Friday was hot and humid again, draining my energy and clouding my mind. I got on the bus thinking I’d probably go to the Natural History Museum to stay out of the rain that seemed sure to come. I walked down Central Park West and noticed, for the first time, a huge rock outcrop running from about 85th St. to about 82nd St. I know that Olmsted and Vaux moved lots of rock when they created the Park but I can’t imagine they moved that one. Tried to find more info but failed. Instead of the museum I got on the subway and went down to 14th St. then walked to the Chelsea Market where I bought some Amy’s bread twists and went up on the High Line to eat “lunch.” There was sunshine, a little rain, more sunshine, more heat and humidity.
I walked to the Rubin Museum, my refuge from nasty weather. It’s cool, calm, quiet, very Buddhist, and filled with great things to view. They had a special exhibit about Naga warriors. From pictures of their sculpture I thought this would be about an African people, unusual for the Rubin, which is dedicated to Himalayan art. It seems the Naga people come from an area of India between Burma and China. They were known as headhunters and were largely isolated from surrounding peoples keeping their culture separate. I found it interesting because of the strong resemblance to African and Papuan art. I wish someone would do a study of how this happens.
After looking at two exhibits and having a lovely ice tea I walked to the Center for Book Arts, another favorite place, this time with books and broadsides about the bombing of the street of booksellers in Baghdad. Usually when I go to an exhibit like this I am as interested in the structure of the books as in the content. In this case the content was so strong I found books with unusual structures to be distracting and actually preferred reading the broadsides, which were very well done.
Julia joined me at this exhibit and we went back to her apartment to visit and have dinner. A very full day.
Picture above is from Saturday’s adventures, which I’ll write about tomorrow.
100 Books Before I Die 
Oh, all but the humidity is delightful. Yes, I usually focus on the structure or techniques of the art/book/object too. Lovely, and did you take your camera to the high line. Have they begun expanding it?
Hi Mage, The High Line is actually completed; all of the tracks have been turned into park. I didn’t walk it or take pictures; just went up to eat lunch. I’ll try again on a cloudy day or early evening. Otherwise it’s too hot. I’d like to see the last part of it.
On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 1:24 PM, Studio Ruthe