Step by step sunset and a bit more research into the Renaissance

Mark Twain stated: “Far off in the Valley Lay Florence, pink, gray and brown, with the enormous ancient dome of the Cathedral dominating the center of the city like a big balloon; ...rising above the horizon a fringe of mountains surging on high. Sprinkled with enumerable white villas ... After nine months of familiarity with this panorama, I still believe as I did at first that this is the most beautiful image on the planet, the most enchanting to look at.”

Watching the buildings, river, mountains and sky change colors over the period of 2 hours was definitely a highlight and made up for the rest of the day of art history activities (or missed activities as the case sadly was for the Medici Capella).

Photos taken from Piazzale Michelangelo, unless otherwise noted.

FYI... those are snow capped mountains in the background and yes, people were sunbathing today along the Arno river. Like summer out.

Two views from the Uffizi Gallery's deck first...

















This is a reflection of the Duomo, but you can see the people standing at the top in it if you click to enlarge :)


Now the step-by-step....

Day 2ish

So luckily Day 1and Day 1ish have passed :P Day 2 was a personal achievement for me.. I'll explain.

There are a handful of experiences I've always wanted to have (in no particular order):

1. Meet Paul Taylor
2. Meet Merce Cunningham (done)
3. See the Egyptian pyramids
4. See the Sistine Chapel (to be done soon)
5. Go on tour (done)
6. See Michelangelo's Florence (including the David and the Prisoner sculptures) (done)
7. Perform internationally (done)
8. See Green Table by Kurt Jooss live
9. See Nijinsky's Rite of Spring live (done)
10. See Nijinsky's Afternoon of a Faun live (done twice actually - once excellent, once not so good a rendition)
11. Go to Ireland

That's about all i can think of at the moment.

Today, I saw the David and 6 of the Captives / Prisoner sculptures by Michelangelo. Oh my goodness.

Here's some background. I LOVE everything I've ever seen in books that Michelangelo has sculpted, designed architecturally, and painted. His work has greatly influenced my art. In fact, I even made a solo once that was simply moving through the Captives/ Prisoner series while at Mills.

This all said, I was worried about seeing David live. I was afraid it wouldn't live up to my expectations. All the artists I've met while abroad have assured me that it would in fact surpass my expectations. They were right.

First, the thing is HUGE. HUGE! Unbelievably huge. Second, it's so full of life. The longer I studied it the more I loved it.. the more you felt you were meeting a man rather than a stone. His eyes were so intense and the veins throughout the body were amazing.. as were the tiny bones you could see in the feet. An artist in 2004 took a hammer to it so it's now surrounded by plastic. I took one blurry photo just so you could see the scale of it... and am posting other photos I've found online to give some sense of it... but really, it's one for seeing in person.

The story behind it is quite cool too. There was this huge block of marble that no one wanted... a sculptor had thrown it away in the Duomo's lot basically. The workers there called it "El Gigante" jokingly since no one wanted it. Then, along comes M. at age 29 and asks permission to take this ugly awkward piece of marble... from it comes the most famous sculpture in the world. Funny, huh? Also, it's portrayal of David is new. We don't see David in the act of killing, nor do we see him on Goliath's head. Here we see David poised, calm, looking ahead and intelligent. In his left hand (if you look closely in person), you'll see the sling and in his right, the stone... but they're hidden because they're not as important as his mind. Tools of the mind rather than physical force. Finally, the other cool thing is that M. designed it to be atop the Duomo, so the proportions on it are really odd... the head and arms are larger than they should be when viewed from close. Somehow, though, he designed the proportions so that they would look accurate from far below.

I also couldn't help thinking about the fact that the Florentines cheered this David for it's show of intelligence and bravery or physical might... much like how we've been cheering Obama. I know it all comes back to Obama, but seriously.... the look of David reminded me of how often we've seen the "look of Obama"... poised, forward-thinking, serious, confident and intelligent.

Anyway, I ramble. Sadly the library where he designed "the world's greatest staircase" was closed for renovation.

In the end, it was a moving experience to see that someone (at age 29 no less!) could sculpt such an alive, perfect image from stone.

As for the Captives... they're amazing in their own unique way... the longer you examine them the more you physically hurt for them.. you begin feeling how they're trying to break free from the marble (or at least I do)... one is trying to pull his head out.. .another is trying to release his right hand.. another is twisting in a run away from the rock. What's amazing is that the muscle of the right arm who's right hand is locked really looks like it's pulling.... but it can never break free.

Finally... today was sunny and warm. Florence came alive and was totally crowded and chaotic and loads of fun :)

Also, I was complimented on my Italian!! A storeowner was so impressed he asked me where I was from!! Love Italy.

Oh, but Sean's point about Disneyland, etc is kinda accurate. There are so many fake sculptures everywhere (you'll see what i mean below in views of Florence area). Because the lines are SOOOOO long to get into any gallery or museum here, they've created plaster replicas all over the place of the biggies. Interesting.

We tried the Uffizi again today, but the wait was 1-2 hrs. We now have reservations for 11 tomorrow.. we'll see.



The David (you can also see two of the Prisoners on each side). It's blurry cause photos were not smiled upon so i had to take it fast :P






















































































The Prisoners (two of them, not as seen in gallery)












































Views of Florence















































































































































































Mercato Plaza... there's a baker up in the window if you look closely










My












Medicci Chapel

Day 1ish in Firenze

Sean and I have had very different experiences of Firenze / Florence thus far.

Let me tell you first about Day 1ish. Then Sean will :) (now he won't... for now - we've removed his blog entry)

So Day 1 doesn't really count. We got off the train and thought we had a 10 min walk to the hotel. Not the case. First, it was pouring. Second, as with all euro towns it's very very narrow cobblestone sidewalks and streets. ugh. I have one suitcase that is 60lbs plus my backpack with computer gear. Sean has a suitcase that's deceptively smaller in appearance but weighs much more than mine..plus his computer bag. So, we're walking... .walking... walking. Turns out that the address I had gotten from the web, 76-red via s. gallo, was wrong. It's actually 76-black.. though I think it's really 76-blue since we're now here. The street numbering system in Florence consists of three different colors and so if you're at 76-red you may very well be 10 blocks away from 76-black. I'm rambling.

Needless to say, we finally found it and it's lovely. A true Florentine apartment.

Unfortunately, Sean spent what I refer to as the true Day 1 in bed and knocked out with some decent muscle relaxers. We missed our Uffizi appointment but managed to stumble into the Duomo for a moment. I later went out in the pouring rain myself to explore the Duomo and its adjacent museums further...The Duomo btw is the world's largest brick and mortar dome... and it's old. still not surpassed. here are my photos:

Our hotel..

















Detail of Duomo facade





















Mosaic designs that would have been on the floor




































Oh, this is cool and I didn't feel like paraphrasing it. It's regarding the Pieta by Michelangelo... he's got two Pietas... this is his last one. The other, the one I knew about and want to see is in Rome.













The Pieta from far away.






















Renovation room






















Donatello's Mary Magdeline























Pieta detail.. oh, i should mention, this is unfinished. You'll notice parts that look really rough.













































Floor Duomo

















Dome in the Oper Bascillica I think is what it was called.. all gold leaf

















Duomo








































Inside the Duomo

Venezian Paradise

I'm not sure what to say about Venezia. Sean and I have spent nearly 48 hrs wondering around, exclaiming "It's so beautiful" about every 5 min.

To say it's the most beautiful place I've ever been feels like an understatement. It is. It is a true paradise in every way. While photos cannot capture it, there's a few below :)

Venice is a city apart from the rest of the world... even though it's modernized it still feel somehow encapsulated in its own unique place. It is so unique, so well thought-out, every detail functional and beautiful. It is man's ingenuity - technologically and artistically - coupled with great natural beauty.

It is a labyrinth that you hope to get lost in in order to discover something new. You find yourself continuously rounding corners to dead ends or steps into the water.. only to go back and find a new route. You never want to use a map. That said, here's a decent one: http://www.hikenow.net/images/Venice/img/MapOfVenice.JPG
The tails been cut off in this map, but Venice is supposed to look like a fish and does :)

None of the below has been photoshoped, btw. I like saying that from time to time.

Sadly, there was a huge Futurist retrospect at the Guggenheim, but it was closed today.

Oh, also, the reason there's images of boats hauling garbage etc is that there are NO CARS. Everything is by foot or water.. ambulance, trash, construction, etc.

FINALLY: I recommend clicking the link here: http://flickr.com/photos/paulinej/sets/72157614750430748/show/with/3325262827/ to view the slideshow of Venice. The photos are a better size for viewing and the colors are better (the blog dims them a bit) than in this blog :) You won't get my comments there, but still..better viewing.


Pistachios are huge here.... Dolce Pistachio is what we're eating.

















Views of Venice































































































































































































































































































































Woman (sculpted into building) yearning for the sea... reminded me of myself :)


















jh

































































"Bus stop" vaporetto

















Garbage

















Construction



































Fish Market

















Breakfast in room





















































































































Sean doing sound recording for a port submission






















Sean on pier.

















S. Marco

















Clock tower






















Venetian Masks


























































S. Marco - all of that's marble.

















S. Marco











































































































































































































































Our hotel

















S. Marco Cathedral (exterior). No photos were allowed inside which was a shame, as the floors and ceilings and walls were the most intricate, geometrical mosaics of marbles and stones and gold leaf I've ever seen - live or in books! Anyway, what you see is all various colored marble. Oh, and by the way, there were 6 domes inside this thing, if I remember correctly. crazy.






















S. Marco

















Venice's Lion

















Detail of S. Marco entrance

A new journey / research - Bordalino + Futurism

The train ride out of Austria

































Train station in Innsbruck















Views from train - Italy




































Bordalino...






































































Winter olives, close-up (these are like the leftovers)
















Olive trees

















Grape vines

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View of people sailing in Lake Garda - the largest lake in western europe i think... too foggy to make it out in the photos, but there's a giant lake with huge mountains on the opposite side.

















Downtown Rovereto - home of many, many Futurist ads and Depero (who made Macchina 3000, which we restaged back in 2007)

















Futurism everywhere....sadly we couldn't take photos inside the galleries, but here's some of what we found on the streets...

Final views of the MQ, this time around at least

As for thoughts.. that will have to wait. Sean and I have PLENTY to say though...

The horses - they're everywhere. Remember this used to be the stables of the Imperial Palace.


















TONSPUR sound art hallway






















Leopold and Kunsthalle


















MOMUK

















Central MQ

Pet My Monkey Excerpt

The long awaited for excerpted has arrived!!

Pet My Monkey video and audio footage:

www.double-vision.biz/petmymonkey.mov


More videos on the way - after Sean approves them :P

Educational Lessons

So today we went to a huge Futurist exhibit, but more on that later - after I've gotten the photos downloaded.

I woke up this morning in beautiful Bordalino, Italy and thought about a decision I had made many many years....

Back in 2001 I had gotten tix to visit Rome (or maybe it was even before this), but then traded them in to visit Mills College in San Francisco. So, I went to Mills and incurred such huge debt (added to my undergrad) for my grad degree to learn. Yet, I had never spent money on travel, which now that I am traveling I feel that it's even more learning... just food for thought. Glad I'm finally here.. somewhere.