Experiencing the Van Gogh Immersive Exhibit (Scottsdale, June 15, 2022) — Image by kenne
We have wanted to see the Immersive van Gogh exhibit for some time. So, since we had planned on attending Jeri and Ron’s 50th Anniversary, June 16-18 in Palm Springs, we drove up to Scottsdale on the 15.
The exhibition, conceived by Creative Director Mathieu St-Arnaud and his team at Montreal’s world-renowned Normal Studio, is an immersive experience that features more than 300 of Vincent Van Gogh’s iconic artworks and takes the art lover into a three-dimensional world that exhilarates the senses.
“I find comfort in contemplating the sunflowers.”
— Vincent van Gogh
Video by kenne
“I have nature and art and poetry, and if that is not enough, what is enough?”
— Vincent van Gogh
Sunflowers — Photo-Artistry by kenne
“I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it.”
Went looking for faith on the forest floor, and it showed up everywhere. In the sun, and the water, and the falling leaves, the falling leaves of time.
“Curiosity is one of the great secrets of happiness.”
— Bryant H. McGill
General Store In Rural Sonora, Mexico (January28, 2016) — Images by kenne
“Philosophers and small children thus have an important faculty in common.
The only thing we require to be good philosophers is the faculty of wonder…”
Universal patterns inform creative symbols
and the symbolizing mind of the creator. The ancient Greeks called such patterns archetypes. Archetypes or not, history is always there, but ahead of it there is a future
not determined by anyone or anything, but contingent on the products of our creation. It is we who make the future, and our imagination of the future
affects who we are and what we do now.
Right discipline consists, not in external compulsion, but in the habits of mind which lead spontaneously to desirable rather than undesirable activities.
— Bertrand Russell
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Friend! Get up so you can hear the Assyrian dog howling.
— from Landscape With Two Graves and an Assyrian Dog byFederico García Lorca
La Milagrosa Canyon (February 28, 2014) — Images by kenne [Click on any of the images to see slideshow.]
“Aren’t the clouds beautiful? They look like big balls of cotton… I could just lie here all day, and watch them drift by… If you use your imagination, you can see lots of things in the cloud formations… What do you think you see, Linus?”
“Well, those clouds up there look like the map of the British Honduras on the Caribbean… That cloud up there looks a little like the profile of Thomas Eakins, the famous painter and sculptor… And that group of clouds over there gives me the impression of the stoning of Stephen… I can see the apostle Paul standing there to one side…”
“Uh huh… That’s very good… What do you see in the clouds, Charlie Brown?”
“Well, I was going to say I saw a ducky and a horsie, but I changed my mind!”
― Charles M. Schulz, The Complete Peanuts, Vol. 5: 1959-1960
It is common when leading nature walks in Sabino Canyon to talk about the signature cactus of the Sonoran desert, the saguaro. One of the common bits of information is to point out how the young saguaros are near trees that help provide protection to this very slow-growing Sonoran desert plant. These trees can be mesquite, palo verde or ironwood trees, and are referred to as “nurse trees.” The faster-growing nurse tree provides shade and shelter from the harsh desert elements, and as the saguaro grows, becoming more acclimated to the desert sun, the nurse tree may die, leaving the saguaro alone. As the saguaro grows larger it may compete for resources with its nurse tree, especially where several saguaros are receiving protection from the same tree, which may hasten its death. Even so, the faster-growing tree will not outlive the typical life of a saguaro cactus.
kenne
“Sacrifice is a part of life. It’s supposed to be. It’s not something to regret. It’s something to aspire to.”
When Wolfgang and I first met by the pool two years ago, we would talk about philosophy and share other common interest topics. Often, conversations would begin on whatever book he was reading by the pool.
Two years ago, Wolfgang spent about three weeks here in southern Arizona, enjoying the hot summer sun. It was not his first time visiting Tom in Tucson, and he indicated he would be visiting again next year. But, that didn’t happen – I didn’t ask why distracted by the pleasure of seeing him again.
Since Joy and I had just returned from vacation, I assumed he had just arrived. However, he had come while we were gone, during which time he and Tom made a road trip to northern Arizona and southern Utah and was now in his last week here in the states.
Wolfgang was anxious to share the time they spent in the Navajo Nation territory, taking in some of its natural beauty. However, his most memorable moment was a conversation he had with a Navajo woman, whom he greeted in Navajo. Although his Navajo vocabulary is limited, she seemed to be impressed. Upon departing, she told him that he would speak in Navajo when he comes back.
“No, I won’t,” Wolfgang said.
“That’s the right answer,” she replied.
Now Wolfgang has a kindred spirit in the Navajo Nation.
As in the past, I was curious as to what Wolfgang’s poolside reading was. As the title was in German, I only know the author’s name; Peter Sloterdijk. I now plan on reading some of Sloterdijk’s work, especially learning more about his theory of the human as a practicing, training being, which may give me additional insight on why “becoming is superior to being,” and the process of becoming (improving) as individuals and groups can result in a more convivial society.
Related to this thought, I shared a poem I first heard in the late ’50s from my high school English teacher:
“Good, better, best,
Never let it rest,
Till your good is better,
And your better is best.”
This little poem has been my life’s anthem.
(Until recently, the author of the poem was unknown, but a recent Google search gives credit to professional basketball player Tim Duncan. Look at what media exposure can do for you!)
We also talked about the concept and philosophy of “feathering,” which I will post later.
“There is a Thorn—it looks so old, In truth, you’d find it hard to say How it could ever have been young, It looks so old and grey. Not higher than a two years’ child It stands erect, this aged Thorn; No leaves it has, no prickly points; It is a mass of knotted joints, A wretched thing forlorn. It stands erect, and like a stone With lichens is it overgrown.
. . . first stanza from William Wordsworth’s, “The Thorn”
Somewhere between reading Rainer Maria Rilke and listening to Ray Wylie Hubbard’s latest CD, “The Grifter’s Hymnal,” the following just flowed out — as usual, no rewrite, you get what you see.
THE BODY SLOWS ME DOWN
The body slows me down, but the blood still flows, the soul hasn’t slowed fostering a deep and necessary intimacy with life.
The body slows me down, but I count my blessing without a 60-cycle hum, freed from habitual trains of thought.
The body slows me down, but the poets still, please with a taste of bittersweet chocolate, burning through the words manifested in music.
The body slows me down, but my mind leads the way to an enigmatic mystery, seeking a Rilke Maria’s moment freed by Ray Wylie’s applause.
The body slows me down, but I keep running from the ghosts that keep on coming around the bend.
The body slows me down, but its dividing outline is no longer there providing a membrane between inner and outer worlds.
The body slows me down, but I can still hum Polk Salad Sally, framing cosmic image descending from invisible heights.
The body slows me down, but I still use my imagination to inspire conscious thinking, allowing “the damn fox do what a damn fox does.”
kenne
“The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations, I have really good days.”
— Ray Wylie Hubbard
Leaves On A Log — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Morning Rainbow In The Desert (Tucson, Arizona, September 29, 2016) — Image by kenne
General Store In Rural Sonora, Mexico (January28, 2016) — Images by kenne
“Sisters” Joy and Jody (June 2, 2003) — Image by kenne
Old Habits — Image by kenne
“Hi, Little Friend” — Image by kenne
“The Ultimate Sacrifice” — Image by kenne
Desert Spring Computer Painting by kenne
Wolfgang P. Theiss — Images by kenne
Image taken at Shale Ridge by kenne
Becoming is Superior to Being 