Pomus, Shuman, Fagin: Tears Dry on Their Own

I wish I could sing no regrets
And no emotional debt
Cause as he kissed goodbye the sunsets
So we are history
A shadow covers me
The sky above a blaze
That Only lovers see

He walks away the sun goes down
He takes the day but I’m grown
And in your way
My blue shade
My tears dry on their own

He walks away the sun goes down
He takes the day but I’m grown
And in your way
My deep shade
My tears dry on their own

Arthur Hamilton, Cry Me a River:

Now you say you’re lonely
You cried the long night through
Well, you can cry me a river
Cry me a river
I cried a river over you
Now you say you’re sorry
For being so untrue
Well, you can cry me a river
Cry me a river
Cause I cried, I cried
I cried a river over you
You drove me,
Nearly drove me out of my head
While you never shed a tear
Remember?
I remember all that you said
Told me love was too plebeian
Told me you were through with me and
Now you say you say love me
Well, just to prove you do
Come on and cry me a river
Cry me a river

Above is a photo of a piece called “Spirit House” by Anna Peach. It is a dress and train assembled of found pieces of lace. It must be seen to be truly appreciated, the scale and construction are most impressive (as Tom would say).

To give you an example of the ingenuity of the artists in the lace exhibit. There is one who does pieces with “lost substrate” (my term). Think of “lost wax” bronze casting, where an original is made in wax, a mold is then cast around it, then the mold is heated to melt the wax, which runs out. Finally, the mold is filled with bronze to produce a finished piece. In the lost substrate process, delicate lace work is created on a soluble material. Once the lace work is finished, the whole piece is washed with water, the substrate dissolves, leaving only the lace. Brilliant!

Another brilliant example of creative artwork is a piece constructed entirely of hot glue mixed with pigment. The piece, called “Swirl” is like a great big swirl of paisley, and is about twelve feet across. Is is exhibited in a corner room of the gallery. It provokes the question, “How did they move it?”

Much is made in this exhibit of the role that lace has played in society over the years, and its delicate dance with such variable concepts as femininity and feminism. Merrill Mason, amongst others, plumbs the depth of these relationships with a collection of pieces in which lace is cast in iron or bronze, and in exploring the molds which would be needed to do so.

http://www.jmkac.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36&Itemid=36

The photographer Barbara Abel has captured a stunning series of photos of antique wax mannequins from a dusty warehouse in Detroit Michigan. Here is just a sampling. You can find the whole set, for sale, at her website.

Nam June Paik (1932 – 2006) crafted marvelous and monumental works of video and television as art and sculpture.  One of his last pieces, Ruin (2001) is currently on loan to Milwaukee Art Museum, from the Cincinnati Museum of Art, as MAM considers aquisition of the piece.  Pawn had the pleasure of viewing it, mostly alone and undisturbed, in a fine white empty gallery this evening.

This piece (shown here in lame camera phone splendor) is more than just a pile of TV and bathing glow of video.  Not to sound too much like Art School hopeless, but this truly important piece has much to teach us about ourselves.  As the images flicker by on the 32 separate screens, jarring us and calming us and leading the eye back and forth across the stack of vintage sets (with modern monitors inserted, artfully, into the shells) it is easy to find oneself mesmerised and yet still aware that this is a sculpture, a commentary, and not just another TV.

The room is soon flooded with young children and attentive parents, here at the museum to celebrate family achievements in literacy.  The children no doubt have a far different take pn Mr. Paik’s creation.  Pawn slinks off.

Amy Winehouse, that tragically reckless, drunkenly compelling chanteuse from the UK is on her American tour. She played at the Highline Ballroom in Manhattan last night. Here is Jon Pareles’ take, from The New York TImes

Amy Winehouse is a tease. The songs on her second album, “Back to Black” (Universal Republic), revive the sound of 1960s and 1970s soul with tales of plunging into temptation and toughing out the consequences. She drinks, she cheats, she falls for the wrong guys, she cries; she refuses rehab with a magnificently simple refrain, “I said no, no, no.”
Amy Winehouse – Music – Review – New York Times

The most distressing part of this review is this line: “And a set that lasted less than an hour made her even more of a tease.”

From http://trouble.philadelphiaweekly.com/archives/2006/09/i_hear_ya_girlf.html

I’ve been to a couple of rehabilitation centres before, whether it be for not eating properly, or drinking – everyone there just wants to talk about themselves all the time. The fella in charge said, ‘Why are you here?’ and I said, ‘Well, I think I’ve come because I’m drinking a lot, but I’m in love, and the drinking is symptomatic of my depression. I’m not an alcoholic.’ Although now of course I sound like I am. Anyway, he says to me, ‘I’m a recovering alcoholic…’ and I thought , ‘You’re not going to stop now, are you?’ And he didn’t! He just kept talking about himself… it was so boring. He goes, ‘Do you want to just fill out this form and we’ll see how you feel?’ And I said, ‘I don’t want to waste your time, to be honest.’

Or this tidbit from The Daily Mail:

“This girl came up to me and said I was brilliant. Two seconds later, she turned to my boyfriend, pointed at me and said, `She f***** up.’ So I punched her right in the face – which she wasn’t expecting, because girls don’t do that.”
Amy then added that she kneed her boyfriend between the legs and punched him in the face when he tried to calm her down.
“When I’ve been on the booze recently, it’s turned me into a really nasty drunk,” she said.
But she also says that all the boozing has helped her shed the pounds.
“I drink a lot and sometimes forget to eat,” she said.

Wikipedia has entire section of shame on her:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Winehouse#Personal_life

Then there is this quote from The Sun:

The singer, whose new album Back To Black is out this month, said of her new tattoos of naked women: “I like pin-up girls. I’m more of a boy than a girl. I’m not a lesbian, though — not before a sambuca anyway.”

Pawn has found a new obsession…