Skip to content

Three Things: The Sneeze Edition

2016 January 11
Comments Off on Three Things: The Sneeze Edition

Three Things Banner

My family has been battling a cold over the last few weeks: everyone is sneezing. This week, let’s take inspiration from the spray, and write about a sneeze (or two or three). Aa-choo!

 

danaschutz

Dana Schutz, Sneeze, 2001. Oil on canvas. Museum of Contemporary Art of Montreal, Montreal, Canada.

 

heidefasnacht

Heide Fasnacht. (Top) Sneeze I, 1997. Graphite on Paper. Philadelphia Museum. (Bottom) Sneeze IV, 2003. Hand punctures through rag paper, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. www.heidefasnacht.com

 

thomasedison

W. K.-L. Dickson, Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze, 1894. Library of Congress. View film here.

 

Three Things: The Letter Edition

2015 January 26
Comments Off on Three Things: The Letter Edition

Three Things Banner

We’ve fantasized about letters before; the lovely, handwritten kind. This week, let’s revisit those missives, and this time focus on the actions surrounding them: the writing, the reading, the sending. Here are three moments to get you started:

 

saulleiter

Saul Leiter, Café des Deux Magots, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, 1959. Photograph. 

 

claudiobravo

Claudio Bravo, Man Reading a Letter, 1975. Graphite on paper. Private collection.

 

russelllee

Russell Lee, Postman loaded with mail waiting for streetcar. Streetcar terminal, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 1939. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, DC.  

 

Three Things: Missed Connections Edition, II

2013 February 18
Comments Off on Three Things: Missed Connections Edition, II

Time to dig in the vault for more inspiration, courtesy of Craigslist’s Missed Connections. This week we have a feathery vision, a fruit expert, and a scented memory.

 

Ross McEwan, Untitled, circa 2011. Drawing. www.rossmcewan.com

 

Roger Eliot Fry, Still Life with Coffee Pot, 1915. Oil, bodycolour and collage on cardboard. The Courtauld Institute of Art, London.

 

Ho-Yeol Ryu, Flughafen, 2005. Digitally altered photograph. www.homato.com 

 

Three Things: Wolf Edition

2011 June 20
Comments Off on Three Things: Wolf Edition

Like all children, I tried a number of “when I grow up” plans on for size over the years. Unlike some children, my obsessions lasted longer than a few weeks or months — I was the kind of kid that devoted (and I mean devoted) a couple of years to each before I gradually grew into another. I’ve already covered my wilderness survival obsession; for the two years immediately following, my new obsession was the wolf.

My life’s goal was to become a wolf expert: specifically, I wanted to grow up to be L. David Mech. I had posters of wolves plastered on my bedroom walls, read anything I could find on wolves, took notes on their body language, pack behavior. Holiday and birthday gifts for me were a cinch: it was a 100% guarantee that I would adore anything that had a wolf on it. I could tell you slightly more embarrassing things, but I won’t (because they’re embarrassing).

By age 13, I had mostly moved on, but even today when a kid asks me what my favorite animal is (you’d be surprised how often I get asked that), my answer is still a no-brainer. Dear, dear wolf, this one’s for you.

 

Matazo Kayama, Winter, 1957. The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo.

 

Lis Timpone, Wolf and Snake, 2011. listimpone.blogspot.com/

 

Frederic Remington, Moonlight, Wolf, ca. 1909. Oil on canvas. Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA.