By Alys, on January 14th, 2012
A few weeks back I saw Martin Scorsese’s Hugo and am amazed at the lack of attention this
 Hugo incredible film has gotten from the media. The detail of every item in the film made me cringe at the cost this film must have racked up, while at the same time ogling each gorgeous aspect and wanting to touch it for myself (I have to admit that this was also my first 3D film besides IMAX films at the Museum of Science).
It takes place in a Paris train station between World War I and World War II, though you can definitely feel World War II coming around the corner. It’s beautifully shot, but of course it is, it’s Scorsese after all, not some amateur.
I found it interesting that he would choose this film to make as his first children’s film, but then again, that’s obvious too. It’s a film made to be a cherished piece for the ages, to watch year after year, lovingly, by child and adult alike. It’s also a love story to the history of film, which we all know Scorsese feels so strongly and dearly. Lastly, it’s about a period in time where the industrial revolution is moving along so quickly and has made people frightened that machinery will take over and take away our humanity. The young Hugo has a nightmare in one scene in which his dear automaton, that he so wants to repair fully to carry on a dream he had with his dead father, begins to take him over and integrate into his body. In this day and age, we are now in a similar boat where we are almost literally being invaded by computers and mechanical objects, and don’t we all have this same fear?
By Alys, on December 15th, 2011
 A Work In Progress Before the Fort Point Holiday Sale, a few weeks ago, our executive director asked us all for a working shot of a piece or pieces of our work. The shot could, or dare I say “should” be creative and give an idea of process. She also asked for a couple lines of text that would give a feel for the image provided.
I provided this image which I thought gave a good feel for the jumbled mess that I begin with before order is created – and amazingly order is usually created without too much fuss, though sometimes more fuss than others.
 Blues/White Necklace with Royal Cord And here is an “after” shot, though not the same “after” as the “before”.
My sentences read, “The color choosing process for each necklace takes longer than you might think. I change them all around until the right combination jumps out at me, and sometimes change a small aspect at the last minute, as each one is unique.”
Check out my necklaces and earrings, they can still make it for the holidays!
By Alys, on December 11th, 2011
This weekend I went to see the Willem de Kooning retrospective at MOMA for the second time and stopped in the third to last room to just watch people look at the paintings.
 de Kooning, Collage I watched and watched and watched and watched. What I didn’t see very much of was people SEEING the paintings. They acknowledged there were paintings there, but they stopped nervously staring for a few seconds, then looking at the placard for some help and a possible rescue. When no one and nothing came to relieve the feeling of helplessness, they moved on to the next painting and went through the whole thing again.
I saw one man look at a charcoal drawing for a second or two and then give a condescending laugh under his breath before moving on. This made me really sad. So, the only option, if one doesn’t understand what one is looking at, is to assume that we know more than the master who created it (not to mention all of the art world)?
I am frightened for this country if a) we are too busy and our attention spans are too shot, that we can’t focus on something that can teach us something about the world and perception and b) we are so frightened of being wrong or not being in control that we can’t humble ourselves for a moment and ask what it is we don’t know. I’m afraid this is the product of too little arts education in people’s lives. It leaves us with little intellectual cravings and even less imagination.
You don’t have to take my word for it. The de Kooning show is a stunning progression of an amazing talent absorbing and imitating the masters around him, to some of the most brilliant breakthroughs in art history. A tireless mind experimenting in an inexhaustible way. Regarding his experiments he said, “I have an image in mind, but the results surprise me.” This is what I strive for and, therefore, he must be counted as an influence. See it for yourself. It’s up until January 9th.
By Alys, on November 13th, 2011
On Wednesday evening I attended a talk at the MFA by Gail Levin who is an accomplished writer and professor of Art History, American Studies, and Women Studies at Baruch College and the Graduate Center of CUNY.
 Lee Krasner Her newest biography is on Lee Krasner who she knew when she was a young student, spending many hours with the great painter. Levin told a story of having a dream one night where Krasner came to her and told her to write about her life, a life filled with many fascinating stories of another time. A time when Krasner was the wife of a famous painter, Jackson Pollock, but not taken seriously as a painter herself because she was a woman. Luckily, Krasner’s husband did take her seriously as a painter and once he had gallery representation and was doing well on his own, Krasner could manage his career but also continue to paint and put time into her own work. Wives of other artists such as Adolph Gottlieb and Edward Hopper weren’t so lucky and were made to quit their artistic lives to support their husbands careers. Once widowed, in 1956, Krasner set out on a bumpy journey to find her own voice in the art world. Through other females in the arts, her genius was recognized by the rest.
Anyone else not feeling terribly nostalgic right now?
By Alys, on October 17th, 2011
This weekend was the Fort Point Art Community’s open studios and, though I didn’t participate
 Heavy Light Heavy this year, I did get a new piece done for the group show in the FPAC gallery (which is up right now). The piece is the beginning of my collaboration between steel (my previous medium) and textiles (my most recent one) and my current focus on loss, memory and impermanence.
I, and the piece, had the honor of being the recipient of the curators choice award decided by Bridget Hanson, assistant curator at the ICA.
More to come……
By Alys, on October 8th, 2011
Regularly, our Made In Fort Point store has a segment of wall reserved for a featured artist. Anyone who is a store member can request a stint there and many artists have had their turn.
This month Maggie Connors has graced the wall with her paintings and, when I say “graced”, I truly mean it. Maggie’s paintings depict movement in the human body that flow and swirl with effortless grace and concentrated intent.
Maggie is a personal trainer so her focus is on the human body and it’s movement in every detail. This translates into these observances times the influences that also flow in and out of her work – essences of Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, posturing of Frida Kahlo, and others.
In the end, the characters fraternity and busy social interaction, whether mingling or dancing, makes the viewer feel as if they can be part of the activity and not just an onlooker. Everyone likes to be included and I want to play too!
Maggie’s work is currently up at Made In Fort Point for the next month or so, check it out.
By Alys, on September 12th, 2011
I heard one of the myriad of radio articles on 9/11 today and one piece of information stuck out in my mind. The reporter was in NYC and was saying how so many people had flocked to ground zero and weren’t sure why they were all gathering there. These were people who may have helped out during the tragedy, or not, but they all reported a strong pull to the site, to be near others with the same strong urge.
I thought about this for a long time and found that it addresses something that I find is a huge hole in our society these days. Many of society’s ills from wide spread depression to general rage, I believe, stems from a lack of community that we are getting farther and farther away from with the spread and increase of technology to replace intimacy. When kids text whilst sitting next to each other or only communicate on Facebook, rather than sitting around shooting the breeze, the art and skill of intimacy, as well as idea creation, is being lost and therefore also, our sense and participation in community.
As much as we don’t want to admit it, we are human and humans need intimacy and community to survive. The brain can’t be happy and productive without nurturing and comfort which comes with the safety of feeling as though we aren’t alone. Sitting alone in a room with a computer can feel pretty lonely to me.
By Alys, on August 16th, 2011
“You don’t have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
So, I saw Food, Inc. last night and I think that I will never forget it. In fact, I’m sure I will eat meat at some point in my life again, I just have no foresight as to when that date will be.
This is one of the most important films that I’ve seen in a long time and, though I had heard of it, and it was on my list, I had no idea just how important it was. It seems that the collective wool is being pulled over all of our eyes and we are being systematically poisoned all in the name of money and power (oh, this is getting old, isn’t it?). The unintended (or uncaring or unaware) side effect of all of this is that it could be changing our evolution.
This is big stuff. The last thing the beaten down farmer says is, “If the people demand decent, nutritious food, then they will get it.”
The first step, indeed.
By Alys, on August 14th, 2011
Ok, that’s just confusing.
Firstly, The Help, the new movie based on the book. Absolutely, fantastic! Definitely an Oscar contender this year. It’s got so many layers to it and there are so many Oscar caliber performances that I’m not sure there’s going to be room for anyone else to be nominated. Viola Davis is a shoe in. Emma Stone next, Bryce Dallas Howard amazing, Octavia Spencer wow and I will not say anymore as I don’t want to give anything away other than to say it’s a new angle on the civil rights movement that hasn’t really been told before. It’s so well done and does justice to the book, which I have been told is unbelievably good.
Next, I wanted to share this inspiring and incredible story of the Red-spotted Purple butterfly, which is one of New England’s most beautiful butterflies. Sometime in the last 200,000 years, the Red-spotted Purple sported a genetic recessive gene and, over time, lost it’s stripes making it look just like the Pipevine Swallowtail which is poisonous to birds. So, incredible as it might seem, birds see these markings from the air and know to stay away. Once the Red-spotted Purple lost it’s white band it was allowed to survive in much greater numbers than it’s non-toxic relatives. The coolest thing is that scientists have identified the exact gene that causes wing pattern.
Ok, why am I telling you all of this? Because I see an analogy in all of this. We are so adaptable, just like the Red-spotted Purple, but the difference between us and the butterfly is that we can decide to change. It doesn’t have to be a fluke with us humans – it can be – but when we set our minds to it, we change, a little or a lot. Easy as that.
And that, my friends, is the most important theme of the The Help. We just have to make that decision.
By Alys, on August 6th, 2011
 Green Icicle Tower I went to see the Chihuly show which is ending this Monday at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and, though I was a huge fan of Dale Chihuly in the mid-nineties, I found myself disappointed at a few points. Don’t get me wrong, his glass is beautiful and his colors are breathtaking, however, he never really explains that with the loss of his eye he also lost depth perception and so can’t create these wonderful pieces himself. I couldn’t help but think that his assistants are the real heroes here.
Also, some of the room set ups seem to be manipulating by just being kitschy. There is a room of sea forms as well as other objects that, when I saw them originally were placed on pedestals and presented in a traditional art atmosphere, now were placed behind plexiglass on the ceiling. Kitschy, know what I mean?
 Green Icicle Detail None-the-less, this is amazing eye candy that I can’t imagine anyone being immune from and can only be inspirational, and most importantly, is bringing a throng of new, never before visited people, to the museum. How can that not be a good thing?
 Chihuly Forms Detail  Chihuly Forms
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