Speaking of trains...

I mentioned in my last post how so many train tracks in Milwaukee have been abandoned and/or removed.

Below is one such site.

This is the back side of Downtown Auto Body (which is not downtown, really, but behind Holton and Townsend). There used to be a train track along the area at the bottom of the photo, and until the mid-1990's, the Circus Train from Baraboo, WI would stop right there and unload all the circus paraphernalia to head down to the parade site. This was quite a spectacle. This mural, painted last year, commemorates that time. It's really much nicer looking than in my poor photo. You will just have to go see it for yourself.

These tracks were removed a couple of years ago after becoming an attractive place to dump mattresses and construction debris, and a weird curvy trail that appears to be some kind of meandering bike path that goes nowhere was laid down. Stray cats use it, too.

Prophet Blackmon, Milwaukee artist

Prophet Blackmon, whose art I have always found to be exquisitely evocative, died Feb 8th. His obituary is in the online Journal-Sentinel today. "I'm a street preacher," he told The Milwaukee Journal in 1982. "I stay in the streets. The greatest theology is in the streets. The troubles are in the streets. I go to areas where buildings have been torn down, where there are vacant lots and I minister to those people."

It is said that Prophet Blackmon did not recognize his own art when it was later shown to him. "I'm amazed! And I know it's not me," Blackmon said of his work. "I know it's inspiration from God, so I end up giving God all the praise and all the glory."

Hoarding, sorting, and classifying

Last fall I posted about the enterprising and surprisingly methodical individuals who built a looooong deck out over the river by the dam. Being enterprising but much less organized myself, I took pictures of the artistically sorted debris they had pulled from the water and arranged into- what? An apothecary of sorts? A playground?

Shoe trees?

Who did this? Really, who?

This is why I rarely (can't say never) drink out of disposable plastic bottles. Recycling, anyone?

I hope these give you a little taste of summer, if nothing else.

Warped Cast 2.0

Why do I always take pictures in the dark? Because cool stuff happens in the dark, that's why. You know it's true.

Remember when there used to be midnight Rocky Horror at the Oriental? And people acted it out along with the movie and made the audience dance? That was fun! Now the Warped Cast only do other movies, they do FOUR movies, and just the cool parts of each. That's right- in 2010, people do not have to sit through the boring parts of movies anymore. This is exponentially funnier than Saturday Night Live. If they do Star Wars, I'll go in costume. Really.

Perfect day for ice

Dog paw sculpture outside of the doggie spa.

It was cold today, but not too cold to walk outside, and most of the time the sun was shining: the perfect day for ice sculptures. What could be more awesome than taking a walk to the grocery store in Shorewood and watching intrepid artists carving giant blocks of ice?

I'm not sure what this (above) is supposed to be. A heart? A butt? It's kind of sexy. I like the way the light was shining on it. Ok, it's pretty hot. I can't believe it didn't melt itself.

Well, I learned something interesting about ice sculptures. What's different about the picture above and the one below? The above shot was taken about 45 minutes before the next one, below.

Aha- I always thought you could only take away from an ice sculpture, by shaving or carving. As it turns out, you can also add parts to one. The miracle of ice!

Of course, it would have been even more awesome if any of the artists was carving otter shapes, since otters LOVE ice. It would have been great symbolism. But alas...

Vibrant and alive!

We spent some time in the arts district in Asheville, NC, by the river where it's kind of like a constant version of the Riverwest Art Walk here. You can tour artists' workspaces- it's pretty neat. This was inside a mazelike building full of different art spaces. I got a little lost inside.

This one below was on an abandoned building by the train tracks. Creepy, and cool.

World Hoop Day

Today, 09/09/09, was designated by some awesome person as World Hoop Day.

In Milwaukee, that meant hooping by the Sunburst downtown. Perfect! I have always loved that public sculpture. Familiar, happy, a beacon. I never realized before that it is on a kind of round dais, a perfect place for a random fun thing like hoop dance at lunchtime. A lot of downtown-working folk were around, walking, obtaining lunch, staring-- some even joined in. It was fantastic.

Normally, I work at noon on Wednesdays, but I was late on purpose today. I am supposed to be promoting wellness and "convincing" people to exercise more. You know, saying things like "find physical activity that you enjoy so that you are motivated to stick with it."

And what could be more motivating than learning new hoop tricks from these beautiful people?

Infrared Theremin

Brain was part of the Music Marathon on Saturday at Woodland Pattern. It was an electronica-infused event. I was not prepared to be amazed.

Machiavellian Machine is pictured performing below. I tried to get a shot of his theremin-playing hand.

I saw him outside and asked about it. He verified that it was, indeed, a theremin: an infrared one, at that. I didn't think to ask if that was a vocoder on his microphone. Dangit.

Paul Schwarzkopf of the Milwaukee Riverkeeper performed as well (see below). He was the guy with the glowing red eyes in the background, not the guy sweating under the tinfoil hat.

Lucky Liu's

Serendipity! We discovered an amazing new restaurant, Lucky Liu's. It's located at 1664 N Van Buren St, and boasts a menu both Chinese and Japanese. It was incredible! You can watch the chef prepare your food- it is art. We were totally amazed at the care that went into this creation.

Our server was just adorable, yes? She passed our table to bring this out and, having noticed that I was taking pictures, she posed for this one.

This, above, is Sunomono, a selection of Japanese appetizers, including Tako (octopus). Mmmm! My friend Polly ordered that. I had Vegatable Egg Foo Young. It was the best egg foo young I have ever had and it was HUGE. I should have gotten a picture of it, but then you all would know how piggy I really am. This is not an expensive place at all! I highly recommend it. Fun was had by all!

Hoop dreams

I saw hoop dancing for the first time this summer. That day was pretty memorable for me- it was a vibrant celebration of arts and culture and humanity. It was also the first day that I felt happy after being in pain for a month- I had pulled a muscle in my back sneezing, of all things.


Since then I had a boatload of physical therapy with an amazing PT (believe me, after injuring myself so many times, I have had a lot of physical therapy, and I never encountered an amazing one that actually seemed to care that I do things to enable myself NOT to get injured again). That day, the day that I was almost pain-free and happy, I was waiting in line for snacks and one of the other-kinds-of-dancing performers was behind me, talking to the lady in front of me, saying that she had scoliosis and dancing really helped her re-integrate her whole body. It was one of those a-ha moments. We had a really interesting conversation.

Then I saw hoop dancers at Arab World Fest and realized I really wanted to do those amazing things.

Google led me to a hoop dancing class this past Saturday at the Lakefront, led by the vivacious and amazingly spritelike Anna, below center.

Not only did I not get injured BUT it was a blast. I DID IT!!! Yay me.

I didn't look as amazing as Andy, above, or this girl below, but...
...if I ever make it to Burning Man, I'll have something to share.

Arab World Fest

We went to Arab World Fest last night.
Camel rides were available- "desert ships."

Hoop dancing. I am now officially obsessed.

I surreptitiously took this shot of the couple in the background, who had dressed for the Renaissance Faire on accident.

Mohammed Al-Farra, who was like the Palestinian version of Eminem.

More graffiti- much more.

I have no idea why I love graffiti as much as I do, but I do.

Graffiti adorns every bridge section on this train trestle.

I love the way color is layered upon layer here.

"Stop going over our (stuff) and we will stop going over yours."

Gallery Night 7/24

Gallery Night last night was amazing. Brain had a drum gig last night at one of the venues, leaving me free once again to explore art that I liked at my own pace. I started off at MIAD where there was a senior exhibition. I was particularly taken by this piece by Brittany Renee Miller- a series of mostly-silkscreened panels. As you can see, not only is each separate panel different on one side from the other, but the whole is much, much greater than the sum of each part.


Miller's piece starts with some of the chemical compounds that make up the human body, and ends with poetry and some other things. Obviously a photo cannot do an art object like this justice.






On to the Tory Folliard Gallery, below. The art was great; the people-watching, even better.




Lastly, on to the Pritzlaff Building, where more MIAD students were presenting art that took into account the cavernous space and the long history of the building.

The art above is concentric circles several feet in diameter, made of paper figurines, representing the ripples we all create through history. It is quite breathtaking. It looks like a galaxy seen from far, far away, except that it is made up of people instead of stars.

The MKE vida loca

Summerfield Open Door center held a fundraiser yesterday that was advertised thus: "See wonders that will amaze you."

Tamarind Tribal Belly Dance troupe: back, back, and...

Well, sure enough, they were right.

...how is this even possible?

Distinctively Different sang too. I heart them muchly. Four-part harmony: Heidi, Darlene, Paula, and Lynda.

Distinctively Different vocal quartet

Crazy hoop dancing. The guy (above) is part of a male belly-dancing troupe in his free time.

More belly dance, above.

Michael Jackson tribute- PYT (Pretty Young Thing).



And lastly, Shaia, who orchestrated the event.

There also was the most amazing pie EVER. I didn't even think to take a picture of the pie- everything else was busy amazing me. Some of the pictures are blurred- it is difficult to get photos of constantly moving people!

Butterflies land en masse in Shorewood

Butterflies seem to have landed everywhere in Shorewood!

Andy Haas Schneider's butterfly on display at Tim Hart Dentistry, 1720 E. Lake Blvd. I loved the juxtaposition with the bikes.

According to Shorewood Now, there are thirty hand-decorated butterflies gracing Shorewood's shopping district, which I first noticed incidentally while on Oakland Avenue.

Detail of Schneider's butterfly design: the colors flow together so smoothly. Photos simply do not do it justice.

I haven't been able to explore them all, but the idea is just so colorful and fun. All of the artists are from Shorewood or are otherwise local or regional (the two farthest-away artists are from our neighbor state to the south). I love public art, I love butterflies, and I love Shorewood (it's a well-planned community; a walkable and compact first-ring suburb; and convenient to downtown and UWM, with good schools and plenty of rental availability (convenient for elderly residents)- something Glendale, with its distaste for anything to do with rental property, could well learn from - but that's another issue, and I can't afford to move to Shorewood anyway.

I can, however, afford to bike or park in one spot there and walk to everything I need to do: work out at the Community Fitness Center (what a concept!), read at the library, buy groceries, get a cup of coffee, window shop, mail a letter, go to the bank, and now look at some really cool butterflies to boot.

Kathleen Hoffman's butterfly at Gilded Edge Lakeshore, 4401 N. Oakland.

The art is on display until August 23rd, after which they will be auctioned off. Besides on and near Oakland Ave, they are also on display at the Police Department, the Library, the Village Hall, and the Fitness Center. Brochures are available too with all the addresses and thumbnail photos. I hope you enjoy them!

Do art NO WAR

"Neutijo" sent me this picture. It is part of her 53215 photo series- things she sees in her daily life. The graffito in the bottom right corner is what she called my attention to- "Do art NO WAR." I've been pondering this for a few days now.

Note its juxtaposition with what appears to be a gang identifier. That's irony for you: a different kind of war; a war at home, so to speak. It's a concept I've actually been pondering for years (hobbies as a means to self-confidence and self-worth rather than troublemaking and gang affiliation).

On a lighter note, Riversplash is this weekend, but after last year's mayhem Brain and I will not be attending. Going to a summer festival is not worth going through a security checkpoint.

Photography

I experimented a lot with my camera while we were on vacation this past weekend at Mauthe Lake. The branch seen below is on one of the trees in the photo above. I hope you enjoy these.

More Lustron photos

I promised more photos of the Milwaukee Lustron houses and here are a couple of them- two right next to each other on North 27th Street, just north of Hampton.

Lustron House at 4964 N. 27th StreetLustron House at 4956 N. 27th Street
This tan one has the matching garage.

One of the reasons I love these so much (besides their having been such a mystery to me for so long) is their whole space-age aesthetic, as well as their diminutive size.

I thought this would be a good time to put up a photo of the sculpture in front of the Atkinson Library, 1960 W. Atkinson Ave. I don't know anything about it. It would look good in front of a Lustron house though. That branch opened in 1961. The Lustron Company built its homes in the late 1940's, so they are not of the same time period, but somehow they have a similar anachronistic appeal for me.