Monthly Archives: June 2012
The Chairman Dances
In the newspaper I looked at a picture of an empty gym with rows of tables and chairs. It was as an illustration of the start of the school exams season. At that same moment I also listened to ‘Chairman Dances’ by John Adams. Suddenly everything fell together. The lines of all the legs, cross connections, the lines on the floor, and the tabletops that formed a tremendous sense of depth, along with the rhythmic music that expressed exactly what I saw. The title couldn’t be better! It was like a gift. I got it all for free.
Madonna exposes breast
Some gods and the European Championship
Throughout the town there are orange flags because of the European Championship. Two blocks away, in my own avenue, a resident has permanently placed the Indian elephant god Ganesh in his front yard. In combination with the flags it reminds me of the Tibetan villages in Nepal. Indeed, there was Buddha instead of Ganesh and the flags had more colors, but the flapping and whispering of the gods was the same.
Many-headed monster
Bicycle icon
Venus
Flower on the sidewalk
Requiem
Last night I went to a musical performance of the Requiem by Micha Hamel. Requiem is a catholic mass dedicated to the dead. The thought of it added an extra dimension to the view of the Keizersgracht. It was the last hour of the day. Backlight blackened the houses; reflection of the sun whitened the surface of the water.