Moved and Things in December

Over the holidays we moved to a new house on the outskirts of Houston.  The house has so much more light then we were used to.  We are still in organisation mode and haven't had time to really focus on the holidays.

We did check Lights in the Heights earlier this month.  It seemed like a block party with parents carting around their kids and their coolers.  Tons of people from all over Houston show up for the event.  We saw two handbell ringing groups which I had never seen before.  Some houses had musicians playing.  It was a very nice introduction to Houston at the holiday season.  

We went to see the exhibition, Salon of Beauty, at Rice Gallery before it close this month by Ana Serrano. It was neat to see all her cardboard houses and street scene.  I like cardboard work but I can never get terrible excited about it.

I've been in Austin for New Years eve for many many years and now I'm in a completely new place.  I have loved going to downtown austin for First Night Austin since 2008 and then ANY 2011 last year.  This year I'm excited to experience another cities downtown new years eve celebration.  We are leaning towards going to Discovery Green for New Years Live.

Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season :-)  Send me a message with what you are going to be up to for New Years!

December in Houston

it's December in Texas, which means somewhat cooler days.  Sometimes I wish that Texas would get a real blanket of snow but no one would know what to do with themselves.  So I am content with the autumn colors.  We will be moving into a new house over xmas.  It's in a nice neighborhood and close to Peter's work.  Hopefully I will get a chance to take photos of our xmas food/fun even though it might be a bit hectic after moving.

Pieces

Rain in Texas

Event: Photobooth with Cathy

Event: Cathy day

Tucked away in the center of Houston is the Arboretum and Nature Center.





Afterwards, photo booth fun with Cathy.

Yummy Menchie's

Hi There, Menchie's in Houston.

Bhldn store

hi there-i promised photos of the bhldn store:

ArtCrowd End of Summer Bash

This past weekend we went to the MFAH art crowd party.  They wouldnt allow me to take photos- :'(  It was nice to look at the Second Nature: Contemporary Landscape from the MFAH collection exhibition again.  We mostly looked at Melissa Miller's Tapestry painting that I mentioned in a earlier post.

I adore her.

As I've mentioned before she has a lovely book printed by the University of Texas at Austin Press, which you can buy from them or amazon.  

Event: Art day

On Saturday, July 30th, we went to see the new exhibitions at the MFAH and the CAMH.  The MFAH had two new exhibitions, Helmut Newton: White Women, Sleepless Nights, Big Nudes AND Second Nature: Contemporary landscapes from the MFAH collection. 

The Helmut Newton exhibition had several pieces I was infatuated with:

Saddle I

Jenny Capitain, Pension Dorian, Berlin 1977

To learn more about Helmut Newton click here or go to his foundation here.

Really adore saddle I because of it's sexual suggestions and relating.  I appreciate that she isn't nude but fully clothed in riding gear-displaying this ability for a woman to be dominant and submissive.  The second and third works I enjoyed for their conglomeration of broken beauty.  We get lost in concepts of perfectionism relating to the beautiful but in reality it is what defines us as different which makes us beautiful.  

In the Second Nature exhibition I went mainly to see Melissa Miller's work called Tapestry. 

She doesn't have a  website but does have a beautiful book which you can see here.

The CAMH had some Kara Walker prints but nothing else really fascinated me beyond those pieces.  

Event: Gingerman pint night July 6th

Adventuring across town to get a draught beer at Gingerman. Ordering the local cider you have only heard stories about: Leprechaun Cider Company

Peter ordered the pint night beer-Gulden Draak. Isn't the glass pretty? So glad we could bring it home with us. The beer was delicious, too!

Event: TedxHouston

This past Saturday I went to TedxHouston which is a independently organized event from tedtalks. The day started out getting a tote full of swag-which seems to be automatic with conferences (just like sxsw in Austin). The totes seem like the most exciting part--we did get a $5 giftcard to amazon and a book on Houston's biodiversity. But you know what-those things are neat but I never expected anything. As I walked to the door I was more excited by the speakers I would hear than the free things. I brought my own water bottle as other accepted the plastic water bottles offered. We forget that sometimes it's better to say "no" instead of just accept things because they are FREE.

But beyond my rant about swag-which is very kind of the conferences to supply the attendees because some make quite a trek--in the end it makes us feel good/special to the Conference.

Anyhow, there were some great speakers and some not so great. I'll focus like I did with the Ottawa Festival on what I think is the "Best of."

Best of TedxHouston from my perspective.
Chris Seay who is a pastor at Ecclesia in Houston. Although I would consider myself spiritual, I would never say I'm religious. Which is a strange place to be when many people want you define where you sit specifically in spirituality. The point is he didn't make me feel uncomfortable for my indecision but told us a story. The one thing I remember about going to church when I was little was the stories-that is what humans need most-something they can make tangible in their own lives to build a moral understanding between each-other. Not look down on eachother because they are predominantly of a specific faith. He also talked about imitation. And how we must understand ourselves through the people "who shape us" so we can look at how we(humans of all sorts) "share a common story."
This isn't what he spoke of but it's a good view of his work:


Nina Godiwalla

who talked about the complexities of power. She talked about these principles to notice in positions of power:

"1. noticing who we are excluding and including.
2. create inclusive cultures
3. step up and speak up (welcoming work cultures)"

AND

Angela Blanchard

talked about poor communities and how we cannot expect someone to change by saying all the negatives about a community. But rather see the positives and asking the right questions, "what are your skills?" rather than "What is wrong with your community?"

"You Cannot Build on Broken"

She talked about her own family and how she was lucky because her "parents could see beyond that." They could see what was good in their lives, not what was broken. "Embrace people on their own strenghts"...and..."stand next to them rather than in front of them."

Also, smilebooth photo (no smiles allowed)

Event: Best of Ottawa Film Festival at MFAH

2010.
Trailer for the best of Ottawa Film Festival:



I will just list my favourites:
Little Deaths by Ruth Lingford, US, 11mins.

Little Deaths is about the exploration of the orgasm.

La Traversée by Elise Simard, Canada, 4.5 min.

I love the style of the artwork in the animation but the storyline was a bit drawn out for what it was.

Blockhead ‘The Music Scene’ by Anthony Schepperd, US, 2010, 5 mins.

"The Music Scene" from Anthony Francisco Schepperd on Vimeo.

Music video for Blockhead
"It is an animated mindmelt that transforms into a post human New York where TV and animals discover each other, an event that leads to places neither of them could have ever expected."

Sinna Mann (Angry Man) by Anita Killi, Norway, 2010, 20 mins.

Although quite a lengthy film it does get a good point across. I appreciated the use of "the king" and the dog in the animation as helpers of the boy to find his voice.
"Sinna Mann (Angry Man) is a film about secrets that shouldn’t be secret."

Event: Big Range Dance Festival Program B

photo from Big Range Festival website

Yesterday we went to the Big Range Dance Festival, Program B One of our friends, Ashley Horn, is in the Festival and choreographed one of the dances. We have see her work prior at ARTeryHouston where she captivated me by the piece, "Verdigris". There is a playfulness in the way her work is displayed that draws you nearer.

The playfulness that I'm speaking of isn't childish but sensual and creates a basic understanding of humanistic qualities. In the sense that we are all strange entities balancing our emotions off one another.


photo from big range website

You can see her work at Barnevelder Arts Complex tonight (Houston, TX):
PROGRAM B:

The Barnevelder is an amazing space by the way. It's a old auto shop they converted into a arts space.
$20 | Saturday, June 11 | 8:00pm

Event: Art gallery day

We tried A lovely veggie eatery, Pepper Tree Veggie Cuisine. Probably the best veg place I've been to in Houston.

We went to the Menil Collection to see the new-ish exhibitions:
Ancestors of the Lake: Art of Lake Sentani and Humboldt Bay, New Guinea


and

Upside Down : Arctic Realities Be ready to put on little white booties to walk around the white room.. the wooden chains and masks were a definite highlight.




Lawndale Art Center

My favourite was Marc Bell's work from the Walpurgis Afternoon exhibition curated by Robert Boyd.


Contemporary Art Museum, Houston
We saw avideo/audio installationwhich was video installation art-which is something don't quite understand. Just as a video installation artist might be disinterested in my works on paper. What excites us is the familiar?

Museum of fine Arts, Houston for the Titian exhibition.
More classical art from the MFAH and the NGA. We also joined MFAH so we will get to attend the member's parties and given early previews of the touring exhibitions--pretty exciting to become a member of a museum. yay!

That's the gist of our art day this past Saturday.