development for a new year

I've been working on a new series of collage type pieces. These incorporate ink, collage taken from pieces of old textbooks such as botany, meteorology, anthropology, etc., and drawing. It's been nice to get back into drawing and the scientific side of things.

Academy of Sciences

Yesterday we visited the new California Academy of Sciences Museum in Golden Gate Park designed by Renzo Piano. It's great to see such a nice example of a green building - The Academy is now the largest public Platinum-rated (highest LEED rating) building in the world, and also the world’s greenest museum. Inside the museum houses a planetarium, aquarium, natural history museum and a 4-story rainforest.

The coolest part of the museum is the 197,000 square foot "living roof", growing native California plant species. The plants are kept from sliding off the undulating slopes by using 50,000 porous, biodegradable trays made from tree sap and coconut husks as containers for the vegetation. These trays line the rooftop like tile, yet enable the roots to grow and interlock, binding the trays together like patchwork.

The more typical black tar-and-asphalt building rooftop leads to a phenomenon called the “Urban Heat Island” effect. The endless swath of black rooftops and pavement trap heat, causing cities to be 6 to 10 degrees warmer than outlying greenbelt areas. One-sixth of all electricity consumed in the U.S. goes to cool buildings. The Academy's green rooftop keeps the building's interior an average of 10 degrees cooler than a standard roof would. The plants also transform carbon dioxide into oxygen, capture rainwater, and reduce energy needs for heating and cooling.

Salk Institute

Last weekend I was in San Diego for work and paid a visit to the Salk Institute in La Jolla. The institute is housed in a modernist complex, designed by Louis Kahn. The structure consists of two symmetric buildings with a stream of water flowing in the middle of a courtyard that separates the two. The buildings themselves have been designed to promote collaboration, and therefore have no walls separating laboratories on any floor. Apparently Salk had sought to make a beautiful campus in order to draw the best researchers in the world - I think he probably succeeded!

"Hope lies in dreams, in imagination and in the courage of those who
dare to make dreams into reality"

a beautiful day in san francisco

This past weekend in San Francisco was absolutely beautiful. It's days like these that make me very fortunate to live here, especially when it's snowing back in Michigan... Walking along the Embarcadero has always been one of my favorite pastimes, the views never get old.

Richard Serra

Today I came upon some pictures I took about a year ago while celebrating my 30th birthday in New York City that I felt were worth sharing.... I was walking past the MoMA and saw the dis-assembly of the Richard Serra show (which I had seen a few months previous). Seeing the giant minimalist sculptures out of context, being lifted by huge cranes was really quite beautiful.
(Serra is a sculptor (born in San Francisco!) that is best known for working with large sheets of CorTen steel.)

SOMA Open Studios

Over the course of the past 7 or 8 years, I have been participating in Open Studios every year with mixed results. I have held it in my home and at various art studios/spaces which I've rented. Doing it on your own is difficult since many visitors seek a group venue, and moving around from year to year makes it hard to grow a "following". Finally two years ago I opened Clara Street Studios, found several talented and motivated individuals to share my vision with, and was able to create a venue that finally fulfilled my dream of creating an artist community of my own.

This weekend was SOMA Open Studios. We held it at our studio on Clara Street for the second year in a row and had an amazing turnout. We have been very fortunate to get 5 very talented artists together, as well as a huge gallery space for hanging our work. Even with the state of the economy what it is, there were twice as many people as we had last year, and I heard such positive feedback from our guests. It was so inspiring to finally have an impact and become a sought after venue in the South of Market community.

To everyone who made it out to support our work, the arts, our community and Open Studios, my sincerest thanks go out to you.

Migration

The show I wanted to see in Chelsea was Doug Aitken's Migration show at 303 Gallery. And so happy we made it, it was definitely the high point of the trip. Migration is a video installation projected on 3 large plasma screens. The imagery was so vivid and surreal, it was totally compelling to watch.

Aitken takes scenes from modern roadside hotels, which appear to be completely abandoned and vacant, and shows North American migratory animals transposed in the spaces. What follows is some amazing cinematography showing anything from owls, to horses to bison in these rooms, and even better - what these creatures will do in such a space when left alone. While sounding a bit strange, the film is beautifully and artfully put together with an almost voyerestic approach to watchcing a lion playfully tearing the blankets off a bed in slow motion, or a beaver taking a hot bath.

a look at the large video screens

mid-west

Ernesto NETO

During a visit to Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in Chelsea, I stumbled upon a show by Ernesto Neto that I found really interesting. Neto constructs organic sculptures from interlocking materials such as wood, steel and acrylic. A lycra "skin" is sewn around the entire structure, and makes an almost vertebrate structure, creating a feeling as if you are walking through a large animals stomach. What I enjoyed was the scale, and social interactive nature of the sculpture, where viewers can walk through and experience the work themselves.

The New Museum NYC

During a recent visit to New York I was finally able to check out the New Museum on Bowery, designed by Tokyo-based architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa/SANAA. A simple facade makes for a nice clean design. Unfortunately the work inside was my least favorite thing about it. I highly discourage visiting the Elizabeth Peyton show!

San Francisco Bay

Just an interesting look at some clouds the other day while crusing along the Embarcadero

vines

Bali Bliss

Spending two and a half weeks in Bali really opened my eyes. A culture that bases it's religion around karma is one that we can all learn something from. In a third world country, where the majority of it's residents are poor and making close to nothing, they seem like a pretty happy and content group. I've never been a tourist anywhere (let alone living in my own city of San Francisco) where I've felt as safe and welcomed by the residents. With no locks on the doors, open air restaurants and shops, there appears to be no theft and little crime, which is such a completely foreign concept for me.

The Balinese practice Hindu Dharma, which is a blend of Hinduism, Buddhism and Animism (ancestor worship). Indigenous beliefs are clearly seen in the belief of natural elements and of the ancestors. Nature is viewed as "power" itself and each of its elements is thought to be subjected to spirits. These must be taken care of, provided with a shrine, fed with various offerings made from agricultural products and given respect. There are few societies in the world where religion plays a role such as it does in Bali, and it is apparent through the incredible beauty and color that accompanies the rituals and offerings, which seem to be ever occurring.

Frida Kahlo

I just made it to the closing day of the Frida Kahlo exhibit at the SFMOMA. While of course the show was fantastic - It was also a pretty great retrospective on her life - I didn't actually know Frida had such strong links to San Francisco. She and Diego Rivera were actually married at City Hall in SF. These are a few of my favorites...

Graphic Tokyo

Everywhere you look in Tokyo you find something beautiful - the attention to detail, care and workmanship is unprecedented. I was fascinated just walking through the city, noticing things that you just can't find here in the states. There is no graffiti or vandalism - beautiful materials can be used without worry of being destroyed. Smoking isn't allowed just anywhere on the streets, you need to stand in a "smoking zone" - and people actually do it, not to mention I didn't see a single person jay-walk. There is no garbage on the streets (and barely any trash cans as far as I could tell), no homeless people, and virtually everywhere felt safe. It really makes you think about what is going on back here and why we can't have behave just a little bit better.

Yoyogi Park

the concrete work is beautiful

takeshita dori, so many people, such a tiny street

salmon treats, the food courts were stunning

vending machines for everything and anything

ginza church

one of the private rooms at Shunju Tsugihagi, (designed by super potato)

A new perspective on Tofu

I felt the need to document a lunch experience we had while in Tokyo. One afternoon we dined at Tofuya Ukai, a very authentic looking (but actually only a couple of years old) tea garden type of structure which sits below the iconic Tokyo Tower and specializes in Tofu dishes. While coming across as very intimate, this restaurant actually seats 550 people. We were sat in a private tatami room and began a 9 course, 3 hour lunch that was truly unforgettable. Besides being delicious, the presentation was absolutely stunning. Here is a recap of what we had the pleasure of sampling that day.

Boiled tender abalone & eggplant.

crown daisy boiled spinach

sake

deep fried tofu with scallions & sweet miso

simmered crab & fried tofu ball

sashimi sampler of maguro & mackerel

shrimp, fried chestnuts, mystery fruit

shiba braised pork berry

grilled barracuda sushi

bean soup with tofu

fried shrimp & fish meat dumpling

rice cooked with taro

peach jelly