The Country Was Saved. Now It’s Time for a Revolution.

courtesy www.barackobama.com

The country was saved. Barely. From our vantage point in the liberal Bay Area, it is difficult to understand how half the country could vote for someone who, as I have said before, was basically a brown shirt in a rep tie. Or, at least, was advocating extreme right-wing madness. Sometimes it seems so complicated that I turn off and go back to listening to Leonard Cohen. Let’s go live on a Greek Island with a mistress of one kind or another for a while.

But basically it is the end of the hegemonic order and the unchecked power of the one percent. Citizens United meant that rich folks without values could run around doing whatever they wanted. That is, until a bloody revolution stopped it all. But that is not the preferred outcome. Almost every country with any kind of economic strength has a jumbled-up combination of socialism and capitalism. The question is, how much does the government check greed, and how? Large countries that said they embraced socialism, like China and the USSR, didn’t. And when they embraced capitalism, it became government-sanctioned thievery. Most of Europe has embraced socialism and allows capitalism to flourish as long as the basic needs of the citizens are met. Of course, that is no longer true in the US; the standard of living in several countries is better than ours. (Not that ours should be the best.)

We are confronted with a radically changing demographic. The era of the white man is almost over. Although minorities of all kinds are still oppressed by the right and the religions that cater to the right, the long arc of justice that Martin Luther King, Jr. talked about will happen. But the few straight white men who control the levers of capitalism are not going to give up without a fight. These few people outspent the Democrats and told lies and more lies in every possible media channel they could think of. There are reports that they tried to disrupt the voting process. The outcome of this election is so important because the Supreme Court will change its makeup in the next four years, and now the new justices will say no to the wreckage that the one percent has caused in the financial and oil industries.

courtesy www.ownieu.owni.fr 

But there are two tracks. There is the political track and the in-the-streets track. The Republicans will still control the House and will keep taking their kind of bribes. This is why we voted for Obama and will be in the streets in the coming years. We will see precious little happen in the political realm, because the Republicans and their corporations will pour their resources into resisting humane progress at every turn. And that’s why Occupy will be back. Next time it won’t be quite as ragtag and stinky. It will be slightly less democratic and slightly more organized. And it will push Wall Street into the gutter. When oil is no longer the blood of the economy and bankers are accountable, we can rebuild a country that is based on human dignity and the idea of service. It can’t happen under a Republican administration. What remains to be seen is whether it can happen under a Democratic one. As the political scientist Jodi Dean said the other day, it only takes ten percent of the population to start a revolution. So, ten to one it is. Good odds, even if the one percent has most of the money.

courtesy www.latimesphoto.files.wordpress.com

Vote McGovern

A few days ago, I watched the 2005 documentary One Bright Shining Moment about George McGovern’s run for the presidency in 1972. I was 13 turning 14 at the time and was excited about the possibility of a liberal antiwar candidate being elected president. I later heard a story that when New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael woke up the morning after the landslide victory for Nixon, she couldn’t believe it. She didn’t know a single person who voted for Nixon. That’s how I felt.

I pasted a bumper sticker for McGovern/Shriver on my mother’s pristine Rambler. (She made me clean it off after the election, of course.) My father took us to a rally at Richmond High School, where we got to see the vice presidential candidate Sargent Shriver in person. And I handed out literature at the local market where we lived. I still believe now what I believed then. George McGovern wanted to turn this country towards compassion and away from greed and violence. His dramatic loss will be understood as a turning point in history. Roosevelt saved capitalism from itself, and the line of Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and the Bushes will be seen as having let it choke itself to death. McGovern might have stopped this juggernaut.

George McGovern visits Cesar Chavez
in the hospital

The documentary itself is too long. As much as I love Gore Vidal, he becomes pedantic. But the film tells an important moment in American history that is worth understanding.

Barack Obama is not like George McGovern. For one thing, he got elected! He is master of a much better organized and well-fueled machine. His vice president is an old hand, who talks too much, but doesn’t suffer the stigma of mental illness that Tom Eagleton—McGovern’s first choice for vice president—did. In the age of Citizens United, Obama has to play to the corporate kingpins, as much as he may not like them. He advocates for an endless expansion of an economy that seems based on waste and pointless consumerism. He has not closed Guantanamo Bay, and apparently innocent people are still dying there. And then there are the drones. But he has tried to institute some kind of healthcare system that will help the middle class and the poor. He has come out for equal rights for gay people. When Ruth Ginsburg and other older Supreme Court justices retire, he will nominate justices who are not hateful or stupid. Whatever objections those on the left may have, we must reelect him. Romney and the Republicans have moved so far right that they will try to repeal civil rights and focus on what the last several Republicans have focused on—redistribution of the wealth to the one percent, using war as an excuse and oil as the catalyst. While this might speed what I see as an inevitable revolution, it will be bloody, and many innocent people will die. Make no mistake, Republicans are (light) brown shirts in white shirts and rep ties.

Even as we support Obama, we must continue to protest capitalism’s excesses. The Occupy movement showed that discontent is real and rising. I think that the violence that a few of the Occupy protestors exhibited was not so much revolutionary fervor as it was mental illness. The democratic nature of the movement and its willingness to feed anyone attracted a number of homeless and mentally ill people who had nowhere else to go. Another surprise gift to the left from the antigovernment, antitax, pro-rich Republicans. Eliminate services for the mentally ill, and be sure they go help the pro-democratic demonstrators!

Richard Serra's print is part of a group of prints
 by Gemini GEL artists to raise money for Obama.

The truth is, Republicans actually love socialism. They see government as a source of funding for the private sector. As long as the spigot flows money upward, they have what they want. What we learned from Reagan was that “trickle down” really means “flow up.” Nobody loves government subsidy, aka corporate welfare, as much as the Republicans.

At this juncture, there are at least two related questions facing the country. First, can we tax the rich enough to provide a balance to their excesses, and will they retaliate? The type of police action we saw less than a mile from our home here in Oakland, Romney’s off-shore tax havens, and Apple’s hideous manufacturing practices in China (as I type this on a Mac) are all ways the one percent can react to challenges to their hegemony. Second, can this country begin to see that endless pursuit of profit is killing us? Profit in and of itself is just an updated version of trading beads. This intense focus on profit over service is an environmental and political disaster.

I wonder if there is a relationship between the growth of excess profit and the expansion of extremist brands of several faiths? Is this because so many people lack basic necessities, or because people are angry that what little they have will be taken from them? Talk about false prophets (see the late Christopher Hitchens on that!).

We may not see the end of capitalism in my lifetime. But we could see people begin to turn towards compassion and service as more important than profit. That was what George McGovern promised. And deep down, I think that is what Obama also wants.

Best of 2011

The greatest thing about 2011 has been Occupy Wall Street. At last, the lie that everybody will be rich has been exposed: the one percent is getting richer and everybody else is getting poorer. The government is subsidizing the wealthy. Corporate welfare is worse than we ever imagined. The cost and deception of late capitalism is too high. Now the truth is out. We woke up! Some of the highlights of the year were visiting the Occupy protests at UC Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, and of course Wall Street. Interestingly enough, the catalyst for all this good work was a communications publication based in Canada called AdbBusters.

So let’s start there!

Favorite magazine
Adbusters
Culture jammers!
www.adbusters.org

Favorite protest
Occupy Wall Street!
www.OccupyWallStreet.org

Favorite political blog
Clinton’s former secretary of labor just nails it.
www.robertreich.org

Favorite local policy wonk organization
Great programs, policy discussions, and parties.
www.spur.org

I know, enough with the politics. What about the art, design, writing, food, and libations?

Favorite new restaurant (SF)
It was a tie.

Cotogna
The décor is beautiful and the food subtle and incredibly fresh. Pricey but worth it. We also ate next door at sister restaurant Quince, but it was over the top.
www.cotognasf.com

La Ciccia
Sardinian. I know it’s not new, but I had never been there. No pretense, no décor really, but excellent food at a fair price.
wwww.laciccia.com

Favorite new restaurant (NY)
The Dutch
Fresh food and someone is paying attention. Rustic décor with a hint of the modern.
www.thedutchnyc.com

Favorite new bar
Bar Agricole’s drinks are as inventive as the light sculptures by Nikolas Weinstein. Like an update of Richard Lippold’s piece in the Four Seasons. Check out the short video “Cut and Polish” on Nik’s website after you find the Bar Agricole project.
www.baragricole.com
www.nikolas.net

Photo: Matthew Millman

Photo: Matthew Millman

Favorite old bar
The bad juju at the House of Shields is gone and so is the smoke. Too loud, but that’s part of the fun.
www.thehouseofshields.com

Courtesy House of Shields

Favorite new hotel (outside US)
We didn’t try that many this year, but we loved the Château Carbonneau for its shabby chic quality and incredibly personable matron, Jacquie. Should you be near Bordeaux, it’s a great place to rest for several days.
http://www.chateau-carbonneau.com/EN/accueil.htm

Favorite new hotel (inside US)
If you are going to Healdsburg and Sonoma County without a lot of dough, H2Hotel by David Baker + Partners is great fun. And while you are there, try Scopa restaurant.
www.h2hotel.com

Favorite edge
We loved the way this house designed by Craig Steely in Hawaii met the lava field.
www.craigsteely.com

Favorite new museum
José Luis Sert’s Maeght Foundation in Saint-Paul-de-Vence reminded me that modernism can be very local. One of my favorite museum experiences ever.
www.fondation-maeght.com

Miro Mural at Fondation Maeght in Saint Paul de Vence

Favorite solo painting show by living artist
Thanks to our buddy John van Duyl, we saw Kevin Bean’s show at Stanford, and it was a standout. His paintings work in concert or alone.
www.kevinbean.com

Favorite solo painting show by nonliving artist
Some blockbuster shows are worth all the hoopla. The Willem de Kooning retrospective at MoMA was overwhelming at times and then poignant in the way it shows him disappearing.
http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/1149

Willem de Kooning. Pink Angels. c. 1945.

Favorite show by living sculptor
Richard Serra may not be the friendliest of artists, but his work continues to redefine the concept of art. Although the show at SFMOMA is called “Richard Serra Drawing: A Retrospective,” it works like sculpture. We were able to see it at the Metropolitan and at SFMOMA. It works much better in San Francisco.
http://www.sfmoma.org/exhib_events/exhibitions/421

Favorite show by nonliving sculptor
Seeing “Edward Kienholz: Five Car Stud 1969–1972, Revisited” at LACMA was deeply disturbing. The dark side of all the other Pacific Standard Time shows. Although this piece has not been seen in public since the 1970s, the artist reminds us that racism is still a cancer in the bones. None of us have escaped.
http://www.lacma.org/art/exhibition/edward-kienholz-five-car-stud

Favorite fashion show
Truth is we don’t see that many fashion shows. But Alexander McQueen went far beyond fashion. Maybe it’s a new model for making conceptual art.
http://blog.metmuseum.org/alexandermcqueen/

Courtesy of Alexander McQueen.
Photograph © Sølve Sundsbø / Art + Commerce

Favorite design show
You can feel optimistic about California again. Or at least its design legacy. Check out “California Design 1930–1965: ‘Living in a Modern Way’” when you are in LA.
http://www.lacma.org/art/exhibition/californiadesign

Favorite newly discovered artist
We found out about Joe Downing, an American who lived and worked in the South of France. A lot of Klee-like marks on wood, canvas, and even buildings. I hadn’t heard of him, but our South of France expert (and part-time resident) Michael Bernard had met him. There is a small garden in Downing’s memory across the street from the house of Dora Maar.

Sculpture by Joe Downing in his memorial garden

Blind window in Menerbes with drawing by Joe Downing

Favorite new/old retail emporium
The new Marimekko store on Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron district is just joy.
www.marimekko.com

Favorite actor on British TV
Tom Ellis. We watched him on a show called “Monday Monday,” and now I keep bugging Paul for anything new where he is featured. If you like guys with curly hair….

Favorite ruin we won’t be able to visit soon
Jack London State Historic Park
The state is planning to close this great Sonoma park in 2012. A sure sign that the end is near.
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=478

Favorite memoir
Joan Didion’s Blue Nights breaks your heart.
www.joan-didion.info

Favorite diary
The Sixties: Diaries 1960–1969 by Christopher Isherwood
He had a few blind spots (as this reviewer also points out), but Christopher Isherwood remains one of the most important writers in my life.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/nov/20/christopher-isherwood-diaries-review

Favorite design-related online magazine
The must-read online magazine is Design Observer. One of the publications under this large umbrella is Places. Editor Nancy Levinson dares to publish magazine-length pieces that are among the best in the business.
www.places.designobserver.com

Favorite blog about living outside the US
This year, my favorite personal blog comes from our friend Ann Moore’s daughter, Charlotte. She splits her time between Italy and France. In her blog, “The Daily Cure,” she is “healing the soul one detail at a time.”
www.thedailycure.wordpress.com

Favorite new funny spectacles, another useful blog and a wedding!
We have to see clearly to face the challenges ahead. So when we needed new spectacles we took John Cary’s advice and turned to Warby Parker!
www.warbyparker.com

And while we are talking about John Cary he launched a new blog this fall and married a great lady, Courtney Martin, a few days ago! Congratulations John!
www.publicinterestdesign.org

Favorite car that goes forward and backwards at the same time.
That sort of captures 2011!

Happy New Year! Hoping for more good change in 2012.

Postcard from New York

This was the Brooklyn trip. Went out there three times. We got to try some great restaurants, including Franny’s, James, and Prime Meats. But it was either nighttime or snowing (in October, thank you), so I never really saw the neighborhoods. But the rents are much lower than they are in Manhattan (unless you live in Brooklyn Heights, of course). No wonder most folks we met out there are under 50. My buddy Andrew Blum took me for a ride around some of the neighborhoods before we had dinner, and I see I have a lot to explore!

Occupy Wall Street had not thinned out since the first snow. Perhaps there are fewer homeless than our local Occupy camps. My impression of Wall Street was less pot, more activists. The place was very orderly, with walkways, a library, a kitchen, and other places to congregate. Sure, there are some nuts, but the place had a very peaceful air. One fellow put a rainbow peace symbol over my head and barely bothered me for a donation.

Best restaurant meal was at The Dutch. An expense account kind of place, but the service is attentive and personal, and someone really cares about the food. The recipes are not extravagantly complex, just fresh and well executed. They also care about their cocktails. The sure sign is that the Manhattans are stirred in a crystal beaker, not shaken. The décor is a mix of mod lanterns and old-style wood enclosures. Perfect fall kind of place.

For the more adventuresome (and bargain) diner, there is Han Bat at 53 West 35th between Fifth and Sixth. Unremarkable but inoffensive interior. Lots of kimchi. I was surprised when what looked like eggplant turned out to be mackerel. I noticed that they brought the Asian patrons glasses of hot tea and white patrons cold water. The Gobdol Bi Bim Bad was very filling and warm. The best bit is the cooked rice at the bottom of the clay pot. But be careful about your dental work.

Stopped in for a drink with my long time editor pal Kristen Richards at The Brasserie on the opposite side of the Seagrams Building from The Four Seasons. This was one of the designs that made Diller Scofidio & Renfro’s reputation. As you walked down the grand stair a delayed image of you entering the restaurant was projected on the screens above the bar. Andy Warhol’s idea turned into a restaurant - you get to be famous on TV for a few seconds! Brilliant idea, but it wasn’t working. Just static TV on the screens the night we were there. The bar was crowded, but the restaurant was almost empty.

When the winter doldrums kick in, the place to go shopping is the new Marimekko on Fifth near 23rd (surrounded by Mario Batali’s mad Eataly Emporium). It was full of young folks looking for the stuff their moms used go on about—and their moms! I even popped for a crazy pair of Marimekko Converse tennis shoes. And got the very same shoulder bag I bought in high school at Design Research. Jack Spade for the D/R set. The other recent big retail opening was Uniqlo near the Museum of Modern Art. You couldn’t go two feet without seeing a white bag with the store’s distinctive red chop. But I think it’s all bright T-shirts and cashmere sweaters for the young skinny set who are bored with the monochromatic tendencies of Muji. We favor bright caftans.

On the art front, there is more than one man can do in a few days. The blockbuster show for contemporary art lovers is the de Kooning retrospective at the Modern. You almost need two trips, it is so overwhelming. Watching him almost disappear at the end is heartbreaking. I have never been a huge fan of the “Women” series. But I loved the early abstractions. It’s up until January 9, 2012. Go.

A review can be found at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/16/arts/design/de-kooning-a-retrospective-at-moma-review.html?pagewanted=all

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

For the die hard Richard Serra fan, there are two new monster pieces at the Gagosian Gallery. I have never seen so many guards in a private art gallery! They seemed to be there to tell kids not to run through the sculptures. If you are eleven, I think that would be the natural response to the towering bending curving fluid hard objects. Overheard comments included “We’ve been in this open space,” “No we haven’t,” “Yes we have”; “Is this one or two pieces of art?”; “No running, this is an art gallery.” The signed exhibition posters are sold out. The pieces put me in a kind of trance. What I want to see is a YouTube video of them installing these pieces. The show is up until November 26. You can read the review here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/arts/design/richard-serras-sculpture-at-gagosian-gallery-review.html

For those of you who read my post on Justin Spring and Sam Steward on my other blog, you might enjoy a visit to the exhibit entitled “Obscene Diary: The Secret Archive of Samuel Steward, Professor, Tattoo Artist and Pornographer” at the Sex Museum. The place definitely has a kind of illicit vibe—like a high-end peepshow. I wasn’t crazy about the muslin wall treatment over Steward’s sketches, and the videos were placed too close to each other, so it was hard to concentrate on any one tape. I really wanted to hear the older Sam Steward interviewed in his Berkeley cottage. Despite those criticisms, it was great to see his index cards, notebooks, and other ephemera. Sam was one compulsive guy – and perhaps unintentionally, an artist. His famous stud file is enclosed in a thick acrylic box as if there were jewels inside the box within a box. There was also a fine sketch of Steward by Don Bachardy, which I had never seen. I am not sure that the show will interest people who have not read Justin Spring’s excellent biography or who don’t at least know of Steward, aka Phil Andros and Phil Sparrow.

As tattoo artist Phil Sparrow, Sam taught a young Don Hardy, now known as Ed Hardy. And some of Hardy’s tattoo prints were on display at the annual International Fine Print Dealers Association’s Print Fair at the Park Avenue Armory at the Shark’s Ink booth (www.sharksink.com).

The Park Avenue Armory’s main space is wonderfully run down, but the anterooms have been restored to their Louis Tiffany glory. This year there was a lot of Louise Bourgeois to be seen. Besides the Tauba Auerbach prints at Paulson Bott’s booth, (www.paulsonbottpress.com), some of the highlights of the show were the Richard Serra prints at Gemini G.E.L., the perfect little Kiki Smith flowers shown at Harlan & Weaver, the bright Polly Apfelbaum flowers at Durham and the milky world of Dan Brice at Tamarind. After the opening night, we had dinner at JoJo, the Upper East Side outlet of Jean Georges. Friendly but incompetent service. Great décor. If you go late, try the $38 prix fixe!

Somehow we found time to see the second leg of the High Line, which is quieter than the first. More long boardwalks, many raised above the bed of the railroad track. It takes you all the way to 30th Street. The complete walk now stretches 1.45 miles. This would be at the top of my to-do list for any trip to New York. Check out www.thehighline.org.

We will have to wait until the next trip to see the 9/11 memorial. I think I want to see it when all the landscaping is in. Should you want to go, book your tickets well in advance at www.911memorial.org.