YEAH, I CAN GO ALONG WITH THAT

I am so stone cold out of material that I'm reduced to taking photos of knickknacks on my desk. Now is the winter of our discontent, until a week from now when my family and winter will do a trial separation.

Anyway, I am a big fan of the artist Jenny Holzer. Her work consists of streams of provocative aphorisms delivered in every possible way (look at the web link). I have a set of highball glasses at home that she designed that say things like "boredom makes you do crazy things" and "you are guileless in your dreams." Then there is the crystal ball I have had on my desk for years, maybe 3 inches / 7.5 cm in diameter. The words are engraved on the bottom and it's devilishly hard to focus on them but you get the idea.  I think Jenny and I are on the same page.        

Hard Up

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I got nothing. Didn't even have a chance to get out on the street at mid-day with a camera - another lunch at my desk. So I ended up poking around my office with the iPhone cam. This picture is of the debris on the corkboard behind my desk. The artifacts, from upper left, represent Douglas Adams, Edvard Munch, Jenny Holzer, Johannes Vermeer and who to call if the computers go down. Something to gaze at when I'm bored.

Some time ago I had the privilege of seeing the Vermeer Girl With A Pearl Earring at the small museum in The Hague dedicated to his work. It was uncrowded and I could stare at it as long as I liked. It could have blinded me with its beauty.

  

Sino - St. Louis Relations

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Like the fine print says: there is a portrait of Mao Zedong on the wall of my office, a sarcastic Andy Warhol image (it's not meant as adulation). There is also a 10 yuan note on my desk, just in case, under a crystal ball designed by one of my favorite artists, Jenny Holzer. The crystal ball predicts the world to come: the inscription inside reads the future is stupid.

HEY, SPEAKING OF ANDY WARHOL, THIS IS WAY MORE THAN FIFTEEN MINUTES OF FAME: Studio Altius is a St. Louis photography venue that rents professional studio space and lighting equipment to shooters who don't have their own, holds photography workshops and hosts exhibits of local artists' work. At the end of every year, they have a competition and show "for the best photography created in that year from St. Louis area photographers," or at least those who get around to entering something. SEEN 2009 opens soon and I was notified today that seven of my images were accepted (I'll post links to them as soon as I get a chance). This means one of two things: there were very few entries this year or the judges have exquisite taste. Take your pick.

The opening reception is Saturday, December 5 from 6 to11 PM. St. Louisans, be there or be square. You will have the opportunity to buy Bob's stuff. Studio Altius is located at 3518 Greenwood in Maplewood. The show continues until January 16, 2010.

Buddhas In My Office

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From the archives. Well, this is in St. Louis if not exactly about St. Louis. Actually, it's my desk. The little figures remind me of the impermanence of technology and coffee trends, whispering the principle of non-attachment to squeezable rubber toys, however holy. Oh, and what's that hand thing in the background? Click here.

WHAT I CAN'T DECIDE: what to do for theme day next week. I have an idea, though. Don't know if I can find all the props I'd need.

TOMORROW: Society For The Support of Penniless Lawyers

Hole In The Sky

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Another one of those "um, what do I have on some hard drive that I can post?" photos. Shot from my office window. I'm on the 23rd floor and there's nothing taller in this direction (south) until maybe Memphis.

WHAT'S ON MY WEEKEND TO-DO LIST: 1. Clean my desk. (Yeah, right). 2. Edit more pix from Kansas (no problem there). 3. Do all my Christmas shopping on Amazon. (They love me and vice versa.) 4. Look really silly at my once-a-year tuxedo wearing event, the annual black tie fundraising dinner dance for the Arthritis Foundation. I'm a member of the local board and I have to show up. Anyone want to see a picture of that? Have I ever mentioned that I can't dance to save my life?

TOMORROW: what I was going to post on theme day if I couldn't think of anything better.

Wall Art

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It's a cold, gray weekend in St. Louis so I thought I go for a bit of brightness. This is a wall of my office on a sunny autumn late afternoon.

WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY: I was in my office on Saturday cleaning up paperwork (and browsing the portal) when I saw something going on in the plaza below. What was it? Come back...

TOMORROW: who do you love?

THERE'S A NEW ARCH PHOTO ON GATEWAY MONDAY