“February, that month of fleetest sweetness,” wrote Emily Dickinson.
If we could earmark a few of these present gestures — however ephemeral — they’d include snippets of the below: our motion for collective de-thawing, microscopic imaginings, and renewing perspectives on play.
Join us for Yes Society events in Dallas, Houston, Austin, Seattle, and Atlanta this month and next — incredibly special dinners & tastings focused around rare vintages, inspiring producers, and intimate conversations on the vast world of wine. Public tickets are available!
Constructing Play
The newly expanded version of The Playground Project, ed. by Gabriela Burkhalter, plays tribute to the varied (and often forgotten) history of “innovative, wacky, educational, and exciting playground designs.”
On View
London, UK — Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art at the Barbican, February 13 – May 26, 2024.
New York, NY — The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism at The Met, February 25 – July 28, 2024.
Los Angeles, CA — In Tune With Itself from Bennet Schlesinger at MARTA,
February 24 – April 13, 2024. The exhibition will present several of Schlesinger’s quintessential lighting works in ceramic, bamboo, and washi alongside new moveables in walnut with inlaid tile, large-scale ceramic pots-for-plants, and a soft-pouf collaboration with designer @emilydawnlong.
Washington, D.C. — Martin Luther King Jr. Objects on View at Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
King’s original “I Have a Dream” speech from the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom will be on display through March 4, 2024.
It’s Alive!
For the plant-curious, The New York Botanical Garden is offering a sequence of “bite-sized” online classes via their newest program, Plant Studio.
Followed by some outer-worldly creations from LA-based, ISA ISA Floral:
Everything Big is Also Small
Recent scientific research estimates that the number of cells in one body is 30 trillion (30,000,000,000,000). Below, the most detailed model to date of ONE (!) human cell. The image was obtained using x-rays, nuclear magnetic resonance, and cryoelectron microscopy data sets:
Cultural Concierge
The return of Hanuman Books, “the legendary and cult series of chapbooks that were printed in southern India and published out of the storied Chelsea Hotel in New York City between 1986 and 1993.”
Featuring works from John Ashbery, Patti Smith, Bob Dylan, Simone Weil, Willem De Kooning, Jean Genet, et al., a series of six reissues will be published as dedication.
On screen, we’re watching:
“On a forced leave of absence from his teaching post, peevish author Thelonious ‘Monk’ Ellison (Jeffrey Wright) goes back to Boston for some reluctant family time. Enraged by the publishing industry’s addiction to Black trauma-porn narratives, and frustrated with his own flatlining literary career, he concocts a spiteful parody under a pseudonym, Stagg R Lee. But when the inevitable six-figure offers start rolling in, Ellison must hastily assemble a ‘hood’ persona that plays into the hands of his audience. Cord Jefferson’s film debut is a booksmart comedy drawing excellent performances all round from its cast, but the mix of family melodrama and satire doesn’t always gel, and the multiple endings seem more confused than playful.”
Kōji Yakusho won best actor at Venice for his performance as Hirayama in Perfect Days, Wim Wenders’ languid account of a Tokyo toilet cleaner with a Zen Buddhist’s eye for the poetic. His turn adds soul to what might easily seem a very ‘movie’ creation, as a near-mute manual worker who enjoys reading Faulkner and listening to Lou Reed and Patti Smith, and greets each morning with a grateful look at the sky.
A closing thought:
“Study the science of art. Study the art of science. Develop your senses — especially learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.”
—Leonardo Da Vinci