Armory Oh Seven

Last weekend was the art event of the year, the annual Armory Show. This is an opportunity for galleries from all over the world to gather on a pier on New York's West Side to show off their finest offerings. As you may remember, D. and I had an awesome if not overwhelming time last year. This year we were psyched to go again and gave ourselves plenty of time and even brought snacks.


Everyone was there. And I mean EVERYONE.



We even ran into Shannon and her work buddy Brandi.


Dustin and I, diligent bloggers to the end, took many photographs (as in 900).


But we didn't even take pictures of everything we saw, just everything we liked. It's hard to overestimate the scope of this event. I realize this is a humongous post, but please trust that I narrowed it down to the most notable pieces. One note: if you want to see any of the pictures up close, large and detailed (which is worth it in most cases), just click on the image and it will enlarge. It's especially helpful if you want to read the text in many of the photographs.


We saw many textures at the Armory Show.













And there were a few themes. Mirrors seemed to be In this year.










As did glitter and sparkle.








This one actually used real crystals.




And we saw several Andy Warhol portraits. I did not feel the need to take many photos of them.


So, on to the show.



This was a gigantic collage of Leif Garrett photos. Why? I dunno.









This was one of my very favorites.





A car door made of metal lace.





We remembered this one from last year, a sculpture made from Korean fortune boxes.







I loved this artist. She had a great perspective on pop culture.







We found art in all kinds of places.





Can you guess what these crickets or grasshoppers or locusts, depending on whom you ask, were made of?



Well, I'll tell ya. Coca-Cola cans.







I almost backed into this sculpture. That would have been embarrassing.







This thing was massive. It wrapped around three walls and was gorgeous. Another favorite.




This was kind of freaky.



Nevertheless, we had a moment.





This artist popped up in more than one gallery.







These Vogues were basically awesome.







As anywhere else on earth, the ladies' room was crowded.



Oh, you know we saw some clever art!




It's hard to properly describe or even photograph how beautiful this painting was. You'll just have to believe me. It was so delicate. I can't imagine how hard it must be to paint not only the intricacies of the veil of curtain, but the imagery beyond.









This video was weird and a little scary. It would stare into space, blink a few times (with the added sound effect of gunshots firing when she blinked), then slowly, mechanically turn her head to another side, cock her head, blink again, and over and over.



This sculpture was made entirely from newspaper.







At the Armory Show, even the gift shop, placed halfway through the exhibition space, is creative and artistic. Each glass shelf was strung from the ceiling.





We took a break and forsook our Powerbars in favor of beef stew, courtesy of the caterers. I was surprised by how freakin' good it was. I mean, we're talking deliciousness here.



Recharged and ready to face the second half, we embarked on the rest of our journey.







This sculpture was made out of exactly what you'd think.



Pringles potato chips, bathed in goldleaf.



And everything in these drawings was the word which represents it. (as in, the word "door" written over and over to comprise the image of a door.)







This sculpture, made of pots 'n' pans, cost a mere 150,000 pounds. I've checked with my sources, and that comes out to $292,350.56 American. Lemme see if I've got that somewhere in the nooks in my couch....







This painting's center line was interesting...


Consecutive song titles.



Oh, Japanese pop art! You're so cool!











What's an art show without a large photographic installation of Pete Doherty?



Every single page in each of these books was artfully reconstructed into a painting or collage.







Something under these sheets pumped air, making the sheets rise and slowly fall as if breathing.



Who doesn't love a caveman with an iPod?



Now this was cool. From a Mexican gallery (the same as the cavemen above), a painting, cool on its own, which came with 3-D glasses to see the image painted in blue.





These were witty.



Pictures of people taking reflected photos.







This sculpture was made from buttons!


Buttons!


And this one was made from paper plates!



We saw many grand-scale pieces.




(detail)


Glowing novae



I particularly loved this one.







This was carved from several different woods.







The wonderful R. Crumb.



¡Viva Mexico!







A massive chess board with hands/sign language as pieces.





These 3 were another set of favorites.















I, for one, just adore sleepwalking chimps.



... not to mention garbage trucks (how'd they get it in there?!).







... and some things just made you go "Hmmm. Huh?"



No art show/fair/convention/exhibition would be complete without some bad, or at least pretentious art. I won't mention the offending country, but let's just say that the following stuff reminded us of the Whitney American Art Biennial from last year.


Come on.


And three TVs showing white circles floating over a blue background, Atari-style?



Dustin says, "Jigga please."



Pardon me while I swoon over this flourescent bulb in a bucket stuck in the corner.



Don't forget your politics! (Cow, Cattle, Chattel, Capital, Capitalism)



But then again, who am I to say? I mean, I actually really liked this piece.


It's all in the eye of the beholder.

Well, we had a fabulous and exhausting time at this year's Armory Show. After 5 hours, we could barely walk. But it was worth it!


love,
*jenna*

Mundane, but this is February.

So, at work, we're putting in a stairway from the Penthouse to the 11th floor. We came in one day and there was a giant piece of plastic covering the gaping hole, and all of this dust had created these weird designs.



I put my camera's exposure to its lowest setting, and put the flash on, and it came out even crazier:


I think it looks like mitochondria splitting.


Or perhaps the landscape of a foreign planet.


One day last week, it finally snowed.









Inside the office, the skylight was collecting flakes.




Fortunately, it only lasted for one day and this Tuesday the runners blessed us with the presence of some floral beauties.




(as you may know, i love love love orchids)


Now, I've got a bone to pick with The Naturalizer. Back in December, when I went to April's wedding, my mom lent me a totally fabulous pair of Naturalizers to wear with my dress. I fell in love (as I tend to do with shoes) and recently went online to see if I could grab a pair for myself. I was delighted when I found a very similar, equally adorable pair on sale:

(except the pair I bought were black.) I was so excited when they arrived in the mail. However, I noticed that the package they came in was trashed and the shoebox inside didn't look so good either:


I was so sad when I opened up the box and found the black patent leather mary janes in this state:






What?!?! I was so pissed. Is it just me? Or do they look like they had been worn for years by some other devastatingly stylish woman?

Anyway. The moral of the story is, be careful what you buy online.


As you can see, life is as boring as a bad pair of shoes lately. But fear not. This weekend is the Armory Show, which should prove to be quite noteworthy, if it's anything like last year's.

love,
*jenna*

Random days in New York

My coworker Rob, whom you may remember gained fame by cutting a feel-good trailer for The Shining, was recently asked to be interviewed by Al-Jazeera. Huh. All he had to do was film himself answering some questions and upload the videos to their website. So, he decided to have some fun with it. He dressed up in a Sopranos-style tracksuit complete with gold chain. However, he was a little disappointed that his Blu-Blockers didn't come in the mail in time, so he had to settle for regular aviators.


He also put a slew of trophies in the background (unpictured). Sarra helped him set it up.


He did the interview completely straight, with no trace of irony. Except for the fact that he ate a bowl of HoneyCombs while talking and "editing."


Friday night Dustin and I were walking through a mostly empty hallway in Grand Central. It was filled only with the beautiful music of these three opera singers.


They were random... and amazing.


We got to the Shuttle train that goes between Grand Central and Times Square, and let me tell you, I've never seen such a crazy train. ("All aboard the CRAZY TRAIN!!!" ha ha ha to all my friends who've had the pleasure of seeing THAT video.)

Anyway, it was decorated like Whoa.



Dustin suddenly had the overwhelming urge to gamble.


There's this drugstore called Duane Reade in New York. I've gotten a little sick of them, because every time I go to one of their stores, their employees are rude and unhelpful and they charge me $7 for something that has a price tag of $4. Anyway... so the other day I decided to go to their rival, Rite Aide, to see if they could beat the Reade.

Unfortunately, they were no better in terms of service. Look at this. An entire aisle was filled with these crazy blue crates, making it impossible for anybody to get anything they needed in this aisle. They were as tall as me, and wider than my wingspan!


Can you imagine my embarrassment as I strained to reach over the crates, hopping up and down, a little higher each time, just to get what I needed? Rite Aide, you really disappointed me.


And finally, last night I rode in a taxi from The Future. It had a TV in the back!


You can choose to do all these things. You can read the news, find movies playing in the area, choose the music you want to listen to....


You can even get the weather!!!!!


There's also a map function, which didn't work at all. I was definitely not in Queens.


Welcome to technology!

Que Shoe-ra, Shoe-ra

Merry Monday, everyone... now for the most uplifting story you'll hear amongst this icy weather (not applicable to Arizonans).

So, do you remember a few months ago when I drooled over a pair of gorgeous Golas while I was in L.A.?

I fell in love immediately and longed for them, but alas, they were $100 and I could not let myself spend full price for any pair of shoes. It's just not my style. I knew that if our love was meant to be, we would find one another again.

Luckily, a few months after I returned to New York, I found them sitting pretty in the window of an athletic store, strangely enough. Oh, how they called to me, both of our souls longing to be together in blessed shoe-to-foot harmony. But alas, when I went inside searching for the beauties, they were nowhere to be found. The salespeople were, true to New York form, unhelpful and rude, so I said, "Harumph! I won't give my money to you ne'er-do-wells anyway!" and left in a Jenna huff.

But I had a shopper's secret up my sleeve. I went to Zappos.com, an online shoe store, because surely they would have the shoes. And they did! I was thrilled! And they were a scant $75! (still a lot in my book, but not as much as a C-note.) Every time I would look at them online at work, my coworkers would Ooohh and Ahhh and say how "jenna" they were.

But the practical side of me pulled in the reigns and said, "Whoa. Easy girl. Is it really a good idea to buy these shoes never having tried them on?" As I have one foot a half size larger than the other, shoes and I have a love/hate relationship. Very often they don't fit me perfectly. So I said to myself, "Fine. I'll wait until I can try them on at Paragon (the aforementioned athletic store) and then buy from Zappo's accordingly."

So a few months, as well as the Christmas shopping days, passed and I still never went back to Paragon. However, fate and a dance class would intervene to reignite my love for these Golas.

I was going to take a hip-hop dance class last Saturday morning and needed some new shoes and possibly "workout" pants for the venture. (As you can see, I'm still getting used to being a gym member.) So, I went to the only sports store I know: Paragon. "Oooh," I thought as I looked at the Nikes and New Balances and Adidases. (or is it Adidai?) "Maybe I can try on those lovely other shoes whilst I'm here."

So I asked the feller who was helping me out if they still had some. "There are these shoes out in the window," I said, "These Golas, they have flowers on the front, they're really beautiful. Do you have any?" "Hmm," he said, "Let me check."

A moment later he returned.

"Last pair," he said.

"Size Seven," he said. (my size)

He handed them over and I felt like Dorothy receiving ruby slippers.

I tried them on.

They fit like a dream. A freaking DREAM.

I looked at the price tag.

Original: $95

ON CLEARANCE:

(wait for it, wait for it).....


$35


THIRTY-FIVE DOLLARS.


WHAT?!?!?!


I just about cried with happiness. The last time I got a deal like that was when I was in high school and a coveted pair of red velvet Airwalks went on sale for $30. Yea!!!

Can't wait for April, when it'll be warm enough to not wear boots!! For now, they'll just be on the golden pedestal I hand-built for them in my bedroom.


love,
*jenna*