good night's sleep

The Masquerade

lauren — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:35:31 +0000

“When I traverse the streets alone I am subject to pestering by strange men who lewdly congratulate me on aspects of my anatomy while ordering me to smile. If I am not mistaken for a prostitute, given my reserved dress and behavior, I remain prey to that pervasive suspicion that a trace of whore lurks in every woman– just as an ‘honest’ woman supposedly lurks in every whore.”

Anna C. Chave, “New Encounters with Les Demoiselles d’Avignon: Gender, Race, and the Origins of Cubism”

“Slow Dance”

lauren — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:18:04 +0000

More than putting another man on the moon,
more than a New Year’s resolution of yogurt and yoga,
we need the opportunity to dance
with really exquisite strangers. A slow dance
between the couch and dinning room table, at the end
of the party, while the person we love has gone
to bring the car around
because it’s begun to rain and would break their heart
if any part of us got wet. A slow dance
to bring the evening home, to knock it out of the park. Two people
rocking back and forth like a buoy. Nothing extravagant.
A little music. An empty bottle of whiskey.
It’s a little like cheating. Your head resting
on his shoulder, your breath moving up his neck.
Your hands along her spine. Her hips
unfolding like a cotton napkin
and you begin to think about how all the stars in the sky
are dead. The my body
is talking to your body slow dance. The Unchained Melody,
Stairway to Heaven, power-cord slow dance. All my life
I’ve made mistakes. Small
and cruel. I made my plans.
I never arrived. I ate my food. I drank my wine.
The slow dance doesn’t care. It’s all kindness like children
before they turn four. Like being held in the arms
of my brother. The slow dance of siblings.
Two men in the middle of the room. When I dance with him,
one of my great loves, he is absolutely human,
and when he turns to dip me
or I step on his foot because we are both leading,
I know that one of us will die first and the other will suffer.
The slow dance of what’s to come
and the slow dance of insomnia
pouring across the floor like bath water.
When the woman I’m sleeping with
stands naked in the bathroom,
brushing her teeth, the slow dance of ritual is being spit
into the sink. There is no one to save us
because there is no need to be saved.
I’ve hurt you. I’ve loved you. I’ve mowed
the front yard. When the stranger wearing a shear white dress
covered in a million beads
comes toward me like an over-sexed chandelier suddenly come to life,
I take her hand in mine. I spin her out
and bring her in. This is the almond grove
in the dark slow dance.
It is what we should be doing right now. Scrapping
for joy. The haiku and honey. The orange and orangutang slow dance.

Matthew Dickman

Tell Tale Signs, “Most of the Time”

lauren — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:01:07 +0000

The Americans

lauren — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:10:23 +0000

Everybody’s got somebody.

lauren — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:45:12 +0000

Don’t Eat the Pictures.

lauren — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:44:11 +0000

Sorry to get so ARTHISTORY on you, but

Today in Western Survey we did a whole lotta Egypt. Akhenaton’s hippy statuettes. Tut and stuff. Anyway, the above is painting on papyrus. It’s a narrative depicting the last judgment of Hu-Nefer (the one with the bob in white).

All I could think of was that Sesame Street movie “Don’t Eat the Pictures,” where Big Bird gives Sahu, a cursed Egyptian young prince one of his feathers to weigh against his young heart. This scene is included below.

Is it just me, or is this terrifying? The little boy wearing eye liner, carrying his cat, walking up a misty, ominous temple staircase that leads to eternity.

The Storm

lauren — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:38:46 +0000

When I was little, my Uncle Paul would take me to the MET when he came to visit. He liked the Rubens. Lots of lots of Rubens. Fat, pink ladies in sheer drapery.

I remember one painting really vividly from these early visits. And I like to romanticize that this painting is why I like Art History. “The Storm” by Pierre-Auguste Cot, as I remember, hangs outside the Impressionist wings, behind a Rodin. And as I remember, it’s huge. So huge that the figures loom over you.

When I look at this painting now, a painting that has hung on my wall since middle school– part of me challenges it.

Not only is this an incredibly hetero-normative image of love, but there is an odd voyeuristic quality to their intimacy. But I like it. I like the sinewy curves. And the light source, their tip toes. This is what LOVE looks like. Maybe?

This semester I am taking classes that will challenge museums and exhibits. Racist! Sexist! Imperialistic. BUT I also got an internship in the curatorial department in the museum and will be designing my own exhibit. I am also doing a special studies in figure painting– probably all nude women.

And I am at odds.

histories. herstories.

lauren — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:06:04 +0000

to walker evans

lauren — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 05:11:44 +0000

Ray's Apples

diamonds and rust

lauren — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 07:25:33 +0000

I’ve been thinking a lot about this. And about what Eve Ensler said once about FEMICIDE and how I applauded, ’cause she was all empowering, all hopeful and it was all smithcollege. There is a catalog on my dining room table where the model is wearing just a sweater– no bra no panties. And I look at it and think, “does that make me want to buy that sweater more or less?” There is also that commercial where the topiaries transform into chic coiffures, nah mean?

These things aren’t really related. I am just musing.

I’m listening to a Joan Baez cover of “Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright” from the Newport Folk Festival.

I’d be sweet to be a folk singer. Less Joan, more Joni would be nice– but I’d definitely date Bob Dylan pre ’65.