In the 60s and 70s, you could get by on very little money. And, so, people had time. I mean it was kinda like a bubble or just a brief passage in time when there was so much prosperity in America that if you lived simply you could survive on very little. So people had time to explore things and learn new things.
Lloyd Kahn from this video.
I can never remember the lyrics to songs. So I need to look them up and keep hard copies lying around. Here are the lyrics to Elsa's new favorite lullaby, Unknown Legend, by Neil Young:
She used to work in a diner
Never saw a woman look finer
I used to order just to watch her float across the floor
She grew up in a small town
Never put her roots down
Daddy always kept movin', so she did too.
Somewhere on a desert highway
She rides a Harley-Davidson
Her long blonde hair flyin' in the wind
Shes been runnin' half her life
The chrome and steel she rides
Collidin' with the very air she breathes
The air she breathes.
You know it ain't easy
You got to hold on
She was an unknown legend in her time
Now she's dressin' two kids
Lookin' for a magic kiss
She gets the far-away look in her eyes.
Somewhere on a desert highway
She rides a Harley-Davidson
Her long blonde hair flyin' in the wind
Shes been runnin' half her life
The chrome and steel she rides
Collidin' with the very air she breathes
The air she breathes.
Homesteader feeding his daughter at the Pie Town, New Mexico Fair free barbeque. 1940 Oct. Russell Lee, 1903-1986, photographer.
1930s–40s in Color on the Library of Congress' flickr.
eBay: HOUSE BEAUTIFUL 1959 DANISH MODERN ISSUE EAMES with a nice red Kristian Vedel (manufactured by Torben Orskov) childs chair on the cover.
GET AN IDEA.
1. See, hear, smell, taste, touch something interesting.
2. Obsess about it (think and dream about your new interest).
DO YOUR RESEARCH.
3. Find several books at home, in the library, in the bookstore (exhibit A).
4. Look online.
5. Watch videos.
6. Take a field trip (exhibit B).
RECORD WHAT YOU FIND.
7. Take notes.
8. Take photographs (exhibit B).
9. Sketch (exhibit C).
PUT YOUR NEW-FOUND KNOWLEDGE TO WORK.
10. Make something (exhibit D).
11. Show someone, let them know all that you've learned.
WHAT IF SOMETHING ELSE CATCHES YOUR EYE?
12. Go back to step 1.
Enzo's Meat Research from the amazing Grecolaborativo.
Kaw-liga
(Hank Williams, Sr. and Fred Rose; performed by Hank Sr.)
Kaw-liga was a wooden Indian standing by the door.
He fell in love with an Indian maid over at the antique store.
Kaw -- Li -- Ga, just stood there and never let it show;
So she could never answer "Yes" or "No".
He always wore his Sunday feathers and held a tommy-hawk.
The maiden wore her beads and braids and hoped someday he'd talk.
Kaw -- Li -- Ga, too stubborn to ever show a sign;
Because his heart was made of knotty pine.
Poor ol' Kaw-liga, he never got a kiss.
Poor ol' Kaw-liga, he don't know what he missed.
Is it any wonder that his face is red;
Kaw-liga, that poor ol' wooden head.
Kaw-liga was a lonely Indian never went nowhere.
His heart was set on the Indian maiden with the coal black hair.
Kaw-liga, just stood there and never let it show;
So she could never answer "Yes" or "No".
Then one day a wealthy customer bought the Indian maid.
And took her, oh, so far away, but ol' Kaw-liga stayed.
Kaw -- Li -- Ga, just stands there as lonely as can be,
And wishes he was still an old pine tree.
Poor ol' Kaw-liga, he never got a kiss.
Poor ol' Kaw-liga, he don't know what he missed.
Is it any wonder that his face is red;
Kaw-liga, that poor ol' wooden head.
Note: The G in "Kaw-liga" is soft, pronounced "kaw-lye-jah".
This is Elsa's greatest motivator for dance and choreography ("like this"). It also works as our night-time lullaby. Kaw-liga is also my favorite inspirational, during long drive thoughts of art-making.
Video: This version by the Collins Kids is pretty rad.
The Walker Art Center Teen Arts Council has a sweet new website.
The Walker Art Center was the first art museum in the country to devote full-time staff (Christi and Witt) to working with and building teen audiences. Since 1994, Walker Teen Programs has been connecting kids to art and artists. Past workshops have brought in Barry McGee, Julie Mehretu, Harrell Fletcher, Shepherd Fairey, Sam Durant, Glenn Ligon, Robin Rhode and Cheryl Dunye. WACTAC also puts on teen art exhibitions. They have five-week workshops with sound artists that result in sick A/V battles. They collaborate on amazing events like Brother and Sister's (!) March of Madness, an all-day secret battle of the bands and scavenger hunt. If you've got a teenager anywhere near Minneapolis, you should get them involved.
Peer Clahsen designed this etagen-puppenhaus (l) for Naef around 1970. I'm going to say he also had something to do with this one for Creative Playthings (r), who frequently collaborated with Kurt Naef.
Update: Turns out it wasn't Clahsen or anyone at Creative Playthings. The original open-plan dollhouse was designed in 1968-9 by _____ ________. I'll fill in the blanks once I make the rounds on eBay. ;)
Photo of the Naef house from Musashino Art University Museum and Library.
Creative Playthings house is mine.
