Last night, one of the shows Monica's been working on for the New Mexico Museum of Art had its opening. Case Studies from the Bureau of Contemporary Art presents works from the permanent collection as if they were pulled from the files of the fictional department; her designs draw from historical sources.
Outside, Axle Art was set up, where we were certified as art lovers. Inside, the event was well attended, the crowds treated to performance art pieces by The Rubber Lady and Tim in his Orangeman guise.
Got to visit some, see the art, and still make it home at a respectable time. And then we were up (relatively speaking, for a weekend) early to participate in Flash Flood.
The plan was to turn the Santa Fe River — singled out in 2007 as the most endangered river in the country, what with it not actually having any water in it — blue for a passing satellite photo. Participants would hold up blue-painted cardboard to create a living river, flipping the brown side to animate the process.
We grabbed some takeout burritos and headed over to SFAI to pick up the shuttle (provided by the city with volunteer drivers), which arrived after some delay, to San Ysidro crossing for the event. It was probably 10-ish by the time we arrived and the staging was well underway.
Seems that somewhere along the line, blue tarps kind of started taking the place of the cardboard, so, for a half-hour or so, it was all about coordinating tarps for maximum coverage, practicing running the corners together for a dry river and then apart for blue.
Quite the festival atmosphere, with mariachi, Buffalo Dancers, a helicopter circling overhead, chanting, much laughter, and a crane with a videographer; the latter was there to capture our simulation of a running river. A gorgeous day, approaching 60° with a few clouds. Santa Fe New Mexican's saying around 1000 participants of all kinds, including the dog that walked on water.
At 10:53 the satellite passed overhead (we were told), so we all held up the blue for a while before and after; then it was turning the brown river blue, in various directions, a few times, following the directions of the organizers on the ridge and the runners with flags along the riverbed. I hope that video's going to be easily available sometime soon, would love to know how it all turned out.
Update: photos and coverage at 350.org
We were back home by about noon, in time to bring Monica and Cheyenne to GCNM's monthly meet and greet. I tackled the leaves that had finally dropped off the apricot tree. A trash barrel and two leaf bags later, I made it over to the greatly diminished crowd. Apparently had totaled 15 Greyhounds at one time, including the new couple in town with the two dogs, one of whom looks like Cheyenne, causing confusion (as it did on this evening's walk) among our neighborhood's dog owners.
Quiet night in, posole, the makings bought while the oven was broken earlier this week. Chores tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment