Wordless Wednesday: a series of tubes

Austin art

In and around the joyous wedding festivities in Austin (congratulations, Trally!) I got to experience some great public art. This lovely jack-o-lantern, carved by the mother of the groom (who did a bang-up job on all the decorations, much better than the mother of the bride would have been able to come up with, should it have been left to me!) wasn't exactly public, but it's so cute I had to lead off with it.

Here's some of the other cool stuff we saw around A-town and the UT campus. First up, I know I've shown you this amazing "too many boats" sculpture that's near Sally's office before, but I don't think my previous shots have included the iconic Texas tower as well:

Also not far from her building (which is a work of art in itself) is a breathtaking new installation, on top of an also new student center. This link gives more information about it, and some pictures that show the whole thing, but I also want to share my more impressionistic glimpses:

the cylinder from outside

a welcome oval of blue after many days of rainy weather; this was taken inside

More campus art, that I have also noted before, is this handsome bronze outside of the Texas Memorial Museum...

...of course made even more beautiful with the addition of these lovely ladies, busy admiring it:

We also had fun sampling some local art not yet on normal public display, at the East Austin Studio Tour. Here are some samples:

this metal sculpture was one of my favorite items

that's hundreds, if not thousands, of rolls of newspaper!

this whimsical offering is titled "Deep Eddy Pool Centennial"

And finally, after a yummy dinner downtown, we took in a series of installations along Waller Creek. We particularly liked the "Creek Zipper," and took several photos of the lights and their reflections in the water:

More reflections cast by this bright arch near our restaurant:

And this was one of the most popular spots along the creek, not surprisingly, eh?

As impressive as all this art is, there's even more, and with an even more Austin-like twist, coming up next time.

I'll close today with another shoutout to the bride and groom; thanks for throwing such a fun party in such an interesting city!

A pretty big, and a big, pretty campus

The main object of my trip to Austin last week was to spend some time babysitting my fabulously amazing little granddaughter.

But I did have time for some other A-town activities...

...like eating at Korea House...

...and strolling around campus on an absolutely gorgeous day.

The occasion for the stroll was a baby-free couple of hours spent museum-ing and then meeting Sally for lunch.

The museum was the Blanton, which I have had on my to-visit list for some time. I enjoyed it very much, especially their collection of contemporary Latin American art. This actually came as a surprise, the kind of surprise that makes you love museums. I went there planning to be most impressed by their old masters collections, and they were very nice. But I was blown away by the contemporary stuff. 

I started my tour in their special exhibit on "Art and Civil Rights in the Sixties," and noted a no photography sign. Unfortunately, I didn't realize when I moved out of that space, that I could have taken photos in their regular collections. Next time I go I'll be able to show you some of my favorite pieces. But for now, you'll have to be content with some of their public areas...

...like this architecturally fabulous stairway...

...not to mention their elegant loo (I'm a big fan of museum restrooms, as some long-time readers might know).

Not being able (as I thought) to snap photos in the museum, I made up for it on my stroll down Speedway to Sally's building (which is plenty scenic in and of itself). The UT campus, in addition to being astonishing over-crowded when classes are in session, is a smorgasbord of public art. One of the newest and most unusual pieces I featured in my last Wordless Wednesday post. Here are a few more long-lived examples:

artistic touches on a McCombs Business School building

there's even art on the power plant building!

sculpture outside of the Texas Memorial Museum

It was such a gorgeous day, I couldn't help admiring nature's handiwork as well. Killing some time outside the Law School, waiting to be reunited with the precious baby, I enjoyed these fabulous old live oaks. Don't they look like works of art?

Wordless Wednesday: too many boats?

Wordless Wednesday: Professor Aunt Sally

GWTW: all you could ever want to know

When I was in Austin several days ago for a very important event, I managed to squeeze in a little time to visit the Harry Ransom Center on the UT campus. Long-time readers will remember an earlier visit here in 2013, but they are always mounting wonderful new exhibits and the current special one is not to be missed.

These mug-shot-looking pix are mug-shots of a sort: make-up stills for one of the most famous American movies ever made. GWTW=Gone with the Wind.

Since I was busy with other matters on this visit, I didn't have too much time to study the exhibit in detail, but it will be there for a while yet, and something tells me I'll probably be making some more trips to Austin before it leaves.

What's really great about this exhibition is that all the materials in it are from the Center's own holdings. They have an astounding collection of American literature and cinema manuscripts, documents, and artifacts. And what they don't have about GWTW just isn't worth having.

The most striking items in the exhibition are the costumes (some actually restored originals) and I took the most pictures of them. The dress on the right is Scarlett's wedding gown (first wedding, to Charles Hamilton). Some of the other dresses in the exhibition are from even more memorable scenes in the movie...

the "scarlet woman" dress Rhett makes Scarlett wear to Melanie's party

my favorite: the dress made from "Miss Ellen's po'tieres"

Another set of highlights are the "concept paintings," sketches to guide the building of sets and the shooting of various scenes. Here's an especially handsome one, of Twelve Oaks, the day of the barbecue at the beginning of the movie:

But there was so much more to read and absorb at the exhibit; I hope one more visit will satisfy me, but it might not.

I primed myself for seeing this by re-reading the book (probably for the first time since high school...now that's a peculiar experience!). 

And, for telling the story, the book is very much superior to the movie, although there are certainly more cringe-worthy scenes in the book than in the film. Some of the most interesting exhibits were correspondence, newspaper clippings, and other artifacts dealing with the racial aspects of the story; the moviemakers did tone down a lot of the more objectionable scenes and language from the text. However, the book does have a lot to teach us about how we got to where we are today, racially-speaking, and it provides a rich vein of story and references for illuminating post-modern treatments (I'm looking forward to reading Ruth's Journey, a GWTW spinoff told from Mammy's perspective). 

The exhibit also has a fascinating set of correspondence between the Production Code people and David Selznick, the movie's producer...they had plenty to get their boxers in a twist about in this story! That was the only section I took the time to read in full, and it was a hoot!

But the movie was truly a cultural phenomenon, and the 1930s equivalent of a social media firestorm. The hullabaloo about who was going to play Scarlett, for example, was intense, and gets a good chunk of exhibition space.

I also enjoyed some little details (and am looking forward to seeing more next time). For example, notice the mis-spelling of Vivian Leigh's name on the label for the still at left. And the details of filming the massive burning of Atlanta sequence was really cool...pretty impressive stuff for those pre-CGI days.

Even if you haven't read the book (I'm assuming everyone in the civilized world has seen the movie!) you'll enjoy this exhibit if you find yourself with some spare time in Austin. For GWTW-geeks, it's a can't-miss experience! (If you can't make it to A-town, the museum provides this next-best-online exhibition.)

New kid on the block

We took a quick trip to Austin last weekend, mainly to see Sally's new digs. Her new duplex apartment is very nice, but what really blew us away was her new office setting.

She recently moved from one of UT's oldest buildings to its very newest. Her department is Statistics, but the buildings' main tenant is the Computer Science Dept., which accounts for the structure's two names: Gates and Dell. Both somewhat well-known in the computer field, I would say...

It is an impressive-enough building to have its naming rights shared!

Since Saturday there was a home football game, we couldn't park as close as we wanted to, but we had a nice stroll down Dean Keaton and Speedway from our parking spot. 

There are always interesting things to see on this monstrously large campus. Like the public sculpture above, or these neat decorative touches on the Molecular Biology Building...

...as well as other impressive architecture...

... and even a great look at the Main Tower occluding the sun...

But the real scenic treats awaited us inside the new building. What an airy feel for such a large structure!

looking up from the lobby

the statistician and her father taking a short tour break in the lobby

There were lots of interesting interior design features, like this colorful hallway...

.... and these unusual lamps and chairs in the lobby ...

Of course there still has to be an infrastructure, but I even thought that this set of pipes, in the stairway leading to Sally's 7th floor office, was photo-worthy:

It's only the last flight of stairs that are enclosed like this. The first 6 floors are reached by means of these fabulously cantilevered open steps. What great views they afford to tourists with cameras, all the way up!

Some samples:

looking down at the lobby floor

monumental sculpture outside the front door

the top landing's glass is tinted orange...for energy-saving, or just school spirit?

the Tower again, out a clear glass window

In fact, I was so taken by the stairs that I couldn't stop taking pictures of them, trying to capture their quirky beauty. I hope this sample of my shots will give you some idea of how neat they look:

What a great way to keep in shape, to climb up these stairs every day to work (although with her several-soccer-games-a-week-lifestyle Sally hardly needs more exercise). And along the way you get to admire this architectural gem! 

We're very proud of our little professor and thoroughly enjoyed seeing where she gets to work.