The next fun event from last week was a Fundraiser that had multiple surprises in store.

One subject that caught my eye was glassware – and for my taste nobody does that better (in the art department) than the flemish painters of the Baroque. The topic suggested itself by watching an extraordinary bartender, Estanislado Orona with Aperitif/PDX, lay out his wares and providing a drink that was out of this world.

Note, I like beer. Or the occasional Pinot Gris. I’ve only ventured into cocktails in the last year, and then sparingly. But this thing was a knock-out. Called Sprung it mixed Trisaetum Winery Riesling, Jasmine Honey, Whiskey Tincture, Honey Dust, Gold, and Ylang Ylang perfume.

Side effect, other than an involuntary smile on my face for the rest of the evening, was honey dust glued all over my camera, since I was at work that night. Just like the rise of the pronk (fancy display) still life paintings in the Northern and Spanish Netherlands in the 1600s were indications of increasing urbanization, the advent of cocktails in the Heuer universe reflects increasing sophistication. And mess. But I digress.

The bartender clearly understood that part of the pleasure is visual. Never mind that the chrysanthemum blossoms in the glass where fall flowers, the intended effect – spring – was achieved.

When you study the dutch paintings it becomes clear very quickly that glass was still a luxury item in the 1600s. Many painters used the same glass over and over in different arranged still life settings. And they chose to place them against dark backgrounds so that the sparkle became particularly visible in the contrast. I did not have that choice as a photographer who documented a set scene, but even then the glasses to me looked luxurious, perhaps in their multitude.

The paintings focused on personal possessions and commerce at that period, mainly in the cities of Antwerp, Middelburg, Haarlem, Leiden, and Utrecht.  Later, when Amsterdam became the economic center, the fancy pronk still lives really took off, featuring depictions of porcelain, venetian glass, exotic objects etc.

Here is to pleasure in life, for eyes and tastebuds. Cheers!

Jan Davidsz de Heem Still Life with a Glass and Oysters  1640

Osias Beert de Elder  Three Dishes with Sweatmeats and Chestnuts and three Glasses on a Table

Frans Ykens  Still Life with Shrimp 17th Century

Peter Claesz Still Life with Silver Brandy Bowl, Wine Glass, Herring and Bread 1642

The Laika exhibit at PAM showed whole wardrobes of tiny clothes for its tiny characters. For our last installment of made by hand, then, I chose the act of sewing.  My own experience with the craft has been less than stellar. I remember spending childhood Sundays with butterflies in my stomach because Mondays saw “needle craft lessons” in school. At which, to use contemporary language, I sucked. Darning damned me, cross stitch killed me. Crocheting cursed my brain. Back stitch blinded me, chain stitch tied me down and basting stitch bowled me over. The sewing machine reserved its clogging spools for your’s truly, and then there was the day where I gave it a good kick in fury and ended up at the headmistress’ office….

It is with pleasure, then, that I introduce someone today who has much better attitude and aptitude, a creative seamstress of my acquaintance. Here are her words about the process, studio and inspiration and her photographs to demonstrate.

In most cases, what I like to do is start with white cotton fabric and dye or paint it, then stamp it, stencil it, silk screen it, and stitch it (by machine or hand or both). Once I have colored and decorated the fabric, I like to sew it into useful items (examples: shoulder bags, zipper pouches, coin purses) or art quilts and fabric collages. The possibilities are endless! Currently, bright colors and simple patterns are my favorites but I’m curious about working with earth tones and interesting combinations of hues and values.

Joan’s work can be found here if you’d like to see the end products: https://www.etsy.com/shop/JoanZiviStudio. 

Only the images of buttons are mine, since I can proudly announce I am these days able to sew them on, at last.

And here is a fun trailer from a Spanish film about a seamstress who also became a weapon smuggler and spy during the war.  Title translated means The time in-between seams. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Htzamn0cl78  

(English version on Netflix The Time Inbetween)

Watching pretty people do dangerous things and fall in love from the perch of your couch is so much more pleasant than getting a seam straight, don’t you agree? I cherished the fact that the heroine’s idea of dying and twisting plain cotton/linen fabric to make a special gown manages to make said dress take on the sheen of silk. Hollywood magic…. Hey, I might not have the hand, but I still have the eye to see these things!

Odds and ends today, while I am packing up montages for tomorrow’s event.

Dismay over the damaged prints I have to throw out, the result of a flood in my room this summer from a room-unit air conditioner.

Disbelief over how much work has accumulated over the last 7 years or so.

Decisions about what to take and what to leave at home.

Doubts about pricing, always such a tricky question, when you want people to be able to afford something, but also not undervalue what you have created.

Determination to have this

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2017/nov/22/worlds-first-artist-airline-angelhaha-fly-with-happiness

available for my next opening….. just kidding. For balanced reporting I recommend celebrating people who do good in the world, not just frivolous gestures. Today is the day the Alternative Nobel Prize (for human rights activist who are always overlooked) will be given out in Stockholm. Among the honorees is a US lawyer who fights multinational industries that harm with pollution.

http://www.rightlivelihoodaward.org/inform/news-room/2017-announcement/

Hope to see you tomorrow.

I will bring a few prints of the the series On Transience this Saturday to the studio sale. It is more abstract work than my usual montages, but close to my heart, since it was the first leg in the ongoing project on displacement.

I was inspired by the transient nature of the immigrant experience, in place and emotion, to photograph objects in transition. The images of man-made materials found in trashcans, recycling centers, junk stores and shipyards, were to bring to mind the Jewish scrap peddlers from Eastern Europe who began to arrive in Oregon in the early 1900s. Some of these immigrants made their livings by gathering scrap metal that was cast off, discarded, and broken and by peddling it on the streets of Portland and other Oregon towns. A few of these peddlers eventually turned this “recycling” work into successful enterprises such as the shipyard, where I was photographing as well.

The montages emphasize the transient nature of the materials that historically provided some Jewish immigrants’ livelihood: iron, wood, plastic, paper, and steel. Contemporary immigrants too, regardless of how they made their livings back home, sometimes have no other choice than to turn to menial jobs, cleaning or working in the fields. I wanted to provide the viewer a way to contemplate the mobility of the lives of immigrants, from one land to another, from one life to another.

And given that it looks like we are now living in something akin to a banana republic, my thoughts are never far away from the concept of emigration – and the emotional and practical obstacles that are making it so unbelievably hard to leave your country. Then again (for balanced reporting) read this: a beautiful contemplation of two sorts of migration, from one country to another, from one status to another, after coming out. The writer’s experience let to the study of migratory art: http://therumpus.net/2017/11/torch-movement-its-depictions-and-two-way-tickets/?utm_source=Narratively+email+list&utm_campaign=9daeb705ae-MEMOIR_MONDAY_2017_10_23&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f944cd8d3b-9daeb705ae-66322689

Manhattan – American Airlines Flight 11 – 2001

There are some stories out there that have survived, pretty much intact, across centuries. The myth of Daedalus and Icarus, as told by Ovid (Metamorphoses VIII: 183 – 235), is one of those. The narrative describes father and son attempting to flee exile in Crete. Daedalus fashions them wings and warns of flying too low or too high. In one case the sea will dampen and weigh down the feathers, in the other case the sun will melt the wax with which they are affixed. In flight, Icarus is overcome by the joy of soaring and plummets to his death after coming too near to the sun.

Manhattan – United Airlines Flight 175 – 9/11/2001

The myth has often been interpreted as an admonition to stay away from extremes and follow the middle path. It has also been called an example of hubris, attempting behavior reserved for the Gods.

Hudson River, NY – United Airways Flight 1549 – 2009 (Birdstrike)

For us who have witnessed a lifetime of airplane disasters the myth provides the easy analogy of things falling out of the sky. As a cognitive psychologist, I am, however, more concerned with the parallels the myth offers regarding the assumption of being in control, falling for the illusion of control. Daedalus was fully aware of the dangers and surely was no fool; nonetheless he was certain he could handle the situation – a certainty that cost him his son. Icarus was warned but got swept up by his desires and threw caution to the wind. In a similar fashion, we invent and use technology; we set national and global policies and make economic or military decisions about situations we consider controllable – or better yet, controlled. Unlike Icarus, we often lack information or warning, but, like Daedalus, we are often alert to the risks but convinced we can handle them – and are profoundly mistaken. The result sometimes involves the same fate as Icarus’ – falling from the sky – and sometimes takes other equally tragic forms.

Schiphol (AMS)  – El Al Flight 1864 1992

Free Fall  (2015) was a series of photomontages that were intended to remind us of the fallacy described above. The images are composed of photographs that I took either on site or that came from geographic areas that I felt could be stand-ins for sites that I had no access to (Ukraine; South China Seas.) The montages are linked to the story of Icarus via images of birds and to modern tragedy through the disaster locations they include or refer to. They were my take on some of the tragic consequences of the illusion of control.

Miami (MIA) – ValuJet Flight 596 1992

And for balanced reporting, here is something to make you smile and feel a bit safer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=63&v=syozl4DAPs4

This week will be my own memory lane. On Saturday, 12/2/2017, two friends and I are showing and selling some of our work for a day – I will bring some of my older series out of storage.

We sent out evites, but I thought I’d use the blog to do a bit of the ground work and dig out images from the archives; some of these prints will be available.

One of my oldest series Affirmation&Negation will be represented (and if I thought its issues of bible touting and social injustice needed our attention then, I do so tenfold now with our current government.)

My approach to this series was dialectical. The images each represent a Biblical passage, placed into a contemporary setting (Affirmation). However, the images also raise questions about whether the demands for principled, ethical and just behavior found in the Old and New Testament are only given lip service by modern society (Negation). Many of the montages included photographs of people I met on the street, homeless.

Luckily, there are always exceptions to the ruling bad guys and good guys still exist:

https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2017/1120/A-billionaire-wages-war-on-poverty-in-Oklahoma

(how’s that for fair and balanced reporting given my usual fare of bad news?)

If you are in Portland and have time on Saturday it would be great to see you around!

http://evite.me/EVb1SCTyrS