A last image (for now) from the HYBOCOZO exhibit at the Missouri Botanical Garden. The caption is the name of this piece. The building on the left is the mausoleum of Henry Shaw, the 19th Century philanthropist who founded the place.
Tomorrow is City Daily Photo's monthly theme day, on the subject of travel. I'll be posting what I think is the best photo of my career.
Close-up of one of the faces of a work in the HYBYCOZO exhibit called Rhombi. It's easier to perceive from farther away but think of the central hexagon as an approximate cube with the nearest corner in the lower right, sitting in a recessed space that fits it.
That's what this one at the HYBYCOZO exhibit at the botanical garden makes be think of. The title of the piece is Point of View. Looks more like a sacred flame.
Something new and interesting to photograph today.
That's the title of this piece at the HYBYCOZO exhibit at the Missouri Botanical Garden. The dictionary built into my Mac defines the word as an arrangement of shapes closely fitted together, especially of polygons in a repeated pattern without gaps or overlapping. It sits in front of the Climatron, a geodesic dome with such sophisticated air systems that it contains four different climate zones.
That's the title of this trio of objects in the botanical garden's reflecting pool at the HYBYCOZO exhibit. Can't wait to see it in the evening, lit from within, dancing across the water and lily pads.
I'm going to wander around the HYBYCOZO exhibit at the botanical garden for a bit. It's interesting and the garden is always worth a visit. This one is called Balance and it must have taken a fair amount of math to work out. All of the works have lights within them. The garden is open in the evening on weekends and we plan to go back for another look.
Change of scene to another St. Louis institution. The gorgeous Missouri Botanical Garden often has outdoor exhibits of special sculpture or lighted seasonal displays. Through this summer and into next month there has been a show called Patterns In Nature - The Art of HYBYCOZO, https://www.hybycozo.com/. Its website doesn't explain the name. We waited for a cooler day to check it out. This piece at the entrance is called Escher. I can sort of see the step figures but not the up-down-left-right warping of the Dutch artist.
A last image from Roman Art In the Time of Trajan at the St. Louis Art Museum. This is a creative view of busts of Trajan and Empress Pompeia Plotina, herself much respected.
One of the unusually good things about the Roman Art In the Time of Trajan show at the St. Louis Art Museum was the design of the galleries. It's usually not something you notice.
The star of the show at the St. Louis Art Museum, Emperor Trajan himself (perhaps idealized). Spanish-born and widely popular, he brought the Roman Empire to its largest geographic extent and ruled from 98 to 117 CE. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trajan
The St. Louis Art Museum recently ended a show called Ancient Splendor - Roman Art In The Time of Trajan. Mrs. C and I made it just in time. It was beautifully displayed, and the degree of elegance and craft was striking.
An expensive car seen outside of one of the main venues of the St. Lou Fringe.
My memory of the details of show after show fades with time, so I'll let the players' own description suffice here:
Abby Bentley’s Monkey in a Coconut is a musical comedy solo show about the true story of a second-grade student, a coconut implanted with a monkey embryo, and a search for the truth. The show grapples with big questions: “Can I trust authority?” “Is evolution real?” “Will this coconut hatch?”
Time to get back out on the streets of The Lou.
Not much more to go, since I shot barely 20 of 40 shows. These are two of the last from Sunday. First, Henchmen, about executioners, literally headsmen, in Tudor-ish England. The man on the left in the second picture looks the role to me but the one on the right seems more like he is wearing traditional Italian priest's garb (think Father Guido Sarducci on SNL, https://youtu.be/lWBhsiBMOIo?si=xhgNPkbXp29mEMam). I can't remember what the woman was about. Toward the end, the man in black tells the man in white that it is his turn to be executed. No reason was given that I could tell.
Then we have Improvsburg, done by two women from a small city in Indiana. Hey, it's got its own improv company! Improv often leans into audience participation and the group was sadly small on a Sunday morning. However, St. Louis' peripatetic theater critic, Tina Farmer, volunteered and got the job done.
When I spoke to James Highground before the show, he said he would describe himself (at least in this presentation) as mentalist rather than a magician. Not sure what that means. The act involved manipulation of numbers, words, images and sensory perception. I have shot a lot of magic shows at The Fringe over the years and I have yet to capture how any of them do it.
Powerful stuff. Matthew Windham presents a solo condensed version of Shakespeare's King John. It's one of his least produced plays, but seeing this makes you wonder why. Windham cleverly switches roles with the simplest of props - white and black chess kings for the contestants to the English throne; a pawn for the ordinary people caught in between; an ornate fan for Lady Constance; and a small teddy bear for Prince Arthur, who threatens John's claim to the throne. Abuse of power comes as no surprise.
Dear Evan Hansen is a musical that ran on Broadway for almost six years. I won't summarize the story here; you can find out at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dear_Evan_Hansen . It was performed by a group of top-of-the line local theater kids. The production, acting and singing was terrific. I didn't like the show itself at all (and I may be seriously in the minority about this). I thought the plot was, well, awkward, and the music completely forgettable - and where did the title character get that awful wig? By contrast, we saw a professional production of Guys And Dolls a couple of days ago, and the brilliance of the music blew me away. Each to their own taste.
Something different. Jared Schwartz is a real licensed physician. He finds it convenient to wear two stethoscopes over his lab coat, over his scrubs. The premise is a game show hosted by St. Louis Magazine executive editor Sarah Fenske. Odd medical questions were projected on the back wall. Dr. Schwartz would comment on them and state whether, in his opinion, the premise was true or false. A panel of two comics and Fringe executive director Matthew Kerns discussed the matter and voted on whether the doctor was right or wrong. The question on the wall behind the first photo shows the tone.
For us, the confluence refers to the junction of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. I assume that the name of this very funny comedy group is a play on the modern horde of online influencers. The premise was that a wire over the stage held cards numbered 1 to 20. Each corresponded to a mini skit. The audience was given a slip of paper with the numbers and a short title. People called out a number while the group attempted to perform all 20 in an hour.
These are four examples. First, a sacrilegious version of the central Catholic ceremony, using Oreos and milk for the sacrament. Next, the very flamboyant professional wrestler Macho Man Randy Savage leading a meditation session. Third, a variation on charades where a game contestant places wet spaghetti on a board, while the others try to guess the subject. Last, two sisters billed as international classical music stars go onstage with cheap plastic recorders and play Hot Cross Buns.
Mollie Amburgey, seen first, put together a show with four women who are veterans of the local comedy club circuit. I didn't bring a notebook and I regret that I didn't get the names of the other three. If someone can help me I'll modify the text.
The lighting was hard to work with and the acts were on the raunchy side. Since I am well into the old coot phase of my life it's no wonder that some of the stuff got by me. The younger members of the audience thought it was hilarious.
A few final pictures from The Wizard of Oz(es) at The Fringe. Since I am out of touch with popular culture, I'm sure there were many references I didn't get. Towards the end of the show there were three Dorothys on stage, although I never understood the purpose of the last one. At the very end, there was a cameo by Dorothy Parker, which I thought was terribly witty. You have to be of a certain age and literary bent to notice.
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