Jim Putnam - Thinking Through My Fingers

Thoughts About Quilting and Art

I've been discussing art with our daughter and her sjgnificant other over the past few days.  We've specifically discussed where the line of demarcation lies between  function and art.  I wrote the following this morning after posting the previous message.

The quilt, in terms that we currently understand quilt, was originally functional; it provided warmth and coverings for one’s bed.  But even when that was its purpose, quilters took pride in their technique and use of color to produce a functional object that was also good to look at.  However beautiful though, quilts were to be functional first.

Men have likely always quilted. Those men who were without women for whatever reason had to be able to mend and sometimes construct their own clothes and coverings.  I know anecdotal stories of men in the early 20^th century who quilted from necessity , along with, perhaps, boredom, during long spells of being alone with their thoughts.

At some time, quilts began to separate from their function and be viewed as art, purely to be appreciated by the viewer with no concern or intent to be functional.  I’m not positive when that began, but today quilts exist separately as both art and function.  Some quilts are both, being used as bed coverings and admired as art.  Quilts are as likely, however, to be originally made for display on walls of offices, hospitals and homes, as bed coverings.

Often we think of mid-eighteenth century and earlier quilts as having been made by poor folk from necessity.  Actually, many of the quilts that survive were made by much more wealthy families.  Only the wealthy could afford the fabric and dyes.  Quilts that were constructed from scraps were used to the point of exhaustion.  Some have survived, but they are, I believe, the exception.  I have one.  Its blocks were constructed from scraps of mens shirts by my maternal grandmother before 1914.  I pieced them and had them quilted.  While originally intended to be purely functional, it is now functional art.

I'm told that many Native American and African languages do not have a word for art.  That which outsiders, primarily European, label as art was originally functional.  Today, I see artifacts being sold that are functional, but bought as art.  I'm thinking of some baskets on the Carolina coastal islands that people buy solely as art, never intending to use them to contain anything.

I read portions of a book ["indigeno: Contemporary Native Perspectives in Canadian Art", edited by Gerald McMaster and Lee-Ann Martin, 1992, Canadian Museum of Civilization] today that was written by Native American artists.  These are all Native Americans who attended the finest art schools and have used their heritage to influence the kinds of art they do.  Their work is art even by their own definition, whether or not their culture has a word for it.

The question I will be thinking about for a what is art, who decides, and responsibility to cultures whose functional works are appropriated as art.  But, that's it for this evening.

On the Road

Marrianna and I are in Asheville visiting.  This is the first time I have used the laptop while on the road, and it is much more simple than I had anticipated.  I'm using a cable input, and want to try a wireless in some public place that has wifi.  Many restaurants advertise wifi now, including MacDonalds and Panera.

There was a hot-air baloon floating around here earlier.  I wasn't fast enough to see it pass over, but saw it descend behind some trees.  I'm told it originates its flights from some house up the hills behind our house.  Maybe I'll get a chance to see it and photograph it in the air.

Yesterday, as we drove up the hills toward Asheville, once again Marrianna anticipated seeing 'her mountains.'  There is a place as we drive up that as we crest a small hill, two levels of blue high mountains show against the sky.  Just seeing those mountains seems to relax her.  Someone once told us that everyone has a place that's home to the heart.  These mountains are her home.

I too love the mountains, and could live here in peace, but they aren't nearly as much my home as hers.  I have asked her several times whether she would like to retire here, and the answer is always no.  Chapel Hill is probably going to be our retirement place, and that seems to be close enough to her mountains for her.

I can tell that now that we will be coming to Asheville regularly, and we plan to travel to other places also, in order to keep our email easily available both at home and on the road, we are going to have to permanently switch our email carrier to gmail.  I tried gmail before and it's OK, but I didn't think the bother of switching what has been 15 years of Roadrunner was worth the effort.  Getting a new email adddress to everyone, and having them change their address books, isn't a simple thing.  Some individuals would change easily, but there are a lot of organizations, and some people, with whom we communicate irregularly that wouldn't be likely to make the change.  Or, at least I don't think they would.  We've both had our addresses, as I say, 15 years, and getting ourselves used to a new address wouldn't be easy either.  Marrianna, especially, likes her raggmopp address.

I'm sure this hasn't been the most fascinating blog entry, but the fact that I'm writing it from Asheville is to me.  I'll try to write something more interesting later.

Quilting Field Trip

This group of ladies were my companions on the field trip today. The quilts were all very nice, and we learned something about the history of quilts in North Carolina.  Photographs were not allowed of the exhibit, but the web site linked above has photos of a lot of the quilts on display.  This photo was taken just outside, and opposite the entrance to the exhibit hall

The Gregg is an art museum and, therefore doesn't show much in terms of art quilts.  There were some excellent quilts, with stitching that was wonderfully done.  There were also quilts from mid to late 1800's that were not as well done in terms of quilting technique but were excellent representations of quilts from the period.

The museum is on the second floor of the Student Union hall of N.C. State University, and today there were some kind of orientation for incoming freshmen and their parents.  After touring the exhibit, with two curators leading us through, we had lunch in the hall.  As you can see from the photo, many of these ladies are senior, and we all commented at how young the kids seemed to be.  It seems college freshmen are getting younger every year.

We drove in three vans.  I had a strong idea of how to go, so the other two followed me.  They also wanted to follow me on the way back, so we had a three car caravan both ways.  We really enjoyed the quilts, and the company of each other.  All in all, a wonderful day.

A Movie Review, and a Quilt Show

Marrianna and I saw the latest Harry Potter movie, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" last night.  For me, this was the best of the Harry Potter movies so far, and so it was surprising to hear a young boy, probably age 10 or thereabout, on the way out of the theater say that he thought it was boring.  I can't say what he was expecting, but the film was not boring, at least not for either of us.

I've found it very interesting in the movie series to see the actors grow.  This movie is particularly interesting.  The Malfoy boy changed the most, though they all changed.  I think the special effects were wonderfully done.  The story, as have all the series, pits dark versus light, showing that there are traces of both within even the most enlightened. 

The Harry Potter books are all on our shelves; we have each read them all, and I am planning on reading them again soon, in order, one immediately after the other.  I am aware that many adults think the books are for children, but we think either we are children at heart or the books appeal to a wide range of ages.  I'm looking forward to the next movie.

Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day.  My quilt group is going on a field trip to a quilt exhibition at NC State University Gregg Museum of Art. The link shows some of the fine art quilts that are on display.  One of our members contacted the museum, and the curator of the show is meeting us to talk about the quilts.  That is itself special. 

In addition to the above link, there is a link to an article about quilting that is very interesting, written better than I have been able to, describing quilting and its history.  This link is really worth following to learn more about the history of quilts.  I've even printed if for future reference for myself.  My only quibble with the article is that it left male quilters out of the story.  I'll take pictures if it's allowed, and will write more about the quilts in a later post.

Saturday Afternoon - A Dream and If I were President for a day

Today is Anastasia's birthday, and Marrianna called her at exactly 12:30 PM, the hour which she was born, to wish her a happy birthday.

Quilting has been the major task for me today.  I haven't accomplished as much as I expected.  Working over the frame for hours has given me a bit of a back ache, so I am quilting a while, checking the news blogs and email for a while.  It's slower, but with less physical problems.  I absolutely need to get away from quilting after about two hours or suffer the consequences.

Just for fun, I'm going to write a bit about a dream I had last night.  Marrianna and I were living on a farm next to a lake somewhere.  The Canadian army came into the area.  At first, they said they were on some training exercise with the US.  That seemed to satisfy us all then, maintaining peace.  Later they told us they had taken over our country.  They took our farmhouse, and Marrianna was sleeping in a tool shed.  I put on a uniform of a Colonel, knowing somehow in the back of my mind that I was actually still a Master Sergeant, got on my motorcycle, and went off to wage war against the Canadians.  That was it, no more that I can remember.  What does anyone reckon that means?

Marrianna and I are planning to go to see the latest Harry Potter film this evening.  The local theater must be showing it in two of their theaters because there is a showing at 7:00 PM and another at 8:00.  I think the 8:00 would be better for us because there are likely to be fewer small children.  Now, I enjoy small children as much as anyone, but usually I want to see a film away from them.  With dreams like above, I wonder whether I need to go the the theater at all.  I get as good a dream as the theaters show.

Finishing about something more serious, I think President Obama is going about health care reform wrong.  It seems that he wants Congress to hash out the details, only setting broad terms about what it should contain.  If I were President, I would have my staff write the bill I wanted.  It would perhaps lack details, but would be specific enough that there was no doubt about what I wanted to see.

Then, I would tell Congress this is what I want, and while you can fuss around with it, change a detail here or there, this is the minimum I will accept.  Anything else, I will veto, over and over again if necessary, until the bill I want reaches my desk.  And if we end up with no bill, I will campaign loudly and long against each and every one of you who voted against these provisions.  I believe something similar is going to be needed in order to get any bill to sign.

When I was in high school, way back in the dark ages, my high school civics teacher told us that the best form of government was a benevolent dictatorship.  He told us several reasons that would be true.  Then he went into a "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely" explanation why it wasn't true.  I think that in many ways we have the benevolent dictators in the form of our Congress, both houses.  Their power has corrupted them, and we seem to think that we still have a voice in what is done.  We don't.  The power of money and position has corrupted them, and they seem to be fighting President Obama in every way that they can, both Democrat and Republican.

I can see that my disgust with Congress is beginning to seep through into my blog writing.  It is time to stop writing and return to the peace of a quilting table.

Friday Evening

Marrianna and I were at a local restaurant this evening and she asked me what I was planning to do tomorrow.  My reply was that I wanted to quilt, and to write something to the blog.  I allow not writing to chafe at me much more than it probably should, but that's me.  After all, I'm 70, and am allowed.

But I do want to write a bit this evening, though just what is a wild guess.  I could opine about health care reform, or about the kerfluffle about President Obama, Professor Gates, and Sergeant Crowley.  What disgusts me about the latter is that our news media have largely seized upon this incident to the exclusion of the former.  In my opinion, it is only going to be important for a day or two, and during that time the nation isn't going to learn a damn thing about what is going on regarding health care reform.

I have been quilting several hours a day while not writing.  It feels good, except for my fingers.  They're sore from needle pricks since I haven't been doing enough quilting recently to maintain the callouses on them.  The quilt is progressing, but not quickly enough.  I have to get it done because there are other projects that must be done.  My quilting history has very seldom to work on two or more projects simultaneously, and now I may have to. 
As Johnny Cash used to sing, " I don't like it, but I guess things happen that way."

Before dinner this evening, Marrianna and I attended the opening of a quilt store in Chapel Hill.  This store has had to move because it outgrew its space in its last location.  For me, it is a very good feeling to see the lady who owns the store do so well.  The new location is in the middle of a very active shopping area, and has been beautifully set up.  I'm sure she will continue to thrive.  It's right between a liquor store and a very nice coffee shop, two doors from a bread bakery, and around the corner form the place Marrianna has her hair done.  How great is that? <grin>

This isn't much of a blog post, but I feel much better having written it.  I'll close now, go back to the quilting table and make my fingers more sore.

Additional Thoughts on Apollo

I finished yesterday's blog post with:

Then again, we aren't likely to spend the money to address the earthbound mission, so we might as well expand our horizons and hope that a Mars Mission would change the US and the world as much as Apollo has.

In his comment, Felix asks:

In any sense other than scientific and technological, I'm not sure whether Apollo has changed the world? I'd be interested to hear detail on that?

I do not have detail, but am willing to pontificate a bit as if I did.

As Felix rather smoothly admits, Apollo did change the world from a technological and scientific sense.  I believe that the scientific and technological sense could be considered minor accomplishments if attitude and strength of will are factored in.  I realize that these aren't as easily measured but, to my mind, they are crucial.

Apollo produced more than just the "one great leap for man".  That leap also did several things.  First, it illustrated to us all that it is possible to join together in an immense effort to do things that surmount the bounds of common understanding.  Organizing toward an enormous common goal was as impressive, at least to me, as any scientific achievement.  In a manner of speaking, it was the organization, working together, that made the science and technology possible.  And that organization went far beyond NASA.  Congress, business, and even the individual Main Street person, largely worked together.  Of course there were dissenters.  There has to be, they are as necessary as water is to plants, but the program addressed their concerns and either adjusted to accommodate them or determined that the goal was important enough to move on. 

Second, Apollo stretched the imaginations of many of us.  So often the refrain that, again I believe, partly came from the success of Apollo, was "If we can do this, why not 'this'?"  I heard it so often in developing computer systems.  Attitudes changed when the client could see new possibilities, and they began to stretch their imagination.  Perhaps Apollo wasn't the sole spark of this new attitude, but to my mind it certainly extended it. 

Apollo gave us a new perspective on ourselves and our world.  Suddenly, we, and I am not writing only about the US but also humanity's 'we', could see Earth as a small blue ball.  It's possible that this view spawned, or at least encouraged, a sense that Earth needs to take care of itself.  Our vulnerability became more clear, and the green revolution possibly owes a major part of its strength to the Apollo program.  They have certainly used its images to rally support.

How many times over the past forty years have we heard, "We can send man to the moon; why can't we ..."?  Apollo gives us all courage to ask these types of questions.  We know that we are capable of solving problems, and want to know why a similar effort is not working to solve other problems.  Indeed, why not?  What is the reason we cannot organize ourselves to solve poverty, starvation, or any number of other seemingly problems beyond those bounds of common understanding?

Through Apollo we know that we can do what was once considered impossible.  Perhaps we have allowed that strength of vision and will to deteriorate, but the embers smolder, hopefully ready to be fanned to a new common purpose, and new horizons reached, horizons that do not have to be space oriented.  The least explored frontier is in human relations and in human need.  If another space program could assist in developing a common understanding of either, I am all for it.  However, because I don't believe that it can, I believe that a space program should remain secondary.  This is not the time to demonstrate what we can do in terms of science or technology except in so far as what they can do to assist in exploring interior frontiers.

I do believe that Apollo changed the world in ways other than scientific or technological.  No knowledge is unimportant, and no program can effect only those two arenas.  We are all better for Apollo's achievements in ways that we haven't begun to either understand or take advantage of.  I hope that we do soon. 

Altair - The Next Eagle

While browsing through the BBC's web site today, I discovered an article, "Flying on the Wings of 'Eagle' ", about a vehicle that is a prototype for the next excursion to the moon, and possibly beyond.

Aside from that, though, the article is very interesting.  I was actually surprised to learn that Altair will be very similar to the Eagle, which landed on the moon 40 years ago today.  " "We wanted it to be a bit more Star Wars or Star Trek but the physics gets in the way," says John Connolly, chief architect of Nasa's new Altair Moon Lander."  Further in the article he says: "... the Apollo engineers got a lot of things right."

LUNAR LANDERS - EAGLE v ALTAIR Apollo 'Eagle' lunar lander Crew size: 2 Surface duration: 3 days Landing site capability: Near side, equatorial Stages: 2 Overall height: 7.04m (23.1ft) Width at tanks: 4.22m (13.8ft) Width at footpads: 9.45m (31ft) Ascent stage mass: 4,805kg (10,571lbs) Descent stage mass: 11,666kg (25,665lbs) Descent engine thrust: 44.1Kn (9,900lbf) Altair lunar lander Crew size: 4 Surface duration: 7-210 days Landing site capability: Global Stages: 2 Overall height: 9.9m (32.5ft) Width at tanks: 8.8m (28.9ft) Width at footpads: 14.9m (49ft) Ascent stage mass: 6,141kg (13,510lbs) Descent stage mass: 37,045kg (81,500lbs) Descent engine thrust: 83.0Kn (18,650lbf)

I read the entire article before I watched the video at the top of the article.  For what it is worth, I recommend this sequence.  It gives a bit more perspective to what is seen.

The vehicle is, according to the article, in its third prototype, and is likely to go through a dozen more.  To me, that seems excessive.  All this for a vehicle that may never get beyond a prototype.  But, if I were a NASA engineer, I would be designing it until the day the booster rocket took it away.

Reading the article and watching the video, I am amazed at the difference in technology today.  In 1969, there were not computers on every desk, cell phones, the Internet, email, or any number of other technical marvels we take for granted today.  Eagle was, I believe we will see, as similar to Altair as a Model T is to the Toyota Prius.

If I had to make a wager, I would give less than ten percent odds of the US beginning another space venture for a very long time.  Very long translates to another twenty years.  Oh, eventually space exploration will begin again, but I don't think we will see it in my lifetime.

I am truly mixed about exploring the moon or Mars now.  I believe that space exploration is going to happen, and it is possible that a challenge such as JFK provided for the first trip to the moon would be as beneficial now as it was then.  But, there are so many earthbound missions that must also be addressed, and I am not at all sure they would be if there was the huge diversion of going to Mars.  Then again, we aren't likely to spend the money to address the earthbound mission, so we might as well expand our horizons and hope that a Mars Mission would change the US and the world as much as Apollo has.

Remembering Cronkite

In a way, it is appropriate that Walter Cronkite and the 40th anniversary of the first person to step onto the moon's surface are happening in the same week.  To me there's always been a sense of their being linked, so remembering one reminds me of the other.

The very best article I've read remembering Cronkite is by Will Bunch, "Walter's Choice -- Cronkite's Lesson for Today's Journalists".  I believe the core paragraphs are:

Cronkite understood that the ultimate role that journalism can be forced to play in democracy is, quite simply, to fight to preserve democracy itself, and that the greatest threat to our republic was when elected leaders choose to lie to the American people. That didn't mean abandoning the core principles of journalism -- aggressive fact finding, which includes first-hand observation and talking to all sides, as Cronkite did on his trip to Vietnam, or an innate sense of fairness and justice. But he knew that journalism was more than rote stenography --parroting the untruths that LBJ and the Pentagon said about the war and finding a political opponent to quote deep down in the story for "balance." He knew there could be a time when the only way to inform the American people of a higher truth was to step outside the straight jacket of objectivity.

To turn a famous phrase on its head, Cronkite realized there are times when a true journalist does yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater...when there is an actual fire. It is not an easy call to make, but Cronkite did the right thing, displaying real courage ...

Journalism is today being reminded that its role is crucial to survival of democracy, that there is a time "when the only way to inform the American people of a higher truth was to step outside the straight jacket of objectivity."

I believe that there are such journalists today.  Josh Marshall's "Talking Points Memo" is, as Bunch says, one of them in my opinion.  But it seems to me that there are too few in a time when many are needed.  I value objectivity as much as anyone, but it seems to me that rather than objectivity today's journalists strive for 'balance', providing sources from each side without comment.  That's not objectivity, it's stenography, and Walter Cronkite would not have called it "the way it is".  Most of all, I hope that Bunch's last sentence is accurate.  "But on many canvasses, great and small, where journalists are engaged in a quest for real truth and not an artificially manufactured one, the spirit of Walter Cronkite is still very much alive today."  Our freedom, it seems to me, depends on it. 

Sunday

The closest I've come to accomplishing anything this entire weekend has been to pour Drano in the bathtub drain upstairs and clear it.  Really.  That's the entire list of anything productive for the weekend.  I've watched The Open, transported Marrianna to the Art Gallery for her volunteer stint, and read a lot of web sites.  Other than those, I've done nothing.  Obviously, since I've not posted a blog entry for two days, the laziness extended even into writing.  Now, I am sitting at the computer, squeezing my brain, and attempting to write, hoping that the squeezing will get me beyond this weak introductory paragraph.

Reaching for anything - I read a small blurb on my calendar last week that I've kept.  It says:  People who are left-hand dominant but have a right eye, or vice versa, may be more artistic than those who have the same dominant hand and eye.  That describes me, and simultaneously adds evidence controverting the claim.  I am left-hand dominant, at least in most activities.  I quilt, eat, throw, and am much better at close, detail work with my left hand.  When I thread a needle while quilting, I use the left hand, and hold the needle so that I see its eye through my right eye.  I am right eye dominant, and do many activities right handed.  I golf, bat, bowl, shoot handguns and long-guns right handed, and use a right-handed mouse while working at the computer.

Among the benefits of reading a number of blogs is that it creates a habit of saying: "Who says so?  Provide a source!"  When I read the calendar blurb, knowing that I am evidence against its claim, I looked for a source.  There was, naturally enough for a calendar, none.  It wasn't, and isn't, important enough for me to do the research to find a source for calendar writers' assertions.

I have developed what my doctor says is "Essential Tremor" in my left hand.  So far, it hasn't spread, but it is sometimes embarrassing, primarily when eating out.  I have learned that I am not able to use my right hand to eat.  Why I can golf or shoot with my right hand but not hold a fork or spoon steady is a question I don't try to answer.  The Essential Tremor isn't as bad as the uncoordinated right hand, so it's better to eat left-handed and tremble than right-handed and really be bad.  My doctor said that it is common that I can steady the left hand to do detail tasks such as thread a needle, getting the thread through the needle's eye first try almost every time.  That puzzles me.

I have a feeling that I am repeating something I've written not very long ago.  If so, I apologize.  I'm not going back to find out, though.  I suppose forgetting is a sign of getting old.

Perhaps there's hope for me as a writer yet.  I used to scoff when I read accounts of authors spending hours, or even days, on the placement of one word.  I wont any more.  I've just rewrote this phrase from above, "and really be bad," three times, moving the placement of one word.  "Really" started and ended where it is above.  I tried placing it behind the "be" to see if it felt or sounded better.  It didn't, because at least to my ear "be really bad" changes the meaning slightly from "really be bad".  I decided that it was more accurate that "really" modify "be" rather than "bad".  What is unusual is that I thought about it for a long time, and now better understand what those authors are talking about.  Every word can make a difference.

Instances such as that are among the most important reasons I write the blog.  I enjoy writing and the exercise it gives my mind.  Informing people is important, but not nearly as important today as it was when I began the blog.  It is important to me, and that is enough.  Or more accurately, sometimes it is enough.  Other times I dream of being widely read.

Readers are important, but I believe the blog as place to write, recipient of thoughts, and practice pad, is even more so.  This evening, those of you who have read this far, please know that I appreciate it.