thefutureisred

Atlanta, Georgia: Now Moore Than Ever! (Henry Moore, that is)

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This summer in the US was spectacular, from time spent with family to Burning Man. This year, though, we had the opportunity to really explore Atlanta. It's music, art and culture. And now, for the first time in a very long time, a guest post from Noah.

Over the last decade, I've seen Atlanta rapidly transform from a small culturally hollow town -- nicknamed by some “The City That Never Wakes -- to a vibrant and aware metropolis. 

Back in the day, high quality gallery or museum shows were few and far between.  The only somewhat edgy places in town were the 2 blocks of Little 5 Points and the all night eclectic health food diner, R Thomas of Buckhead. Which, quite frankly, were only edgy by comparison to the rest of town.

Today it is another story entirely. Diverse communities of young artists have made their mark on previous cast off areas like East Atlanta. Little 5 has grown 10 times over and there is a thriving music scene with excellent venues like the Flaming Lips show we caught at Chastain Park. 

The most prominent and well respected museum in Atlanta is The High. It has been growing rapidly and curating some substantial shows. Highlights include travelling exhibits of works by Monet, Piccaso, Degas and in recent years art lent  by the Louvre and Metropolitan. Lowlights include the exhibit known to me as "what ridiculous shit does Elton John house in his Atlanta condo?" but I digress.

There is also a burgeoning permanent collection that includes contemporary artists such as Chuck Close, Vik Muniz and Gerhard Richter.

After all this I was still a little taken aback when I passed by Piedmont Park to see the "Moore in America" exhibit advertised on a giant placard outside of the Atlanta Botanical Garden.  I decided to explore further.  

Henry Moore has been an incredible influence on modern sculpture and in my mind is up there with such luminaries as Alberto Giacometti and Jean Arp. His representational figures and more abstract works maintain a style that is unique and inspirational. Expert at portraying the tension that exists in all of us, he seamlessly portrays Internal and external forces working in harmony. This is accomplished using convulsing organic forms, textures, varying surface effects and the interplay of light on his sculptures.  

Moore once said, "I would rather have a piece of my sculpture put in a landscape, almost any landscape , than in, or on, the most beautiful building I know.".  This exhibit (showing through December 31) focuses on the large-scale monumental works that Moore produced later in his career. The sculptures are meticulously placed over water (see Goslar Warrior, 1973-4), flower beds (see Hill Arches,1973) or overlooking the multitude of traditional fixtures in this garden (see Reclining Figure: Angle, 1979).   Most of the work I had seen in other venues have been done in bronze.  It was refreshing to see some of his later work, like Large Reclining Figure (1984), rising out of a lush flower bed done using white luminous fiberglass.

See our full slideshow of the exhibit here. And for a full listing of galleries with Moore exhibits and sculpture, check out Artcyclopedia.

Atlanta has come a long way in a short amount of time. I look forward to my next visit in December to see what else is cooking in this Southern capital.

How Burning Man Changed Everything

This is not a gathering of drunk, dazed hippies as so many seem to think. Instead, I met teachers, artists, nurses, computer technicians and writers. I met a woman who came to recharge before starting chemotherapy. I did yoga in the cool morning hours with a yogi who juggles fire. I ran into a Greek photographer I'd emailed through Couchsurfing, but never had a chance to meet until I walked into our camp the first day and recognized his face and name.

The people inspired me.

But it's not just individuals, it's the community. Here is a place where taking a cake to your neighbors to say hello is not just something you do on move in day or on holidays, it's something you do many times, daily. Your share everything, and everything is shared with you. You give your food, your water and you give of your daily life in a way that rarely happens in the rest of the world.

I found myself often engaged in conversations with strangers on subjects I usually consider to be private, generally meant only for a few close friends and family. Here, in this stage, I opened up.  I expressed things I didn't even know about myself until I found myself telling someone I just met and would never see again.

Thus, the walls that exist between people in general society dissipate. Here in this sudden city, you experience tribal living. You exist in science fiction. You expand into another dimension, if only for a week. It's a world in which wearing jeans and a t-shirt makes you strange but walking around naked is normal.

It is incredibly liberating to be free of the boundaries of world outside of Burning Man, otherwise known as the default world. This frees you, not because you necessarily want to become a nudist, but because it turns the world upside down, demanding that you question why we make the choices we make in the default world.

It is simply put, fan-bloody-tastic. I spent more of my time riding a bike around the playa seeing the art than anything else. This is the largest, most accessible art museum on the planet. It's open day and night, and the art is interactive. Some you can climb. Others are designed to react to your presence, often responding by spewing out flames. One evening, I saw a woman dressed all in white, hanging from a flaming metal bird sculpture. I sat in a chair that amplified my heartbeat. And after some time, everything in this temporary existence becomes art, even yourself.

It makes you see the world in a way you've never seen it before. It makes you want to step beyond the role of spectator and become truly engaged and involved. You begin to believe that anything is possible.

I know many leave the playa to find themselves feeling lonely and disassociated. I can understand why. The separation from such intensity can be painful.

Me? When I dream I go back to Burning Man. I find myself surrounded by swirling dust. I can wear what I want, be who I want. And when I wake from my dreams -- day or night -- I cannot help but bring at least a bit of the dust back into the default world.

The lines between Burning Man world and Real Life blur, and that, I think, is exactly how it should be.

Art and Couchsurfing In Baires

How are things going here in general? Well, I think.

After so many times picking up, moving and resettling, we've become masters. I no longer feel the intense shock I felt when we first visited another country. I don't even feel the complete denial I had when we first left NY.

I do find myself constantly comparing parts of Buenos Aires to places and things I know, especially in NY. But then, Buenos Aires is very much like any other big city I've seen. Only they speak Spanish. Navigating the place is mostly the same. Although, I will admit, I find the bus system to be particularly daunting, the trains and walking is a pleasure. Easy to find your way around, and if you become completely lost or too exhausted to walk any further, there's always a cab nearby to whisk you home.

With the exchange rate between peso and dollar, cabs are remarkably cheap. Still, I prefer not to cab. You don't see the city by cab.

In our week and a half here, we've seen quite a bit. The feria in San Telmo. It's amazing. Perhaps one of my favorite things about this city. It begins as an antique market in Plaza Dorrego and spills out for blocks and blocks, filling the streets with people, performers, and people selling everything from jewelry to mirrors and toys.

I love how Buenos Aires supports artists like this. . More artists line the streets of Palermo on weekends as well. Painters, sculptors, jewelry makers, pottery, clothing and more than I can even remember. And there's an artesan craft fair every weekend on Avenida del Liberatador across from the Museo de Bellas Artes.

Suddenly, it makes perfect sense why so many of the people you meet selling things in Bocas are from Argentina.

This area around Bellas Artes has become our "go to" place when we want to have a mellow day. In Panama City, that was the Multiplaza Mall. In Bocas, the beach. Here, it's an area filled with children's parks, museums, and open air parks where you can walk, run, bike and play in the enormous trees. It's quite something. Yesterday, we visited Bellas Artes for the second time and happened to visit at the exact time of a choral concert in the lobby.

Couchsurfing here has been interesting. I've been in touch with a lot of people, but the distance between words and doing have a very different pace here. Things are postponed. Events change time and place. But the people are really lovely, open and warm.

They also tend to be a good ten years younger than we are and don't have children. At least, that is the demographic for the daily Couchsurfing event. Picnics in the park. Late night Chanukah parties. Tango in the square. All things I feel we are more than welcome to join, but not exactly the sort of thing Lila would enjoy, at least not on a regular basis.

Then again, it's only been one week.

A New HIGH for Atlanta

Lila making her sneaky face at the High Museum in Atlanta. Ellsworth Kelly's "Blue, Green and Red" in the background. (Pun in title -- capital letters included -- not mine. ). I tell you, I look at this picture and I can't believe how grown up she looks.