Dutch kinetic sculpture artist Theo Jansen’s wind-powered strandbeests are the inspiration for my next LEGO project. From 1990 onwards, he has taken these strand (Dutch for beach) creatures through twelve periods of evolution. Inspired, I want to build thematically similar creatures using LEGO.
Category: Arts
Pillsbury A Mill: Supporting Creativity
Walked down the alley behind the former Pillsbury A Mill. Completed in 1881, it was once the largest flour mill in the world. The reinforcements visible on the right were added to address the vibrations from the milling machines, which threatened to shake the structure apart. Today, the building has been transformed into a community of residential artists’ lofts.
Multiple Realities
At the Walker Art Center today: “Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s–1980s,” artists who pushed boundaries under communism. The threats faced by our current system share unsettling parallels, whether it’s the targeting of sexual minorities, the suppression of inconvenient historical truths, “alternative facts,” or attempts to control access to information.
Trading Hygge for the Blues
Woke up this mornin’, expecting a day of hygge as the cold spell winds down. Then friends on the mend from COVID passed on tickets to us for blues artist Keb’ Mo’ at the Dakota Jazz Club. This eight-time Grammy award winner was new to us but not to the sold-out audience.
Framing Friendships
Walked over to the Guthrie for a performance of ‘Art’ where friendships are inflamed by a piece of minimalist art. “If you’re not who I think you are, then who am I?”
Handel’s Messiah
Handel’s Messiah at Orchestra Hall from the nosebleed section, aka the gods (UK English). First performed in Dublin in 1742 it still sounds good today, even from the cheap seats.
Beyond the Boundaries of Art
I ventured behind the blackout curtain on the left to find utter darkness. As I waited for my eyes to adjust, it dawned on me that this was not part of the exhibition. I quickly retreated back into the light, just as a docent approached. A mea culpa was in order.
A Splash of Color
On my gray, misty Mississippi walk, a vibrant mural splashed across a concrete wall stabilizing the riverbank. “What Will Sustain Us?”—art that discourages taggers and transforms the mundane.
Guns and Murder
A light dusting of snow was forming as we walked to Theatre in the Round for an adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel. Predictably, the playbill cautioned us to expect gunfire and murder.
Expanding the Repertoire
View from the lobby of Orchestra Hall while enjoying a pre-concert glass of wine. Tonight the Minnesota Orchestra featured pieces by six black composers, including two women. The art form tends to be Eurocentric, sometimes stodgy; tonight was refreshing, mixing it up.