Mac and Cheesy

Well, I DO love cheese.  And mama has been known to burn a mean mac-and-cheese dinner at times.  So I must approach with caution.

For Your Safety, Please Do Not Climb on the Big Noodle Sculpture.  Hm.

What do you think, mama?  Should I go for it?

I wanna.  I really, really wanna.  Scale the noodle mountain.  But then again, I imagine that it is as slippery as the real thing, so perhaps it's not such a great idea.  Ah well.  I still do love it.

Love,

Bogart

Paint Torch (with Bogart and Claes Oldenburg)

So mama told me that there was this artist - a very important artist - who would be having a big opening of his newest project, right here in Center City.  You can always count on me to attend such things as the potential for Airedmiration is HIGH.

And oh yes, the worship started early.

The artwork is Claes Oldenburg's "Paint Torch".  It's at PAFA.  And supposedly it lights up.  And supposedly the artist is going to be here.  And yes, I am a ROCKSTAR and taking attention away from the artist because no one else was smart enough to bring their Airedale along to an art opening.

Not really kidding, actually.

Oh wait, are they going to fire up this sucker?  Maybe I'll saunter over to watch.

A little education is always a good thing...

This is me AND Claes Oldenburg.  Sadly mama managed to mangle the photo a bit.  Lets try that again.

In the meantime, I managed to get a head pat and a "nice dog" from the artist.  So now I've got my semi-smug, oh yeah you wish you were me right now face on.

This was the very first moment that they lit up the top.  Kind of like firing up the Xmas tree.  Lots of cheers and excitement...

I watched from a respectable distance so as not to take anything away from the artist on his special day because everyone was paying so much attention to me.

Did you notice the paint plop at the bottom?  I did.  And speaking as someone who produces his own artful plops daily I say, GOOD JOB CLAES.

 

Love,

Bogart

Stop the Pigeon...

In walking around Old City tonight, mama and I stumbled onto this scene:

We walk past here all of the time, and it's usually an empty lot.  The chair caught mama's attention, but the pigeons caught mine.

Ah, it's art.

You could have fooled me.  I was pretty intent on getting at some of those tasty pigeons.

I stared at them for quite awhile, waiting for one to make a move closer to my mouth.  Alas, they don't move at all.  Cool for mama, disappointing for me.

Love,

Bogart

Airedale Art Critic

So... we are supposed to head over to the waterfront to see some new interactive art-thingy. Apparently mama is still a bit confused, because we crossed over to the other side of the bridge from where it was happening. See those floaty things? I sure do.

They have caught my attention and mesmerized me even from this far away.

Come on, I wanna see the art!

Light Drift is an interactive riverfront lighting experience presented by the Mural Arts Program as part of DesignPhiladelphia here in Philly. Right now it looks like alien pods landing in extremely tight formation on the Delaware.

I am confused.

And kind of excited.

The signage tells us that yes, we are in the right place and these are the soon-to-be-glowing orbs we are looking for.

Soon we began to quickly lose light, and...

Those suckers started to glow! I went in for a closer look and full inspection of these funny pods.

I even tried to hop in to see if I could get to the bottom of what was making them glow and change color. No dice.

But as it got darker they glowed even more and it was really lovely. Some ambient, atmospheric music played over loudspeakers and I was moved.

Aliens... or art? I vote for art (with some cool alien touches). Unless the aliens are just really, really cool.

I tell ya Philadelphia, we are liking you more and more.

Love,

Bogart

First Friday Fun

After a long weeks' work for mama, and a long weeks' thinking for me, we set off in search of some artsy fun on First Friday in Filadelphia (see, told you I've been thinking - I've been wanting to use that alliteration for some time now).

Mama looked at the art that other humans made, and I looked at the art that humans made just for us dogs... and all of the creative ways that dogs have "enhanced" it.

Found this on the street - made us both laugh.

It kind of looks like his expression changes with the different angle, don't you think? Thank you for all you do, Mr. Drainpipe, and the way you keep a good attitude through it all. We could all learn something from you.

Love,

Bogart

The 24 Hour Church of Elvis

Behold... THE 24 HOUR CHURCH OF ELVIS

It's another one of those "only in Portland" kind of things. It is an art installation, and well, it defies easy explanation. Now mama and dad got married by Elvis in Las Vegas, so maybe if I ask really nicely, the spirit of Elvis will come forth and help mama and I in our darkest days.

So as "The King of Terriers" I approached "The King" and speak a language that only we two can understand.

And Elvis said, "That's All Right Mama" which I relayed to her and took to mean that everything will eventually be ok. All hail THE KING!

Uh, thank you, thank you very much...

Love,

Bogart

Reuse, Recycle, Re-art

Time to expand my horizons a bit... on a lovely day in September. Lots of rain and grey-ness this morning, but now it's sunny so it's time to WALK. Lets hit the east side of the Willamette, shall we?

Apparently there has been some public art-ification of the east side esplanade. Perhaps it's just happened, or perhaps we missed it's big unveiling. No matter, I'm just curious anyway.

Oooh... MONEY!

I do sense a theme going on - something about trash and reuse - a popular theme here in Portland.

I am personally thinking of re-using this grass to keep my tummy happy. So I'm doing my part, ok?

Some of the artworks were quite lovely.

Even as we weren't entirely sure what they were about.

I also added a bit of my own personal touches to the artworks. Notice how I carefully place some of my special aroma near another money-covered trash can. All in the name of art, I tell you!

This box says: In one year the average American will produce 200 cubic feet of trash.

These were quite clever - mama and I liked these the best.

They are pinwheels, spinning in the wind.

Made of old albums. Pretty cool, eh? If we still had a yard, we'd make some of these.

Then there was this - by a relatively well-known Portland artist. Not too sure what to think. Not really intrigued, other than to give it a quick sniff.

But wait - what is that off in the distance?

I was really hoping that it was the worlds largest pine cone. Now THAT would have been impressive. But no, it's some sort of large urban tumbleweed.

We do love to look at art, and this was at least interesting. And unexpected. And fun to pee - near.

Love,

Bogart