MEDITATION ON SKYLINES

Skyline of my mind

Fills in the darkness of void.

Emptiness brings peace.

I have dabbled in the mind art

of meditation. Took a 4-week

course where I learned how to

meditate while walking, while

eating and even gave it a go

while driving and spin cycling.

Tried a little chanting, mantra

style and became very mindful

of my breathing. I got to the

point where I had the tools to

smooth my ruffled feathers

by closing my eyes, becoming

cognizant of my breathing

and allowing my body to slow down.

The odd thing that would happen

is my closed eyes would become

accustomed to the darkness

inside my head and I would

"see" a line of lightness faintly

emerging, which took on the

look of a skyline. This seemed

to happen with every attempt

at closed eye meditation;

skylines. And when I see a

skyline what always comes to

mind is Matteo Pericoli's,

"Skyline of the World". The idea

behind meditating is to empty

one's mind of life's daily detritus,

of which skylines are not. But

they are a slight distraction.

So, I now do my meditating with

eyes open and the world around

me just blurs away, like white

noise, white sight. But, back to

the "Skyline of the World".

It was commissioned by

American Airlines to dress up

their terminal at JFK and

undertaken by the Italian

architect and artist, of the

above name. It is a 397-foot

long mural that depicts a skyline

comprising recognizable landmark

buildings alongside lesser known

buildings from more than 70 cities

throughout the world. I'd like to

see it in person and meditate on it

with my eyes both wide open and

wide shut. To see Matteo's

art work check out his web:

http://matteopericoli.com

BEACH MUSINGS

Path of sunset gold

Beckons long legged waders

Hunting for treasure.

Took a walk along the shore in

Del Mar recently and happened

to hit it at sunset on an unusual

evening where there was an actual

sun to witness an actual setting.

Overcast skies have been embracing

the coast all summer long, but on

this particular evening the clouds

parted. Golden tones everywhere.

I walked on a golden shore leaving

golden footprints, surfers' silhouettes

etched in, you name it, gold. And the

birds, the ones with the skinny legs

and long beaks that walk slowly,

regally, teasing out something

delectable; this evening they were

spotlighted, awash in gold. I was

transfixed by a golden moment.

ART????????

Throw the rule book out

Kissing palm trees turns wrong right,

Conceptual art.

I visited LACMA recently with daughter in

tow, or perhaps more accurately described

she visited LACMA with mom in tow to catch

the waning days of the John Baldessari exhibit,

entitled Pure Beauty. Unlike Phoebe, I had

never heard of this artist, who lived and worked

for many years just down the road a piece in

National City and now has stepped it up to digs

in Santa Monica. He is considered a conceptual

artist which, best I can tell, means he turns art

on its head, questioning its very essence and in

doing so creates art that turns heads. At least it

turned mine. Baldessari has been at it for a

long time (he's nearly 80),pushing the envelope,

looking for relevance,seeking a new way of

speaking to us about us. In 1970, finding

the medium of painting no longer relevant to

him as an artist, he burned all of his works of

art completed between May 1953 and March 1966.

Rising from those ashes came "The Cremation Project",

which turned the act of his destruction into a new work.

Thoughtful, manipulative, deliberate, daring, crazy, a

stroll through this rather extensive and beautifully

laid out exhibit made my brain ache. In a good way.