Monday in NYC

The first excuse to come to New York was to see the display of Carl Gustav Jung's "Red Book" at the Rubin Museum of Art, so we headed downtown to this beautiful space.

Housed in the former Barney's store, the sweeping staircase has been kept in place, and a very nice guide told of us the different, but very interconnected shows on each floor. We started in the "sub conscience" of the museum, the lower level to see the Liber Novus, or Red Book exhibit.

It was wonderful to see the sketches and notes of this genius and see the absolute precision of this illustrated visions. I do hope to own a facsimile someday, as obviously they could only show 2 pages each day of the original, and it is a work that one could barely absorb, let alone really read.

Though this pilgrimage seemed a little anti-climactic, the exhibits on the 5 other floors painted a wonderful picture of spiritual connectivity throughout time and space.

We started at the top and wound down through the elegant galleries.
The 6th floor had priceless works about Jainism, an ascetic faith dating back to fifth/sixth century India.
The 5th floor was a show about Mandalas

The 4th Floor was a show called Visions of the Cosmos: From the Milky Ocean to an Evolving Universe. Truly humbling.

The 3rd Floor was Art of the Kathmandu Valley and the 2nd floor was a permanent collection of Himalayan Art.
We left feeling a root connection to the trillions of spirits circling for understanding and meaning in the world.
All images from RMA: www.rmanyc.org


So then out of the heavens and in to EARTH! - Kremer Pigments!
www.kremerpigments.com is where I purchase my lac flake (to make shellac), special marble dust and various artistic alchemical supplies, but it was SO fun to actually visit the hole in the wall distributor of some of the finest powers on earth. Based in Germany, Georg Kremer is the wizard of raw pigments, recipes and methods that keep conservators and artists connected to the real roots of color and texture.

Go to their website to view the amazing photos of where pigments come from - Fascinating!


Could we have more fun? Yup. We are off to the garment/trim district to shop at one of the rarest stores on earth. Tinsel Trading. This was TK's pilgrimage to aquire bits for the clothing he creates for moi - yes I am a lucky boy.  Terry and I have been customers since the early 80's, and have watched this amazing collection of vintage and antique trims rise in value more consistently than any other market on earth.

We missed the owner, Marsha Ceppos, but managed to hear and tell stories about the old days and drop a wad of cash within a quick hour or so.  tinseltrading.com


On the way back to the hotel, we stopped for a cocktail at the roof-top "Poetry garden" of a spiffy themed hotel called the Library at Madison and 41st. The rooms are arranged by the dewey-decimal system, so you can end up in 800.005: Literature/ Fairy Tales if you play your (library) card right.
libraryhotel.com


We ended up having dinner at a "Mexican" restaurant (something New York STILL has not figured out)


I think this 7 days may take me 7 weeks to log, but that is the way of New York - Fast, thick, vibrating, kinetic, chaotic, crazy, cold, and amazing....

Sunday Afternoon

It was great to spend the whole day at the Met before they kicked us out.

We went through the wonderful rooms (our favorite, the Wisteria room was so dark it was close to impossible to get any reference shots)

I loved this poof that was worn out by people looking at this painting.

You know I love Reliquaries and Cabinets

And the many oddities - A wonderful grotto scene, a paper masterpiece, strange furniture

And I simply MUST find these light bulbs!

We first saw them in Frankfurt many years ago. They have a electro magnet in them to make the actual lamp "jiggle" every once and a while, making the bulb feel like a flame that has an occasional flicker.

Please - someone help me find them!

The new American Wing is truly wonderful:

Wax Fruit and What a banquet table SHOULD look like:

We sondered through the small Egyptian collection (only 36,000 pieces, thank you very much)

For friends with initials of C and D

And yes, one of those photos does not belong in the MET, but at Surplus Tools on Alameda in Denver. Which one is it?

Of course, We LOVE open storage!

After an exhausting feast of art and design, we found a wonderful restaurant Cafe Linda and had some hot pasta to warm up with. What a day.

And this is day #1!!!!!!

A Week in NYC - Travel Blog - Sunday

First thing Sunday morning, Jayne Shape-shifted to our Hotel (the arty Roger Smith) and the three of us went up to the MET (Museum) to spend the whole day. It was the last day of ART OF THE SAMURAI, so we started there. What an amazing exhibit. They didn't allow photography, so some of these images are from postcards, and others from the MET's permanent collection, which we were allowed to photograph.
Two things struck me about Japanese armour. One, the mix of materials for their function, aesthetics, weight, movement, is astonishing - Steel, silk, paper, leather, lacquer...
Two, the earliest examples seemed as much about becoming large insects or monsters and scaring your opponent as it was body protection.
I guess these are simple things, but as I think about a body of work I have been noodling for a few years "Viatica of the New Warriors", these epiphanies are handy.