May Flying Carpet 2017

The Light in the darkness  

Zooming in April through  

rural France, Barcelona, 

Lisbon, Sintra and Paris  

has left even The Flying Carpet  

a bit breathless for the last month.  

In La Chartres-sur-le-Loire  

where light and shadow coexist

 Sunbeams are focused 

and imagery magnified
through translucent glass filled with water
in a a brocante that looks like all my dreams

In Montmirail...

spiderwebs capture dawn in the graveyard
 

windows capture iridescence in the gloaming

In Vendome

prisms sparkle in The Church of the Trinity 

In Sintra at Monserrate

light on white on white
 

In Lisbon at Pavilhao Chines
toy airplanes swirl around the ceiling light
 

In Giverney 

 waterlilies luminesce against dark water

light floods the incomparable YELLOW kitchen

Frank Gehry's ship navigating
dimly lit clouds 

at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris
 

If only time would multiply like these reflections
 

 Many years of thanks to Zack

April Flying Carpet 2017

In April The Flying Carpet
hovered in astonishment
over Barcelona

Bizarre!!!
Whacko!!!
Inventive!!!
Organic!!!
Transcendent!!!

In Barcelona where the Dragon reigns supreme
Amidst the feral parrots
the Flying Carpet flew up
to meet the natives at the Palau de la Virreina

flew into candy shops 

like time capsule stage sets

flew past the kindly doorman 

into the elegance of
Casa Sayrach
 

 flew in and out the gargoyles
of the ancient cathedral of Barri Gòtic

flew surfing the waves of Gaudi's La Pedrera

flew trippingly amidst the bejeweled facade of Casa Batló

with its idiosyncratic quirk 

of costumed actor tour guides

and its shimmering sea of stained glass

flew into the molten majesty

of Gaudi's unfinished dream Sagrada Familia

 ascending into the heavenly light

Gratitude boundless

March Flying Carpet 2017

In March
The Flying Carpet inspires you
to a celebration
of the work of inquiry and imagination
in this current phase of repression and squelch 

“Science tells us what the world is
but art is able to frame
how we feel and think about it.
They certainly share the same enemies...
the agents of
ignorance superstition and prejudice.”
-- Mark Dion*

Science and art intersect in
The Cabinet of Curiosities**

or as Lawrence Weschler calls it,
" a complete debauch of marvel"

When The Flying Carpet saw
a stuffed alligator
hanging from the ceiling of room one
of Gigi Bon's studio in Venice
and started a conversation about
Cabinets of Wonder
an invitation to her inner sanctum followed
 

The Curiosity Cabinet transformed itself into
Natural History Museums
Art Museums
and Museums of Everything Imaginable***
 

Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia
the dust covered archives of world exploration
when Venice was Queen of the Seas
 

Period Rooms

The Museu da Farmácia in Lisbon, Portugal
 

The Collector's Hut
Brooklyn Botanical Garden

The Artist's Studio

One could could use the term “pilgrimage”
in the presence of :
the painting desk of Freda Kahlo
in Mexico City at La Casa Azul

 

 

 Atelier Brancusi in Paris***** 

Kawaii Kanjiro's studio in Kyoto

Shuren Sakurai
revered Noh Mask Carver

in his home and  studio
Nanzen-ji Temple, Kyoto
 

Do not become dispirited or immobilized... 

This is dedicated especially to dear friend Dana

and also all the creatives

who must persevere in this time 

*From field guide to Dr. Fairchild Kampong laboratory... 

**the Cabinet de Curiosités
 de Joseph Bonnier de La Mosson,
  a part of what was once
  the most celebrated curiosity cabinet
  of 18th century Paris
  which the Flying Carpet saw and photographed at the
   médiathèque of the
   Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris

 ***www.atlasobscura.com

**** “the notion of transforming space   

from a didactic taxonomic exhibit of objects

 into an environment 

which contextualizes elements” --- Mark Dion
From field guide to Dr. Fairchild Kampong laboratory...
see also: Marvelous Museum 
Orphans Curiosities and Treasures

*****In his will, Brancusi bequeathed his entire studio
to the French state.
An exact reconstruction of this was made in 1997
on the piazza opposite the Centre Pompidou.

February Flying Carpet 2017

In February,
the Flying Carpet
brings “Love in the Time of Sociopathy”
to an imagination near you...

Some of the characters are particularly fascinating
in their Valentine Fascinators
created during the 39th annual Valentine-a-thon

Arachnia of the Night Kitchen
drank tea

...while King Baudhuin The Magnificent observed

Our Lady of the Pajamas
in the Valentine Bed Head creation

dished with Miz Amoretto
bejeweled but not yet chapeud
 

while Anita Lolita del Tango
looked on with her Spectacular Specs

Marlena
was not alone

but a bit windswept

sitting next to

The Mad Hatter who exclaimed,
“I’m late... I’m late
for a very important date...”
or was it the white rabbit?

Bird Watchers Anonymous
were taking it one smile at a time

Flapper Maggie
roared like a 20 something

While Resplendent Rhae
encouraged us all to get a grip

Valentina Grouchette
attempted to exhume the creative and hilarious
from the depths of the gravity of our time

Regrettably
other participants could not be captured by the
aggressive and energetic paparazzi...

but special thanks to Donna Cartier for capturing
the decisive moments of photos #10, 11, & 12