Milan Fights Back

Studio windows

 People knock Milan for a lot of reasons.  Yes, it smells like urine. In the wintertime.  And it is dirty.  And it doesn't like to share its secrets.  And Berlin is cheaper and more hip.  Maybe Milan seems shallow.  And the food is better everywhere outside Milan.  Milan is not the most charming Italian town.  But things happen here. Luckily my art history teacher, a Milan native, wants to share these things with us.

glass and metal

 Today he brought us to the studio of Milanese sculptor Giancarlo Marchese, whose large scale glass and metal works are installed in outdoor public places and offer us a different lens with which to look at an environment.  Mr. Marchese answered many questions from us, let us look around his shop, and  talked to a few of us individually with our limited Italian (I finally formed a polite sentence!) He let me take these photos of his works-in-progress and even a glimpse of him through some of his glass.

Giancarlo Marchese

Two weeks ago, some acquaintances from different places in space and time arrived in Milan to work on a large scale installation.  I hadn't seen Monica Canilao in years, maybe since a kitchen show in Berkley I
 played with the Skorts and the Insurgent, but I have been following her work.  Last week the show opened at the Patricar Armocida Galley with her work, Swoon and Dennis McNett.  I missed out on helping with the installation but I was glad I made it to the opening night.  The installations were magical  and Harrison, who I met sometime ago in New Orleans, played a set of music in the largest room, lit only by the installations.

 

in the corner of the main room

 Afterwards, they invited me to the apartment upstairs for a post-show dinner in a beautiful room with a terrace, filled with art books, items of nostalgia and Milanese artists and printers who were so kind.  I regretted having to go home before the last train.  The show is up until July 20th when they will return to Milan to recapture the materials and bring them to Rome for a show there.  Good work, friends! 

inside a nest of prints, images and fabric

Rainy Days

secret fountain

 Lots of rainy day walks.  I don't even mind that it has been a little chilly.  I mark all the places where I have walked on my map of Milan and yet I still get lost in the center of town.  Sometimes, I can see a landmark or two and still cannot figure where to go.  The other day I was trying to get back to class when I found this over grown garden behind a gate.  I love peeking in doorways.  Just like in New Orleans, there are secrets back there.

There are also a lot of secrets on the outside--altars and balconies and this statue somewhere between my school and the duomo in my new favorite neighborhood for walking.

While in north-east Milan, I spotted this--a backyard.  There are not a lot of houses in Milan, mostly apartments.   I was on the edge of town, off my map, when I found this.

 

In that same part of Milan, there are a lot of new, industrial type buildings, and this skyscraper with a twisted exterior. Even in this part of town, I could see this building as I thought I got more and more lost.  And then I found what I was looking for.

Sunday Funday

my new desk 

Why didn't I think of this sooner? Today, I stole the ironing board out of our hallway to make a desk for myself where I don't have to lean over so much. I can use a real chair! We don't have an iron anyway so no one will miss it. You'd think with this exciting new development, I would sit and do my homework. Nope. Too nice outside. I went on a hunt for Milanese public art.

Maurizio Cattelan L.O.V.E. 

 And here it is. In front of the Milan stock exchange for the past 18 months is this 11 foot tall marble middle finger. Notice how the other fingers are broken off. And how the stock exchange is flipping us off. Thanks, free market.

Strawbita, Keep Writing #40 

 I have finally posted Keep Writing number 40 if, for some reason, you want to see a photo of it but are not interested in receiving cards. It is seven pm and still soooo sunny and clear, and not hot. In three weeks, I can travel at my leisure. Until then, a little more book learning.

from the Krewe of Rice and Beans, New Orleans, via Andy G.

Design Week Milan

Not only are classes nearly over, but it is Design Week in Milan with hundreds of events showcasing designers of all sorts, panels, art shows, and of course, appertivi. Also it has been raining like a fairy tale. The only event I have made it to so far was well worth the long subway ride and confusing directions. When I reached the Spazio MIL, there was a temporary workshop of letterpress workers organized by Milan's own Nove Punti, a group of eight designers and an architect. They have workshops, bring artists to Milan and show this city what type can do.

I met John from Flowers and Fleurons Press in Brighton UK who was printing these black and white graphics. The theme of the workshop was printing without electricity, a post-apocalyptic print world.

While everyone was busy printing, John went outside to start a different kind of type setting--carving letters into marble. I don't have any photos of that but I do intend to return Saturday and see what progress they have made. I got to try chiseling a line into the marble. The display and set up was lovely, people were friendly and having a good time. It was mentioned that we are lucky in the US, to have so much space that people hold onto presses instead of scrapping them, even when they don't know what they are for. I would add, I know see many more lady printers in the US than I saw today, though I was only there for a little bit and there was at least one women working on the presses. More photos Saturday!

Springtime!

Milan's winter was colder and longer and snowier than I am used to but they have a real live spring! It was grey when Kerry and I walked around a neighborhood I had never really seen before. Fancy architecture, balconies, shiny tiled walls and blooming blossomy trees.



And graffiti! There is lots in Milan, and some of it is made of odd figures wheatpasted to walls. I liked these robots and this piece high up on a wall somewhere near the park. School is good, my classes are interesting but I think I might need to go outside a little more.

Walks part II

It is weird to think that I arrived in Milan only a month ago and it snowed, was dark in the morning and seemed to always be grey. Yesterday morning I passed these plastic trees on the way to the grocery. What colors!



One or two nights a week I eat dinner at school. Walking to the cafeteria to study before my meal, I pass the main building at Cattolica and the Basilica. Lately, the moon has been there too, all thin in the evening.



Last week I got off the metro somewhere new and passed this tower of multicolored tiles. I have no idea what it is. I will call it the Alien Tower of Mosaics. Tomorrow morning there is a general strike of transportation so I will be addressing and stamping your postcards. I don't think the post office goes on strike here but I don't think it is ever very fast.

Is This What They Mean When They Say Life Goes in Circles?

In my Italian Conversation class today, we were supposed to be prepared to talk about our favorite place in Milan. I was so excited because Thursday morning I had discovered it--the Cimitero Monumentale, which, as you may have figured out, is a cemetery. A huge beautiful cemetery in the middle of the city that is surprisingly quiet. It is packed with tombs and sculptures, monuments and chapels, trees and paths. I was there for an hour but could've stayed.



My teacher called on students who talked about the Duomo, their favorite apertivo place, or cafe. As my turn approached I still had not realized how weird it is to choose a cemetery as your favorite place.



I spoke. My teacher raised an eyebrow. Class continues. And then I remembered all the other cemeteries I've enjoyed. I used to walk to a cemetery near my house when I was in high school. Around that time one of my teachers told his daughters I was Wednesday Adams which sounded less rude than it does right here. So I like cemeteries. They are quiet. Is it weird to think about how you'd like to be remembered? To think about your own mortality and what you will do with your one wild life (I'm paraphrasing Mary Oliver)? No way. It may be just like high school but now I don't care if you think it is weird to like a cemetery. It is a pretty amazing cemetery.

Walks

It didn't rain today after all. I had a great rainy day plan to read, cook tofu, and make an image for next month's postcard. Somehow, my homework takes me four times as long as it should. But I still made it out of the house to walk around the park, through the neighborhood and to the only grocery open on a Sunday afternoon. I've been looking up a lot lately--some of these are from today and some from this week. Now to get to work on a postcard.

Home

Andy took this photo of our kitchen on Lover's Lane where neither of us now live. My last weeks there I realized just how cozy it was and how I would miss it.



I arrived in Milan to sun and a little snow on the ground. I did not know that the first real snow of the season was coming and I would spend two days walking to and from the Metro in slow falling snow. I've been taking wrong turns, some accidental, some intentional, but I have been discovering good things. Like the veggie friendly take out place where I can get pizza pie, or veggie burger Italian style and fruit or juice, all with my meal ticket from school. I also found a park near my house where I walked for a bit on my way home the other day.



I sleep under a big window with a good skyline of buildings and a tree. I took this photo at night as more snow fell. The accumulation isn't much, its more atmospheric, but after ten winters in Louisiana, it reminds me of living in a snowy city.



When I got to my apartment, I immediately taped maps and posters to my new wall. Which I immediately had to remove because I was in the wrong room. But here is my new room, complete with calendar from Pegacorn Press (thanks for the trade Caroline!) , traveling advice from Bremelo Press and handmade paper from Amy Jacobs that I have had with me for a few years.

The snow is on the ground, it is bright, and I finally slept a bunch. Time to explore!