Dynamic Subspace

Tag: Photos

  • Marcel Duchamp’s Rotary Demisphere (Precision Optics) at MOMA

    a hypnotic spinning half-globe surrounded by copper, on a 3 ft pedestal, connected by pulley to a geared down electric motor

    This is one of the odder works of art at MOMA that Y and I saw a few weeks back. It’s Marcel Duchamp‘s Rotary Demisphere (Precision Optics) from 1925. The spinning lines on the half-globe under the plexiglass dome creates a pulsing effect optical illusion when it is turned on. Perhaps to preserve the original motor at its base, it is operated via a geared down electric motor off to the side of its base. It’s only turned on twice a day for five minutes each time–at 11:00am and 3:30pm. It’s an interesting assemblage of electrical and mechanical technologies to create the whole work of art.

    top view of a hypnotic spinning half-globe surrounded by copper, on a 3 ft pedestal, connected by pulley to a geared down electric motor
    rear view of a hypnotic spinning half-globe surrounded by copper, on a 3 ft pedestal, connected by pulley to a geared down electric motor

  • Chamonix and Mont Blanc

    statue of two men, one of them is pointing to mont blanc in the distance.

    I pulled out my photos from a 2011 day trip to Chamonix that Y and I made. When we visited Switzerland that year–our last real vacation–I really wanted to see Mont Blanc, because of its importance in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818). It’s where Victor encounters his creation, learns his creation’s story, and agrees to create a mate for his creation. Also, it figuratively looms large in Romanticism and works of that era. Here is one of my favorite photos–the mountaineer Jacques Balmat, who with Michel-Gabriel Paccard first summited Mont Blanc on 8 August 1786, points the way to the highest peak in Western Europe to Horace Bénédict de Saussure, who had offered a reward for the first to the summit and climbed it himself with Balmat and 15 others on 3 August 1787.

  • Wage Is Living the High Life

    uglydoll wage sitting between the branches of a tree

    Y and I found Wage the Uglydoll on the ground below the tree where we had found him earlier this year. It had been some months since we had last visited him, and he must have fallen down at some point. I dusted him off and put him in a more secure position in the meeting place of several branches. Hopefully, he will enjoy this high and dry place in the sun a little better.

    uglydoll wage sitting between the branches of a tree

  • Paying Respects to Townsend Harris, Founder of City College of New York and First US Consul General to Japan

    stone memorial with a japanese lantern and large tree with overarching limbs

    Yesterday, Y and I visited Townsend Harris‘ grave in Green-Wood Cemetery yesterday. The tree behind it stretched out its branches to shade it from the crisp mid-afternoon sunlight. Harris is known for being the first Consul General from the United States to the Empire of Japan and he founded the school that would become the City College of New York and the cornerstone of the City University of New York (CUNY). His gravesite was renovated in 1986 by Japan and it retains the evident care that went into its design and construction. It’s a short walk from the Prospect Park West entrance on the south/southeast-facing hillside between Atlantic Ave and Ocean Ave.

    stone grave marker for townsend harris
    stone memorial for townsend harris, founder of city college of new york
    stone dedication memorializing the renovation of townsend harris' gravesite by japan
    stone japanese lantern in graveyard

  • NYC Scaffolding

    NYC sidewalk covered with scaffolding and semicircular lights

    This is one of the more interesting sidewalk sheds–scaffolding that covers sidewalks and protects pedestrians below where building work is being done above–that I’ve seen in NYC. It’s near Bryant Park in Manhattan. In addition to be cleaner looking scaffolding, it features semicircular lighting that probably looks nice after dark. Most scaffolding in the city looks like what you can see in the background on the left–utilitarian and spartan. According to Gothamist, there’s about 400 miles of scaffolding spread throughout the five boroughs. Between the buildings and the scaffolding, it’s easy to imagine where Isaac Asimov got the idea for the setting in The Caves of Steel (1953).