Niemann's Abstract City blog

Thank you to Stewart McCullough for showing me this killer blog link:http://niemann.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/my-way/

Posted via email from sean o'connor

Portland Proves Itself AGAIN

I had a great - near peak - experience in PDX the other day. Finally got to visit the hat shop that's been on my radar for so long and it did not disappoint. I say Run - don't walk - to Pinkham Millinery. Old world craftsmanship, new world aesthetics, all mashed up by Dayna Pinkham. Seriously, visit her shop, buy a hat. Revive the industry that JFK single-handedly killed (by not wearing hats in public).

It can be a bit tricky to find - it's right smack downtown, but tucked in a little shopping plaza called Morgan's Alley.


Every hat in the place is a work of art. The materials are sumptuous and the sheer variety is a bit overwhelming.

If you like a deep-dive on a very specialized craft, then schedule your field trip today. Seriously.

The wood "blocks" are themselves antiques. Nobody is making them anymore...

One moment, madame, while I bring the coach around... Interesting to try on a top hat that actually fits.

According to Ms. Pinkham, I'm a "long oval" - my head shape - making it hard for me to find the right hat. But you know what they say...

Powerbox Murals

These graphic-intensive murals showed up in downtown Seattle over the past few months along the First/Second Avenue retail core. By my count there are about 15 of them... here are a few favs...

They rock.

I Love Sculpture

There are, along Elliott Ave, a few(!) new buildings nearing completion. These properties abut the BNSF rail lines and look out over the working railcars, the grain elevator and Elliott Bay.

I was very excited to see a new installation of some large scale sculptures on the lawn connecting two of these buildings. I don't know the tenants, but I'm guessing biotech. Interesting, too, that it's right down the street from the Olympic Sculpture Park.

One of the pieces (Source, mounted on the concrete platform)) is by Canadian sculptor Sorel Etrog (Romania 1933). The others are unidentified.

Now it turns out that Des Moines, IA, loves sculpture, too!

Are YOU happy? Why not??

"Silly" theatre isn't typically my bag, but I had a great time at Arts West last night seeing Measure for Pleasure - a "restoration comedy" of British tradition full of quadruple entendre and nearly as many story lines.

It really is a fun romp - the theatre space is great - and if you can stand it, there's even a heartfelt injection of serious philosophy a bit too explicitly spelled out at the conclusion. But no matter - if you enjoy theatre, comedy, sex and lightning fast rhyming - get there (thru Nov 14)