(Over?) Education? --- Days 15/251 to 253

Walks: SFMOMA

Distance average: 4 miles

So, Ciwt is absorbing the new look of  SFMOMA.  They have completely rehung the Fisher Collection  filling four of the huge museum's seven viewing floors with 750 out of the 1,000+ art works bequeathed by Don and Doris Fisher.  A mighty undertaking which we're told fulfills SFMOMA's agreement with the Fishers that an important exhibition of their collection would be mounted every 10 years.  Probably it was time anyway because much of the Fisher art had remained in the same place since 2016. 

For Ciwt a big  problem of the massive rehang is that the Fisher Collection introductory tours she has been giving since 2016 have been organized around the old hanging.  So, how is she doing taking in the new placements?  Well, she started a few months ago when she was invited to a special presentation of the rehanging by the curators in charge.  And she was horrified.  She thinks the story of (modern) art, its history, its evolution, the way one look of art influenced the next work, the thinking and stirrings around all that.  There is a fascinating story there, like there is in all history.  (To Ciwt)   And that story, the pretty much agreed on scholastic story modern art tells, was gone.  For instance, Sol Dewitt, Alexander Calder and Ellworth  Kelly, highly important, influential artists who had interesting real world connections with each other now occupied an entire floor grouped together by something impersonal and (to Ciwt) off-putting like "Artists Who Worked with Line and Form."  

This was very not right (to Ciwt) and her initial reaction was to reject the entire rehang out of hand.  For numerous and more adult reasons she pulled herself out of her pout and has now spent considerable time studying the new placements. Clearly prodigious multidisciplinary efforts and thinking went into the rehang project and Ciwt admires this. Without a guide like Ciwt,  modern art is truly incomprehensible to most people.  Great educational pains have been taken to teach viewers about each artist's intention or historical period or working technique.  There are multiple pictures of the artists, young and old, videos of them or others speaking about their art, individual headphones to listen for more information, extensive expanatory signage with braille tablets for the blind.  Especially if the viewer is new to modern art or Don and Doris Fisher, viewers are given abundant information and ways to access it.

But, so far in her efforts to integrate the rehang - maybe form a new tour in her mind - Ciwt is questioning whether all this education is Too educational.  In many rooms she feels more aware of the the education but not the art.  She wonders how many viewers the art is able to speak to.  Looking at the art, 'hearing' it speak, allowing it to communicate (or not) is how she herself was drawn to it. Her spirit was touched and the rest followed. There are greeting cards, posters, even coffee cups which can spark immediate connection in old, young and art ignorant souls.  No education needed.

So Ciwt, at least at this point in her integration, is wondering whether viewers are being over educated. Are they able to just look and be moved in some way first?  But, Ciwt learns intuitively by seeing and listening. Too much (factual) informaton alienates her. But in this multimedia age maybe the Fisher Collection rehang is communicating beautifully to most people. The various curators at SFMOMA are aware these ways of presenting art are a departure from tradition.  So, Ciwt is continuing to keep the doors open to her conclusions about SFMOMA these days.  Another type of education - learning how to push at her own boundaries.

Wake Up with the Birds --- Days 15/249 & 250

Walks: small hood

Distance Average: 3 miles

Green-headed Tanager

So the other morning Ciwt came sleepily to her computer, turned it on and ...Boom!  A little birdie woke her right up! Small, brightly colored Tanagers have a way of doing that. 

The one on her screen was the Green-headed Tanager for reasons Ciwt doesn't quite understand, since its head appears aqua to her.  It lives mostly in the humid forests of Brazil, Paraguay and far north-easter Argentina.  None in Northern California.  Darn.  And the few other Tanager species that can be seen here - Scarlet, Western and Summer - are usually just on their migratory way.  Same was true in in Minnesota and Connecticut where Ciwt grew up.  Once in Minnesota she thought she saw a Scarlet one  but it might have been a Red Cardinal .  Either way she has remembered her happy excitement ever since.

Okay, Bye................

Early Course --- Days 15/247 & 248

Walks: Hood

Distance: 3 miles average

Seems dicey to Ciwt to make a biographical movie based on a young Anthony Bourdain.  Ciwt was thoroughly entertained by Bourdain's writings and TV shows but not a weekly followed, and even she still feels the sad shock of his 2018 end.  But she is glad director Matt Johnson went ahead with Tony and that she got herself to one of our neighborhood theaters to see it.  It is well acted throughout, with Antonio Banderas as supporting standouts, nearly entirely believeable, highly entertaining and - best of all to her - gives insight into Bourdain's mental workings  That last sheds new light on Montaigne's "seize the moment." 

Flowers and Stoops --- Day 15/246

Walk: Hood

Distance: 4 miles

So older San Francisco architecture is primarily Victorian and most of our residences don't have stoops.  Those little or big areas in front where people put chairs, tables, often swings, fan themselves in the summer heat, drink ice tea or stronger, wave to and socialize with neighbors passing by.  Come to think of it, San Francisco just isn't a very neighborly city that way.  Maybe because it began in earnest during/because of the Gold Rush where almost entirely men from every nation came one by one all at once seeking their own personal fortunes. The number who intended to stay around was likely exceeding small. Some - 95% men - did stay in San Francisco.  Wide spread domestic settling - rooting -  happened eventually, but San Francisco still retains very much of that boom or bust spirit.

But it is a beautiful city, and we all share our delight in that.  Maybe not as welcoming or sociable as stoops are the tiny and big gardens along our sidewalks.  Most of them, if even a few square feet, are filled with artfully placed seasonal flowers and shrubs and carefully tended.  In their quiet way they say somebody cares and are a fresh "hello,"have a good day," "enjoy," in passing.  They light up Ciwt's daily walks.

Flowers and An Elephant --- Days 15/241-245

Walks: Hood

Distance: 4 miles average

So the elephant that keeps popping up in Ciwt's mind and life is age.  She tries not to notice or think of it as a big deal.  And she particularly tries not to mention it to her wonderful CIWT readers.  Somewhere in the air many years ago she picked up some messages about old age talk: It is boring; No one want to hear about it; it is completely individual, etc.   Ie, Do Not Talk About it!! 

But that's gettin harder and harder because old age is right smack in the middle of her life all the time these days.  It's in her hip. her thin and thinning hair, her balance, her overall snap, crackle and pop, just for openers.  The number of workarounds for age increases daily and, she is slowly getting, they are going to increase, not become unnecessary.  It is strange territory, but she's in it and needing to figure out how to navigate it. She's even considering giving herself permission to talk about it from time to time in CIWT.

She may open up about other 'no no to her' topics, including a cat entry or two.  We'll see. Just so you know....

August 7 --- Days 15/235 - 240

Walks: Hood

Distance average: 4 miles

So, some quote Ciwt read recently declared "The best people are born in August."  Quite over the top, but today, August 7, is her birthday so she will take it.  Oh, and her cats too.  They are 10; Ciwt is....let's just say a delicate age.  

August 1 --- Days 15/233 & 234

Walks: Hood

Distance Average: 4.5 miles

Well, here's August with its strange mix of sadness, lack of motivation, sort of lostness for Ciwt.  What to make of August?  There's so much 'same old, same old' in it.  Out here it is the same old cold, grey, Windy weather; back East it was the 'dog days' of windless heat, clothes clinging  humidity and smelly green weeds covering the lake.  It's not a ho hum month for Ciwt, too disjointed for that.

Many people love August, its slowness, gentleness, its deep summerness.  Some others feel more like Ciwt.

Poet Sylvia Plath for instance who wrote: 

And the writer Sue Monk Kidd has this thought: 

Welcome to your August. 

Love, Ciwt

A Third Treasure --- Days 15/229-232

Walks: Hood, deYoung Museum

Distances: 4 miles average

Coffin lid of Queen Ahhotep II. Egyptian, Luxor, West Bank, Dra Abu el-Naga, tomb of Queen Ahhotep II. New Kingdom, Late Dynasty 17 or early 18, reign of Ahmose I.  Wood, gilded, painted, and stucco.

So, virtually everything Ciwt has seen or knows about the ancient Egyptian life and culture stems from the two massive exhibitions the deYoung Museum and MondoMostre hav mounted in collaboration with the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt. Beginning  August 1 Treasures of the Pharaohs, a third of these ancient Egyptian visual and educational extravaganzas will be on view until January 31, 2027. Judging from the large number of dignitaries and members of the press at yesterday's Press Preview, it will draw viewers from all over the world.  

Good!  Like Ciwt, visitors will get rare insights into ancient Egyptian society, its beliefs and creations.  The exhibition begins at the top with the pharaohs who were considered kings, military leaders and chief priests from ca 3100 BC until 30 BC when Egypt was invaded by Rome.  But the pharaohs were not loners; in order to carry otr their many social, political, spiritual, military functions, they depended on royal family members, a complex bureaurocracy of high-ranking officials, artisans whose creations included daunting symbols of power, exquisite jewelry and furnishings.

Armchair of Princess Sitamun, Egyptian, Luxor, Valley of the Kings, Tomb of Yuya and Thuya (KV 46), New Kingdom, reign of Amenhotep III, wood, gold leaf, stucco, plant fibers

And the all important servants who made everyday life not just functional but beautiful, refined - and fun!

Servant brewing beer, Egyptian, Giza necropolis, Old Kingdom, dynasty 5, Limestone, painted

The more Ciwt let go of what she thought she knew and looked closely - like a child - at the rare and splendid objects in Treasures of the Pharaohs, the more she noticed their sense of humanity. In the past she has been diverted by the stiff Egyptian style and paid little attention to the individuals portrayed.  But the Treasures exhibition is very well spaced so she had an opportunity to really look at the various faces and saw that they are very definte portraits that capture much of the individuality of the subject.  Even the sensitive double portrait of the priest below shows slightly different aspects of him.

Double statue of the priest Nimaatsed, Egyptian, Saqqara, Tomb of Nimaatsed, Mastabe (D56), Old Kingdom, Dynasty 5, Limestone, painted

There is a child's version of the Treasures of the Pharaohs catalogue which she's thinking of buying for herself.  Probably many other adults new to ancient Egypt history would also learn much from it.

https://www.famsf.org/exhibitions/treasures-pharaohs