Some people think that the fear of clowns comes from not being able to distinguish their emotions. If a clown has a painted-on smile around their lips, how will you know if they are sad?? Isn’t this really just the fear of the unknown?
Reminds me of those word magnets that people get for their refrigerators, the ones you can rearrange to form funny or nonsensical sayings. What would you write if you had just two words to post on the back of a sign? I think mine would say, “Mmmm cheese”
Another peep! from locally-based street artist diabetik, who you might remember from the candy cane street cones and gingerbread cookie people, as well. I wonder what will be the next seasonal treat that starts showing up around the city? My vote is for Pez, or gummy bears.
Last night we checked out the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit at the National Geographic Museum. Though Matt already saw them in situ when he was in Xi’an last year, I decided that we should still go, since I probably wouldn’t get another chance. There was no photography allowed in the exhibit, so you’re stuck with a blurry iPhone shot of myself and a replica warrior. sweet!
There were many amazing parts to this exhibit, but I think the most mind-blowing would have to be the age and number of these warriors. They are over 2,000 years old! When most of the history we read about from the US only takes you back a few hundred years, it’s hard to correlate the two. As you stand right there next to them and look at them, it’s hard to imagine someone creating a work of art like that so long ago and that it was so well preserved in some cases. For the numbers, there were 15 soldiers for viewing last night, while there are about 1,000 that have been excavated since their discovery in 1974, they estimate that over 6,000 of them are still buried.
China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, thought of just about everything he would need for his afterlife. At age 13 (!!!!) he commissioned over 700,000 workers to begin creating the clay figures. There were different ranks of generals and soldiers (each with different weaponry), chariot drivers and archers, as well as “entertainment” soldiers like musicians, acrobats, and strongmen. The display takes you through the process by which they were created, as well as the varying details of their appearances and how no two were to be alike. They were buried to the east of his tomb to ward off any invasion in his afterlife. Can you imagine????
At the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden in DC there is a replica of an art nouveau Paris Metro entrance, and here’s a close-up of the cast-iron detailing. I was searching for this photo this morning because I’ve been thinking a lot about Paris– ever since we decided to book our honeymoon flight there. For any of our readers who have been to Paris, leave us some suggestions or memories!
This afternoon we took the Georgetown Connection bus from Dupont Circle over to 31st and M Street to check out an exhibit at Parish Gallery that my sister had been raving about a few weeks ago. Titled “Art in the Eye of a Needle,” the exhibit features micro-sculptures by artistWillard Wigan, and, truth-be-told, you just have to see it to believe it.
There are about 15 different “viewing stations” throughout the gallery featuring sculptures, viewed only under a microscope, that include subjects from the Obama family, to the Simpsons, to Charlie Chaplin on an eyelash, to an anonymous couple enjoying a Valentine dinner–on the head of a sewing pin. Each tiny creation takes 8 weeks or longer for the artist to create using materials like nylon fibers, dust particles, housefly hairs, and cobwebs. According to Wikipedia, “the pulse of the artist’s finger could easily destroy the entire work, Wigan therefore has to control his nervous system to ensure he does not make even the tiniest movement… Wigan, when working, enters a meditative state in which his heartbeat is slowed, allowing him to reduce any hand tremors and work between heartbeats.”
Norman Parish, the gallery owner, shared a humorous anecdote with us as we were leaving. He said that the artist was once working on a sculpture of Alice in Wonderland, when he accidentally took a breath a little too close to Alice — and inhaled her. !!! Probably not very funny at the time, considering the labor that goes into these pieces, but I can’t come up with another type of artist that would face that same problem.
If you have a chance, go check it out, I guarantee you can’t look through each microscope with a straight face, especially when you see the houseflies! The exhibit is open until January 23rd. Parish Gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday, from noon to 6 pm, and is located in Canal Square at 1054 31st Street NW.
Last weekend when Ty and Val were visiting, we checked out the chocolate and coffee shop ACKC on 14th Street. We’d walked by there many a time, but never poked our heads in. As it turns out, it’s a cute little place owned by Rob Kingsbury (the chocolatier) and Eric Nelson (the artist). When you walk in, you are bombarded with bright colors from the artwork on the walls and tons of tiny little morsels to make you drool. The photo above is a closeup of one of the many custom tabletops painted by Eric, which are pretty much awesome.
This shot is a closeup of “Lightswept,” a neon light sculpture by artist Craig Kraft , that sits outside HR-57 on 14th Street. I wasn’t a huge fan of this piece at first, but in reading more about his process through his website, I can at least appreciate his craftsmanship, as well as some of his other public installations, much more now. I never put it together that this would be the same artist who created a similar neon sculpture, Lightweb, in Downtown Silver Spring, a piece I see nearly every day. I guess I like the Silver Spring sculpture a great deal more because it is integrated with the elevator shaft and seems to sweep around the existing structure. The one in front of HR-57 seems much more arbitrary, like it is sitting out in the open as an afterthought. Nonetheless, public art is a great thing that we shouldn’t take for granted, and I’m sure I will come around to this piece more in the future — maybe it will require another visit to HR-57 for an evening of jazz very soon.
With classes finally wrapping up for the semester, Matt and I finally had some time this weekend for some artsy-craftsy fun. While Matt was busying outside on the patio cutting and spray-painting the above stencil of Marion Barry , I was busy inside gluing together a Christmas wreath (pictures to follow later) and trying not to get woozy from all the various glue and paint fumes. I’m not sure that our final products could have been any more different, but anyways, it was nice to have some downtime to waste away, without feeling guilty about being behind on class readings and projects.
Back by popular demand, it’s our second annual Halloween pumpkin carving contest!! With so many amazing entries from last year , we’re now challenging you to do one better! And this year, you have more than two weeks, starting now, to get your design ready and your carving skills in action. We will be accepting entries up until noontime on Halloween (October 31st), so send your pictures to loriwasilewski [at] gmail. AND, as added incentive (as if fame and notoriety on here was not enough) there will be a *PRIZE* this year in the form of a “Juxtaexposed Pumpkin Contest Winner” t-shirt… to be designed by me this week. Extra consideration may or may not be given for the use of lighting, composition, general humor, props, and candy corn sent to my mailing address. GOOD LUCK to all our readers!