Misc Files: See Spots

Walter Vogel photo of Pina Bausch, 1966

From time to time, I actually clear my computer desktop. Inevitably, I end up with loose images that I file in a folder labeled “Misc” Sometimes, when I go back into my "misc files," I find that affinities have formed.

Vintage Japanese stencil (eBay)

Bemelmans Bar mural detail

Photo by Kim Wood

Original gouache design for lace (eBay)

Servant bell board at Searles Castle, Great Barrington (L. Eckstein photo)

"Dot Fantasy" by Paul Rand

Design for Dutch archeology stamp by Walter J. Nikkels

Leather stamping tools (eBay)

A conservation analyst from the Israeli Antiquities department examines fragments of the 2000-year-old Dead Sea scrolls at a laboratory in Jerusalem. AFP PHOTO/MENAHEM KAHANA. Artdaily.org

Bela Csikos Sessia, Study for the Wake, 1896

 Modern Gallery, Zagreb (L. Eckstein photo)

This photo of MC Escher with his set of nested Platonic Solids shows up in many places, but no one has cited an original source (as in where the picture was originally printed, or who the photographer was, as opposed to which Flickr or Pinterest account it was grabbed from).

Kusama, Spot On

"...a polka-dot has the form of the sun, which is a symbol of the energy of the whole world and our living life, and also the form of the moon, which is calm. Round, soft, colorful, senseless and unknowing. Polka-dots become movement... Polka dots are a way to infinity." Yayoi Kusama

There will be no shortage of dots in New York City this summer. In particular, white dots on red, but also dot/ground combinations of white, black, red, and yellow. A retrospective of the dot-obsessed 83-year old Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusama, is on view at the Whitney, while elsewhere around town, Louis Vuitton is featuring a Kusama-inspired collection in their windows.

There’s lots to read about the artist, whose life is an ongoing performance piece, and there are plenty of videos on YouTube to check out.

Here are some iPhone pix from the Whitney party.

You will definitely want to see the the fabulously trippy installation, Fireflies on the Water.

As I was leaving the museum, I met the Ariel, the “Anti-dot.” He effortlessly carried off an elegant ensemble--shirt, tie, vest, and trousers--of dark blue toile on cream.