Feral Merrill

The family we are staying with in San Francisco owns a packaging company and offered to give us a quick tour of their production factory. We heard there was a 3D printer so we were already pretty excited.

Looking around the place, I instantly thought of Peter Robinson, especially Snow Ball Blind Time.

The machine above shows the left over plastic from the packaging being fed into a chipper where it then goes back into machine to make more plastic packaging. Kind of an interesting physical display of ideas of the cyclical.

Because we are strange people, this is the kind of stuff we get up to. Yet another insight into our trip thus far...

- Agnes

Traces

Coit tower not only offers a 360 degree view of San Francisco, but the characteristics of any tourist attraction, that is, the trace of the tourist themselves.

Fascinations with the preservation of oneself is seen through various leftovers, slotted past the plastic, resting on windowsills.

These tiny memoirs were more exciting to me than the view. Acting as advertisements, reaching out to strangers...also interesting to see the 'luckycoin-in-pond' being adapted to suit this environment.

I couldn't help but leave a trace of myself. A private joke on a fast food receipt, for the rest of the visitors to Coit Tower to see.

- Agnes

More Red Sculpture Fun

Golden Gate Bridge, Santa Cruz and Coit Tower, San Francisco.

- Agnes

Haightn'

Have finally caught up to where we are at the moment, which is the lovely San Francisco.

New York was wonderful, very intense...but we came, we saw and now we have traversed to the other coast in search of more. So far, we are enjoying the lovely sunshine and the fact that we do not have to wear heavy coats and thermals anymore.

Here are some colourful snaps from Haight Street, San Fran's K road. If K road was on multiple amounts of crack that is.

Interesting to see the visual differences between the east and west coasts. You forget that you are still in the same country at times.

There is a MoMA here, are we ready for the challenge?

- Agnes


p.s. glad people enjoyed the postcards

Exit NOW

Spotted: Obama Art, yet again!

We diverged a little further up Chelsea in order to visit Exit Art. We read the exhibition there was worth catching and it happened to be open during the holiday period so we were game.

Funny thing was that it was an exhibition responding to the 'turbulent times' (last Auckland Triennial anyone?). The idea was that the gallery space was turned into a labyrinth of sorts, where different artists were asked to do wall based projects on the labyrinth itself.

In theory, it sounded rather interesting. And after walking so many blocks to get there, we were expecting gold. Unfortunately, it was a rather disappointing show. Relying on the gimmick of the labyrinth with no cohesion between artists and their wall space whatsoever. There was also plenty of empty wall (I think it may or may not have been a work in progress) which, instead of acting like breathers or punctuation between artist to artist, acted as a visual annoyance, a distractive void perhaps. It also made it seem very empty. For so many artists (granted Exit Art is a largish space), and so many walls, it seemed like there really wasn't so much work. The work that was there, wasn't anything too exciting either.

Twas a rather boring show.

Or maybe we were expecting too much.

- Agnes

DoNotHumpThisCar

Red Sculpture No. 4

Shots from Annex Markets, Chelsea

New York is home to a bunch of interesting flea markets. The thing I love about such markets is the juxtaposition between systems of order and complete chaos. Such are exampled above. I also love the beautiful (yet slightly overpriced) things that one can buy here. So much bedazzle!

On another note, the intense amount of Barack Obama 'art' here is just insane. Everywhere you go, various memorabilia is on offer. The iconic 'hope' poster was also hanging in the flat where we lived in Pittsburgh. Artists, of course, are responding to the times, but it's starting to become very much one in the same. The funny thing about the 'hope' poster is that I noted how very similar it is to old soviet propaganda. There are really quite high levels of fanaticism here. I wonder how it will pan out...

- Agnes

Snow-sicle

Wintery sculpture straight from Vermont.

Keeping coool.

- Agnes