great day in the morning!
Sep. 29th, 2006 06:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
luciabAnd a great day in the afternoon, too. Actually the morning was a little slow-- I kept wanting to go take a nap. I managed to keep moving, though, and get a few things done.
I had lunch with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nikulai at the Cafe Zen in the American Tobacco Historic Distric campus. I was trying to find some good pics to link to, but realized that still photos are pretty inadequate. This picture shows one section, and hints at what's missing-- the sound of the water. If you click on the "back" and "next" links, there are more photos. They built the little waterway, very urban in nature, designed to really emphasize the sound of running water. Lots of broken pieces of concrete sidewalk got put in/under the water to accomplish that. There are a couple of paths across it, also made of broken concrete; one along side the water has grassy-looking plants growing between. The whole courtyard is reflective of the historic usage of the buildings, with a lot of the old conveyor system and the water tower left in place. The architect used the water tower to hold the roof of the stage. It's a very romanticized version of the past, but it makes a wonderful urban space. It reminds me most of Riverwalk in San Antonio.
The inside of the buildings is equally wonderful. The architect has kept a lot of the old detailing and played the new additions off them. The walls of the cafe, for example, are thick plates of glass, held in place with these really elegant metal clamps bolted through the glass. I told Nikulai that the place gives me hope that there are some good architects working out there after all. I haven't seen a lot lately to reinforce that belief, so this was most welcome.
After lunch, feeling rejuvenated (the S'bux grande mocha may have helped on that, too) I went to class-- it was not bad. I didn't feel quite as overwhelmed as I have sometimes. On the way home I was thinking about next semester and what classes to take. Two are required so they're not the issue. One of the things that someone mentioned is that the NC Museum of Art has a library. Thinking about that made me realize that I haven't been to the museum in a coon's age, and there was nothing I had planned to do after class.... so I stopped.
I have such mixed feelings about Art. I really haven't kept up with what's going on, partly becuase so much of what I have seen just leaves me cold. So pretentious; the artists take themselves way too seriously. Conversely, if I do get really involved in it, sometimes it's so personal that I feel like I'm reading someone's private diary, not intended for others to see.
I decided that I was going to not feel like I had to spend an equal amount of time on each thing; if it didn't speak to me, I'd skip it instead of trying to figure it out. I just wanted to enjoy it. What a treat! There were a several new artists that I'd not seen before; some of the stuff was very good. Tar Baby vs. St. Sebastian was one that I really liked; enough, in fact, that I actually remembered its name. I was also happy to see the Louise Nevelson piece they have. I've always liked her work. There were several other modern pieces I enjoyed and focused on, too. Then of course I spent lots of time in the European galleries, looking at the medieval and renaissance works. I was relieved to find that I actually recognized at least some of the artists, though not nearly as many as I should have. Some of these things are so big they're kind of annoying; there were a couple of portraits in particular that I could only see from the knees down in any detail; anything above that would have taken a cherry picker to see. Grrrr. In this case, even being tall would have only put my eye level at mid-thigh, so I can't bitch about being short this time.
Well, that's all the excitement I can handle at the moment. I think it's time for dinner (the cats have been trying to tell me that ever since I got home.) And maybe that nap I put off this morning....
I had lunch with
nikulai at the Cafe Zen in the American Tobacco Historic Distric campus. I was trying to find some good pics to link to, but realized that still photos are pretty inadequate. This picture shows one section, and hints at what's missing-- the sound of the water. If you click on the "back" and "next" links, there are more photos. They built the little waterway, very urban in nature, designed to really emphasize the sound of running water. Lots of broken pieces of concrete sidewalk got put in/under the water to accomplish that. There are a couple of paths across it, also made of broken concrete; one along side the water has grassy-looking plants growing between. The whole courtyard is reflective of the historic usage of the buildings, with a lot of the old conveyor system and the water tower left in place. The architect used the water tower to hold the roof of the stage. It's a very romanticized version of the past, but it makes a wonderful urban space. It reminds me most of Riverwalk in San Antonio.The inside of the buildings is equally wonderful. The architect has kept a lot of the old detailing and played the new additions off them. The walls of the cafe, for example, are thick plates of glass, held in place with these really elegant metal clamps bolted through the glass. I told Nikulai that the place gives me hope that there are some good architects working out there after all. I haven't seen a lot lately to reinforce that belief, so this was most welcome.
After lunch, feeling rejuvenated (the S'bux grande mocha may have helped on that, too) I went to class-- it was not bad. I didn't feel quite as overwhelmed as I have sometimes. On the way home I was thinking about next semester and what classes to take. Two are required so they're not the issue. One of the things that someone mentioned is that the NC Museum of Art has a library. Thinking about that made me realize that I haven't been to the museum in a coon's age, and there was nothing I had planned to do after class.... so I stopped.
I have such mixed feelings about Art. I really haven't kept up with what's going on, partly becuase so much of what I have seen just leaves me cold. So pretentious; the artists take themselves way too seriously. Conversely, if I do get really involved in it, sometimes it's so personal that I feel like I'm reading someone's private diary, not intended for others to see.
I decided that I was going to not feel like I had to spend an equal amount of time on each thing; if it didn't speak to me, I'd skip it instead of trying to figure it out. I just wanted to enjoy it. What a treat! There were a several new artists that I'd not seen before; some of the stuff was very good. Tar Baby vs. St. Sebastian was one that I really liked; enough, in fact, that I actually remembered its name. I was also happy to see the Louise Nevelson piece they have. I've always liked her work. There were several other modern pieces I enjoyed and focused on, too. Then of course I spent lots of time in the European galleries, looking at the medieval and renaissance works. I was relieved to find that I actually recognized at least some of the artists, though not nearly as many as I should have. Some of these things are so big they're kind of annoying; there were a couple of portraits in particular that I could only see from the knees down in any detail; anything above that would have taken a cherry picker to see. Grrrr. In this case, even being tall would have only put my eye level at mid-thigh, so I can't bitch about being short this time.
Well, that's all the excitement I can handle at the moment. I think it's time for dinner (the cats have been trying to tell me that ever since I got home.) And maybe that nap I put off this morning....
