Fragments

[At the Christian Science Center Plaza in Boston; 9/16/12]

I was just admiring two prints by Marja-Leena Rathje from her FRAGMENTS series that, unsurprisingly, were included in the online journal Qarrtsiluni for their current issue, Fragments. Then, browsing back through the other entries in the issue, I also found Natalie d'Arbeloff's marvelous "My life's fragments waiting." So much wonderful creative work, and so little time to appreciate it. Most of the rest of the entries in the issue are poems or poetic prose works, which these days seem to just make my head hurt. So many words... But visual art, the whole visual world, opens a different door -- offering escape and engagement, soothing, stimulating, puzzling, inspiring.

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Last Saturday we drove up to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem to see their exhibit, Ansel Adams: at the Water's Edge. The exhibit has been there since June and is leaving October 8th. I hadn't been particularly drawn to go see it, Ansel Adams having become almost cliche. (But, as one reviewer pointed out, that's not Adams's fault: "Is it the Parthenon’s fault that the entire Western world is filled with buildings that mimic and bastardize its forms?") I'm so glad we saw it. The photographs were gorgeous, so perfectly composed, so euphoric in their appreciation of nature. As the title says, the exhibit, which includes some 100+ photographs, focuses on Adams's depiction of water. Or water as it explodes against boulders or falls from cliffs, or crosses itself in  delicate filmy waves over beach sand or lies utterly still reflecting the land around it. 

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It's been a bit of a fragmented week, some interesting work, a bit of downtime, some spotty sleeping, a couple of restorative dinners out with friends, a good read. And much work to do today before heading off to D's for the weekend. Better get to it.

Comments

[marja-leena]

Thank you, Leslee, for your kind mention here and comment at my blog. Your appreciation for the visual arts is very rewarding for us artists. It is interesting that you are feeling drawn to that more than writing these days.

I wish I could see the Ansel Adams show for I've never seen his work live.

I love the photo with its fragments of old and new buildings and more.

Have a restful and happy weekend!

[Jean]

What a great photo, with the sliced reflections, the watery wash of the reflected blue and your(?) shadowy figures turning the whole thing into a stage backdrop.

I identify very much with what you say about both the problem of overload when work is all words and the lovely balm of visual pleasures.

[Leslee]

Marja-Leena: I guess writing for a living uses up my storehouse of words, so I do appreciate the visual arts for my dose of creativity. Thanks for stopping by!

Jean: Glad you liked the photo - yes, that's us in the corner. "The lovely balm of visual pleasure" - that's just perfectly apt.