turning the Corners... (fail)

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

Just noticed a "store closing" sign in the Corners window at the Porter Mall. Gee...who saw that coming.


Oh - same edge of Davis: some odd/interesting sculpture garden going up in the front yard of one of the house on Elm. Anyone know what is up with that?

Comments

[lonelyholiday.livejournal.com]

You know, Corners has been having those BIG SALES for years, and every time I think it's a going-out-of-business sale, but it's not. It's like the boy who cried wolf, I'm not going to believe this until someone else moves in there. heh.

And yes, I think I know the house you're talking about, but when I saw it this weekend I was walking with a friend who had no interest in stopping to read the sign. (Looked like some kind of poetry?)

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

i agree they constantly have sales, but i've never seen a "store closing" sign before... also, i went in and they said Saturday is their last day open. The memorial drive location will stay open though. So, it might be real this time. :)

[cityofbeige.livejournal.com]

My mother owned a Mail Boxes Etc (now UPS Store) franchise when I was growing up. One guy in the same shopping complex had a men's clothing store, which I swear, had a "going out of business sale" sign for at least three years before actually shutting down. He was a regular customer at my mother's store too, so we knew it was just a gimmick.

[ron_newman]

That's actually illegal. A state law regulates how long a 'going out of business' sale can last, and prohibits such things as closing the store only to reopen with a different name and another such sale.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

123 Elm St, at Burnside.

It's been "active" for some time now, actually, and I was going to post a pointer because public art is awesome but then I got a weird nastygram email from one of the residents of the house (who knows me, though I had no idea he lived there).

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Why did he send you a nastygram? Maybe a different kind of pointer is in order....

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

He sent me email accusing me of leaving a rude note and it took a back-and-forth before I had a clue what he might be talking about. It creeped me out a bit because I don't know if that means they have some sort of webcam set up or what, though I suppose it makes sense since they might be concerned about the installation being vandalized.

(And obviously I did no such thing.)

I was wrong

[make-you-laugh.livejournal.com]

Hi!

Yes, it was me, and I accept that I was wrong. I'm truly sorry.

Some left me possibly the cruelest note I've ever seen in the box. It freaked me out. I had been outside all day working in the garden so very few people came by I didn't see and only one I knew, I guess you didn't see me coming into the apartment. It was a bad assumption and I blame my being off-balance from the hostility of the note.

The entirety of my note was "Hi Jude, Don't come to the garden if you're going to be rude. -Johnny"

I apologize unreservedly. We don't have a Web cam set up, although now that I've gotten another piece of hate mail, I am struggling with how to react constructively to deliberate vandalism. The idea of the project is to make others happy, and me too, not make me unhappy and making bad decisions.

-Johnny

[lac.livejournal.com]

Well if they don't want people coming to look at it, why are they putting it up?

I mean really?! You all can't see it but my brow is furrowed right now.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

No, of course they want people coming to look at it -- it's sorta interactive, even.

Re: Wait... wuuuuuttt?

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

it's TRUE! It is a complete show stopper- and hence a public service for pedestrians. And people say public art has no purpose... ;-)

Re: Wait... wuuuuuttt?

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

No, they want people to see it, and I was going to tell people to go check it out because public art is a good thing even when it's not the best.

I was dithering because I wasn't sure whether to also write a review of the exhibit, which wasn't just about the aesthetics (eye of the beholder, and also not central to the theme, imho), but about how it reflected (negatively) on the personality of the creator (and I had no idea who that was).

Also, I misplaced the card with the URL for the project, and I wanted to include that as well. (So I never visited the site until just now when Ron posted it below.)

Re: Wait... wuuuuuttt?

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

Don't dither! Seriously. One of the reasons we have tepid art (esp. public art) is because no one wants to say anything that can be construed as "negative" or "critical" or (shudder) "uninformed." This is true of people in general but also our "professional" art critics in the Boston area, who, if they do say something critical, have little to back it up or make their case.

What we end up with from reviewers is "um.. ah" and some mood or impression that is completely unexplored. Also (imo) the "the eye of the beholder" thing is a complete crock - a polarized reaction to earlier generations of hard line critics along with a sort of twisted PC "gee someone might like it and I don't want to offend anyone" pap.

One can say something is "good" or "bad" - (again, imo) but then go further and say why.

(this isn't a slam against your comment in any way- it just pinged a continuing thought I have been having)

Re: Wait... wuuuuuttt?

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

You make some good points.

First, though, I probably misspoke by calling it "public art", since it isn't really that in the sense of it being paid for or sponsored by a local municipality or the like in any way. I agree that in that case, we're all welcome to talk about how much something sucks (or rocks) and how the grant money should have gone elsewhere (or not).

This is (afaik?) entirely private, except that it's publicly available and out there. There is a different term I should have used that is escaping me right now, and, this example notwithstanding, I think private-public art is a great thing in general and one of the things I love about places like Portland, OR, where it abounds. Once I have a place for it, I'm sure I'll put something out there myself, but for whatever reasons, it's just not that common around here.

I'm happy to give a lot more slack when reviewing that sort of private-public art than when looking at something I've payed to see or that was paid for, just like I review professional theater performances with a very different eye than I'd review community theater. (And as a community theater participant, I certainly hope others do the same. :)

Re: Wait... wuuuuuttt?

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Well, it may not be "public art", but he set it up so anybody could go in. I went in myself last night, mostly because I was walking by and saw, well, a big-ass stone path with a couple of wooden arches in it, lit by tiki torches.

[laryu.livejournal.com]

I looked at that house in 2005. Good bones, but it was too big and needed a bit too much work. Do you happen to know if it's a rental? From the outside, it looks like they kept it a 2-family when the renovated.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

I can't say for sure, but I'm guessing it is a rental because the person who created the project is not the listed owner of the property, and further, the owner appears to own a number of multi-family properties in the area. The owner also has a declaration of homestead on one property, and this isn't it.

(Note: this information was gleaned from public record and I make no claims about its accuracy.)

[laryu.livejournal.com]

I came up with the same info on my search of public records just now (though I didn't notice the homestead). Thanks!

[ron_newman]

isn't that a public art project by make_you_laugh, who advertised it in this recent LJ post? He linked to http://crossintotheabyss.org/blog/ for more info.

[derekp.livejournal.com]

Coincidence that this was at least partially inspired by "The Love Guru?" A for effort, as the garden was clearly a lot of work, but I'm just not crazy about it. I actually thought it had a lot of promise early on, but kind of lost its way.

But it's his house.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

That would be the one.

[jadelennox]

Dear Corners,

Good riddance,

no love,

me

[drslip.livejournal.com]

Agreed that Corners will not be missed -- there were two better framing places on Mass Ave already.

As for the house on Elm St., whatever's going on there, I am all for it as it does inject a nice dose of the weird into the neighborhood.

[ron_newman]

Johnny Monsarrat's art installation on Elm Street is the subject of a Somerville News article today.

[ron_newman]

And now it's also the subject of a Boston Globe City Weekly story.