Like many of us out there, I often gravitate toward mid-century modern furniture. I don’t want (or have) an entire house full of it, but there are certain pieces and designers that I covet — like Norman Cherner’s molded plywood Armchair. I love it. It was designed in 1958 and manufactured by Plycraft until the early 1970s. I find such beauty in the proportion and material of this chair, and especially in its sculptural nature. It is now manufactured by Cherner Chair Company, run by his architect/designer son Benjamin Cherner. In addition to his housing and furniture design work, Norman Cherner taught industrial design at Columbia University and lectured at the Museum of Modern Art. And he wrote four books over the course of his career. I own a wonderful first edition of How to Build Children’s Toys and Furniture (McGraw-Hill, 1954) that is full of Cherner’s drawings of modern room settings and toy and furniture designs and also photographs of Cherner himself making said designs. It is fantastic.
I finally watched Oslo, August 31st, Joachim Trier’s newest film released in the U.S. last spring and starring the brilliant Norwegian actor (and musician and practicing physician) Anders Danielsen Lie, whose performance is quiet, exquisite and completely devastating. Like Reprise, their 2006 collaboration, this film is at once haunting and tragic, beautiful and poetic. I find Trier’s work so compelling — its very distinct look and tone, very uniquely Scandinavian, very much his own. Check it out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QpTqYoEzto
We noticed this fantastic and super stylish short film from Justin Kern and Stephanie Danan of the clothing line Co on Style.com over the weekend. This is the third film they have created, one each season, to pair with their newest collection. Written and directed by Stuart Blumberg and starring Marisa Tomei, Élodie Bouchez, Aubrey Parks and David Wain, it is really kind of perfect. We just had to share it. www.style.com, www.co-collections.com
For the next four days the international modern and contemporary art world will once again convene in New York for The Armory Show at Piers 92 and 94 — the biggest art fair in this city and one of the most important and highly anticipated in the world. We find this year to be particularly exciting because it is the 100th anniversary of the 1913 Armory Show, from which the current annual exhibition takes its name and also its inspiration. The groundbreaking 1913 Armory Show, its official title was the “International Exhibition of Modern Art”, featured for the first time some of the most avant-garde, and considered by many completely shocking, European painting and sculpture alongside contemporary American work. Marcel Duchamp, Henri Matisse, Constantin Brancusi, Pablo Picasso + Edward Hopper, Stuart Davis, George Bellows, James Abbott McNeill Whistler represent just a fraction of the artists shown. It is widely believed that this show was one of the most influential and impactful on American art. If only to have been there…
I had a very nice occasion to visit the Joffrey Ballet School over the weekend — still located in the hallowed landmark Greenwich Village building at 6th Avenue and 10th Street where it was founded in 1953 by Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino. It was a great pleasure to be in the studios where some of the most relevant ballets of the mid to late 20th century were conceived and created and where some of the most legendary figures in dance collaborated. The history of the Joffrey Ballet is so fascinating and distinctly parallels that of New York City and this country both politically and culturally. It is also a story of perseverance, survival and rebirth. Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance, a 2012 documentary and the opening night film at last year’s Dance on Camera Film Festival at Lincoln Center quite wonderfully tells this story. It is definitely worth a look.
IN YOUR UNIVERSITY TEACHING DAYS, YOUR MALE BORDER COLLIE YASHA WOULD ACCOMPANY YOU TO CLASS EACH DAY AND ASSIST IN TEACHING, INCLUDING MATH. YOUR FEMALE DOG CHASER KNOWS MORE THAN 1000 ENGLISH LANGUAGE NOUNS THAT YOU HAVE TAUGHT HER. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT ONE CANINE GENDER HAS A GREATER ABILITY TO LEARN OVER ANOTHER OR IS IT MORE DEPENDENT ON THE CANINE BREED?
An interesting question, but it depends on the breed. I’m not aware of any research where gender dictates ability. However, in 1984 there was a book published called “The Redundant Male: Is Sex Irrelevant in the Modern World”. Hum.
CHASER IS NOW THE SUBJECT OF YOUR UPCOMING BOOK AND SHE HAS APPEARED ON ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT, THE TODAY SHOW ON NBC, AND NOVA ON PBS. HAS ALL OF THIS FAME CHANGED HER?
(Laughing) No, she is still the same fun loving puppy we adopted in 2004. She does enjoy all the attention and is prepared for belly rubs and petting whenever offered. She has definitely become more independent and likes to think for herself, but I’m pretty sure that is due more to her coming of age and not a diva throw-down. Her ability as a con artist continues to grow as she can charm anyone into playing with her at any time.
NOW THAT THE BOOK IS COMPLETE AND CHASER IS EIGHT YEARS OLD, DO YOU CONTINUE TO TEACH HER NEW WORDS AND HAS HER ADVANCING AGE HAD AN EFFECT ON THE RATE AT WHICH SHE LEARNS?
Thankfully, we are just finishing the last chapter of the book slated for October release by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Written with Hilary Hinzmann. It is a “feel good” book similar to Marley & Me that tells the story of the science in a very organic and down to earth way. During the writing of the book, I have continued new research that I began several years ago with Chaser. I stopped formally teaching her new words at age 3 because she demonstrated that her capacity for learning & retaining nouns was rather limitless. I am happy to announce that our new research is being published in the Journal of “Learning and Motivation” which discusses our findings on successfully teaching Chaser syntax & imitation. We have been focusing on this for several years, and because learning builds on learning, as with children, she learns new words and concepts at a super fast rate. She is constantly listening to our conversations and picks things up without my even realizing it. If you were wondering, your dog IS listening to you.
WHAT BRINGS YOU JOY?
Discovery.
COMB OR BRUSH?
Comb for me, brush for Chaser.
DO YOU LIKE YOUR NAME?
Yes, it is my father’s name and as is typical in the south, family and friends simply called me JW.
FINISH THIS SENTENCE: MY AGE IS…………….
84, but I am like Merlin and aging backwards towards college age. I refuse to go back to teenage years, there are too many highs and lows there.
WHAT’S FOR DINNER TONIGHT?
Barbecue from the Rendezvous in Memphis and ice cold beer.
Before our minds drift completely back to New York from our lovely trip to warm and sunny Sarasota, Florida, we wanted to say a few words about the very special John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. This wonderful waterfront estate was purchased in 1911 by John Ringling, a member of the Ringling family of circus fame and fortune, and his wife Mable. In 1924, they began construction on Ca’ d’Zan, the Venetian Gothic mansion inspired by their travels to Italy, that was to be their winter home. The most magnificent part of the house is the back where Sarasota Bay stands in for the Grand Canal — truly spectacular. Completed at the end of 1925 and considered to be the last Gilded Age mansion built in the United States, they only enjoyed Ca’ d’Zan together for a few short short years due to Mable’s untimely death in 1929. Incidentally, it was at Ca’ d’Zan that the 1998 movie Great Expectations with Ethan Hawke and Gwenyth Paltrow was filmed.
Today, the property includes two Circus Museums, the Museum of Art that houses the Ringling’s world-renowned collection of Old Masters as well as special exhibitions; the Historic Asolo Theater, an 18th-century palace playhouse from Asolo, Italy that was dismantled in the 1940s, brought to the estate and lovingly reconstructed over the course of several years; numerous gardens and the glorius Millenium Tree Trail. All of which is not to be missed.
We have just returned from Sarasota where we had the very good fortune of seeing Herb Ritts: L.A. Style at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, its final destination after shows last year at the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Cincinnati Art Museum. The exhibition focuses on Ritts’ work in fashion, celebrity and nude portraiture and also includes iconic music videos he directed such as Madonna’s “Cherish” from 1989. Supermodels, gorgeous bodies, beautiful clothing, popular culture. His photographs are remarkably powerful in person — so much about form and light and very uniquely California. We are convinced that the ONLY way to revisit the 1980s and 90s is through the lens of the great Herb Ritts, lost far too soon to AIDS at age 50 in 2002. Herb Ritts: L.A. Style is on view through May 19. www.ringling.org
