29.09 going out

After a new visit at the book fair, I discovered a nice irish pub with friends of mine. At the Lillie's, musicians play irish music every saturday afternoon. The place is in the victorian style.Very nice, even if they don't have hot chocolate!Why did I write "going out"? Because Yesterday evening was my first real party evening. We went to Le Bain, a club with a roof top from where you see the whole city. There is also a pool there, that's why it's called like that. Electro music, crêpes and skyscrapers.

http://www.lilliesnyc.com/

28.08 Art Book Fair

The art book fair opened yesterday in Brooklyn in the PS1 (PS for Public School, yet a part of the MoMA). I planed to come every day and it was right because today I just had time to see a small part of the exhibition. In the schoolyard, a lot of independent publishers had a stand. Two examples of books I found great there.
*– Xeromancy by Terence Hannum, hairs on tracing paper.
terencehannum.com

*– Signal, a journal of international political graphics & culture, by PM Press.

www.pmpress.org

26.09 World Trade Center

I was in the 9.11 memorial. In place of the two towers, two pools have been built were water loudly falls into a big hole. All names of the victims are written in metal all around the pools. It's a well-done thing, I think, and it will be interesting when all constructions of the World Trade Center towers will be finished. Then the visitors would only here the waterfall.I also went to the Whitney Museum and was disappointed. Half of the museum was closed or only for members. And the rest left me cold. That's not completely true, because the Yayoi Kusama exhibition had interesting paintings and drawings. But since the japanese artist worked on his obsessions, I felt sometimes not in the mood to look at the artworks. Maybe it's something I should have seen another day.
 

25.09 art and design without design

I didn't write anything on Monday because it was a strange day and I had almost nothing to show. I was shopping! Okay, I also saw nice places like Williamsburg, the hipster place in Brooklyn. But yet I know it's better to pay 12 dollars for a museum, because during that time, you can't spend more money...
So yesterday I've been to the MAD – Museum for Art and Design. The visit began on the 6th level in the artist residence: each day, an artist of NYC works there and explains his work to visitors. Quite nice. Yesterday, Trong Gia Nguyen was there with his cake paintings and shoe project...
www.cameandwent.com/tgn.html

In the lower levels, you can see the Duke Doris collection for islamic art and a special exhibition about Native American and their work.
May I present you

KENT MONKMAN

JORDAN A. BENNETT

and MARIE WATT?

And because you deserve it: two pictures of Manhattan taken from Brooklyn yesterday.

It the staircase, a collection of glass. Yes of course, it was a museum for Design also.

You can imagine how disappointed I was to find, just at the end, the jewelry gallery closed! It was the reason for me to come. 

 

23.09 Ikea & Lime pie in Brooklyn

Yesterday was Ikea day for us. We took the Ikea water taxi in the south of the financial district and went to Brooklyn. Our goal was a nice brunch place and a hand made lime pie in this area. But the walk to those places wasn't bad. After this time in Red Hook we finally went to Ikea. And there, no surprise, it was the same as everywhere.

Advertising in the sky.

Gera (a place in Germany, close to Leipzig) is in New York!

22.09 the Cloisters

The Cloisters are part of the Met, a part specialized in medieval art and architecture. The museum building is a puzzle of religious elements from Europe put here together. So you can walk in a roman cloister from Spain and enter in a church from France. The panels explain which part is original, which was a modern reconstruction. It's amazing to hear, they found marble from the same 12th century quarry to make a perfect assemblage. And it's such a calm and peaceful place, you can hardly believe you're still in New York.

One of the complete hand made playing cards.

201.09 MoMa and Brooklyn part II

So yesterday I went to the MoMA at the free time (every friday, 4-8 pm). The line was getting along the whole block but we could get in without waiting because they simply let everybody come. The museum was really crowded – the prints section wasn't so bad, maybe it's mot that interesting for the most people. Design & architecture was just full. But we could see nice models and pictures. I really liked the utopia part with the work of Rem Koolhaas and co. They got inspiration in the cold war and the Berlin war, designing a world where everything is planed for people. Where for example the open space is called "agressivity park" or something like that.

 

Pottery by Eva Zeisel.

In the design section, near to the italian kitchen-box.

Exodus of the voluntary prisoners of architecture, Rem Koolhaas and Elia Zenghelis.

A Brooklyn wall.

20.09 Chelsea

A lemon cup cake from the Chelsea Market.

On the High Line, after the parisian "Coulée verte".

The high line is a park built the last years on a former train line. The trains could deliver products direct in the firms and fabrics. As it wasn't used anymore, residents from the borrow built this project. So you can yet walk above the streets and between the plants.

And yet I have to see the famous "Coulée verte" at home...

Claire Olivier Gallery, Beth Cavener Stichter.

In a gallery at the 508 West 26th street. I'm so sorry I don't remember the name!

19.09 Morgane-Central-China

I went to the Morgane Library on the 37th street. Unfortunately, it wasn't allowed to take pictures but I just can recommend to see it because it's a beautiful place (old and new together, the last part is by Renzo Piano) an amazing collection of books, paintings and archeological pieces. So for example you can see Memling and Peruggiano paintings or 3 Gutembergs bibels!
There are also exhibitions. Yesterday, I saw "Churchill and the power of words" and "Albers and the homage to the square".
In the Afternoon I took a calm time in Central Park with a friend, eating frozen yoghurt and walking.
And I went to Chinatown and Little Italy. In little Italy it was the San Gennaro festival so the streets were like a green-white-red market for sausages, cheese and candies. I didn't want to try anything...
I continued on the Mott and East Broadway streets, were Chinese live and sell fish, mushrooms and a lot of strange things! I never was in China but I must be like that.

18.09 Liberty!

Turning around the Liberty Island...

I won't explain a lot about the statue because I had myself the impression to do something again. I never was there before but I saw it so often...

I found the trip on boat really nice, the wind made me realize, I'd forgotten the sea is so close to the city. On the island of Liberty we received a audio guide, what disappointed me because it was just a few new informations. In the Museum of Ellis Island, I found it much better. You always have to hear such fictionalized commentaries as "Imagine you're a tired and hungry immigrant and you travel on this ship. What would you think?"

But it becomes always more interesting. I liked the small objects, in particular the mind tests created by the doctor Knox in the early 20th century. He had to find out if some travelers, who it was impossible to speak with because of the language, were "normally intelligent" or not. So he created puzzles and forms that we recognize today in kids games: a star, a circle, a square to fit in the right gap; flowers to assemble in pairs...