'Family Pictures' at the Guggenheim Museum

Back in 2007, Martha Schwendener wrote an article in the New York Times about an exhibit titled "Family Pictures" at the Guggenheim. One of the wonderful things about the web is that the article and the exhibit are still online. Well, sort of, in the case of the exhibit. While some of the past exhibits at the Guggenheim museums are available online from 1998 on, this one has only its 'Overview' page. However, there is a list of artists in the exhibit, with links to their work in the museum's collection - not necessarily those discussed in the article, but those can be found online at other sites, at least for the ones I searched.

As for the rest of the archived sites, some of the material is very well-preserved, and some isn't. But that is part of the fun, and the exasperation, of looking, isn't it?

My name in Processing

This is my first attempt at actually publishing a Processing sketch online. It's an assignment for a MOOC I'm taking - Creative Coding, so here goes.

Or maybe this:

Printed light at The National Gallery of Australia

One of the many things that delight me about the Web (and the reason I get back to this blog, even though very seldom), is that things sometimes stay where they were, even for seven or so years. 

Printed light: photographic vision and the modern print was exhibited from July to November, 2004, and the pages are still there! The introduction page is pretty unglamourous, but those plain-looking links lead to some very good things, most of the time.

The essay (links are provided at the top of each page to most of the other pages, including this one) explains the relationship between photography and printmaking, and includes one of my favourite images, [Grant’s], by Richard Estes.

Gallery leads to a short list of works with brief descriptions of the artwork shown and links to enlarged images, which, sadly don't have a magnifying glass for closer examination of details.

National Gallery of Australia http://nga.gov.au/Home/index.cfm

Check some more of the links - exhibitions, etc.

Artist Interviews Reached through video link http://www.nga.gov.au/Exhibition/Transformations/Default.cfm?MnuID=8&GalID=Vid

on Transformations page http://www.nga.gov.au/Exhibition/Transformations/Default.cfm

Once you find them, the videos are of artists describing their work. There are also images of the work that can be enlarged. I found it useful to look at the images in a separate window while I read the description. 

MOOCs and Me

A wonderful addition to the great entanglement that is the World Wide Web is the MOOC (either Massive or Massively Open Online Course, depending on the interpretation of the writer). MOOCs have become common enough that they are attracting detractors.

I can only say that, for me, they are totally marvellous and those who bemoan their advent are totally missing the point. After all, as with many new inventions, MOOCs may have unintended consequences, although I hope that at least some of the early promoters realized the potential within these classes to unite and connect people around the world.

While the primary intention is to assist with education, MOOCs provide a chance to communicate and virtually interact with professors, teaching assistants, and, most importantly, learners around the world. Students have many reasons for studying in this way, but I see it as an opportunity to learn in fields that I would never have had the time or money to include in my classes when I was getting a degree. Whether I do all the classwork, watch all the videos, or just audit the classes and download for future viewing, in my old age this is a much better use of my time than watching daytime TV, playing online games, or any other time-wasters. I love every moment of it.