lake luxembourg…dragon boat racing

in

Yesterday I went to the Core Creek Park without a camera just for walking and relaxation. And sure enough there was a colorful event - the 5th Annual Bucks County Dragon Boat Festival. As I found out later the dragon boat racing has become the world’s fastest growing water sport. Although, for some reason I never heard of it before, the Bucks County Dragon Boat Association was established seven years ago and is doing very well - next year two of its teams will compete in 2020 IDBF Club Crew World Championships to be held in Aix-Les-Bain, France.

It would be a pity to miss this photo opportunity but the only option I had was to use my old iPhone’s camera. Its pictures quality supposed to be a far cry even from my 12 years old D2H camera so I never tried to take a photo with it. But as they say - ‘The best camera is the one you have with you’.

To my surprise (I know, I know that the latest and greatest smart phones produce great quality images but mine is a 6 years old patriarch) the camera performed better than I expected and pictures came out pretty usable for online posting, even though not good enough for enlargement and printing. On the bright side it’s always with me and it saved my day. So here we are.


d.c. and vicinity...mount vernon

in ,

This is the third post about Washington, DC and vicinity inspired by my 2018 trip. The previous ones are here and here.

 

“Ethics and aesthetics are one.”

― Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, 1921

Wittgenstein published this thesis just a mere hundred years ago. However, long before it happened this idea was a lifelong philosophy of George Washington. He believed that a personal character meshes with the person’s aesthetic world to form an ethic of moral excellence and he himself was a perfect proof of this belief.

Washington is universally recognized as the most influential figure in American history, a hero of the Revolution, the first president of the United States. Much less known is his artistic and creative side - Washington was a talented landscape and interior designer, architect, and passionate art collector. For many years he carefully assembled his aesthetic world designing and supervising the remodeling of his family’s estate, Mount Vernon, to become a public face of his virtue.











hyacinth...the man...the flower

in

Hyacinth in some way is a very disturbing flower.

According to the Greek mythology Hyacinth, a beautiful Spartan youth, was killed by a discus thrown by Apollo, his lover, during a friendly competition. It was not clear what actually did happen then - either the discus change its direction because of the wind controlled by the abandoned jealous lover, Zephyrus (Apollo’s version) or the disk just bounced back from the ground (Zephyrus' version). The Greek also believed that Apollo had created the hyacinth flowers from Hyacinth's blood and inscribed the word 'AI' (alas) on its petals to commemorate the death of his lover. To add to the confusion, the flower we today call hyacinth is probably a different flower than the one mentioned in the myth.

Hyacinth flower was considered to be the most beautiful flower by the Greeks. However, with the tragic story behind its origin, its spear-like phallic form, queer vibrant color, and intense scent it can more easily be associated today with a feeling of disquietude than joy. And the recommendation to wear gloves when touching hyacinth bulbs does not necessarily improve its controversial reputation.

That being said, for some reason we have a lot of hyacinths in our garden. They are generally the first flowers that popped up there in spring. Here is the one from this season blooms, disturbing and lovely.

mr luxembourg lake...golden hour...waterfowl

in

Almost every time I visit Lake Luxembourg I meet my old pal Blue Heron. It has a couple of favorite spots there and it is not shy to show off its glamour physique. This most popular image of it so far was taken in 2015.

In my judgment, it still easily wins the Mr. Lake Luxembourg title in 2018.

And the runners up are… our own Canadian geese

The honorable mention goes to the cormorants for the great teamwork.

Sadly, nothing good ever last long enough. The golden hour quickly ended with dusk and everybody looked forward to a good night's sleep.

lake luxembourg...thoreau...controlled solitude

in

All solitude are equal, but some solitude are more solitary than others. The loneliness of Robinson Crusoe is not quite the same as the solitude of Henry Thoreau. I would define the latter as a controlled solitude in which one lives kind of divorced from society knowing that this status can be interrupted at any time if desired.

Thoreau did not invented this lifestyle but he was one of the most famous practitioner of it. All in all he lived alone over two years in a small cabin near the shore of the Walden Pond in Concord, MA. Here he enjoyed the feeling of solitude living on $28 per year (in 1845; it is equivalent in purchasing power to about $900 in current dollars) and growing crops to feed himself.

On the other hand, in all honesty the wildness of his life was slightly overstated taking into account that the distance from his cabin to the closest house was just a mile and he visited friends and family several times a week as well as had sometimes up to 30 visitors in Walden. And his Mom helped him out with laundry and food over these two years. Still it’s quite an achievement for a modern Western man.

As for myself, I also consider the solitude a very valuable part of my life but I prefer to enjoy it similarly but conversely – to live in a comfortable house and drive a mile to the Lake Luxembourg shores for my daily portion of solitude.

Its shores are extremely beautiful and completely emptied this time of the year.

Unoccupied garden benches stay here and there as reminders of a cheerful summertime.

Corn is still drying in the well manicured field.

Occasionally one can come across a lonely fisherman,

a solitary hunting heron,

a family of ducks that can’t stand each other anymore,

or a dreaming cormorant.

 

To finish on a lighter note, not only introverts enjoy the lake in the fall - this company of extravert turtles, herons, and egrets was photographed at the lake in early September.

Declaration of Independence...'Declaration of Independence'

in

Just 30 miles from the place I am writing this post 242 years ago on July 4th the Second Continental Congress officially adopted the Declaration of Independence. So the July 4th of 2018 marks the 242nd anniversary of the founding of the United States.  It was the major turning point in the world's history still not fully comprehended. 

The leaders of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, the Founding Fathers that drafted the Declaration, were intellectual giants that lived at the right time in the right place. They structured the democratic government of the United States and developed the guiding national principles with such perfection that:

  • after 242 years from its birth the U.S. is the oldest existing nation with a constitutional government; and
  • the 230 years old U.S. Constitution is the longest surviving constitution in the world where lifespans of national constitutions are on average only mere 17 years.

Here are the signers of the Declaration depicted at the iconic painting by John Trumbull. The painting is on display in the United States Capitol rotunda next to the statue of George Washington. George Washington did not attend this session of the Congress because in July 1776 he was in New York preparing to defend Manhattan against the British.
 

'Declaration of Independence', United States Capitol rotunda

The painting is as close to a documentary material source as was possible in the pre-photography era. It was created between 1817 and 1819, at that time Trumbull was able to paint many of figures from life, he also visited the Pennsylvania State House and depicted the actual chamber where the Second Continental Congress met. However, as a lot of painters before him, he took a liberty to modify the reality to express his vision - the painting depicts 42 of 56 signers but has some characters that did not sign. There is even a belief that as a way to sign the picture Trumbull painted himself as one of the additional characters. 

Despite the picture name given by Trumbull, 'The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776', the date the painting depicts is not actually the 4th of July, it is June 28th, when a draft of the Declaration of Independence was presented to John Hancock, the president of the Continental Congress. The five members that presented the draft of the Declaration are John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. 

There is a funny belief associated with the painting - it looks like Thomas Jefferson is portrayed stepping on John Adams’ foot, an action symbolizing the pair as political enemies. Here is an enlarged part of the painting and I’ll let you be the judge. 

IMHO, there are two separate questions to answer regarding this belief: 'Is this action in fact depicted in the painting?' and 'Could it happen in reality?'. My answers are: 'probably not, but could be perceived as such' and 'no'. According to their biographical materials, Adams and Jefferson first met in 1775 and became close friends. Adams personally selected Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence. They remained close friends up to 1780s, well after 1776, the year the painting depicts. Their relations started to deteriorate in the 1790s when Jefferson was the secretary of state and Adams the vice president and became even worse later when they run for president against each other. However, they resumed their friendship in 1812. Strangely enough, both men died on the same day, the 4th of July, exactly 50 years after the event in which they were the major contributors. John Adams last words were 'Thomas Jefferson Lives', he did not know that Jefferson had died five hours earlier.

The George Washington iconic sculpture displayed next to the painting is the most recognized and most authentic image of George Washington. 

George Washington, in bronze, by Jean Antoine Houdon (copy cast in 1934).

The sculpture is a bronze copy of the marble original by Jean-Antoine Houdon located at the Virginia state capitol building. The Virginia General Assembly asked Jefferson, the American Minister to France living in Paris at that time, to pick the artist to sculpt Washington. Jefferson commissioned Houdon, the most famous French sculptor of the day. Houdon considered it the lifetime opportunity, in order to accept the commission he even declined an offer of the Empress of Russia. Houdon also insisted to study Washington himself rather than using existing portraits. In order to do so, Houdon traveled seven weeks from Paris to Mount Vernon and spent two weeks there. During his stay at Mount Vernon Houdon made a life face mask of Washington,

George Washington's face mask hologram, Mount Vernon's Education Center

took measuremments of his body and modeled a terra-cotta bust of Washington. He returned back to Paris with copies of the mask, bust and measurements.

George Washington Bust, Mount Vernon

Washington, as humble as he was confident, initially was not willing to participate in such extreme artist activities but was convineced by reasoning that they were necessary for accurate historical records. Also Washington declined the idea to portray him wearing the garments of a hero from ancient Rome which was a standard practice at that time. Instead Houdon presented Washington as a mix of farmer and general, wearing his uniform but holding a civilian walking cane. As a reverence to the classical tradition Houdon placed a farmer’s plowshare behind the general and positioned his left hand on a bundle of thirteen rods, the Roman symbol of civil authority, to represent the unity of the thirteen original colonies. Although, today we perceive the statue as a rather formal image at the time of its creation it was a revolutionary representation, a humble down-to-earth image of the America's greatest hero. 

day at the grounds for sculpture - part 3

in

42 acres of the estrangement effect

part 1 - the mighty men

part 2 - the commoners

If your idea of a typical park visit is a mindless relaxing strolling in natural surroundings you better do it somewhere else. This park with its huge collection of sculptures of monumental proportions, 3-dimensional imitations of the iconic 2-dimensional images, super realistic human-size statues of common people, sculptures of deconstructed bodies and abstract figures, all strategically placed in the magnificently landscaped arboretum creates a strong estrangement effect. The alienation technique implemented in the park design forces the visitors to see common things in an unfamiliar or strange way and demands intellectual efforts to decipher artists' concepts for themselves .

I visited the park again and again and every time this enchanted feeding ground for thoughts did its trick. This time was no exception.

 

“Icons Revisited”

A horizontal man

Sunbather

Is it legal yet?

Relaxation

Threesome

Afternoon of a Faun

This way to eternity

A shiny thing

 Is there anybody out there?

What happens here, stays here

 

And for a change some creatures living in the park

Have wings, will not fly

I am coming for you

d.c. and vicinity...national gallery of art

in

If I live nearby I would visit the Gallery every day. "And that's all I have to say about that."©

West Building, the 7th Street entrance.

Isoult by EdwardMcCartan

West Building, Main Floor - East Stair Lobby

Naiad by Antonio Canova

West Building, Main Floor - Rotunda

Mercury after Giovanni Bologna

West Building, Main Floor - view through the Rotunda

Neoclassicism at its best

West Building, Main Floor - West Sculpture Hall

Venus by Francesco Brambilla

West Building, Main Floor - East Sculpture Hall

Painting and Sculpture by Antoine Tassaert

Concourse

 Cascade Waterfall window

Walkway between East and West Buildings

Multiverse by Leo Villareal

Sculpture Garden

Rodent, homage to Roden  (Thinker on a Rock by Barry Flanagan)

East Building rooftop

Hahn/Cock by Katharina Fritsch

lake luxembourg…waiting for godot

in

It’s March already. A major winter storm is coming again, the third one in 11 days. Despite this gloomy forecast, there is a sense of excitement in the air and all signs of weather indicate that spring is arriving:

  • A rare breed of public phones emerges from the snow

  • Bikers wake up from winter hibernation

  • Coke and Pepsi machines are on their marks for the spring showdown

  • Row boats are dreaming of breaking free

    and some already test the waters

 

Only cormorants keep cool heads – they can fish legally all year round