Listen to this strange instrument.
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Free Day
Jun 12, ’11
11:48 PM
I’m in a workshop at Columbia College which gets me right down on Michigan Avenue every weekday. Last Wednesday was free day at the Art Institute of Chicago and I had a great walk through there with my friend Thomas. Here is a video of what it was like.
I was most struck by this Rodin bronze, Head of Pierre de Wissant. The slack-jawed sorrow on his face surprised me when I passed by the case. But I’ll have to come back because I only got a quick look at a case full of these hilarious little bronze heads.
I haven’t been able to articulate for myself what it feels like to see in person the paintings I’ve seen reproduced and riffed on a thousand times before. The closest I can come is that it’s like meeting a celebrity—the thrill of recognition but without any other familiarity.
Nighthawks is beautiful in person, but I didn’t get a long look at it. My sister used to have print of it hanging in her room when we lived on Billings Avenue. The 10-12 year old me was particularly fascinated with the 5¢ PHILLIES sign and unsettled by the ghastly redhead and skeletal waiter. Seeing it in person I didn’t look at the ghouls at all, only at vibrant area to the right of them. I noticed two details: one of the samovars in empty, and the door has a single brush stroke for a push plate. Now I feel like all I have is a he’s way shorter than I thought he would be story.
Andy Lunday
May 28, ’11
12:23 PM
This is from my old classmate Andy Lunday’s new blog and tumblr account. He and I were in art classes together all through high school. By coincidence we reconnected at a highway bagel/coffee shop in the middle of Oregon.
Were you on a bike Andy? I can’t remember.
Senders receive?
Anyway, maybe you recognize Andy’s work already, that’s because he sent me a hand inked card a hundred years ago that’s been in my unanswered mail pile that whole time.
Chicago Neighborhoods
Mar 16, ’11
12:56 PM
Lately, I’ve spent a lot of time talking to people about Chicago neighborhoods. I’ve tried to absorb opinions and impressions of these social territories because their names give nothing away: Pilsen, Logan Square, Bucktown, UK Village, Roscoe Village.
I’ve spent the most time in Ukrainian Village and Logan Square, but with the cold it’s hard to get a feel for the neighborhoods. Trying to read up on them on-line isn’t any easier. A neighborhood’s mood is so subjective even if someone bothers to take time and try and describe something they end up unhelpful and sounding like this:
Wicker Park = hipsters, bars, music, medium crime
Buck Town = rich version of Wicker Park
Lincoln Park = Buck Town – Hipsters + (Chads and Trixies) – Crime
Lakeview = older version of Lincoln Park
Humbolt Park = Wicker Park + Gangs – Bars
Uptown = Wicker Park + Crime
River North = River West = Loop = South Loop = Old Town = $$$$$ Source
So I was really glad to have come across I Am Chicago, a street corner photography project that follows a simple plan:
We set up a portable, natural-light studio on Chicago’s neighborhood corners. We spend a day there documenting the characters of the city by inviting all who pass by to step into our studio. We take full-body portraits of them to record the exact way they have presented themselves to the streets on that given day, brown paper bags and all. Some strut, some smile, some grill, some glare, some frown…
It’s not far enough along in the project to be a look book for the whole city, but there’s enough there to show a wide range of the neighborly characters you may meet walking these streets.
Chicago or Bust!
Mar 1, ’11
11:11 AM
I’m setting out on a new adventure very soon.
I’ll head east to the second/windy city to audition for a summer actor training program offered by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company.
Chicago, my fatherland
My dad left Chicago the year he turned eighteen. He and his two friends—his best friend Pete and their high school English teacher, Brother Noonan—struck out from the south side of Chicago on a mission. Making church-basement theater along the way, they would travel to Carroll College, a small Catholic school here in Helena. I’m sure glad they did.
When I was just a wee lad our family traveled back Chicago every summer. We only stopped when my sister and I got so annoying that my parents could no longer stand the 24 hours of road time. But, in just a few days I’ll pack into my little red car and head down that long stretch of road again to that great American city.
I’m looking forward to catching up with a few friends, my God-parents, and of course the Chicago Casey’s. I’d like to explore the city and scout out neighborhoods, theaters, apartments, and jobs that seem right . I’m not sure what I’ll find but a recent theater review I read called Chicago “a place of risk, rebuilding and reinvention. A town devoted to change.”
That sounds good to me.