Yesterday we took a day trip to Washington D.C., which is a kind of trip I don’t do often enough. I got the idea when I spotted a new exhibition at the Renwick Gallery, We Gather at the Edge: Contemporary Quilts by Black Women Artists. And so a couple months ago we scheduled a trip to see it, and I was so looking forward to it…
…and I left the building disappointed. I think I’ve long had resistance to political or activist or tribute art. There was plenty here. And I had trouble seeing past it. I remember having the ungenerous though for a few of them, “Why is this a quilt?”. And leaning into my cynicism further, feeling like it was roughly equivalent to, e.g. bronze sculptures of military heroes. I like portraiture, but memorial work, message work, documentary work… not quite as much. So I left there feeling a little deflated. Nothing like the thrills I’d gotten from previous quilt stuff recently.
It’s not fair, but that’s the way it happens sometimes. I walk in with hopes and curiosity and it just doesn’t land. But then we walked across the Mall (passing through huge protest crowds that renewed my faith in America a little bit), and saw some cool stuff at the National Gallery.
Art
Some favorites from yesterday:
- Miss Ruby’s Crown, 2009, an awesome quilt by Gwendolyn Aqui-Brooks.
- From Traditional to Contemporary, 2021, sweetgrass woven basket by Corey Alston.
- Marriage in Form, 1996, a pair of bowls made from Pacific yew by Bob Stocksdale, and hornet’s nest paper by Kay Sekimachi.
- The Return from the Hunt, Flemish tapestry c. 1525-1550, workshop unknown.
- New House in the Suburbs, gouache on canvas by Paul Klee.
Books
Life and Fate, cont.. Enjoying the vignettes but also hoping to find some larger arc to hold on to.
Running
Enjoyed another evening trail run in the middle of the week, and a Friday evening run to fully transition away from the workaday work. I’ve not run with my run club much lately, for accidental reasons. It’s funny how quickly the ties can dissolve if you don’t regular invest in them. I bet when I go back again this week I’ll think, “why did I ever fade out?”
Articles & Episodes & Twoots
“From 1984 to 1988, I worked in the Telephone Reference Division of the Brooklyn Public Library.” (via) When I worked at a public library, reference work was one of the more stressful and satisfying parts of the job, a rollercoaster that could go from “How am I supposed to know?” to “I can’t believe I pulled this off.” in a few minutes.
Good conversations have lots of doorknobs. (via)
“My scheduling principle is to do the thing I hate most on my to-do list. By week’s end, I’m very happy.” (via)
“Business is a lot like the law, in that it doesn’t necessarily work the way you feel it should. It works the way it does whether you like it or not.”
RIP, Val Kilmer. I liked Scout Tafoy’s tribute, and Adam Nayman’s on “a mercurial A-lister who toggled between total immersion and resistance“. In the “if only” category: “My dream is to play Frankenstein with Werner Herzog directing.”
Why domestic prices rise with tariffs.
Music
Deniece Williams, This Is Niecy. ’70s soul, big fan of “Cause You Love Me Baby“. Like Jara said, a great roller-skating song.
Some regional compilations, various artists…
- Qat, Coffee, & Qambus: Raw 45s from Yemen
- Melodii Tuvi: Throat Songs and Folk Tunes of Tuva
- Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll
Two from Terje Rypdal…
- Blue. I love the bass and heaviness in original version of “Last Nite“, whic doesn’t come through as clearly when it soundtracks the balcony scene in Heat. And “I Disremember Quite Well” made me think of The Place Beyond the Pines soundtrack, e.g. “Schenectady“.
- Lux Aeterna, with orchestra and organ. Echoes of Arvo Pärt?
Nils Petter Molvaer with The Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Certainty of Tides. Jazz trumpet and moody strings. I liked it.
12 Ensemble, Metamorphosis.
TV
The X-Files, s4e12 “Leonard Betts”. A headless man eats cancer. Classic.
The Pitt, s1e2.
Severance, s1e9. Clearing the stage for the finale.
Mark Larson 