The Great Grilled-Cheese

I love grilled cheese. Always have, always will. There's just endless possibilities of different kinds you can make, from the classic grilled cheese with cheddar and tomato soup, to a goat cheese - raspberry chipotle - and - avocado grilled cheese.

In particular, I'm going to go into what inspired me to write this, which is what I am currently devouring for my 3 o'clock lunch.

Here's what I used:

Dave's Killer Bread

sliced swiss

chopped red bell pepper

avocado

....and chunky salt.

(grilled in olive oil)

Nothing fancy, but it's delicioso. 

Food, Science, Foodscience.

Okay, so food. Do you know who loves it? Everybody. Time for a supa-tiny science lesson.

This world we live in has the most beautiful, complex biosphere. And to survive, everything has pretty much evolved to eat or be eaten by the organisms surrounding it. And humans, I don't know, I kind of think we are the cleverest about our food. Vain, I know. Think about this. Pretty much every other animal/plant/bacteria/fungus/protist out there is a hunter, a gatherer, or a producer. Humans, though, decided somewhere along the line that agriculture was a really good idea. Hence, civilization as we know it. I'm betting that there are some other creatures out there who act like farmers.

(Probably crustaceans of some sort. They are always doing clever things, like wearing top hats and being delicious)

(And farming? Maybe.)

The point is, since eating is how surviving is done, we all have turned out to be rather fond of it. Humans, forever exploring and trying new things (like agriculture, and storytelling, and painting), have discovered this beautiful art of cooking. It is one of my favorite things on this planet.

Every culture adapts to and celebrates the foodstuffs that are available to them. Because of biodiversity, this leads to nigh endless possible combinations, especially now that we have a global market. (A possible topic for discussion: globalization - is the end worth the means? We get out-of-season food (among other things) from across the world, but we ruin entire ecosystems)

This is our next topic. Foods. Cooking. Growing. Eating. Our favorite memories and methods, things we want to try, how and why and when food brings us together. Hope you enjoy.

Artist: Dan Deacon and his new album, America

Dan Deacon is an electronic composer/musician from Baltimore, Maryland. And let me tell you, this guy's a genius. He's known for his crazy live shows with lots of audience participation and his dancy-fun electronic music. But, in my opinion his level of musicianship is something I can only hope to achieve one day. I've thought this for a while, but his new album America, has reaffirmed it to me. Previously his albums have had a less serious tone, and a more poppy feel such as Bromst and Spidernan Of The Rings. America, however, has more political lyrics and includes orchestration and acoustic instruments as well. I feel like Dan has come to a whole new level with this album. I personally think you should listen to all his music, but if nothing else at least listen to "America" It's got lyrical gold, and composition that is rarely matched with modern electronic musicians. One of my personal favorite lines is from True Thrush the second track on the album:

"Beast on the brain 

every thought is the same 

if the beast is controlled 

it'll never turn gold 

and that's just fine"

Another favorite of mine is USA I: Is A Monster, the mix of the orchestra and synthesizers is amazing. In all honestly it's practically impossible to describe the beauty of this album, sometimes it's complex and dark, other times it's simple and poppy with occasional themes of minimalism. So just go listen to it, and maybe read what Dan wrote about it on his website, and then turn into a better person because of it.

Love,
-Tess

Vladimir Kush

While it's still July (and thus time for art and artists), I'd like to introduce you to Vladimir Kush, a Russian surrealist. Or, as he refers to himself, a metaphorical realist. He paints, mostly with oils, and sculpts based on those paintings. He's been compared to both Hieronymus Bosch and Salvador Dali. And maybe he's my hero, a little.

"To the Safe Haven"

Vladimir attended art school from a young age, and when conscripted by the army at 18, spent most of his term painting propaganda murals. When he left military service, he studied at the Surikov Moscow Art Institute and spent several years in his native city before emigrating to These United States. To enrich us all with his mind-boggling art.

"City by the Sea"

Many of his pieces involve the sea, and if not the sea, then another wide open space. I've noticed he also likes butterflies rather a lot. Good thing, because I like them, too.

"Book of Books"

If you'd like to see more of his work, you can go here or here. Or maybe even his actual website. I recommend reading his credo.

- Genny

The Work

This is just a little baby post, but I've been thinking about this concept lately and wanted to share it. What first sparked the idea was our interview with Lara Candland Asplund, and then again by this lovely comic by Jillian Tamaki:

It's hard not to be self conscious about your work, but it really hinders progression I think. So right now I'm really into the idea of doing art for the sake of completing work. In the long run that's what makes me happy, doing the work, not what other people think about it, or worrying about the quality. For me, that's where some of the most beautiful artwork comes from; people breaking down barriers and not limiting themselves to self consciousness or criticism.


-Tess

Marina Abramovic

Marina Abramovic, a Serbian performance artist, is probably the edgiest person you’ll ever hear about. She’s pushed so many boundaries and opened up new levels of performance. As Lady Gaga put it in this interview, she is “limitless”. I would definitely agree with that. In her performance "Rhythm 0" she set up a table with numerous objects and let the audience do as they please with her. Included were some pretty dangerous weapons, an audience member pointed a loaded gun to her head before another took it away.  For six hours she allowed the audience to do anything, after the time was up she stood up and walked towards the crowd. They all ran away.                          

                                                                           

In a more recent performance titled “The Artist Is Present” she sat completely motionless at a table in the MOMA across from museum goers and simply stared at them. It brought most participants to tears.  

Something about her is poetically unsettling, and I love it. She’s so boundless it feels dangerous. I think she’s a testament of just how much power and influence we hold inside ourselves, if only we knew the change, we as individuals, can make. I don’t know of any other artist who has accomplished what she has with human emotion. I recommend reading more about her, it’s definitely worth the while. 

-Tess

Just A Thought.

Aesthetics is a whole chapter of it's own on the subject of "art." I like beautiful art, as do most people (whether it be visual, sounds, etc.) It's appealing, and usually makes me happier. (Though what is appealing to one may not be to another-- this is a very broad subject.). But, lack of aesthetics can also contribute to art. And, there can be ugly art that challenges societal norms, to shock people, to bring out emotion in human beings (maybe to bring up a controversial political view, for example? (Though that can be pretty, too)). In general, art that isn't as pretty has a harder time being appreciated. Some don't even consider it art. Maybe because it makes them feel emotion, but not an emotion they want to correlate with "art" itself, because I think that "art" has the connotation of being pretty. (But I'm only dipping into one layer on this subject.). There is a chapter in a book that goes more in detail on this subject. 


I consider most things to be art; but there are lots of different kinds of art, like bad art, and some art I disagree with, and some art I love and can't get enough of. Is "bad art" art? The word is in itself, is my current thought. It's just a brand.... that I loathe. (And I know I say this now, but I bet that someone could change my mind easily because art is so broad that I'm probably missing some points to the definition of "art." Again, I'm only going over aesthetics.). Anyways, aesthetics are a huuuge contribution to art, whether it be full or lack of it, or somewhere in between. I like pretty art a lot-- but "pretty" can go into different levels I think. There's pretty art with no meaning, and pretty art with meaning. The meaning can be as little as the nail on my pinkie toe, or as full as jelly in a doughnut. Anyway, it all depends on my mood, really.

This is a piece by artist Damien Hirst. He is famous for putting dead animals in tanks of formaldehyde and putting it on display. Some consider him to be controversial-- he isn't a true artist-- that he is creating only for the purpose of money. A quote from him in the BBC article, 


"As an artist, all I do is make an object for a single person to have a reaction to. ...Hopefully you make something that will excite people - things they won't forget, that will wake up parts of their brain.'"

I'm still unsure of what my thoughts are on Damien Hirst. There's a relevant quote I found in an interview in the extra features in the documentary, My Kid Could Paint That. 


“If that white canvas doesn’t speak to you, you may wish to try to find out what it’s doing there…. Or you can choose not to. It’s your choice. Art is not an obligation.” --Michael Kimmelman Lack of beauty in his work is a big part of what makes his work controversial. Also, I think understanding the meaning of his art is harder to comprehend. It seems to appear for the majority of people, art is harder to accept if it's not pleasing to the eye. This is just a thought, but successful artists who create unpleasant art are considered by many "pretentious" and "scamming people for money," which I believe there are those kinds of people out there, but I also think that a lot of artists are misunderstood as well. I suppose it's all subjective, there's no "right" or "wrong" when it comes to opinionated things such as "beauty."
-Jess