Descending Ashtray

This was Brandy’s creation for dinner this evening. And yes, it tasted as good as it looks. She is an artist with food!

March has been a pretty good month to get some new music! I have not bought a CD for quite a while but today I went to ZZZ records and could not stop finding great new releases. I will have to post the reviews later but here are some of the things that I found:

Bright Eyes - “Four Winds”

Do Make Say Think - “You, Your a History in Rust”

The Frames - “The Cost”

Low - “Drums and Guns”

Andrew Bird - “Armchair Apocrypha”

Arcade Fire - “Neon Bible”

Gabe got married last weekend, but he’s either too busy or too shy to say so. He made himself an amazing ring that matched the one he made for his new wife, and the two were married in a wonderful ceremony at the Lueders family farm near Osceola, Iowa. Sarah and I considered ourselves lucky to be in attendance at the wonderfully intimate ceremony, which included a special cameo by little Ethan Lueders, aged two months. I’ll let Gabe post photos if he feels like sharing.

While in Iowa, Sarah and I also had the opportunity to see several of Iowa’s art institutions, begining with my old alma mater, the University of Iowa. In September, the art school opened with a new building, not so cleverly titled “Art Building West,” but very cleverly designed by Seattle architect Steven Holl. Situated across the street from the severely aged main buildings, the new building houses a large lecture hall, the art library, and a new, very professional gallery space.

As dramatic as the exterior is, the changes inside are phenomenal. When I was at Iowa, the library was literally stuffed to the ceilings, with books wedged anywhere there was room. In the dark (and damp) basement, many of the books were tatterred and torn by decades of rough treatment, and students routinely slept in the dank and cavernous lecture hall.

In perfect contrast, the interior of the new building is flooded with light, set off with light materials like maple ply wall paneling and cork flooring. A soaring central staircase in lightweight sheet metal sends light ricocheting throughout the space. Attention to detail is evident in the sculptural door handles and careful spacing of the stairs.

I was especially pleased to see that the building houses a newer, more professional gallery space, which my sister tells me is considered by students to be more prestigious than the old building’s Drewlowe Gallery. Judging by the quality of the work being shown by graduate student Terry Rathje in Poetic Structures, I think she’s right.

My favorite piece was this tower composed of found metal parts, which I believe was entitled Fibonacci’s Ziggurat. I enjoyed the simple geometry of its structure, but appreciated the complexity of the various elements used to define those shapes: very interesting and slightly rusty bits of packaging from the midwest’s past. I really want to know where Rathje finds all those pieces!

Nearby, a more functional piece of artwork looked simultaneously comfortable and hostile, a piece Sarah called “the Skeleton Chair.” I confess, I didn’t write its title down.

Discarded license plates form the backbone of Rathje’s wallpieces, an amazingly original technique that seems so obvious once you’ve seen it, but I appreciated the eloquence of the statements as well.

A pretty amazing show by Terry Rathje, I felt, one really worthy of this amazing new space. The building is really a welcome and dramatic change for the department. Now, if they could only address its decrepit cohorts …

Here is a link to a friend’s website. He makes some interesting sculptures out of paper and post consumer waste. I met him at the Vipassana retreat. Even though we only talked to each other briefly on the first and last days, we have kept in contact through emails. Worth checking out!

http://www.studiocurtis.com/

The cedar Sweat Lodge was something that I made a few years ago down on my fathers farm near Osceola, IA. The first time we used it I covered the frame in plastic and then insulated it with square hay bales. The chimney has a sliding door that can be opened from the inside to regulate the steam. The basic process of operation is to have a large fire on the outside of the lodge to heat a small pile of rocks. After heating the rocks to a high temperature they are then carried, with a shovel, into a pit on the inside. Then water is poured over the hot rocks which creates the steam. The effect is basically that of a sauna.

This coming Friday, my friends and I are going to get it going again. It is an interesting experience to be involved in and is also really good for the body and mind.

Yes, I almost burnt down my Dad’s farm. I was attempting to have a small controlled burn to clear an area by the Sweat Lodge. I gathered a pile of twigs and after clearing a small area around it, I lit it on fire.

Within five minutes, wind had jumped the flame to the dry grass that made up the small field surrounding a pond. Within ten minutes there was a hundred square foot area scorched with growing flames. I paniced and ran to move my truck which was in the line of fire. Fortunetly my Dad and Uncle Dave came to the rescue with buckets for water and shovels to stomp out the flame. Within twenty minutes we had it under control.

The Sweat Lodge did suffer some burns on its west side but still remains structurally stable. A giant hay bale sitting on top of the hill was the worst tragedy of the whole situation. The ashes in the forground of the picture are its only remains!