VT (for all of my design-obsessed peeps)

imagecourtesylucalaserramanagement Peeps, Regretfully I did not get the opportunity to view Venus' Transit which occurred last evening or the previous.  Apparently the celestial body passes between the earth and the sun in a pattern that repeats every 243 years (with pairs of transits eight years apart separated by long gaps of 121.5 years and 105.5 years; previous pairs of transits were in December 1874 and December 1882).  I'm almost embarrassed to admit that with very little effort, I could have driven out west, way beyond the city limits, happily ensconced in a deck chair (and fortified against the chill of the mountain air with wool blankets and doubles of Black Label), to watch an astronomical phenomena which won't reoccur until December 2117 and December 2125.  Darn it! I'm eager (as well as determined) to pick up the new album from Montreal native Luca Laserra which is scheduled to drop later this summer.  Legions of fans (and myself) are disquieted,...

eldiablillojaponesysuspasajerosinnocents marianocruzcecilia courtesymarianocruzcecilia Peeps, Sometimes what we believe we see is much, much more (than what we thought we saw).  I've experienced the feeling of 'Oh!!' so many times, especially when it pertains to Art, where it's easy to assume or surmise based on a perfunctory glance, or the wish to just hurry on because of little messages which flood our brain signaling MOVE!! for a thousand and one reasons.  Any of these feelings which causes us to linger or to scurry in search of safety, emotions such as fear or disgust, while certainly less desirable than interest, surprise, or admiration, are infinitely preferable to disinterest or indifference; wouldn't you agree?  I've never been able to stroll casually through a museum's gallery, chatting with a fellow-viewer about the merits of a particular painting or sculpture, while courteously side-stepping the 'serious' who claim a spot on the lon...

myquickembracehasdeletedalltimeandplace painting,satadrusovanbanduri Peeps, Big-city dwellers in India have taken to Internet-dating with a vengeance rarely seen since the overthrow (of you know)!!  Cleverly, they've invented a hybrid style that is sure to sweep across the rest of the country, like the monsoon rains.  But wait, no need to wait for a gradual/actual/physical transformation spreading from village to village, state to state.  No need to wait for the runner, or the weekly post, or the radio announcer's somber intonation, cause in all parts of modern India it's all done with the click of the mouse, or a slight tap on SEND .  Almost instantaneously images of lovely women and hunky men flash across one's screen alerting the interested viewer of their availability to meet for tea and biscuits/a cold mango-lassi/walk through the park/movies/sex/marriage, or whatever . . . Satadru Sovan Bandari's art focuses on the place where reality and illusion int...

photopieterhugo courtesyflavorwire Peeps, I'm convinced that I'll never visit the Dark Continent for reasons too numerous to list, of which many are purely irrational.  Nevertheless, the birthplace of human civilization continues to fascinate my interest and imagination.  Well before Picasso, Braque, and the Cubists grasped the extent of artistry and creativity to be found in the art of ' Les Savages, ' artisans and craft-persons were producing work quite innovative and more advanced than their Western (meaning European and Mediterranean) counterparts. For example, iron-working technology in eastern Niger dates to about 1500 BC, and the remains excavated from a 10th century burial site in eastern Nigeria (Igbo-Ukwu) demonstrated superb bronze-casting techniques, far superior to the achievements of other cultures of the same period.  A brief survey of world history as taught within most American class-rooms, could lead one to believe that until the 19th or 20t...