Category Artists

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The admirable people.

Sunday in Firenze

Jan 10, ’12 2:10 PM

Something I learned after leaving Florence for the Christmas break was that I haven’t really seen much of the touristy stuff in the city. Now that I’m back I’m committed to seeing more of what’s available here.

West from the Ponte alla Carraia, the bridge I cross every morning to school.

 

Gene invited me to the photography museum that houses the Fratelli Alinari collection, apparently the oldest photographic archive in the world. Along with some very beautiful old daguerreotypes and albumen prints from around the world there was a room lined in back-lit negatives and a wild collection of photographic albums, some of them huge sculptural assemblages with metal hinges, gemstone covers and painted edges.

I thought the famous Florence lion was a monkey until I was corrected.

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Morning Hoedown

Dec 24, ’11 2:21 AM

This old-time dancing is called flat-footing or buck dancing. I was inspired to learn more about it after laughing at this video on Kottke.org and I love it. Watch this great clip from Talking Feet, a full-length documentary on the subject.

Here’s the whole film. I’m home now and got to I watch it with my mom this morning over coffees. It’s worth seeing for the characters who love this kind of dancing and the very strange style of interviewing a person with their family distracting you from the background. I don’t think filmmakers intend to mock the subjects of the film, but some of them are so enjoyably strange it’s hard not to smirk as you admire their smirk inducing dancing.

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Booey

Dec 13, ’11 7:04 PM

These are a few of the choicest examples of the Florentine street artist Booe or Booey. There are very few tags, mostly you see the big gumdrops and the popsicle is an anomaly as far as I’ve seen. They have become little totems for me walking through Florence, just as the little men and sasquaches of the Wellington street artist Neonate kept me company while I was studying theater in Wellington.

Whoever this Booe/Booey is, I think the number of pieces he’s got around town will stay the same. All of the one’s I’ve seen are a bit weathered or painted over and I haven’t seen any fresh paint. Maybe he’s grown up or gotten arrested too many times or just moved out of town. In any case, I’ll keep snapping photos as I find new pieces, and I’ll be keeping them here.

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Rigorous Fun

Nov 6, ’11 12:13 PM

I added a link to Marisol’s new blog to the right. These photos are from an entry that introduces some of the work and trouble we’ve gotten up to these first weeks. Before she came to Florence she made this great video that makes a pretty good introduction to the school too, which is well worth checking out.

We’re three weeks into classes and I’m still settling in. Right now I’m stealing my neighbor’s internet but hopefully I’ll have a better connection soon. Gene arrived a few weeks ago and together with another student from his class, we found a great apartment for 900€ just north of the Duomo. The apartment is pretty much a cozy hallway wrapped around a courtyard, but its great and the first thing to great me on my way out in the morning is the massive sunlit dome.

UPDATE:  In the time I wrote my measly post Marisol wrapped up our third week in a new post of her own.

Something clicked for me the moment that we completed our first run through of the Santo Spirito creazione.  It felt as though something very significant had fallen perfectly into place.  I felt creatively at home and utterly allied with this team of astoundingly brilliant, funny, creative individuals.  It’s a feeling of community that I’ve never felt before in my creative life.  And this is just the beginning of the journey.

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Le Mashed Potato

Sep 18, ’11 9:39 AM

Today’s morning dance has a Continental flair to it. Enjoy! Via Boing Boing.

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