Dimensionally Barrett

Interstate Highway 45 in Houston on Sunday.   Credit Richard Carson/Reuters Just a couple of weeks ago, torrential rains led to loss of lives and property in the Terai in Nepal and Bihar in India. Just a few days ago, Hurricane Harvey began an onslaught on Southeast Texas, devouring Rockport, Texas, battering and ruining how much of Corpus Christi and flooding Houston, the fourth largest city in the United States. So far ten people have died, somewhere around a quarter of a million are without power, and there's no telling right now how extensive the damage is in terms of billions of dollars. Can't say it was unexpected Harvey may well be the new normal and it's only the most wilfully blind who will deny that Harvey played out as a textbook example of what climate change is looking like in this early part of the twenty-first century. As the people in Nepal, India, and now Texas are discovering, monsoons and hurricanes are no longer "business as usual....

When my old friend Pamela Blotner asked me where I'd be in June, I probably said, "Kathmandu". I can't imagine I'd say, "France" or "Borneo". France is lovely; Borneo I don't know. But Pamela dropped a nugget about Artists Beyond Borders sometime ago and she similarly dropped it yet again, to the effect that ABB would be assembling an exhibit at the American Center in Yangon and promoting collaborations among Burmese artists for about three weeks. I don't think she was fishing for me to volunteer, but if she was, her subtle powers certainly worked because I asked when I should be there. Easy-peasy. I arrived a few days before Pamela and her colleagues, Mie Preckler and Elizabeth Addison and over the course of time, I would fall for Yangon (and by extension, Myanmar). From a human rights perspective, I'm not a stranger to Myanmar's place in - particularly - the latter part of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. I...

Indigenous people the world over are regarded the least by occupying forces. This extends no less to the Tibetans marginalized in their own country by the Chinese or to the First Nations in the United States of North America (and Canada), the subjugation of the Maya in Central America, or the Tamang in Nepal. As with similar populations, the origins of the people are shrouded in a past for which only conjecture remains. DNA shows a hybridization of Tibetan and Nepalese mixture; but this doesn't tell us who they are. They are the oldest inhabitants in the region and are mostly farmers, though there are many who are porters, guides, and artisans of high proficiency. Despite comprising five or six percent of the population, they are the most neglected, if not outright marginalized, people in Nepal. They were also disproportionately affected by the April 2015 earthquake (see graphic for breakout, but for greater detail on the Tamangs, this article is a good place to start. ...

Floods in Eastern Nepal and in upper Bihar. Dozens have died and several thousand displaced. As usual, rescue efforts are slow in Nepal, but what exacerbates the issue is the utter neglect to maintain buildings and other structures like bridges. There are building codes but as this article in the Nepal Times points out, much of the cost in both lives and property damage lies on the shoulders of, well, human beings. This isn't a matter of blaming the victim. People who have lived in the flood plains know better, but these are folks who have few options. We may feel that those who move further in should definitely know better, but again, these are not the power holders. Much of the responsibility lays with the government and developers. Given how regular monsoons are and knowing how potentially dangerous the results can be after re-routing estuaries and adding to erosion, there's little excuse for endangering a population. Houses and other buildings are constructed fr...

I've enjoyed working on these illustrations for Shantosh Shrestha's book "The Colour of Life". I wrapped up the last one last night and enjoyed working on it the past couple of days. The first day wasn't much; I just laid out a white ground, and the second day started messing about with the dark blue underpainting that you can see fairly well. I basically approached this last piece the way I'd approach a monotype; I just decided to manipulate the pigments differently and kind of got in my printmaker headspace that I wanted an unpredictable outcome, more so than usual. That said, the underpainting was based on a drawing that I don't have at hand and acted as more or less the base plan for the piece. The linear aspects of this are directly from the drawing, but the color is based more on another project. I commissioned a thangka from my friend Tashi Tsering at Rinchenling Gallery and Thangka School. Next up was quite literally, meditating on the ne...

Roberto Matta, 2000, N’ou’s autres, a very young 89 These past few weeks of working on illustrations for Santosh Shrestha's book "The Color of Life", have been particularly thought-provoking in terms of revisiting old influences and old terrain. When I was 17 or so, I grew increasingly interested in the later works of Ernst and Tanning and began to Max Ernst, Heavenly Army, 1970 appreciate the animistic elements in Wilfredo Lam. Later, Rufino Tamayo would cast a heavier spell and the throughline has pretty much been Roberto Matta. I remember my art history teacher Pat Zeitoun, a terrific painter in her own right, opined at me, "well, you know Matta's not a surrealist"; I was totally baffled why she'd state something that 1) I and everyone else already knew and 2) so what? I loved Pat and she was a funny, enthusiastic instructor but that always lingered in the background like a koan. I didn't have any deep reply for her then. I just shrug...

There is so much that is "shrouded in mystery" in various parts of the world. I find the Eurocentric Enlightenment approach is great for clarity and historicity. What we call "myth" or "legend", however, may point to deeper truths and present us with the still-living, active dimensions of a building, a space, a place, or a work. Was Boudhanath Stupa originally built by Songtsen Gampo? Probably not likely since there may be some evidence predating him. Some say the original structure was built by King Shivadeva who reigned in the late sixth/early seventh centuries. Others contend King Manadeva built it (or it was built during his time, roughly 464 - 505 CE). Others hold that Shakyamuni himself prostrated toward a structure that predated those kings on this site and when his disciples asked why - since he never prostrated before manmade structures - he replied that this would be the body of a greater figure who would follow him, Padmasambhava, whose ...

This is Bob. Bob doesn't mind the rain, exactly. You could say Bob's a loner. Bob tolerates rain. Here are a couple of Bob's friends. It's a party. Bob chills. Under watchful eyes. "Hey, Bob! Join the fun!" "Thanks. I'm cool." " 'k." "You sure now?" "Yep." "Cool. Later." "Bob's not coming?" "Nope. You know. It's Bob." "Bye, Bob!" "Bye." "Sure you don't wanna frolic?" "Nope. I'm good." " 'K. Bye." "Sigh." "Where we goin'?" "Up." "I love these guys..." "...but I think I'm gonna sneeze." "Jeez. I hope he doesn't sneeze." "uuuuhhhh...." "Enlighte...