May 31, 2016
This week I decided to dig for some of my favorite montages in the archives as long as they were connected to interesting locations and/or facts. Some have been exhibited, some are just personal favorites. Several were precursors to a series called “Zwischenräume” – The Spaces in Between. This series was partially inspired by a stanza from Georg Kreisler’s “Song of Reality,” which he wrote in exile in the US having fled Nazi occupied Europe, describing the tension between truth and fiction, science and fantasy – something that holds for much of current political discourse but also, alas, for science reports.
Today’s montage was based on a famous painting by Sir Frederic Leighton, Flaming June. I expect her to get up any moment and dance – have to ask Martha in which ballet. I found the painting in a small but terrific museum in the middle of nowhere in Puerto Rico – the Museo del Arte de Ponce. http://www.museoarteponce.org. It is architecturally interesting, holds a fine and substantial collection of European art, particularly pre-Raphaelite pieces, and, most importantly, gives equal attention to modern Caribbean artists. The Leighton piece attracts visitors in all its orange glory, but there is much to see for more discerning patrons as well, including modern sculpture outside. My day there, in all its perfection, found a worthwhile ending with a number of daiquiris at dinner…
Puerto Rico is in trouble. Puerto Rico’s population has been falling for nearly a decade, and the pace of decline has accelerated in recent years. Although a slowdown in the island’s natural population increase has contributed, a more important factor recently has been a sharp surge in the out-migration of its citizens. Nearly one-third of those born in Puerto Rico now live on the U.S. mainland and it is mostly the younger people who leave. Part of the reason is the huge economic crisis faced by the island. Here are some of the details: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/06/29/things-in-puerto-rico-are-getting-really-bad-what-you-need-to-know/. Clearly, an increase in tourism would benefit the dominion, and one wonders why people aren’t enjoying the weather, the tropical beaches, the charming capital with its old forts and plazas in larger numbers. You don’t need a passport, or foreign currency, everyone speaks English and the island has a diverse biosphere, from arid regions to rainforests to caribbean beaches. Below is a photograph I took at the old Fort in San Juan – the figures reminded me of Aglaea (Splendor), Euphrosyne (Mirth) and Thalia (Good Cheer) aka the three Graces.
Anne Andler
Very cool. Thanks you, Friderike.
Martha Ullman West
Balanchine’s Vienna Waltzes maybe, Friderike, though that happens at night. A sunny ballet…Fille Mal Gardee, but it’s about peasants, as is Coppelia. So that’s a challenge, to find an appropriate ballet. As for Puerto Rico, my mother spent quite a lot of time there forty years ago and New Yorkers used to frequently vacation there. Don’t know about now. Like these pictures in any case.