MAMAN - Louise Bourgeois

MAMAN – Louise Bourgeois

Hi Folks!

Louise Bourgeois’s monumental spider sculpture MAMAN (1999) is a sight. This brown, furry, 9.2 meters tall, motherly figure with eight legs carries it’s unborn youngs with her in an egg sac. MAMAN brings to my mind my own mother who used to say: “If you have nothing nice to say, just zip it!” She was also furry with her dark leg hairs. But, Bourgeois claimed that contrary to the common interpretations the spider was a creature with positive connotations, and perhaps she was sincere. Or perhaps she was trying to tell us something about spiders.

-Gart

Self-Portrait - Robert Mapplethorpe

Self-Portrait – Robert Mapplethorpe

Hi Folks!

Robert Mapplethorpe said what I thought: “I want to see something I’ve never seen before.” And when I saw some of Mapplethorpe’s art, I also saw things that I had never seen before. And what you have seen, cannot be unseen. I guess that’s what bothers some uptight puritans in Robert Mapplethorpe’s art. But please, grow up. There’s nothing wrong in a bit of naked male skin. If you open your mind you may actually like it, or is that what you are afraid of. …Seriously speaking, Mapplethorpe broke taboos with his attitude and art in the 60’s and 70’s and for that I thank him. He is probably most known for his controversial photographs of naked men and male genitals with a S&M twist.  Homoeroticism in art causes seldom scandals anymore, but Mapplethorpe can still raise a few eyebrows by the cigarette in his mouth. True rebel!

-Gart

Times Square - New York City

Times Square – New York City

Hi Folks,

I teamed up with these guys to fight the first world problems, and there wouldn’t be a more appropriate place to start the fight than the Center of the Universe, namely Times Square in New York City. Our motto is: Worst things first! In the shift briefing the following tasks were assigned.

  1. Iron Man shall be in charge of investigating why on earth 4G service is quite poor in some parts of Manhattan. It’s 2015 and still at times we may find problems in status-updating, tweeting, tindering and what not when there is no 4G service and barely any 3G or even 2G service. Once the cause for the poor coverage is discovered, Iron Man will eliminate it. I know he will, his reputation is on line.
  2. Some ignorant dimwits upstream cabs. But Hulk will put an end to that epitome of selfishness. If you do not know the etiquette for taxi-traveling, stay home! And if you do leave your house and you walk against the flow of traffic to gain an advantage against your fellow citizens, you may have to face with the consequences. Hulk is known for his subtle technique in dealing with matters that require certain firmness.
  3. Do you know the feeling when there are dozens of flavors on serve but you just cannot find your favorite ice cream. Man landed on the Moon in 1969 but fails to manage the logistics from an ice cream factory to the café closest to you. Cookie Monster is just the right person to find out why we are tortured at the counter with replies like: “I’m so sorry but at the moment we do not have chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.” And you would like to say bite me, but that’s not an ice cream -flavor, is it!
  4. At times it’s almost impossible to get tickets to Broadway musicals. As you may remember, I visited Mormons’ head quarters called Salt Lake Temple some time ago and I wanted to learn more about Joseph Smith. Now when I’m here I wanted to educate myself by seeing the musical Book of Mormon but is was sold out. Sheriff Woody Pride shall be in charge of forming a task force which will not rest until there are either more musicals or less viewers.

I trust that Iron Man, Hulk, Cookie Monster and Sheriff Woody are up to their tasks, and I may continue my journey by knowing that even while I type this post, there are every-day-super-heroes doing their best to make the world a better place for all of us – even people with really small problems.

-Gart