Brooklyn, U.S.A. -- Hurricanes, Yoga, and Art, Not Necessarily In That Order

Speaking of the next day, the morning was fraught with consternation as E and I pondered from our separate locations whether to change our airplane tickets, since New York was about to get hurricane'd on.  And I might have done a little actual work as well.

I was sore from running so skipped that and instead went to the New York version of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian.  (There's a bigger on in DC.)  It was, well, small, but enjoyable.  And it's housed in the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Customs House, which is simply stunning (more).

 The ceiling of the central hall

The permanent exhibition of Native American clothing and artifacts was there, and very cool.  They had a small exhibit of mixed media paintings by Julie Buffalohead which I didn't care for too much, but there was a great exhibit called "Up Where We Belong" highlighting Native Americans and their contributions to the music world, primarily rock and jazz.  Unfortunately the "Circle of Dance" exhibition wasn't open yet.

 A martingale, used to prevent a horse's head from rising too high.

 The platinum record reissued to the family of Ritchie Valens for "Donna."  The exhibit also has Buffy Sainte-Marie's Oscar for "Up Where We Belong" (from An Officer and a Gentleman) and the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Grammy awarded to The Band.

Lyrics sheet for "Universal Soldier"

 Jimi Hendrix's multi-colored coat

 Robbie Robertson's custom-painted Fender Stratocaster

 Stevie Salas had his guitar custom-shaped to resemble the club wielded by Chingachgook in The Last of the Mohicans

From there I went to an exhibit I had heard about in Soho but just hadn't made it to yet.  It's called The New York Earth Room, and it is exactly what it sounds like - a room full of earth.  Dirt.  That's right.  Someone filled a second-floor loft in Soho with thigh-deep dirt.  And you know what?  It's actually really cool!  Weird, for sure, but cool (literally cool, in the summer, apparently - the dirt helps modulate the temperature swings).  Something about the air in the room is different.  It smells like dirt, but it smells clean.  It's neat.  Also I just wanted to jump in it like I was three years old and it was a ball pit!

Earth Room has been on continuous view to the public since 1980, supported by the Dia Art Foundation, a mostly-privately-funded charitable organization.  The work was originally commissioned in 1977 and was the last of three such projects.  The first two - Munich (1968) and Darmstadt (1974) - no longer exist.

The same artist, Walter De Maria, has another work also supported by Dia just a few blocks away.  This one is called The Broken Kilometer.  (Unfortunately photography is not allowed in either exhibit, so you'll have to check out the websites.) This work is a floor installation made up of 500 polished brass rods, 2 meters long and 5 centimeters in diameter.  They are arranged in five rows of 100 rods each, the first two placed 80 millimeters apart, with each space after that growing by 5 millimeters.  I don't really get it, but apparently some people do - this one has been on view to the public since 1979.

As soon as E got off work we met up for another yoga class, then got some cider and headed home for a quiet Friday evening of packing and drinking.  Her last night in NY - how sad!