İmla Hataları

My never ending quest to find good espresso in Istanbul led me to Bebek to check out Cafe Lucca (because it popped up here amongst the winners of last year's SCAE competition). I didn't find the espresso, but I did find an impressive contemporary art exhibition from Turkish visual artist Aslı Biçer, entitled İmla Hataları (Spelling Errors). I particularly liked her use of collaged newspaper scraps. Check out some of Aslı's other works here.

Velodrome as Installation Art

Circulus from machine project on Vimeo.

Makota Fujimura's Illuminated Gospel

Makoto Fujimura - The Art of "The Four Holy Gospels" from Crossway on Vimeo.

Simply stunning! View the preview pdfs here.

It's about time...

We got some art on the walls at the Safehouse. Thanks Seth for showing initiative and critical thinking.

Outings: #1

This summer the Dernek I work for is sponsoring a different outing every weekend. This weekend we went to Chora Church, which is considered one of the finest surviving Byzantine churches, and a cafe where the famed French novelist Pierre Loti once lived.

Of course I had to take a picture of my namesake.

The view of the Golden Horn from Pierre Loti.

Gallery Opening

"Art is limitation. The essence of every picture is its frame."

- G.K. Chesterton

This last weekend my friend Brittany had a gallery opening displaying photos she has shot around Istanbul over the past year. I was quite impressed with her aesthetic vision, especially her reinterpretations of the iconic symbols of the city, as well as finding beauty and redemption in unexpected places.

The Week in Review

Awesome things that have happened this week:

Hung out with my brother Paul in Sultanahmet. Had probably the coolest meal I've ever had, which literally involved setting food on fire and breaking pots with hammers. I'll get to show him the rest of the city after he returns from traveling the Turkish countryside.

Passed my final exam for level 1 Turkish. Level two starts Tuesday!

Visited the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art with several friends. I especially liked an installation piece by Serkan Özkaya and after researching him discovered he has a particular connection with my beloved city of Louisville (Proof on Main has featured Özkaya's work and he hand-illustrated an actual Courier-Journal issue).

Encountered 40+ zombies in Taksim Square dancing to Michael Jackson's Thriller.

Intended to visit Boğazaçi Üniversitesi's Sport's Fest, but was thwarted by the weather. Thankfully, Iron Man 2 was an apt contingency plan. I thought it was a great sequel, just as charming and entertaining as the first with very little plot to get in the way of explosions and one-liners.

B. Anne Jarboe

One of my favorite young Louisville artists is B. Anne Jarboe. Somehow my best friend convinced her to marry him. Anyway, there currently is a fantastic collection of her work on display and for sale at Quills Coffee. Sorry, the still life is already taken.

Lower Cases and Capitals

A few snapshots and bylines from yesterday's DC trip:

I found the Abraham Lincoln Memorial the most compelling place on the mall. But I'm not sure if that is because of Lincoln's somber, fist-clenched stare or because of his articulate 2nd inauguration address engraved on the wall.
It's been a long time dream of mine to see the Wright Flyer, but the part of the exhibit I was the happiest to see was this gorgeous fixed-gear, one of 5 surviving bikes built by the Wright Bros. I would definitely rock those bars.

The Chester Dale Collection was my favorite part of the National Gallery of Art. This Manet was particularly striking.

This picture is significant because I believe it is the first Pablo Picasso I've seen that I've really like. I particularly love the drab colors, minimal attention to detail, and the clean lines.

The District of Colombia has a really killer coffee seen and I was able to stop by Chinatown Coffee and Peregrine Espresso. Peregrine ranked among my favorite coffee experiences, largely due to a great conversation with a couple of the baristas who were preparing for the Mid-Atlantic Barista Competition next week. I got a double shot of the seasonal Nemba, Burundi espresso, which did not disappoint.

We finished the day at Zest Bistro, a hip new-American restaurant. Just looking at the picture makes me hungry.

I must say I'm very pleased my nation's capital is so cool.

Splendor

"The weight of gold and silver will capture even the passage of time herself. So one could find, within the visual space created by gold and silver, a moment of eternity."

-Matazo Kayama

"The problem that I could not overcome with Art being religion is that the more I focused on myself, the less I could find myself. A schism grew inside between who I wanted to be and what I did...Finding beauty in nature and art, I did not have a 'shelf' to place that beauty inside my heart."

-Makoto Fujimura, Refractions

Blowin' up Beantown

For the last four days I have been in Boston/Cambirdge, MA with my roommate Matt and my little brother David. Here is the abridge, non-chronological list of things we have done:

Coffee: Barismo, Cafe Crema, Diesel Cafe, High-Rise, Espresso Royale, and Flour (which had some delish gluten free options)

Campuses: Harvard, MIT, Boston University

Pubs: The Burren, The Druid,

Shops: The Coop, Urban Outfitters, American Apparel

Churches: Christ the King (Redeemer Pres. church plant), Hope Fellowship (where we have been sleeping in the balcony)

Oh, throw in Fenway for a Red Sox game (they won!), the Museum of Fine Arts, Quincy Market, the Harbor, and an absurd amount of sight-seeing.

Pictures and legitimate commentary coming soon.

Art @ Sunergos

Local artist Mickey Winters has a variety of her work on display (and for sale) at Sunergos for the month of September. Conveniently, the month of September also is the month of my birthday, so if anyone wants to purchase the piece "One God" (pictured above) for me, I wouldn't turn them down.

Either way, be sure to stop by and appreciate it in person.