The Obliteration Room by Yayoi Kusama

The Obliteration Room,  The Guardian (Photographies by: Mark Sherwood, Stuart Addelsee and Natasha Harth)

The Tate Modern, in London, is currently hosting a major exhibition from Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. If you happen to be in London (which unfortunately is not my case), it seems to be one of those unmissable things to see.

However, the reason I'm really writing about it, is because of The Obliteration Room, which is part of the main exhibit Look Now, See Forever. Yayoi Kusama had this fantastic idea of making a fun interactive project for the kids. It started with a completely immaculate white room (including furniture and objects) and each person who enters the room is given a sheet of colored stickers dots and is asked to stick them wherever they want. How fun is that?

Books of the week: I want my hat back

I almost bought the book I want my hat back, by Jon Klassen the first time I saw it, around six months ago. It was already considered a bestseller and was on display in almost every bookstores around town. I really liked the illustrations, I thought the story was funny and different, but I wasn't sure my kids were going to like it. 

Last week, when I saw it was still on display at a bookstore I finally decided to give it a go. The book is a success. Both my kids like it and we have read it several times already. The illustrations are very nice, the dialogues are simple but smart and the twisted ending is both amusing and ironic - very different from the perfect-ending-books we usually read. 

Under a different perspective

I found out about the photographer Brent Townshend when I was looking for a picture to illustrate this post. And I fell in love with his work.
Can you recognize some of the places in the pictures above?

Strolling overseas - Bon voyage!

Voyage from Marco Aslan on Vimeo.

I'll be out for the rest of the week. Enjoying good food, wine and some quietness. Here's a short film, shooted and edited by my so talented brother Marco. Enjoy!

Books of the week - Three white books

Three white books: one for F, one for P and one for me

Remember my neighbor? So, my husband and I are going away for a few days. A short trip, just the two of us. The kids are happily staying with their grandparents who are happier than the kids to take care of them; and we are the happiest of all. Thus it's the perfect arrangement.

The other day I saw this box of three white books (I'm sorry I can't remember the name of the brand) and I thought it would be a good idea if each one of us uses the books to tell, mostly through drawings, our little adventures during those days that we weren't together. We decorated the covers of the books this morning and I entitled them our "Carnets de voyage". I don't think that we will fill them all during the next three days and I hope that we will have more occasions to use them.

I haven't left yet, but I'm already dying to read my kids' books (and crossing my fingers hoping that they'll play the game).

Masks for Mardi Gras

Given that today is Mardi Gras and that we are celebrating Carnival this week, we've decided to make some masks. For Christmas, F received the set Mask'Animo, which contains 8 masks to assemble and paint. They are very easy and fun to make. We had made already some in Punta del Este, but we still had two left. So we've finished them today.

Take a look at the video of the making of in Mitik's website. Ours don't look as professional, but the kids had fun making them. This brand is not very commercialized outside France, but once I saw the masks at Moma's store.

Also, instead of painting them, we colored them with these great pastels from Djeco. It was less messy and the gel pastels are smooth and colorful, which makes them very pleasant to color with.

Doug Wheeler - creating absence

Doug Wheeler's exhibition at David Zwirner's gallery

Three words: Don't miss it! (If you are in New York, of course). It goes until February 25th, so you better run. There's a long line, but the wait is totally worth it.

In his new installation, presented at David Zwirner's gallery, the american artist Doug Wheeler plays with lights and space to make us experience an "infinite space". Or like he defines his work, he creates absence.

I can't explain what I saw and felt on Friday. I can describe to you the white wall in which I stood in front for more than 30 minutes. But I can't describe you the sensation of being staring at a white wall for more than 30 minutes and why I stayed all that time in front of it. You would need to try it by yourself.

In the meantime, you can read this good review written by Randy Kennedy for The New York Times, that will definitely give you a better description of Doug Wheeler's work than I would.

The Weekender

What are you up to this weekend? We don't have anything planned yet. It's not that I'm giving up on planning my weekends ahead is just that the kids will be on vacation next week (winter break), so I'm spreading our outings over the next few days.

It seems that the weather will give us a break from the rain in New York. So here is an extremely-non-professionally-shooted video, from our visit yesterday to the Central Station, to warm us a little bit this weekend. Take a look and tell me if you were able to spot P and I in the middle of the crowd.

Have a lovely weekend!

Cultural Thursdays: Grand Central Station and the Bermuda dancers

Panoramic view of the ceiling in the main concourse of Grand Central Station, by Brent Townshend

This morning I took P to the Grand Central Station. He loves trains and I needed to do some grocery shopping. Since there is this wonderful market in the station, I decided to make our "supermarket" experience funnier than usual. So after buying our fresh fish, vegetables and cheeses (Murray's cheese shop is a must), we went for a stroll in the station. 

First of all, we went, of course, to see some trains. Although P was very disappointed when I told him we weren't going to ride on one. Then we discovered this fantastic toy store called "Kidding around". They opened in Grand Central Station last October, but they've been in the West Village for 17 years. They carry a lot of European brands, wood toys, puppets, educational toys, board games. Very different from what we usually see around here. 

The reason I had actually thought about going to the Station with P, aside from his love for trains, was because there is an Annex Gallery of the MTA-Transit Museum, inside the Station. And the last time I had been there (unfortunately without the kids), they had a beautiful miniature train circuit there. I thought it was something permanent, but apparently it was just a temporary exhibit because it wasn't there anymore. Instead, they are now showing an exhibition of The Art of Posters. They were commissioned by the London Transport at the beginning of the 20th century and they were made by the best English artists and designers to promote the use of public transportation. If you are around, it's fun to check-them out.

When we were on our way out, admiring the sky painting on the ceiling of the main concourse (P is always mesmerized by that painting), we heard some music. So we followed the sound of the drums and there we were in the middle of a party promoting tourism in Bermuda. P loved it. This is New York, everyday is a new day, full of surprises waiting around the corner. 

Bermuda Gombey dancers (sorry for the bad quality, I only had my phone with me)

 

Play with your food!

The other day I got inspired by this post in Babyccino Kids (a great blog/website about everything related to kids) and made these little pear and grape cars. My children loved them. And they even had the idea to create an airplane using strawberries as the winds.

Before eating them up, we made a race and the cool thing is that the wheels, made out of grape, do actually turn.

Back from the future project - by Sander Koot

Look at this cool project that the Dutch photographer Sander Koot has been working on since 2009. The photographer asks his models to pick a photograph from one of their fondest memories from 50 or 60 years earlier. And then they remake the photo. Loved the idea and should definitely try to remember to do that in a few years from now.

Here are some examples that I personally liked, but you can check more pictures here.

Photos credits: Sander Koot

Books of the day - Valentine's books

Do you read Valentine related books on Valentine's day to your kids? We don't particularly. But we do have some that talk about love. Therefore, since love is in the air today, here are some books to celebrate Valentine's day.

P.S: After writing the paragraph above, I went to the kids' room to pick-up our "love stories" and to my surprise I just found 2 books (very obvious ones, sorry). I guess we are short on this subject...

I love this book, because I have already found myself in the same situation. F likes to test me a lot, in every way. Even when it is on the subject of how much I love him. We have already had very similar conversations as the one presented in this story. And it is always very cute to see his happy face when he's convinced that I'll love him no matter what.

A classic one for babies and toddlers. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

The American Love, by Robert Indiana

I wish you a sweet day!

Park Here - the indoor pop-up park

Today, while we were waiting to pick-up F from a play date, P and I went to this indoor "pop-up" park in  Openhouse Gallery, located in the heart of Nolita. 

Isn't the idea fantastic for a long and cold winter like we usually get in New York?

There were kids playing around, people reading, others using their computers, others just chatting - just like a real park, except that we were in an indoor space. Unfortunately, the park will close on Wednesday and tomorrow (02/14) is the last day opened for the public. 

Given that we were in a gallery, space and infrastructure were not great for an indoor park. Nonetheless, wouldn't this be a great idea for any big city to have an real indoor park?

While I was hanging there, sitting on one of the benches watching P playing, I did a small list of things that I thought worked here and others that I would have liked to see or to be different.

Let's start with the pros:

• Great great great idea for the winter;
• The park was quite big (for Manhattan of course);
• Free for everybody;
• Free Wi-fi;
• There were some picnic blankets, bean bags, benches, tables, hammocks;
• Many events during the two months it was opened (movie nights, activities for mothers with their kids, games, afternoon tea, and more);
• It became a place to hang out with friends or just to enjoy a cup of coffee while reading a book, just like a real park

Now the not-so-good things I found about it:

• No windows, no natural light - felt a little bit too indoors;
• The illumination wasn't good, so it was a little bit dark;
• Since it's an indoor space and people come to eat, there was a strong smell of food when we entered the space;
• All the flowers and plants were fake. They looked very nice, but it would have been better if they were real;
• The ventilation system was making too much noise;
• I said that the park was quite big, considering that we are in Manhattan, however, the bigger the better.

Anyway, those are just ideas in case someone decides to build a real indoor park. In the meantime this was a really nice initiative from Openhouse Gallery. 

Storytime

Story Time at a country school, by Norman Rockwell

Storytimes are a great activity to do with the kids. They (as well as you) can just sit down and enjoy a quiet and relaxing time hearing some nice stories. What I like about that is that. first of all, the person reading is usually a great reader and story teller (sometimes it can even be the author). But, also, the person may choose some books that you would have never chosen because you either didn't see them or you thought they wouldn't interest your kids. Until you see them with their mouths opened, static, barely blinking their eyes, listening to the story.

On Saturday we went to McNally Jackson Books bookstore for a story time and crafts. Although a little bit crowded, it was very nice. And, more importantly, the kids loved the program. I wrote here about this bookstore and it has definitely became one of my favorites here in New York. They have a lot of events going on during the week, for both adults and kids. So make sure to check out their calendar. Every Saturday they host this story time at 11:30am, which is usually followed by some crafts activities. They announce on their website what will be the books read and the theme of the craft. 

There are many bookstores around New York (and certainly near you, wherever you live) with story times and activities for the kids. They are usually for free. So take advantage of that!

Here are other bookstores that you may want to check out for their events (I'm sure there are plenty more):

• Books of Wonder
• Barnes & Noble
• Barefoot Books store at FAO Schwarz

The Weekender

This Is Where We Live from 4th Estate on Vimeo.


My mom sent me this little video this week and I loved it.

Any plans? On our side, nothing yet. J is coming back from his business trip tomorrow morning. It seems that the temperatures will not be as mild as last weekend and there's a big chance of rain and snow for Saturday. So we might just stay warm at home, playing cards, board games and baking and eating cookies.

Have a great weekend!

To work or not to work

I would find it hard to believe that this question hasn't crossed the mind of every mother in our modern society. 

Some women need to work for a living, others because they praise their careers and are afraid of being left out of the market for too long, others because they may just not be satisfied by being only mothers and like the challenge of their jobs and others for all the reasons above. On the other hand, other women stay at home with the kids because they chose to or maybe because the household income simply wouldn't cover for the expenses related to childcare (being it a full-time nanny or a daycare). In any case, I believe that all reasons are valid and I'm in no position to judge any mother or her life-style here.

I worked until F was 1 year and a half. I liked it but there wasn't a single day that I wouldn't think about leaving my job to stay with him. In the descriptions I established above, I fitted in the "mother who praised her career and was afraid of being left out of the market". I thought I was too young to stop working (just turned 27 when F was born) and I had studied too hard just to hang all my diplomas and spend every afternoon in the park. But I suffered too much. When F turned one it hit me very hard, I felt I had missed everything that was important to me - spending time with him and watching him growing. Nonetheless, I still felt divided, because I wanted to build a career for myself...

Then came the decision to move back to Brazil and I got pregnant of my second child. I decided to take some time off. But I always had in mind, that after P would be 6 months old, I would go back to work. P turned one and I was still at home. In part because I couldn't find a job, but also because I wasn't really trying hard to find one. When we moved back to New York, I was lucky to be hired by the same bank I used to work for, with the same group, to do exactly the same thing. Unfortunately it didn't last.

The first weeks were hard because I had to be reacquainted with everything, especially the working space and rhythm. Imagine how hard it can be to stay in front of a Bloomberg screen for 10 hours, analyzing balance sheets and income statements after having spent two years changing diapers, singing children songs, playing with cubes, going to the park! That part was actually easy to overcome. But, the daily life away from the kids was just too hard for me. Not to mention that my husband works long hours, so I couldn't really rely on him. So, I decided to go back home.

I don't regret it. I enjoy and feel lucky of being able to spend this time with my kids. They actually do grow extremely fast and I would hate to miss their early childhood. I have a great admiration for the working mothers because I tried to be one and I just couldn't handle the challenge. However, there is this constant little voice telling me your kids will grow up and what will happen to you?

In addition to all my worries about working or not - and, I'm sorry, but I don't consider staying-at-home a work, especially when I see my sister who works full-time and takes care of her children with no help at home -, this morning F made a comment that left me so so sad. He told me that I should go back to work, so his nanny could give him breakfast like she used to do a few months ago while I was in the office. so, there is now this whole new question, banging in my head, that I had never asked myself before: will my grown up kids reprove my decision of having stayed with them? 

Big, huge, enormous *SIGH*. 

Will you be my Valentine?

You and Me Venn Diagram Perfection, by Yellow Heart Art

Half Heart - Personalized, by Modern Madness

Mustache and Kiss Mug, by Modern Madness

Ideas for Valentine's day...

Marionnettes at the Swedish Cottage - Don't even bother...

This morning, P and I went to see Little Miss Muffet's Monster-Sitting Service, at the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre in Central Park, with a friend and her son. The day was beautiful, not too cold and the theatre is one of the most charming places in New York to take kids. Nonetheless, thankfully, our sons were too young to understand the story (the performance is actually recommended for ages 3 to 9). But the older children in the theatre, who were around 5 or 6 years-old were at some point bored (because the story is too complicated and some dialogues are too long) and then even frightened.

The scenarios are very well done, the musics are nice and the crew is really talented. However, the story is completely wrong. From beginning to end. 

Here's why:

1. A six year-old girl, Molly, arrives home ALONE and finds a message from her parents who have left for the weekend. There's no one at home. Her grand-father is suppose to arrive at some point (from Alaska) to take care of her. But, of course, he doesn't make it, so he sends his old friend a giant spider (that was actually amusing and the spider is one of the best characters). 
2. There are monsters in the story. If they were funny, that would be alright. But they are not. There is even a dinosaur growling very loud that was quite scary.
3. There is this malicious  and creepy german monkey that lives in outer space. He's actually Ham, the chimp that was sent to space back in the '50s (if you're interested, here is the footage explaining his mission) and he now wants some revenge by destroying the human race. The Cold War has been over for more than 20 years now, so why do we still need to stereotype the "bad guys" by being Germans?! This should be completely over by now.
4. The chimp sends a terrible plant that grows during the night into a gigantic and malefic plant and starts to destroy the city (New York). At this point, the curtains are down and we can only hear the sounds of the destruction and people terrified screaming on the top of their lungs and the lights behind the curtains are all red (imagine the reaction of the kids in the theatre). So, little Molly takes command of a huge robot, like a Transformer, and after a ferocious fight destroys the malevolent plant. 
5. Moral of the story: plants are evil, because they destroy the city; so we should exterminate them. Oh, and let's not forget History, Germans will always be bad. 

I might sound naive, but children are children. Childhood is already such a short period of our life, so why would we want to accelerate it and throw the children into adulthood too early? There are some jokes or some sarcasm that the kids just don't get and that are not appropriate for them. When I go with my children to see something (either a play, or a movie, or a concert) that is for their age, I expect to see content adapted to their age and that's it. Of course, I want to have fun as well. But usually just by looking at their happy faces I'm already spending a good time. And when I want to have fun as an adult, then I call a babysitter and go to the movies with my husband. What I'm trying to say here is that parents have to adapt to their children needs and amusement level and not the other way around. Like we say in French chaque chose en son temps.

We weren't already very convinced about the play last summer (The Secret History of the Swedish Cottage), but this one was a total disappointment. They have the technique, the talent and certainly the imagination. Why can't they just stick to more traditional or children appropriate stories?

Picture of the Swedish Cottage taken from here. And the pictures from the play were taken from Backstage and Time Out New York Kids - the reviews are pretty good, although they agree with me that this is not a great play for children.

Books of the week - Tickle Monster

One of the funniest book we have at home. The story is about an extraterrestrial monster, who comes from Planet Tickle, to bring laughter and joy on planet Earth, by tickling. While you read the story, you are invited to tickle your child wherever the monster says he's going to tickle the kids in the story. 

Lots of laughters guarantee! 

Weekend achievements

For a first timer I think they were quite successful

I think we did pretty well. Here's what we managed to do this weekend.
From my list:

• Homemade chicken broth - CHECK
• Chocolate chip cookies - CHECK
• Movies - CHECK (The Iron Lady - Meryl Streep is as always A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, the movie is so-so)
• Read and rest - as usual... less than I should

The boys helping me with the chocolate chip cookies' dough

Out of my list:

• Visit to the Met - F and I went to see the Arms and Armor collection, as well as the Egyptian Art collection. I thought it was a good outing to do with a boy who loves to play with his fake swords.
• Central Park on Sunday - It was a little bit chilly, but it was sunny and the park was wonderful.

Have a nice week!

The Weekender - Too many plans, not enough hours

The Fruit of Knowledge, Elmgreen & Dragset

I have so many plans for this weekend and of course I won't be able to do half of them.

This is a typical weekend morning here at home, before going out:

Daniela - Wakes up early with the kids (sometimes a little bit later, while they stay playing)

Husband - Sleeps

Daniela - Has breakfast with the kids and tries very very hard to read the newspaper (impossible with two boys)

Husband - Sleeps

Daniela - Starts her physical activity = running after the kids to get them dressed

Husband - Wakes up

Daniela - Is still trying to dress up the kids while they are running all over the house 

Husband - Having breakfast while peacefully reading his newspaper

Daniela - Doing something for/with the kids 

Husband - Going to take a shower

Daniela - Cleaning up the kids' mess

Husband - Getting dressed

Daniela - Can finally take her shower

Husband - Reading the newspaper in the living room and saying that it's late and they need to get ready

Daniela - Starts to put the kids' jackets and shoes. P is finally ready, so she runs after F. When F is finally ready, she turns to put P in his stroller and tries to stay very (very) calm when she realizes that he's taken off his shoes and jacket. She's starting to get somewhat irritated by all this; she takes a big breath in and starts all over again. She starts to complain that they are really late and will never get wherever they need to be on time.

Meanwhile, Husband says: "I've been ready for almost half an hour now"

Daniela - runs in the bedroom to find her shoes, mentioning that if Husband had helped, they would maybe have not been so late and that she could have at least brushed her hair. 

Husband continues: "We are all ready at the door waiting for you..."

Then, saying to the kids: "Get used to that, your mom is always late, actually women in general are always late"

Daniela is now furious and Husband doesn't understand why...

Anyway, here's all I'd like to do this weekend. I'd like to go ice-skating with F, given that I haven't had the chance to take him yet. I'd like to take the kids to see a puppet show at the Puppetworks in Brooklyn. I'd like to go to the movies. I'd like to make a homemade chicken broth from scratch. I'd like to bake some cookies with the kids. I'd like to read more than I usually do. And, I'd like to rest.

Let's see what I manage to accomplish from this list.

Have a great weekend!

P.S.: I found this sculpture very appropriate to represent my weekend. I'm the monkey, on top of the pile of books I'd like to read, trying to reach for something unattainable - my weekend plans.

Cultural Thursdays: VIP Art Fair - A new way to expose

My cultural Thursdays are not over. Actually, today I've visited many art galleries. I saw photographies, sculptures, installations, paintings, prints. All this, in the comfort of my house.

Have you heard of this event: VIP Art Fair?

During 5 days, starting tomorrow February 3rd (today was only the preview), Art galleries from all around the world will be participating in the second edition of this Online Art Fair. And we are talking about the most important galleries worldwide (the exhibitors list is quite impressive) presenting high quality contemporary Art.

From the point of view of an Art appreciator, like myself - who has no means or intentions to buy anything -, what I experienced today was more and less what I feel when I browse prints from Art.com or any other online "Art retailer" with the huge difference that most of the art works presented by the galleries at the fair are from renowned artists and are originals and important pieces (prices also differ greatly). What I was trying to explain through the comparison is that if you go to galleries or to an Art fair just for your viewing pleasure, then this might not do the trick. It may work, though, for collectors who beforehand already know what to look for and who to talk to.

I personally think, that participating physically to an Art fair gives you more pleasure. There is no online chat that can be compared to an actual conversation with the art dealers and there is certainly no online reproduction that can be compared to an original work. Nonetheless, I found the event interesting, very well organized (there is a zoom feature that let you see the works really closely that is fantastic) and so avant-garde. So since it's there why not enjoy the beautiful art presented, the discussions, the life performances and all the other fun events related to the VIP Art Fair (whenever and wherever we want). 

Piano lessons

Lecon de musique, by Jean-Jacques Sempe 

Today F will have his first piano lesson. It is recommended that we buy a piano, because he will, obviously, need to practice at home. Therefore, I've been doing some research in order to decide which one we should buy. Unfortunately, given that we are very limited in terms of space, the decision will actually weight more on the size factor that on the quality one.

Nonetheless, I wanted to share some of my amusing findings with you.

I could maybe just change my dinner table:

Or redecorate my living-room:

Piano bar

What about car inspired pianos?

The Ferrari Piano

The Audi piano

And what about this one:

The Rocking piano

If you'd like to see some more, here is the page where i found them all. 

Movies celebrating Movies

Recently, I saw two movies that, although completely different, have a a lot in common: Hugo, directed by Martin Scorsese and The Artist, directed by Michel Hazanavicius. The first one is a 3-D movie, whereas the latter is a black and white silent movie. Nonetheless, both of them take place in the first half of the 20th century (one in Paris and the other in Hollywood) and both are tributes to the cinema as an Art. This is particularly interesting in a time when the film industry seems to be in decadence and there is some uncertainty about its future. The industry can re-create itself, modernize itself, but the essence is always the same. That is, movies are there to tell stories in various ways, independently on how the technology (which is a support) evolves. 

And this is so true in The Artist, in which the main character is trying to fight against the modernisation of the films in the early 20's, when they start to introduce sound to the pictures. He thinks silent movies will prevail and that talking movies will be a fiasco. He was obviously wrong. The public also evolves and likes novelty. The interesting thing is that we are currently living a similar situation, with the introduction of 3-D pictures. A few years ago some people would say that nobody would ever like to watch a movie with those not very comfortable glasses. However, what we are seeing nowadays is that more and more films are beings released in 3-D and even 3-D televisions are already available in the market. 

The technology of film-making can evolve, nonetheless, what really remains is the importance of the story. This is what movies are all about. Movies tell stories. They can either be fantastic or realistic. But, they certainly make people dream, travel, imagine, laugh, cry, be frighten... This is and always has been what differentiate a good movie from a bad one. You can be using the latest technology available, however if the story is not good, there's no 3-D feature or special effect that will support your film. 

Hugo is a magical film. The story is obviously a fantasy. But it is actually based on some real facts. Independently on the story (that I really liked), what moved me the most is how Martin Scorsese tells the story of the cinema. We see in the movie one of the very first film that had been shown in theaters, which was a very short scene of a train arriving to the station - Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat, by the Lumiere Brothers. At the time, people would scream and hide their faces when they saw the train arriving, because they actually thought the train would come out of the screen. In Hugo, we see that same scene, but with the 3-D effect the train actually comes out of the screen. This is just brilliant!

In The Artist, Hazanavicius brings back a whole different way of watching a movie. I think it must have been quite a challenge and it's very audacious to make a silent movie nowadays. The public is now so used to fast scenes, full of action and sound all the time. All the characters have to be clever, fast thinkers, full of witty lines. So, in my opinion, through his film, Hazanavicius also challenges his audience. He's testing our concentration and our senses. As spectators, we end up reacting to the silence of the actors in front of us in a different way than when we are just passively listening to a dialogue. I had already seen some of the old silent movies, but never on a big screen and never with such a good image quality. Overall, I think it was really refreshing.

And just a little parenthesis on education here: watching a silent movie nowadays is actually a good way to teach the audience to remain in silence during the entire session and restraining people from making noises with their food and drinks. Movies still deserve some respect.

As I was browsing the web to find a nice image to illustrate my post, I found this critic of "The Artist" from The New Yorker that I thought was very interesting.