Towse: views from the hill

August 7, 2010

Raygun Gothic Rocketship at Pier 14

Filed under: art,photographs — Tags: , , — Towse @ 6:19 pm

Our perambulations yesterday took us to Pier 14 and the party to celebrate the newest “temporary public art” installation, sponsored by Black Rock Arts Foundation. Gavin stopped by. The crowd included Burners in costume, or perhaps that’s the way they always dress.

July 2, 2009

Fishers give up on plan for Presidio art museum

Filed under: art,museums,news,San Francisco — Towse @ 11:07 pm

Fishers give up on plan for Presidio art museum

… so I wrote another letter to the editor at the Chronicle (previous letter was 09/2007):

The Presidio was never the right place for the Fishers’ Contemporary Art Museum for reasons both practical and historical, reasons soundly argued by neighbors, historians, park enthusiasts, and environmentalists.

There are wonderful alternatives to the Presidio site in our city. Consider for a moment the effect of having the Contemporary Art Museum located near Pier 70/Potrero Point, an area poised for redevelopment! Donald Fisher could do immense good by building his museum there, at the edge of the Bay. Plenty of public transit. Space for parking without cutting down a single tree! Near the ballpark and the new UCSF Medical Center development at Mission Bay. Near all the new condos south of Market. Within shouting distance of Bernal Heights and Potrero Hill. A short transit ride from the southern neighborhoods.

The Contemporary Art Museum could knit the city together, bringing folks from the northern neighborhoods and the western neighborhoods over to our “other” shore.

Look what the ballpark and UCSF@Mission Bay have done for the surrounding areas!. The Fishers have the opportunity to do wonders for the central waterfront and the city if they build their museum there. Say you will, Mr. Fisher!

Update: Letter in today’s Chron.

July 1, 2009

The Uniform Project

Filed under: art,culture,shopshopshop — Towse @ 11:38 pm

The Uniform Project

Brilliant idea.

The Idea

Starting May 2009, I have pledged to wear one dress for one year as an exercise in sustainable fashion. Here’s how it works: There are 7 identical dresses, one for each day of the week. Every day I will reinvent the dress with layers, accessories and all kinds of accouterments, the majority of which will be vintage, hand-made, or hand-me-down goodies. Think of it as wearing a daily uniform with enough creative license to make it look like I just crawled out of the Marquis de Sade’s boudoir.

[via Teapots and Polka Dots]

April 10, 2009

Louise Bourgeois’ Crouching Spider is leaving. Visit soon!

Filed under: art — Tags: , — Towse @ 10:18 pm

Unlike London, whose Tate Museum owns Louise Bourgeois’ Maman (given as a gift by the artist and an anonymous benefactor), San Francisco only had Louise Bourgeois’ Crouching Spider on temporary loan (for eight months initially and then for another ten).

Crouching Spider was purchased by a private buyer for $6mil and will be moved to Houston by the end of the month.

Visit soon! Pier 14. Can’t miss it!
(Click for larger image)

February 26, 2009

The Tenderloin National Forest

Filed under: art,causes,life,people,San Francisco — Towse @ 5:53 pm

The Tenderloin National Forest

We were at a North Beach Neighbors dinner at Lichee Garden on Powell last night. (Terrific dinner. $28, including tax and tip, for a ten-course dinner. No-host beer and wine, if desired. Fun time was had by all. Interesting conversations. Good food.)

Rigo was with a group at our table at dinner that included Fernando [last name?], from Portugal. Fernando was sitting between Rigo and me and only spoke Portuguese. Although I know Brazilian Portuguese is a far cry from Portuguese, I wished it had been less than fifty years since I last had a conversation in Portuguese. There are not many words I remember.

Talked with Rigo about ONE TREE and TRUTH, two of my favorite Rigo public works, and about what he’s up to. Turns out he and Fernando are currently working on a mosaic for the Tenderloin National Forest on Cohen Alley, off Ellis.

(photos of the Tenderloin National Forest from Dave Schumaker on flickr)

I plan to wander by some day soon and see how it’s coming along.

February 25, 2009

Projects – Yuken Teruya Studio

Filed under: art,culture — Towse @ 7:34 am

Wonderful papercuts and other works from sustainable materials and everyday objects.

Projects – Yuken Teruya Studio

[via Sour Grapes' shared items in Google Reader]

January 27, 2009

Window seat

Filed under: art,photographs — Towse @ 12:15 am

We visited the open house at 1440 Kearny Street yesterday. Beautiful condo. *ONLY* $2.675 million. Nice chat with listing agent extraordinaire Louis Silcox, who lives near us and knows people we know.

Filbert, west of Telegraph Hill Blvd.

I see his name everywhere but we’d never met.

Views are toward downtown. No water views. No bridges. Still, the views are extraordinary.

Nice yard area with solid solid solid retaining walls.

Three levels. Three bedrooms. Private elevator so you don’t have to slog your groceries up stairs. TWO CAR PARKING! (Worth an extra $200K right there. …) Two fireplaces. Wonderful kitchen. Maple floors.

And loads of art and photos.

(Where is she going with this?)

One of the photo artworks was a large collage of images out plane windows with wing tips showing: clouds and sun and weather and blue. Each image had been shaped in an ovoid fashion and the images were piled 5 x 7 or so in a large frame.

Lovely. I would’ve taken it home in a flash.

(I can hear his nibs saying, “But where would you hang it, Sal?”)

I [heart] views out airplane windows.

 

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January 18, 2009

150 Strange Buildings of the World – TutzTutz.com

Filed under: architecture,art,fun — Towse @ 1:12 am

150 Strange Buildings of the World – TutzTutz.com

Amusing. Appalling. Delightful.

[via a tweet from James O’Reilly]

December 30, 2008

spool art by devorah sperber

Filed under: art — Tags: , — Towse @ 1:17 am

spool art by devorah sperber

Lovely.

November 18, 2008

Moonrise Sculptures: December by Ugo Rondinone

Filed under: art,photographs,San Francisco — Towse @ 12:58 am

Public art by Ugo Rondinone. Moonrise Sculptures: March, October and December. Three sculptures at the public plaza at 555 Mission. We’re talking nine feet tall here, folks.

Where are the other nine moonrise sculptures in the series?

Here’s December:

 

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