Album cover, Richard Hell and the Voidoids

I’m wrapping up a three day road trip. Part one was a trip to Vermont for faculty meetings. It was surprisingly hot in Montpelier, so I woke up early on the second day to get a run in before the temps began to climb. There’s a great 6 1/2 miles around Berlin Pond on hard-packed dirt roads–great terrain for running! You get purchase but it’s more forgiving than pavement. I ran by dew covered fields, horse farms, and views of mist hovering low over the pond. Perfect.

On my way to to New York from Montpelier, I stopped at Kimball Union in Meriden, N.H. to drop work for an alumni show. Surreal in many ways.

After a night out in Brooklyn with my cousin, I hit New York for an art day. I started with the punk show at the Met. Having fallen in love punk culture as a teen-ager, I was drawn to the idea of fashion artifacts from the 70s. Unfortunately, the show was a little…dull, and misplaced, particularly for anyone who ever went to an actual Ramones/Blondie/Voidoids show. There are some Vivienne Westwood pants and Yamamoto dresses that are dirty and luscious, and I do have a new longing to knit a messy mohair sweater, but other than that, it was a snooze. The best viewing stretch of the day was in Chelsea, going from the excess of the new Jeff Koons show(s) at David Zwirner and Gagosian to 3 wonderful prints by Luis Camnitzer at Alexander Gray. I suppose that echoes the slightly distasteful mix at the met: big money couture and the dirt, street, and noise of punk. Not that punk didn’t have its connection to fashion and money, but its initial appeal had more to do with the scrappy, hungry mess of desire.