Our walk today held quite a few surprises. At the Glasgow Necropolis we happened upon the grave of William Miller, the ‘laureate of the nursery’ and author of Wee Willie Winkie. Behind it, Glasgow Cathedral dominates the skyline.
Category: Arts
The ultimate frequent flyers
I finally got around to seeing “Crossing the Line: The Passport Re-Imagined” at Open Book, just three blocks from our home. Here, the artist has produced passports for migratory birds; the painted eggs represent individual birds, while the cloth satchel serves as a “nest” to hold the eggs and passports. On my own travels, I’ve often been in awe of migratory birds, especially at Farewell Spit on New Zealand’s South Island, where we observed bar-tailed godwits that migrate 7,500 miles to Alaska.
Beyond the canon
We had an unusual perch for the nearly sold-out Minnesota Orchestra concert. There wasn’t much dust on the pieces we heard: two 20th-century American composers unfamiliar to me (Antheil and Adams) and Tchaikovsky’s final symphony, written on the cusp of the 20th century. In the foreground there’s a robotic camera; the performance was broadcast live on Minnesota public television and radio.
Closed on Mondays
On Mondays, I sometimes get the urge to look at art. At the start of my walk today, I popped into Open Book for “Crossing the Line: The Passport Re-Imagined.” Bad idea: like many galleries, it’s closed on Mondays. Since the cafe was open, an Americano and a donut replaced examining “themes of immigration, power, limitation, and belonging.”
Rob Roy: history, spiced for the screen
It’s Sausage Saturday, which means sausage, cabbage, and a movie with ice cream at intermission. Tonight’s feature is Rob Roy (1995) and his ‘fight against a corrupt aristocracy,’ a story that feels relevant for our times. Set in 1712 and 1713, the plot follows the fallout after money lent to Rob Roy is stolen. While the ‘baddie’ is an invention, the performance nearly won an Oscar, so we’re expecting a well-told tale filled with ‘epic Highland sword battles.’
Exploring Tokyo’s layers
Visited the Minneapolis Institute of Art to view Utagawa Hiroshige’s “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” (1856). In 2011, artist Emily Allchurch photographed some of these same locations. I’m planning a multi-day hike across Tokyo that includes remnants of Tokyo when it was Edo (pre-1868). I’m collecting materials and layering historical maps over Google Maps. The city has faced destruction more than once, yet traces of its past remain.
Mind games at the Guthrie
Tonight: Sleuth at the Guthrie. Plenty of mind games.
Contemplating compromise and conscience
At the Minneapolis Institute of Art today, explored German art from 1910 to 1945. In the foreground ‘The Fallen Man’ was created in 1916 as a memorial against war. Like other pieces in this gallery, it was declared ‘degenerate’ in the 1930s. Moving through the exhibit, I saw the contrast between artists who resisted and those who compromised their work.
Music for a winter night
A light snow was falling as we walked into Orchestra Hall for a Minnesota Orchestra concert. The program included pianist Kirill Gerstein, who performed two concertos: a modern piece by Thomas Adès, a British composer new to me, and Ravel’s Concerto for the Left Hand. It was impressive to hear such a rich, full sound produced by just one hand. By the time we left, the snowstorm was intensifying.
A study of moral failure
Tonight, Macbeth on the thrust stage at the Guthrie. I asked AI to restate the first two acts as though Macbeth was you-know-who: ‘Listen, we’re going to make Scotland great again, okay? The previous administration—Duncan, total disaster—was weak. Very low energy. We’re doing a complete takeover, and frankly, the witches, they’re tremendous people, they saw the vision. They told me, “Sir, you’re going to win so much you’ll get tired of winning.”‘