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Art Bob D.C. Bob

Huichol VWs, Thomas Jefferson and a perfect spring day

Lara and I took advantage of an amazing spring day to walk the National Mall. We started at the MLK monument with no specific agenda, but we managed to see the Jefferson Memorial, a Huichol bead VW at the Museum of the American Indian and the Picasso sketches exhibit at the National Gallery of Art.

Not a bad stroll, all in all. And another reason it’s great to live in D.C.

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Assorted Bob Books Music Bob Prankster Bob

Wendell Berry vs. Godzilla

Wendell Berry was hitting stride while delivering the 41st annual Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities at Kennedy Center last night. The great agrarian poet was calling out the excesses of corporate America, technology, capitalism and our rampant disregard for nature. Our wanderlust has destroyed our rootedness, our sense of place.

It suddenly dawned on me that his overly simplified assessment of 21st century life really wasn’t all that original. Blue Öyster Cult beat him to it.

History shows again and again
How nature points out the folly of men

Berry was just one umlaut short of tearing those high-tension wires down …

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Art Bob Assorted Bob D.C. Bob Uncategorized

The moon may be high …

Our friends Anita and Emma are visiting from Mexico City, giving us a perfect excuse to have a great Ethopian meal at Etete and then jump on the Metro to see the Hirshhorn Museum turned into haunting, beautiful “liquid architecture” via artist Doug Aitken’s “Song 1.”

Digital projectors toss the work onto the Hirshhorn’s walls while traffic, pedestrians, mopeds and bikes drift through the scene, mashing up real life and art. Last night, we had an extra bonus: a full moon. Various versions of “If I Only Had Eyes for You” drive the work, which features fragments of stories, themes, ideas. The result is mesmerizing.

If you’re in D.C., I highly recommend you check this out. It runs till May 13 from sunset till midnight …

Here’s a clip where the artist explains what he’s up to