Looking at the RISD Grad show, Nathalie Merchant, Revisiting a turtle


Thursday night I helped the artist Bundith Phunsombatlert by being the interactive model for his interactive digital media piece. Basically, I was the lady who rocked the digital babies back to sleep when the crowds woke them up, through sound or motion. It was fun, and the crowds seemed impressed by the babies slowly waking or drifting off.

I got a chance to look around at the rest of the 2010 RISD grad show at the Dunkin Donuts Convention Center. I was amazed by the high production values, remarking ruefully that it blew my own school, SFAI, out of the water on that front. However, I was a little shocked by how derivative a lot of the work was, even as some of it seemed very original. One piece I liked was a wall installation by ceramics major Robyn Gray.


On the music front, the last two weeks I have been listening to Nathalie Merchant's new CD, Leave Your Sleep. I love it. I bought it to listen to in the car with my daughter, but it turns out that I listen to it by myself most of the time, because it is so riveting. The poems she found are for children in a pre-Raffi sense, with some scares, some sadness, and plenty of subtle humor. It is no more nor less children's music than the Beatles' Yellow Submarine.


I spent some time this week retouching my sea turtle painting, changing the background color a bit, honing in on some details. Here is the final result.

More turtle paintings here.

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