Filed under: art, college, garden, last green valley | Tags: Bennington College, lois orswell, david smith, fogg art museum, swan garage, crossett library, eating architecture, futurism, marinetti
This is the view from my Swan Garage studio. The maintenance facility can be seen in the mid-ground. I is nice to work with the door open, but it is getting colder and this will no longer be an option. Faculty parking is directly in front of the doors, and therefore views are spoiled for much of the day. I currently have the following books checked out of Crossett Library:
Breakfast Lunch Tea by Rose Carrarini
David Smith 1905-1965 by the Fogg Art Museum
Defiant Gardens by Kenneth I. Helphand
Eating Architecture edited by Jamie Horwitz and Paulette Singley
Floor Plan Manual edited by Friederike Schneider
Futurist Cookbook, The by Marinetti
Housing + Single Family Housing by Manuel Gausa
Lois Orswell, David Smith, and Modern Art by Marjorie B. Cohn
Pamphlet Architecture by Mark Janson
Filed under: art, college | Tags: Bennington College, college, dymaxion house, painting, russia
bt-dubbs, these are my classes this term:
Advanced Workshop for Painting and Drawing, Ann Pibal, M 2:10-6pm
Russia: Bolsheviks to Baristas, Eileen Scully, M,Th 6:30-8:20pm
Post Dymaxion House, Blake Goble, T 10:10-12pm, 2:10-4pm
Artist’s Portfolio, Dana Reitz, T 4:10-6pm
Visual Art Lecture Series, Visual Arts Faculty, T 7:30-9pm
I have a nice studio in Swan Garage.
Filed under: college, garden, last green valley | Tags: Bennington College, bolting, border patrol, broccoli, class, deer, Farmers Market, gardens, grass, green thumb, hardiness, hemlock, houseplants, invasive species, mock orange, parenting, patents, peas, perennials, poison ivy, politics, racism, sexism, sibling rivalry, sun, supertramp, the logical song, weather
Soundtrack includes The Logical Song by Supertramp.
Every time I plant something I learn why I should not have planted it. Sometimes I do not have the resources or skills to successfully grow it. Other times I have been informed that certain species or garden techniques go against some sort of moral decree. Below I have outlined some of the major problems.
POLITICAL ISSUES
With roses, one must decide between disease or brevity, class or caste.
I have been indoctrinated into believing in invasive species, and, until recently, have never thought to consider opposing views.
I do not support sexism. or racism. or excessive rivalry between siblings.
I don’t want to support plant patenting.
Is it better to keep off the grass or to rethink grass?
PRACTICAL ISSUES
I am unable to grow anything that absolutely needs full sun, because I do not have it.
A borderless garden, for one previously explained reason.
Any plant requiring warm, tropical temperatures.
I do not have the money for many desired perennials.
I am constantly wondering whether the plants that I do feel are worth purchasing are not impostors.
Local farmers’ markets are now convenient. The nearest is a five minute drive after work and opens when I am released.
PERSONAL ISSUES
The weather never cooporates and my leafy greens have difficulty germinating. Those that germinate bolt.
The west plot of the garden has been left undisturbed in order to protect a hemlock in the final years of its demise.
Houseplants can not be expected to survive in my parents’ care.
I have become entirely too familiar with certain species.
The Bennington curriculum!
Filed under: college, garden, last green valley | Tags: Bennington College, boston, bulls, cheever, Connecticut, deer, fruit, garden, hunting, lee reich, Michael Pollan, New York Times, pear, Pomfret, suburbia, summer, The Omnivore's Dilemma, uconn, vegan, vegetables, wall street, yellowstone
Ten years ago it was not necessary for our family to protect any of our plants. Now, however, no plant is safe. The hosta on the east side of the house has not survived a single season in five years, the holly gets a yearly pruning in winter, and the vegetable garden now requires a six-foot fortress. Perhaps our property has been established as a (Good Grazing Ground (GGG) by the Association of Hungry Deer (AHD).
The article above was published in the New York Times in September of 1905. The previous day an article was published on the impact of deer on Pomfret’s farms.
Vegan gardening. in order to make this Frittata? or possibly to grow lesser-known fruits?
The New York Times has an article on students and recent graduates who are performing internships at farms. The article did not mention any of the Bennington students who have interned at farms (Bennington once had its own farm), but the article did mention that the interns came armed with a Bennington graduate’s book.
Cheever living in CT.
Filed under: college | Tags: Bennington, Bennington College, california, gay, gay marriage, Iowa, Jim Douglas, New York Times, proposition 8, rainbow, same-sex marriage, Vermont
Yesterday evening there was a rainbow in the skies above Bennington’s campus. No doubt the rainbow was a sign that same-sex marriage would be made legal in the state of Vermont the following day! While the governor, Jim Douglas, vetoed the bill, the Vermont legislature mustered exactly enough votes to allow their initial decision to remain. I am very proud to be a student in Vermont. California and Vermont would have been the only states to legalize gay marriage outside of the courtroom had Proposition 8 not passed in California.
This happened only four days after same-sex marriage was made legal by the court in Iowa.
Filed under: college | Tags: Bennington College, CAPA, endowment, Field Work Term, Liz Coleman, recession, TED2009, VAPA, Vermont Public Radio, VPR
Despite the recession and the college’s tiny endowment (which has decreased by a third because of the recession) Bennington College administrators plan to construct three new buildings on campus using part of a $34 million financing arrangement. The buildings will be the Center for the Advancement of Public Action (CAPA). The site plan above includes the three buildings that would comprise the new center. The long, rectangular building will house four faculty/visiting speaker apartments. The small square building will house a lecture/conference space while the larger square will house the Field Work Term offices, classrooms, and a lounge space.
The center will, architecturally, create an additional “front” for VAPA (Visual And Performing Arts building), as it will be directly “behind” it. It is the hope of the architects that the area between VAPA and CAPA will have high foot traffic. The many doors that exit into the current parking lot/sculpture graveyard will instead open onto a planted courtyard-like space that will continue to allow deliveries to VAPA. The image below is a siteplan that includes CAPA (top) and VAPA (bottom).
Liz Coleman, the college president, spoke about the new center at TED 2009 and on Vermont Public Radio. Her TED talk will be available later this year.
Filed under: college | Tags: Bennington College, CAPA, Ford Escape, Gamer's Grotto, Halloween, Island of Misfit Toys, LARP, mice, Thanksgiving, the skinny, toilet, VAPA, Walk of Shame, Wizard Chess
The Bennington Free Press (the only surviving campus newspaper of Bennington College) publishes “skinnys” which are basically short blurps about anything written by anyone. I found these to be especially inappropriate, and therefore decided to publish them here. Admittedly, these aren’t really very funny unless you know who violated the rules of (using) the road. These also aren’t very funny when you are an admissions intern who has to explain why there are mice in student housing. I will write more about CAPA very soon.
Filed under: art, college | Tags: 800 steps apart, Bennington College, brian rigney hubbard, brooke singer, CERCLA, EPA, New York, September 11th, superfund
Brooke Singer gave a lecture yesterday evening in Tishman Auditorium as part of the Visual Arts Lecture Series. Singer is interested in making information more accessible to the public.
One project, Superfund365, displays information related to 365 Superfund sites across the United States. Information may be sorted by responsible parties, Superfund refers to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. The act required responsible parties to pay for the cleanup. If no party was found responsible, a trust fund created by taxing the petroleum and chemical industries was used to pay for cleanup. Superfund sites are on the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Priorities List, which includes 1550 sites.
After the events of September 11th, the Environmental Protection Agency cleared evacuated New Yorkers to return to Lower Manhattan. Brooke Singer documented the state of offices and apartments covered in dust and debris. She grew skeptical regarding the safety of Lower Manhattan. She is currently working on a piece with Brian Rigney Hubbard called 800 Steps Apart. The piece is about two properties, four blocks apart, which were given far different instructions for cleanup. One cleanup included a hazmat team, the other included a mop and lip balm.
Filed under: art, college, garden | Tags: Bennington College, birds, helen frankenthaler, jennings, Rebecca Stickney, secret garden, symposium
Rebecca Stickney, alumna and trustee of Bennington College died on August 21, 2008. I met Rebecca Stickney when she stopped me near the bridge where the water leaves the pond. From that point on the path we could see birdhouses she maintained and the observatory in her name. She pointed out towards the middle of the pond and told me a boatload about a bird at its center. She told me that citings of the bird were rare in the region and that I was lucky to have seen it. I don’t remember much about the bird or even the name of the species. I was overwhelmed by her enthusiasm regarding the bird.
Much more controversial than any symposium, she is often cited as the woman who literally “cleared the way” for the Frankenthaler Garden by removing much of the overgrown garden that Bennington loved. The garden, originally part of the Jennings estate, popularly known as “the Secret Garden,” and namesake of the Secret Garden Panini, will soon become an outdoor performance space.
No doubt the college will miss her bird-chatter. Her impact on the community will long outlive any memory of the species she spoke of. You may read Bennington’s news release here.
