Where High Gets Low.
Has to be seen to be believed. (Photos by C-M.)
Inca-style stone detailing, a tumi-shaped whatchamahoozit and a head- scratching roof thingie that appears to fuse Moche iconography with a Paracas color palette. In other words, the type of warrior architecture that would do a wannabe drug lord right.
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Continue reading ‘Lima, Day 10: Narchitecture, pre-Columbian style.’
On Nicolás de Pierola in downtown. (Photo by C-M.)
Update: Just learned that this piece is by Seimiek.
Restaurante Royal. (Photo by C-M.)
Neo-classical silhouette? Check.
Garish color palette? Check.
Acres of reflective glass? Check.
Italianate balustrades? Check.
Fu lions? Check.
Narchitecture has been achieved.
Best. Museum. Ever.
Paul McCarthy wishes he could one day be as freaky as whoever created the installations for the Museo de la Inquisición in Lima, where various displays detail the ways in which humans can inflict pain on each other. It’s a tiny exhibit. (Peruvians weren’t diehard inquisitors, disposing of only 271 “heretics” during the 16th and 17th centuries — compared with the more than 100,000 in Germany during roughly the same period.) But it’s highly entertaining. Particularly if you’re an eight-year-old boy.
The museum is located on the Jirón Junín 548, on the Plaza Bolivar. Admission is free.
Click on images to supersize. Continue reading ‘Lima, Day 6: The Inquisition. What a show!’
This would be the moment in which El Condor Pasa began playing on the loudspeakers. (Photo by C-M.)
I’m a sucker for any tourist attraction that pairs the ability to admire the latest in tourist-wear (god, do I love those zip-off pant-shorts) with any visual spectacle that makes you say, “Duuuude.” Which is why I’m a sucker for Lima’s Circuito Mágico del Agua, a water spectacle situated in a park near downtown that draws locals, tourists and everyone in between to ogle a dozen brightly-lit fountains. It has water, it has lasers, it has theme music, it even has narchitecture.
The best fountain was the 120-meter long “Fuente de la Fantasía,” above, which puts on a regular 20-minute water show, complete with lasers, projected images, video and one of the most spectacularly bizarre musical medleys I’ve ever heard in my life: it included jazzed up Peruvian waltzes, a snippet of Back Street Boys, some Abba, a good bit of Manuel de Falla’s El amor brujo and an electro-muzak rendition of Queen’s We Will Rock You. The whole mess ended, naturally, with Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. It’s a terrifically excessive display for a desert city that is encircled by a ring of crushingly poor shanty towns bereft of services like…running water. But if you want to see something that makes Vegas look almost tasteful, then the Circuito Mágico shouldn’t be missed.
The fountains are located in the Parque de la Reserva, just off of Avenida Arequipa and are open daily from 4-11 p.m. Admission S/.4 (about $1.30).
Click on images to supersize. Continue reading ‘Lima, Day 3: Peru meets the Bellagio.’
Graffiti in el sanjón. (Photo by C-M.)
Slept in. Devoured super sized order of papas a la huancaína. Followed by mongo helping of chirimoya a la huandeña. Have located the most excellent churros. And cooked my brand new power convertor and surge protector on Peruvian electricity. Yay, Lima.
Inca Kola truck in Lima. (Photo by Impact Tarmac.)
Hey Folks:
I’m off to run around one of my motherlands for several weeks to nibble on ceviche, devour anticuchos, gobble aji de gallina and drink as much nuclear yellow soda as is humanly possible. This means that blogging will likely be sparse. But you are always welcome to follow this little adventure on Twitter, where I’ll be filing semi-regular micro-dispatches on food, art, food, history, food, culture and, oh yes…food.
¡Que viva el Perú, carajo!
xox,
C.
The Met recently launched a contest called It’s Time We Met, in which the museum asked visitors to submit photos of themselves interacting with the collection. Well, my partner-in-crime El Celso has done ‘em one better. He has video. And it stars me.
Get ready for the most action-packed five minutes of your lives. Then let me know where I should go to accept my Oscar. Or, barring that, my gift bag…
xox,
C.
Detail from Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, ca. 1944, by Francis Bacon, at the Met. (Photo by C-M.)
Congrats to Vidalia for winning the C-Mon Giveaway Extravaganza, S.F. Street Art Edition!
Taxidermy galore: in the studio with Lishan Chang. (Photos by C-M.)
A couple of weeks back I attended an open studio that chashama hosted at their new studio spaces in Jamaica, Queens. My favorite of the bunch — hands down — was the former dentist’s office that has been reborn as a taxidermy studio for artist Lishan Chang. Chang, whose past installations have involved everything from plastic wrap to burnt bread, is now hard at work on a series in which he catalogues, taxidermies and displays road kill.
Though the project is still underway, he currently has a fine selection of squirrels, raccoons, hawks, geese and cats that have all been harvested from area roads. Prior to the project, Chang had little experience with taxidermy. But after a short introductory course and a few how-to YouTube videos, he has become a prolific stuffer of unfortunate animals. It’s an interesting way of honoring the creatures we thoughtlessly mow down with our cars. Can’t wait to see the full-blown install when it’s done.
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Continue reading ‘Studio Visit: Lishan Chang at chashama in Queens.’
