Maurizio Anzeri takes photographs he finds in flea markets and alters them by the addition of surrealist fractal embroidery. I think his appropriation methodology leads to estrangement from the original artifact, an exploration of the potential of what could be rather than the photographic presentation of what is.

A new version has been published of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, omitting all 219 uses of a word that is now controversial in America, though accepted at the time when it was written.

I am interested in the many reactions to this editorial offering. As an act of appropriation, it appears that sanitizing the original is considered much more offensive and ridiculous than completely subverting the original. The publication of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was far less polemical, although in substance it differs little from the altered Twain novel.

Why is it that censorship is not viewed as a creative act but appropriation is?

“To the critic the work of art is simply a suggestion for a new work of his own, that need not necessarily bear any obvious resemblance to the thing it criticizes. The one characteristic of a beautiful form is that one can put into it whatever one wishes, and see in it whatever one chooses to see; and the Beauty, that gives to creation its universal and aesthetic element, makes the critic a creator in his turn, and whispers of a thousand different things which were not present in the mind of him who carved the statue or painted the panel or graved the gem.”

Oscar Wilde, The Critic as Artist, 1890

Appropriation can often be used as a form of commentary, and nowhere is this more pronounced than in the critique of art, literature, music, etc. This quote from Oscar Wilde demonstrates the transformative and creative power that appropriation can generate in making something new out of existing material, especially something that reflects on the original and gives it a new dimension of meaning.

Issey Miyake is an unparalleled fashion innovator. The work done by him and the label never seems hindered by preconceived notions about what a garment should look like or how it should be made. Such concepts as A-POC (A Piece of Cloth) and PleatsPlease bring geometric and sculptural qualities into the clothing without being unwearable or complex for the sake of it.

132 5. Issey Miyake is a new line that is based on flat-packing, origami, and two-dimensional to three-dimensional translations. Garments naturally lie flat, but when unfolded take on a mutable tesselated shape. I find this project particularly relevant as I work to the finals!

Ranjani Shettar is a young artist, born in Bangalore in 1977. I am amazed by her proficiency at this concept that many artists and designers struggle with - the idea of drawing in space. Her work blends many materials, such as string, beeswax, latex, PVC piping, wire, etc. Her interpretation of natural concepts and systems into networks and meshes may be a popular trend, but the fluidity and refinement of her works sets it apart somehow.

The New York Times has an article on the new show at the MOMA, entitled “On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century.” I personally have a strong aesthetic affinity for line-based drawing, sculpture, and installation; the fragility and complexity is extremely appealing to me. Some of my favorite artists in this field are covered: Kurt Schwitters, Eva Hesse, Gego, and Mona Hatoum.

A performance of John Cage’s “4’33” by the BBC Symphony Orchestra. John Cage defined music as “the art of listening to other people.” I love the impression of coughs and sneezes as percussive acts.

One of the entries in National Geographic’s Photography Contest 2010 shows a praying mantis in the nymph phase, imitating a flower’s physical form. I find it incredible how nature deals with the same issues we have in trust!

Edward Tufte is selling about 200 books from his library. The most valuable is Galileo’s Sidereus nuncius (1610), but others include the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, one of the most beautiful examples of Renaissance woodcut printing. The entire catalogue provides an entry into the history of visual and data representation.