I’m not sure how to come back to this space after the stuff in Japan, which is still in my thoughts daily. I felt this way (feel this way) about the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia and now Libya too–I didn’t know how to talk about it, and then what do you write after that kind of thing that is not just vanity? Not as though there’s anything not vain about keeping what’s essentially a diary in a public space (previous generations had the modesty to keep their diaries mostly private til posthumous publication). But you know what I mean, I hope. I mean it’s hard to be okay with being able to go back to my normal life when people are really suffering because in some way it feels like a denial of that.
But my normal life and others’ normal lives go on, and even people whose ways of living have changed terribly are probably finding that their lives also go on. That has always been hard for me to understand–how grief and shock are in the end personal rather than general experiences. That others’ lives (my life) do (does) go on despite things seeming irrevocably damaged or changed.
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I was in Milan for four days this week, helping Lisa Solomon hang a show at Galleria Nicoletta Rusconi. It was a pretty cool opportunity in so many ways–to get to go to a city I probably never would have seen otherwise; to help install a show and learn about that (by watching and doing); to meet some really wonderful people, including Lisa’s family and the gallery staff. This picture is my favorite of the Milan ones. I love the guy with his hands in his pockets and I love the shooting star. There are more Milan pictures here, mostly of yellow buildings, people with nice clothes, and food. And art.
I was really lucky to get to see a ton of William Kentridge‘s work while I was in Milan. And in April, Nottingham Contemporary are hosting an exhibit by another of my favorite artists, Huang Yong Ping. It feels good to be reminded–and helping Lisa install her show did this too–of my desire to make art. I’ve been working slowly on some paintings and now I have ideas for how to continue. Feels like many things are coming back–the light (we just turned the clocks forward), the warmth (relatively), ideas for making things and the work of artists I love.
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A brief note to let you know about a few things I’m involved with. One is 1110, a journal I created, which has just published its first issue. You can order a copy, if you’re interested, here.
The other is a conference and workday taking place in Nottingham on April 28: It Gives Us the Other is a day-long event comprising discussions, presentations, readings, workshops, and conversation. It will happen at Nottingham Contemporary, and tickets are on sale here til April 20.
