It’s only Tuesday and I feel so tired.
It’s Friday and I still feel tired.
I’m getting very excited for upcoming trip. Just a week away. And I can’t help but feel so incredibly blessed to have this opportunity and to be taking it. There is so much beauty and wonder in this world and I feel intensely lucky that my path in life has (and I rather suspect will continue) to allow me to explore so much of it. I’m grateful to be going with Heidi.
Thursday I met up for dinner with some of the hiking crew and a lovely time was had by all. It’s been really hard to get out on the trail with a Saturday class and I’m very much looking forward to a summer off and getting out in the wild again.
Saturday morning was my second to class of the semester. And we got grades on our final paper. I did not get an excellent, I did not especially deserve an excellent grade. But I definitely got the grade I needed for the class. So all in all a win. While some part of my pride pricks a little at no longer being able to pull As out of a hat while cramming, most of me is end goal focused. I’m recognizing that this program wants to make us publishable authors. And while I don’t object to that, it’s not the work I want to do. I’m so much more operationally focused. To that end, I don’t especially care about the grade. I got what I needed and I learned. I don’t know if I would’ve learned more had I paced myself better throughout the semester. I think I might’ve just learned that my topic scope was too grandiose for my assigned paper length.
Saturday, I dragged Fran to Anahuacalli, located deep in Coyoacan, this is no Frida Kahlo Blue House tourist crazy town.
This is Diego Rivera’s temple to the arts. The building itself is incredible, inspired by pre Hispanic cultures and built from locally sourced lava rock from the lava flow of Xitle, which sits on the edge of the city and last erupted in 300 AD. The main building was designed by Rivera, with the assistance of Juan O’Gorman (who is the architect behind the two houses), inspired by and with input from, Frank Lloyd Wright and the concept of a building integrating with nature.
And temple like it is. The grounds occupy a huge space for so packed a city and the main building is prominently positioned to impress. The building largely houses Rivera’s personal collection of pre Hispanic pieces, focused on figures, but also has a few of his sketches and mosaics of his execution adorn every ceiling. My immediate thought was “I will bring everyone here”. Fran didn’t share this, so I’m unsure if it was just so different, in a way that a visitor might not recognize, or truly special. As a museum it’s shockingly lacking in information, but the aesthetic is pretty incredible.
The rooms are small and dark with most of the light coming from the displays. Art sits behind glass, on shelves, built into the floor and ceiling. It does feel like a temple to art. The small rooms, narrow windows and passageways make it feel like cavernous, with impossibly tall ceilings. There is no explanation of the displays which is definitely a weak point, however I come away feeling like there are two experiences here. One would be to do a tour, to learn what is Olmec, what is Toltec, what is Mayan or Aztec- but the other is what I had. Simple immersion, letting yourself be carried by a powerful space.
It’s a bit maze like with people going in both directions. There’s no discernible rhyme or reason, let alone arrows or guides. Things are simply presented for your consideration. In some ways the lack of explanation invites a truly emotional response, you’re not presented with anything to know or think about a particular piece or display. It’s powerful.
The building has 3 or 4 floors of art. It’s unclear if there’s a chronological element or any distinction between civiliazation, but my guts is yes. The art felt different in different areas.
The temporary exhibit was titled “The Rebellion of Objects”. I failed at taking an even halfway decent photo of it. It’s situated in what is best described as the grand hall of the building. Those big windows out front? That’s where this is. A massive room. Across from the windows, carved out of the walls, are display spaces. Some encased in glass, some not. Above the entry on either side the walls are covered in Diego Rivera sketches on an enormous scale. These are probably 20 feet high.
And on the ground, with no rope surrounding them, no glass guarding, barricade free, sit the objects. Bricks have been placed on the floor to support them, but you’re welcome to walk on them. The objects loosely form concentric circles with the outer layer resembling dirt, the next looking very rock like, moving into what are recognizably pre Hispanic artifacts (or replicas thereof). The artists’ intent is to release the objects from captivity, recognizing their power to pre Hispanic cultures. They have agency, the ability to make decisions, and to reward and punish. The idea is that modernity seeks to remove these powerful objects from their context and place them in cages. This exhibit invites their agency back to them.
This resonates deeply with longings for what I call home that is, at least in part, defined by intimacy with objects. My stove, my pots and pans, my books, my art, my bed. These are just things, and yet, they feel like a deep part of how I build my life. These things are imbued with power (from me? from God? inherently?) and they demonstrate it through an active relationship. This book’s pages 6-42 fall out on occassion. This pan gets an excellent crisp to things. This burner is the best burner. Maybe they shouldn’t be given the power to be missed, maybe it’s materialistic, maybe that’s the entire draw for me of the above theory of objects.
I kept thinking of Painted Stick and Conch Shell’s ceremonial roots and their journey back to their seat of power with their modern day companions, Spoon, Dirty Sock & Can o Beans. (If you haven’t read Skinny Legs & All, stop bothering with this and go read it!). In it, Painted Stick & Conch Shell must journey to Jerusalem, their ancestral home to revive worship of the goddess they serve. In other words, they must be in place, in context for their power to be realized. And it’s a reciprocal relationship, they rely on people to unlock their abiltiies, and conversely people rely on them to connect to the goddess. If home is one’s kingdom…
Or I’ve gone to great philosophical lengths to justify my own materialism.
Year One Project 
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