New York-based artist Arlene Shechet—who currently has a show in Pace Gallery’s viewing room while the gallery is shuttered—sent this little ditty of a list, covering the full range of human feeling just now, from death to the erotic. Shechet has even contributed a humorous and totally endearing short mediation video that’s feels like a lesson in how to look at sculpture.
The Artist Project: What Artists See When They Look at Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art permanent feature to be found on The Met’s website and/or a book published by Phaidon in 2017. Concise 3-minute videos by 120 diverse artists speaking across the museum’s vast collection. Pick and choose or watch them all and travel through artists' eyes and minds as they ponder art in every category through the ages. An inspiring window into the collections.
Haydn String Quartet in F Minor op. 20 - sublime and beyond time
Honeyland - very recent documentary film by L. Stefanov & T. Kotevska following a brave and humble lone female beekeeper in Northern Macedonia. Just brilliant on every level.
Conversing with Cage by R. Kostelanetz, 2003 Routledge press & MUSICAGE: Cage Muses on Art & Music edited by J. Retallack, 1996 Wesleyan Univ. Press - These 2 books are filled with Cage’s words and I just can’t get enough of those. Always relevant to my art and in my life.
Mating in Captivity, Unlocking Erotic Intelligence by Esther Perel, 2007, Harper Press - Why not?
The Trauma of Everyday Life by Mark Epstein, M.D. 2013, Penguin Press - Psychotherapeutic scholarship and Buddhist thought. Ok, he is my husband but it’s truly a good and useful book for these times, all times.
Nina Simone, ‘Pastel Blues’ - Simone always delivers heart & soul but this album is the classic and every song goes deep
Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? Roz Chast, A memoir. 2014, Bloomsbury - The subject is death and the vehicle is humor and drawing.
Happy Days by Samuel Beckett. Grove Press - Winnie & Willie locked in with each other. Winnie delivers life’s truths. Samuel Beckket is an artist for all times but he is absolutely required for these times.
You Must Change Your Life: The Story of RM Rilke and A. Rodin by Rachel Corbett 2016, Norton - Fascinating entwined lives. I’m interested in both of these artists but the misogyny is bottomless. What were we all thinking when we used Rilke’s words in our marriage ceremonies?