Big, beautiful, but so bloody crowded

I followed up the ICP with the Metropolitan Museum, the main reasons being, 'The Big Bambu' a living sculpture of bamboo created in the roof garden of the museum, and the Picasso exhibition. Unfortunately it felt as though half of New York had also decided to visit today.
I started with the Big Bambu on the roof, which was stunning, as the museum is on the edge of Central Park, so from the roof, there was an extensive tree canopy and gave the feeling of being high up in a forest, so much so I nearly felt a 'House of the Flying Daggers' moment coming on. Sadly however all of the tickets for the guided walks actually through the pathways created off the ground were taken, but I can always go back another day for that treat.

Picasso was packed, the moment I got a view of a painting somebody would step in front of me, and when that happened repeatedly in the following exhibits too I knew it was time to leave for fear of creating a diplomatic incident.

International Centre of Photography - its a treat

After a quiet day yesterday I stepped back into the museum arena today, with the ICP. The main exhibition that was excellent, 'For All The World To See' - Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights, explores the historic role of visual culture in shaping, influencing, and transforming the fight for racial equality and justice in the United States from the late 1940s to the mid 1970s. This exhibition of 230 photographs, objects and clips from television and film looks at the extent to which the rise of the modern civil rights movement paralleled the birth of television and the popularity of picture magazines and other forms of visual mass media.

10/10 for the exhibition and the centre, loved it all.


The web site to accompany the work is linked below as well as the ICP itself.

Pics from FIgment Festival

Here are a selection of some of the pictures from the Figment Arts festival, which consisted of over 400 interactive arts installations with, ranging from finger painting and mass participation hula hooping to nocturnal gardens and sock painting. All kind of quirky and fun and thousands of New Yorkers took the ferry over the weekend to join in the fun.

My view of Wall Street

In Downtown Manhattan lies that land of greed known as the financial district, where a large bronze bull stands defiantly on Wall Street. this is my view of the of the movers of and shakers who are responsible for so much greed and the sacrificing of enconomies for personal gain.

At the end of my day yesterday I was walking back through the district and turned up New Street towards the New York Stock exchange. I thought the street looked quiet, but hey it was pouring with rain. Next thing I knew there were two men with dogs and guns and I was challenged as to where I was going. Err East 34th Street.....This street is closed to pedestrians didn't you see the signs.......err no. Whats in your back pack?....My camera.......Open it! Empty it!..........I was then questioned, they took my details, and I was escorted back to the end of the street. And they didn't even say have a nice day!

When I turned round after a couple of minutes I saw figures moving in shadows, but I figured it wasn't a good time to take a picture...........or shout 'you paranoid bastards'!

The View From Brooklyn Beach

And you think British TV is rubbish

I don't know how many TV channels a cable subscriber here receives, but if the advertising is anything to go by I know I wouldn´t be buying into it.
Sadly the sixth final series of the 'L Word' is now in the can and out on DVD, and we can only imagine the possible futures of Bette, Tina, Shane et al in sunny California. However some bright spark has come up with a spin off which is due to start shortly in the USA 'The Real L Word' - Yep it's one of those terrible 'reality' shows. I use the word 'reality' very loosely, as what they should be called is 'hamming it up and wanting to be infamous shows'. The recipe for this one is take six shallow lesbian dolly birds and follow them through life's trials and tribulations in the dating world. They are of course all white, have smiles like Liberace and and look as tanned as Pamela Anderson on Baywatch - if that's reality the director is on drugs.

My second non-recommendation is for something equally annoying if not for different reasons, although I admit that after a few beers it might be amusing - 'Dance your A** Off'. It's going to be a bit like The X Factor, but obviously just for delusional dancers. Call me a cynic, but when the recent Oil disaster caused by BP only hit the front page of the Newspapers here in New York this last week, the words 'mushrooms', 'shit' and 'dark' came to mind. Maybe repeats of 'Only Fools and Horses' aren´t so bad after all?

And now for something completely different..........

The New York Museum of Sex to be precise. I didn´t actually venture into the museum, the shop was more than enough for me, as I almost choked with laughter at one point. Here are some of the images that made my day for ten minutes. Enjoy.