Observations on Art 6.8

Miya Ando

Brooklyn based artist Miya Ando has a fascinating bio if there ever was one. Ando was born in America of a Russian father and Japanese mother but was raised in a Nichiren Buddhist temple on Okinawa where her grandfather was head priest. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in East Asian Studies, studied Buddhist imagery at Yale University, and apprenticed with Taro Hattori in Japan. A trained metallurgist Ando uses chemicals and dyes to create the same patterns Japanese sword makers used to give each sword a character all its own.

Ando's most famous work, called After 9/11, can be seen in London's Battersea Park and is a sculpture made from steel recovered from the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11^th attacks. For a more recent project she spent six months making 1,000 hand-painted resin and phosphorescence coated skeleton leaves. Called Orbon it symbolizes the ancient Japanese tradition of folding 1,000 crane leaves to be granted a wish. Orbon was floated for 24 hours on a pond at Dorado Beach, Puerto Rico.


Miya Ando - Changing all the Rules
from The Avant/Garde Diaries on Vimeo.

For her intriguing artwork the descendant of a Japanese Sword builder clan uses two materials, which couldn't be any more different, metal and flowers. More on The Avant/Garde Diaries. The Avant/Garde Diaries is an online interview magazine and global event series initiated by Mercedes-Benz in 2011.

Directed by Takeshi Fukunaga / Cinematography by Ryo Murakami / Music by Ken Kaizu / Special Thanks to The Kitano New York Hotel & Ellie Grace

Observations from the Couch 8.15

The Olympics ended a few days ago so I suppose it's time I stop writing about them, they are over and i have a late Saturday date with Air France that is taking over more and more of my brain power. What I had been trying to do for my last Olympic post was jot down my favorite moments and just do a look back over the games. The problem was I constantly returned to one thing, the American women. Again I don't want to sound like some kind of American zealot but I can't say enough about them.

A lot was made of the fact that for the first time there were more women on the U.S. team than men. In all honesty that fact is just a bit overdone because it was a majority of one. If American men actually knew how to play soccer, or for that matter field hockey, there would have been no female majority. What impresses me is that 63% of the medals won by Americans went to women athletes, that is historic.

Soccer, swimming, basketball, track, and gymnastics were the big headline grabbers, and deservedly so, but there was barely a sport where the women didn't have an impact. From a rich tennis star to a poor boxer from Detroit American women dominated the London games to the point that if they were a country they would have been fourth in total medals and only China and Great Britain won more golds than them. What is even more fun is that the women won more total medals (58 to 45) and more gold medals (29 to 17) than the American men.

Twenty years ago at the Barcelona games only 25% of the total athletes were women and 34 teams had no women at all. In London 44% of the athletes were women and every one of the 204 teams included women. In fact women were a majority on three of the five largest teams, the United States, Russia, and China. Remember the London games for what you will but history is going to remember them as the games where women first showed what they could do given an equal Olympic sized playing field.

Watching the games I cruised through a range of emotions but it wasn't till near the end that I realized more than anything else I was just proud.

______


Before i say goodbye to the Olympics a few more odds and ends. Here is a look at what Penn State athletes did in London. Megan Hodge and Christa Harmotto won silver medals with the U.S. women's volleyball team, Erin McLeod and Carmelina Moscato won bronze medals with the Canadian women's soccer team, and Natalie Dell won a bronze medal in the women’s quadruple sculls for the United States. I have no idea what a scull is but Dell was the first Penn Stater to ever row in the Olympics. However I do know what a goalie is and McCleod was Canada's awesome goalie who shutout France in the bronze medal game.

Finally, after complaining the Japanese silver medal winning women's soccer team had their flight upgraded to business class for the trip home. For the trip to London they had flown economy class while the men's team flew business. The Japanese women are the reigning world champions of women's soccer and were favorite to challenge the U.S. team for the gold medal. The Japanese men weren't expected to do crap London and didn't disappoint.

So its been fun, now I'm just going to kick back and wait for that call from ESPN. See you all in Rio.

Observations from the Couch 8.7

When I turned on the women's match game between the U.S. and Canadian soccer teams I expected a good game but there wasn't much doubt in my mind that the American girls would win. What I didn't expect was a game won in the 123^rd minute of what will go down as one of the great soccer matches ever played. You can use any word or cliche that comes to mind. Epic, classic, one for the history books, the ages, in this rare case none of them would be wrong. Alex scored the winning goal almost three minutes into injury time after 30 minutes of extra time while most, no all, of those watching were getting themselves ready for the first ever women's soccer penalty shootout in the Olympics. It was the latest goal ever scored in an Olympic soccer game, men or women. From beginning to end this game was simply that good.

What made the way the game played out all the more unlikely was, among other things, the history of these teams. Canada scored first and took the lead three times only to have the Americans answer each time. Also, the score was 1-0 Canada at the half and the U.S. hadn't won a game it trailed at the half in its last dozen tries. Since 2001 the U.S. has gone 22-0-4 against Canada so how is it that the two teams could play one of the greatest games ever? Totally amazing.

My brother, a bigger soccer fan than I, said the game was just meant to be. After all the game was played at Old Trafford Stadium, built in 1910 and home of the Manchester United since that same year. To put it in perspective for an American it would be like playing a women's baseball Olympic elimination game in Chicago's Wrigley Field.

The American win setup a rematch of last years Women's World Cup final against Japan which Japan won in a shootout. It would be the third straight Olympic gold medal for the U.S. team but after the game against Canada Thursday's gold medal game has a lot to live up to.

After the game U.S. Coach Pia Sundhage found Alex Morgan and told her to “remember one thing, promise yourself one thing:
remember this moment.”

How could anyone who saw that goal ever forget?
This is why I love sports.

"Tears in the Sake," Observations from the Bar on the Women's World Cup Final

Sitting in a bar isn’t always how I spend a gorgeous sunny summer afternoon but there is a World Cup Soccer final to watch. I could think of worse ways to spend an afternoon than watching Hope Solo on six screens and drinking cold beer. The sixth Women's World Cup comes to a close as two time winning US team goes up against first time finalist Japan in Frankfurt, Germany. As a pre-game activity we were watching the Tour de France and something struck me as funny. Now I was always a big Lance Armstrong fan and watched the Tour without fail but without Armstrong honestly it's just guys riding bikes. That is until somebody tumbles and takes out half the peloton than it's excitement. But this is a day for soccer and Hope Solo, all of the 5' 10" long legged dark haired beauty of her, I mean 5' 10" keeper for the US team. Damnit I have to be serious here but it's hard because she is seriously hot. Shift to the compulsory tsunami story and how a win would be so good for the national psyche of Japan. It may be cold but to say today I totally don't care.

From Hope Solo

Solo looks like a giant tweety bird in her yellow uniform. My artistic side doesn't take this as a very auspicious start to the game as the black warm-ups looked much better. But this isn’t a style blog so I will move on to the game. The beginning reminds me of one of those games I always hated to play in with US shots peppering the goal only to clang off the post or sail over the net. In a game like this I always knew it was only a matter of time until the other team scored. Because of games like that I first developed a taste for my fingernails, alcohol came later. Dear god we are wasting chances here, not good. The first half ends with the score locked at zero. Phillies are beating the Mets 5-1 in the 8th inning I suppose it's a tradeoff. Why couldn't they play the final yesterday when the Mets handily spanked my Phils? My mystical side is beginning to worry the sports gods didn't like my tsunami comment but I was just complimented on my Penn State soccer jersey so there is that.

Finally Alex Morgan scores to give the US the lead at the 69 minute mark and now it seem the gods do love me or maybe just have a sense of humor. And than just as fast it's back to nail biting time as the clock is down to ten minutes and Japan begins to take more and more chances than finally score to tie the game and the bar becomes eerily quiet even as we are informed the US team has never lost a World Cup game in which it has scored first, 24-0-3 coming into this game. The game heads to extra time as full time ends tied at 1, I'm just glad it isn't sudden death but penalty kicks loom on the horizon.

Extra time with my nails about gone and for the first time I wish I could smoke a cigarette in this bar. Two minutes left in extra time and any goal scored now will be the latest in Women's World Cup Final history and just like that Abby Wambach scores in the 104th minute to give the US the lead and the bar erupts. Old guys are beginning to tear up now but I'm not quite sure if it's the soccer game or the fact that the Mets truly do suck this year, losing to the Phillies 8-5 today. Omfg Japan scores on a corner just after Solo spent time on the ground recovering from a hard dive and I begin to wonder if there is some drinking game for penalty shots, my mind can't take much more. Penalty shots, the most hellish thing ever invented for a sport.

By now you prob know how it ended, Japan winning in penalty shots with the US missing three of its 4 shots. Totally awesome game but one that should have never been this close. The US just blew too many early chances when they could have put the game away. That’s what they call a heartbreaking loss, enough to make me cry in my sake.

Go Phillies!

Help Japan ....

 

Help Japan

 A print by Rob Dobi.

All profits from poster to benefit disaster recovery in Japan.

“Every good act is charity. A man's true wealth hereafter is the good that he does in this world to his fellows.”
 Moliere

As you must know, a massive earthquake and tsunami hit Japan leaving behind a trail of destruction, devastation, and death. They could really use our help right now. An easy way to give to Japan is by donating to the Red Cross. You can either go to the Red Cross website, the Red Cross Japan fundraising page on Facebook, or simply text ‘Red Cross” to 90999. If you decide to text $10 will be automatically charged to your phone bill as a donation. Global Giving is another donation option and you can even give through the iTunes store.

New York City residents can donate through The Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City by dialling 311 or visiting the 311 website.

Even if you cannot donate financially you might keep Japan in your thoughts. While you are thinking you might add Bahrain and Libya, sad times ....

日本の人々に感謝


22:15 update - "It is heartbreaking to see a renegade country like Libya shoot pro-democracy protesters. But it’s even more wrenching to watch America’s ally, Bahrain, pull a Qaddafi and use American tanks, guns and tear gas as well as foreign mercenaries to crush a pro-democracy movement — as we stay mostly silent." Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times.