Mike read and liked Books Ring My Bell's review of The Road:

"Looking at my bookshelves, I realize I never wrote a review for this book. Why?

There are no words to adequately explain the feelings I had in my gut while reading this book. It was horror and hope rolled into one twisted novel.

...more Looking at my bookshelves, I realize I never wrote a review for this book. Why?

There are no words to adequately explain the feelings I had in my gut while reading this book. It was horror and hope rolled into one twisted novel.



(less) "

Mike read and liked Michelle's review of Die Macht Des Wortes / I Can't Tell You:

"Those of you who know me will probably say that my taste in art is questionable (Ahem, you know who you are). I’m not the biggest fan of modern art. A lot of it pisses me off. I don’t understand Cy Twombly at all. I didn’t understand the gi...more Those of you who know me will probably say that my taste in art is questionable (Ahem, you know who you are). I’m not the biggest fan of modern art. A lot of it pisses me off. I don’t understand Cy Twombly at all. I didn’t understand the giant wax torso covered with human hair (probably pubic) that was sitting in one of the rooms at the San Francisco MOMA. In fact, when I saw it, I said “Gross” out loud. Two women standing nearby looked at me and I could read the disapproval on their faces. “Philistine,” their expressions said.

But, I do love Jenny Holzer. She is probably best known for her Truisms texts that have been displayed on large LED signs or projected onto public buildings. A lot of Holzer’s work consists of short sentences packed with meaning that when displayed on a continuous scroll, overload the senses. Here are a few examples:

CHILDREN ARE THE HOPE OF THE FUTURE

CHILDREN ARE THE MOST CRUEL OF ALL

DISGUST IS THE APPROPRIATE RESPONSE TO MOST SITUATIONS

GOVERNMENT IS A BURDEN ON THE PEOPLE

SILLY HOLES IN PEOPLE ARE FOR BREEDING OR FROM SHOOTING

You get the idea.

I have good memories associated with Holzer. I first saw some of her work at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, where her Protect Protect exhibition was being shown.

It’s not often that I am so struck by art. Some of Holzer’s displays were mounted on walls; others ran along the floor. In fact, I was so moved by one of the light displays that I pulled out my camera, snapped a picture, and was immediately yelled at by Security. It was worth being yelled at to capture this:



There were also tables covered with human bones that had Holzer’s sayings attached to them on engraved silver bands. I would have loved to slide one into my bag when the security guard wasn’t looking.

This book was given to me for my birthday by a wonderful friend and Goodreader while I was in Portland visiting. It will always remind me of the super fun weekend I spent there. No, Holzer wasn’t showing at the Portland Art Museum, but I did find a copy of this book while we were browsing in Powell’s, which is quite possibly the best bookstore ever. It contains a few essays on Holzer’s work as well as photographs of her 2004 Xenon For Duisburg exhibit in Germany. The end of the book contains a selection of texts that were projected onto the buildings in Duisburg.

Though it is essentially a book of pictures, Die Macht Des Wortes is still worth checking out. I haven’t even mentioned the best part, which is that the book included a DVD, but I haven’t watched it yet.(less) "