Vitro Nasu

Gretl
(Fabienne Leclerc – Via)
Mindgames of L.Wittgwnstein by Fabienne Leclerc and Margaret “Gertle” Wittgenstein painted by Gustav Klimt

Margaret “Gertle” Wittgenstein and her younger brother Ludwig Wittgenstein did not get along according to Alexander Waugh who wrote “The House of Wittgenstein” which has been receiving great attention in the literary world.

Waugh claims that Gretl was the warmest, kindest and most humorous Wittgenstein, but also the bossiest, most ambitious and worldly. The most normal was Helene, who married a civil servant. But it is the brothers who really fascinate Waugh. Three committed suicide (Via)

Ludwig distributed 100,000 kronen among various Austrian “artists”. These included the architecht Adolf Loos, the painter Oskar Kokoschka and the poets Rainer Maria Rilke and Georg Trakl. (page 61 – The House of Wittgenstein)

Here is a review from New Yorker, The nervous splendor – The Wittgenstein family had a genius for misery by Anthony Gottlieb.

Alexander Waugh is the grandson of Evelyn Waugh.

Alexander Waugh, the author of “The House of Wittgenstein: A Family at War” (Doubleday; $28.95), is no stranger to family sagas. He belongs to the fourth generation of an English literary dynasty that includes the novelist Evelyn Waugh, who was his grandfather; his previous book, “Fathers and Sons,” is a memoir of the Waughs.

Waugh’s emphasis is on Paul the one hand concert pianist in this book.
Here is Marjorie Perloff (Bookforum), her review -Sniveling Rivalry -Alexander Waugh psychologizes the troubled Wittgenstein clan

Indeed, The House of Wittgenstein might have been a much more interesting book had it focused on the differences, rather than the similarities, between Ludwig and the other Wittgensteins. How was it, after all, that out of eight siblings—siblings brought up so similarly in such particular circumstances— a single one emerged as so unlike the rest?

House designed by Ludwig Wittgenstein.
(Stonborough House was designed and built by Wittgenstein between 1926-8)

In the late 1920s, the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein designed and built a house in Vienna for his sister. Wittgenstein’s family was extremely wealthy (there were gold-plated faucets in the bathrooms at home), and the building proceeded without the usual financial constraint. In one famous instance, to better satisfy his sense of proportion Wittgenstein had the drawing room ceiling torn out and rebuilt three centimeters higher.
As a novice architect, Wittgenstein obviously had large ambitions. “I am not interested in erecting a building,” he once wrote, “but in … presenting to myself the foundations of all possible buildings.” Whether or not his sister’s house approached this high ideal, Wittgenstein himself judged the finished building to be austere and sterile. It has “good manners,” he later wrote, but no “primordial life,” no “health.” (Via)

Tolstoy and Wittgenstein

The impact of The Gospel in Brief upon Wittgenstein’s philosophy (especially the later passages of the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus), and his general view of ethics.

Previous post on Wittgenstein + Bruce Naumann

And Lastly visit an interactive net art
88 Constellations for Wittgenstein:(to be played by the left hand)

Headless ceramic wall piece.

Took a day trip to Taliesin West courtesy of our local library. Came back with these photos of his Asian collection.

Two images in the middle are from Japan.

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Photos: Where Frank Lloyd Wright comes alive Taliesin West slide show.

Imperial Hotel Lobby (replica) by Frank Lloyd Wright on youtube.

Frank Lloyd Wright Trivia

Actor Anthony Quinn once applied to study with Wright at Taliesin. Wright suggested he take voice lessons to help overcome a speech impediment.

Wright also advised him to become an actor rather than an architect, he felt that he would make money if he becomes an actor. (via) That was the right advice for Anthony Quinn otherwise we would never see his Zorba the Greek dance. On the other hand acting is just as precarious as being an architect.

Gammage Auditorium has perfect acoustics, but was originally designed for the city of Baghdad. The building looks out of place in Tempe, was designed by Wright and built by his students after his death.

Garage sale find I
Garage sale find II
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Red chair and old monaural record album (25 cents) are garage sale finds. Opera lover Spike relaxes to “Norma” while coffee brews in background.

Klaus Nomi loved Maria Callas.

(Maria Callas and Pasolini)

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Found a table to go with a ridiculously expensive chair – 28 Million Dollors.
Dragon Chair by Eileen Gray – The End Table by Lars Fisk (the right image)

Lars Fisk plays with fake chinoiserie and other aspects of fetishized “foreignness.

THE ‘DRAGONS’ ARMCHAIR, CIRCA 1917-1919

The unique and remarkable ‘Dragons’ armchair was acquired from Miss Gray by Suzanne Talbot, the first patron to provide her with an opportunity to create a complete environment. The exotic, symbolist character of the piece situates it conceptually within the first phase of Miss Gray’s creative cycle.

Teapot with Cushion

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Altered teapots by Ryan Fitzer

Although these are technically teapots, I am excited about their sculptural possibilities. My original inspiration came from the Philip Guston retrospective at the Fort Worth Modern in 2003. I came across one of his later works on paper “Untitled (Kettle)” from 1980. What really struck me about this simple image of a kettle was how Guston gave himself the permission to alter the idea of a kettle to suit his tastes.

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Tony Feher
Nine mylar bags and push pins – 2004

EDAR (Everyone Deserves a Roof) is a new invention from movie producer Peter Samuelson that serves as a tent and shopping cart for the homeless.

Watch Edar on youtube

The paraSITE project by Michael Rakowitz involves “Custom built inflatable shelters designed for homeless people that attach to the exterior outtake vents of a building’s Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system. The warm air leaving the building simultaneously inflates and heats the double membrane structure. Built and distributed to over 30 homeless people in Boston and Cambridge, MA and New York City.

paraSite from Niall
Buckminster Fuller’s dream car also from Niall

Recycled House in Huntsville Texas

via)

The Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew is a Buddhist temple in Thailand that is constructed of beer bottles; it is located in Sisaket province. The temple is said to employ a million bottles in its construction. Not just a masterpiece of recycling, it is also a functioning Buddhist temple.

See more images here

Famous Thai Beer wiki page

Drunken brawl at Thai Temple

One of three men in a drunken brawl hurled a hand grenade in a field where hundreds of people were celebrating the completion of a new temple pavilion with dancing and folk music, said Pol. Col. Thammajak Kongmongkol.

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Name the sculptor who made the above piece. You see him here (photo:Edward Steichen) and here, two great photos with this cup like sculpture on the edge .
Scott Burton made a career out of studying this great artist and extend the concept of merging art and design, abstract non-functional to functional.

Mahogany Table by Scott Burton

Mr. Burton, a small, wiry man known for his erudition, verbal precision and explosive laugh, worked as a critic and an editor for Art News and Art in America before becoming a full-time artist. He emerged in the late 1960’s and early 70’s as part of an artistic generation that came of age in the shadow of Minimalism. (Obit by Roberta Smith)

See more Scott Burtonhere Bronze Chair <>Steel furniture <> Rock Sattee Sitting on his stone chair

Ellen Harvey’s Panel (partial view – via)

Don’t know Ellen? Look her up here.

Matt Christie
Crafted by Matt Christie. (Yes, the reader of philiosophy and literature and an author of Pas-audela)
Wood work you can buy. (Make great wedding, anniversary, or housewarming gifts) They are on sale now at GREENRIVERWOODS Etsy.

Iannis Xenakis
(Γιάννης Ξενάκης) (May 29, 1922 – February 4, 2001)

Iannis Xenakis is a unique figure in contemporary music, not only for the iconoclastic nature of his music but also for the scientific attitude he brought to his work. His training as a civil engineer, his experience as an architect, as well as his immersion in ancient Greek philosophy, have all shaped his approach to developing a new theoretical foundation of music and a style built from a unique set of compositional techniques

Iannis lost his eyesight in one eye as a freedom fighter in the Greek resistence after the WWII. He fled to Paris.

Phillips Pavilion designed by Xenakis

Strategies for Performance Planning – Xenakis
– Worked as an architect for 12 years with Le Corbusier’s atelier
– Most associated with the application of stochastic mathematics to music
(Father of data sonification? Algorithmic music?)
– Graphic score and graphic musical organisation

More music from youtube
Christoffer Thorsell performs Xenakis

Yuji Takahashi plays Herma
Takahashi injured his fingers trying to learn Xenakis challenging sound.

Edward Suzuki won the Chicago 2007 Int’l Architecture Award for best new global design for his Eddi’s House.

Eddie was the Brad Pitt of St. Mary’s in Tokyo. I, among the high school students who attended catholic school at St Maur’s in Yokohama, admired him from afar. Like Brad Pitt, Eddie is humble, good, smart and accessible. Unlike Brad Pitt who is trying to become an architect, Eddie is a prominent, successful International architect (went to Notre Dame and Harvard). Eddie is hapa (German-Japanese) who took his Mother’s name to help him navigate in postwar Japan.

His new astro profile – Virgo/Pig THE BOHEMIAN PURIST (9/18/47)

Edward Suzuki applies his principles of “anarchitecture” to three recent projects. (includes related articles) (New Design in Japan) – via

His gallery is here.

Finished reading “Vanishing Point” by David Markson.

Ice Tea Photo 2000

“The Universe was created on October 26, 4004 B.C. At 9.00 A.M.
Announced Archbishop Ussher, in 1645.”

“Tolstoy to Chekhov:
You know I can’t stand Shakespeare’s plays, but yours are worse”

“Tolstoy had an illegitimate son he never acknowledged.
Karl Marx had an illegitimate son he never acknowledged.
Henrik Ibsen had an illegitimate son he never acknowledged.”
(From Vanishing Point by David Markson)

Speaking of father and son, today (Aug 20) is a birthday of
Eero Saarinen the Finnish architect who built St Louis’ arch and
Dulles airport. He and his father were both born on the same date,
August 20 just like John Lennon and his son. (they are Libra – October boys).
Saarinen’s design are all over the world in office, in homes and at the airports.
Look at his chairs.

This chair is not designed by Eero Saarinen.
Isola Chair from Calligaris

Paid $10.00 for this Italian chair at garage sale. (click the link to see the actual price of this chair at retail. Mine has black seat and the sample does not).

Saw” the Son” by Dardenne brothers from Belgium.
Another minimal and affecting depiction of family tragedy.
You spent most of the time looking at the back of the
character’s head as the camera follows him around.

“Karl Marx learned Russian mainly to read Pushkin.
Joyce learned Norwegian to read Ibsen.” (from Vanishing Point)

I learned English to read the screenplay of “Rebel Without a Cause”.

“James Baldwin borrowed money from Marlon Brando with which
to finish his first novel” (another instance of Marlon did this
and Marlon did that picked up from Vanishing Point.)
Now I lost the page for the next piece of information,
Stanley Kunitz delivered eulogy at Mark Rothko’s funeral according to David Markson.