 8/3/17 - Katrina Wolfe, Wandering and Wondering event by Daipan butoh collective in Seattle

SJG • 8/3/17 - Bruce Fogg, Wandering and Wondering event by Daipan butoh collective in Seattle

SJG • 8/3/17 - Erica Howard, Wandering and Wondering event by Daipan butoh collective in Seattle

SJG • 8/3/17 - Joan Laage, Wandering and Wondering event by Daipan butoh collective in Seattle

SJG • 8/3/17 - Shoko Zama, Wandering and Wondering event by Daipan butoh collective in Seattle

SJG • 8/3/17 - Musicians: Christopher Hydinger, Michael Shannon, David Stanford, Carl Lierman; Wandering and Wondering event by Daipan butoh collective in Seattle

SJG • 8/3/17 - Wandering and Wondering event by Daipan butoh collective in Seattle

SJG • 8/3/17 - Erica Howard & Douglas Ridings, Wandering and Wondering event by Daipan butoh collective in Seattle
SJG • 8/3/17 - Wandering and Wondering event by Daipan butoh collective in Seattle
One young lady lost her slipper in the pond...  Our event coordinator, Chie Iida, bravely went to the rescue with a fish net