Archives : May-2011

…near Termini is a destination this morning after tours of the playground of a nearby elementary school and the roof of an institution for the mentally handicapped – possible future homes for my Roman rooftop garden which will have to be relocated when I leave at the en..

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…is the illuminating well-written 1977 book of this well-trodden utopian territory by Robert Fishman – which gives a super great overview of the political and philosophical underpinnings of Howard’s Garden City, Wright’s Broadacre City, and Corbusier’s Radient City – continuing my recent reading list of titles growing out of my fascination with the way in ..

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…is what I happened upon this afternoon – just when I thought there was no real alternative culture of resistance in this city – under the canopy of the Roman stone pines at Villa Doria Pamfilj where the landscape was covered with bikes and their riders enjoying the stellar Sunday afternoon after a weekend of ..

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…includes reports on recently planted loquat seeds; sad bean plants that are still refusing to climb up the bamboo wigwam structure that was made for them months ago; some eggplants, zucchini, and tomatoes that are starting to flower and set fruit; lots of pretty lettuce plants that are being left to bolt up like mad ..

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…is the brilliant South African artist brightening up the Academy while in residence this month – today welcoming us into his studio and sharing stories of his working process and methods – specifically in relation to a big wall collage that is a collaborative/interactive planning timeline for a new show coming up ..

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…or trap nest – similar to the more massive, monolithic version that I made for the Mason Bees in New York City in 2008 – is my Roman rooftop homestead project for the day – having found a big long log out back which I am now drilling a series of holes into, which female ..

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…of statuary is something I happened upon for the first time this afternoon as the sun was low while visiting a French friend in residence at the famous villa and gardens – that I still remember studying in architecture school – later acquired by Napoleon in 1803 as the new home for the Frenc..

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…this afternoon was with the amazing urban farmer Matteo Amati who presides over an enormous tract of city land where unemployed youth are put to work on the cultivation of the fruit tree orchard, the groves of olive trees, and the rotating fields of strawberries, fava beans, potatoes, tomatoes, etc….and this is giving me some sense of what ..

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…hosted a conversation about art & agriculture this afternoon, with Danny Percich, Tim Donovan, Harrell Fletcher, and myself, as part of the Open Engagement conference, on their Portland adjacent small CSA organic farm – which some of the of the hardcore student bikers arrived at on two wheels up a steep hill – and what ..

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…was the title of my talk at the PSU Open Engagement conference this afternoon, which I began with these three quotes: “The performance of a piece of music can be a metaphor of society, of how we want society to be. Though we are not now living in a society which we consider good, we ..

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…that I am admiring on a hike this afternoon just west of Portland in the valley of the Willamette River is cool and moist and all colors mossy green and something I will be thinking about enviously when back in hot sunny Rome in few days where my rooftop moss garden is surely dried to ..

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