Friday, April 30, 2010

New York



By popular demand, here are a whole bunch of New York pics from my travels so far. I've seen many weird and wonderful things. Like this Dr Seuss chimney:



And a bus with a pretty serious muffin top:



The elusive bag monster and its highly skilled handler:




You can buy anything on the street, from ties to electrical equipment and books:


Also, Central Park is beautiful and huge.







































I waited for ages, but Mr Tumnus totally didn't show up.

When it goes over 18C, New Yorkers assemble in Sheep Meadow and take their shirts off.





See, I was there:



I was going for Steve Irwin meets AbFab.










Saw a pretty amazing break dancing group putting on a show for the tourists.







This horse really wanted to watch.


And then I think I saw the Statue of Liberty... but I'm not sure.



Whatever it was, it was big and scary.



This was pretty much the best moment of my day, for sheer cuteness value.


It has a NUT for goodness sake. I love squirrels.






Aww...

See, I can like nice things.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

New York: Tim Burton


Apologies for the lack of grotesquerie. I am presently in New York performing a bare-knuckled assault upon any and all museum-like entities within my reach. There will be a return to your regularly scheduled programming once I get back.









I haven't taken many outdoor pics, as it has rained since I arrived. Luckily, the Museum of Modern Art's Tim Burton exhibit was indoors... and I made it inside on the very last day.










No photography was allowed inside the exhibit. Of course, we live in the age of the Internet. Where one (me) fails, many more will succeed and share their bounty. A quick search for 'Tim Burton exhibit' on Flickr will give you a good idea of what I saw. So many hybrid bodies... and that was just the spectators (hur).

Far too much to speak about in this quick post. Suffice to say that not only did the exhibit explore many of the themes of the Traditional grotesque, but it presented a comprehensive survey of one individual's reinterpretation and reconstruction of those themes as personal and social narrative. A small example: two sketches, side by side. The first depicts a number of small imaginary creatures; the second, a large composite monster made from those smaller beasts. The caption reads "when animals are frightened they join together to form a larger creature." Here the notion of the fantastical composite body is reworked as social metaphor, and the process of its creation is an act with political implications.

Another drawing had the title "Why You Shouldn't Shoot A Constipated Poodle." Do I really need to describe it to you? A poo(dle) explosion. So scatalogical, Mr Burton.

In the absence of actual pics of the exhibit, I can only show you my loot:















Mmm. Loot.