VT (for all of my design-obsessed peeps)

imagecourtesysmashingmagazinecom Peeps, Whether in town or country, evidence of untethered creativity is ample.  Sometimes it is found hidden beneath the homiest diner's counter-top or tucked under highway overpasses far beyond the reach of the most distant satellite-city.  Or briefly glimpsed from the train window while whizzing towards Union Station or Metropark where bustling commuters intent on:  making it in for early meetings/drop off at day-care/pick-up dry-cleaning (or get picked up at the 6:30 happy-hour) can scarcely make out the images precariously situated on roof-top water-towers/derelict apartment's north-facing wall/just above the shop sign for beer, wine, and cigarettes, which to many, seem hallucinatory.  Human-beings clustered in tight quarters and hurling through space display puzzling behavior made even more extreme by the fear of: missing a connection/getting a parking ticket/losing one's favorite table/being reprimanded or replaced or rejec...

imagecourtesytwokittiestypepad Peeps, As we continue this week's theme of ' ART OUTSIDE WALLS, ' the largest piece of art (by a community) is the AIDS QUILT.  The AIDS QUILT was conceived by AIDS activist Cleve Jones, and officially started in 1987 in collaboration with Mike Smith, Jack Caster, Gert McMullin, Ron Cordova, Larkin Mayo and Gary Yuschalk.  The AIDS QUILT earlier served as the only way of remembering the first casualties of the epidemic who were buried in secret or in nameless plots, or whom had been refused services by many funeral homes and cemeteries.  The AIDS QUILT was first seen on the National Mall (in Washington, DC) in 1987, and last displayed (in full) in 1996. According to the AIDS Memorial Foundation, ' the Quilt is a memorial to and celebration to the lives of people lost to the AIDS pandemic.  Each panel is 3' by 6', approximately the size of the average grave; this connects the ideas of AIDS and death more closely, even tho...

imagecourtesycalitreviewcom Peeps, Any discussion of artists who exhibit outside the confines of gallery walls, or are bound by the conventions of wooden frame, material limitations, or the whims of dealer or market, would be incomplete without the inclusion of Christo (and Jeanne-Claude), the celebrated team responsible for large-scale installations running through mountains and fields into the sea, or wrapping public spaces into objects of extraordinary beauty, clearly intended for all to enjoy, as well as to gently challenge the public's definition of art. Christo and Jeanne-Claude were a married couple (until Jeanne-Claudes' death in 2009) who created environmental works of art, such as the wrapping the Reichstag in Berlin, and the Pont-Neuf bridge in Paris, 'Running Fence' in California, and 'The Gates' in New York City's Central Park. Art dealer Nancy Doyle writes that, 'the pair creates environmental works that span great distances in popul...

imagecourtesyfak3rcomanddesignboom Peeps, Frequently no one leaves entirely satisfied.  Perhaps this the result of simply not knowing.  If your family is similar to mine, after Thanksgiving gluttony and cleanup, the debate invariably starts:  do we pursue high culture (and art) at the museum, or should we simply indulge our more base desires, and head for the mall and streets to indulge in window-gazing, bargain-shopping, and people watching.  Another set of cuff-links or wool slacks nabbed at holiday markdowns is always fun, yet never entirely satisfying when I scan the weekend papers and internally chastise myself for having ignored the wide selection of wonderful art-exhibitions at The National Gallery of Art, The Sackler Gallery, and The Hirshhorn Museum.  Sometimes in the contest of wills between various factions of the family, where young adults need to expend energy (and reassert their independence, why?), and the more culturally inclined seek to ...