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Bonjour-Bonjour,
In early October, as we made our way to Aix-en-Provence, we paused at Chateau La Coste an amazing vineyard dotted with enormous art installations:
Louise Bourgeois’s Crouching Spider greeted us… hovering over a pond, gorgeous, intense, and definitely not Charlotte! There would be zero tender messages in her web.
Andy Goldsworthy’s Oak Room drew us into a comforting nest of woven branches hidden in a cave. “Petit à petit, l’oiseau fait son nid.”
Liam Gillack’s piece, Multiple Reisistance, was my favorite because you could walk within, touch and slide the screens, shifting the colors and the shadows. I felt as if my body was part of the work.
Lunch was fantastic as well. And who doesn’t want to spend an afternoon in a vineyard with these two:
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It was a glorious day that primed me for the bazillion opportunities to see art of all kinds around me. Street art:
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Tiny natural installations comme Andy Goldsworthy left behind by another human in the village of Bonnieux:
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Weird and charming do-das (my grandma’s word and I’m sticking to it!) at a second hand shop:
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This elegant piece in our hotel room in L’Isle sur la Sorgue:
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If you are familiar with Julia Cameron’s book, THE ARTIST’S WAY, you know that a major component of the work is to commit to taking yourself on artist dates. Cameron describes the dates as necessary because:
As artists, we must learn to be self-nourishing. We must become alert enough to consciously replenish our creative resources as we draw on them—to restock the well.
The artist’s language is a sensual one, a language of felt experience. When we work at our art, we dip into the well of experience and scoop out images. … we need to learn how to put things back.
Do not think duty. Think magic. Think delight… think mystery not mastery.
You needn’t have a formal plan. Just putting on “artist’s way” glasses encourages us to find art everywhere.
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One night in Aix, after a lovely dinner, we walked home with our friend, all a little glowy from the meal and the vin rouge, all a little in love with our server who treated us as if we were prodigal children just returned from our adventures. We rounded a corner and came upon spilled plastic bags all over the street. (Bear with me, I don’t mean to get all American Beauty on you… with the famous plastic bag scene, but…) the image took our breath away, the way the bags looked like jelly fish on the wet pavement. I could see this moment in a novel or story.
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All of this reminds me of the David Foster Wallace commencement address at Kenyon College in 2005. He began with a parable:
There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes “What the hell is water?”
“What the hell is art?”
Exactly.
Art is everywhere once we’ve donned our art-colored glasses.
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We visited an atelier in L’Isle sur la Sorgue. After a charming conversation, after admiring her work, after learning about her process, we bought a photograph from Eva Erdmann. Now we have the best souvenir!
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Oh, and also, this horse problem! (Honestly, I’m a little jealous of this found art.)
Tell me, please, where do you see art in the world?
Thanks for reading. I hope your day is filled with found art!
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To stay in the loop:
Tell your people you love them, and take care of your skin!
I find it in nature, in color, in people, even in the grocery store. It's everywhere if you know how to look. Thanks for the reminder.
This was wonderful, Natalie. Mexico City is also blessed with almost an over abundance of outdoor art - of all types. All of this is lovely.