In reflecting recently on rare occurrences, I remember meeting only once a fellow named Joe Lobel. A friend of mine who was a social worker introduced me to his boss from the agency he worked at. They worked together at Gracie Square Hospital. Joe sparked an interest in my friend for several reasons. Firstly, Joe, […]

When I first met Jana Napoli 20 years ago, she took my hands, opened them up, studied them carefully and slowly began revealing to me things that I might have known about myself, but could not articulate fully. Or revealed to me things that I did not acknowledge. For over two decades of our friendship, […]

“Actual Fact: you could make an entire second world out of what people throw away. The landfill is where I figured out one of my main philosophies, that everybody alive is basically in the process of trading out their stuff for different stuff, day in day out.” —Barbara Kingslover, Demon Copperhead Museum Mission Statement: “To […]

I just returned from TSL (Time and Space Limited) in Hudson, NY after viewing a film by Werner Herzog entitled Theater of Thought. Ask me what I thought? And I must honestly reply, “I don’t know what to think. I’m writing this to collect my thoughts.” Neuroscience seems to know so much, yet the mystery […]

Wildness is very difficult to wrap my mind around. Perhaps because it’s wildness that is bigger than ourselves and impossible to comprehend fully. Over the last two years I have been exploring “wildness” in a nature based spiritual practice that requires that I spend time outside and in “wild nature.” At all times of the […]

We are surrounded by human-made structures and things, newer and older. They are evidence that we are/were here, past and present and maybe into the future. Imagine for a moment a world in which the only evidence of our physical selves is our footprints in the sand. Measuring time, as well as our perception of […]

Horses have played such a crucial role in human history, from transportation and trade to warfare and migration, that their impact is deeply woven into the narrative of human civilization. In the summer of 2024, I volunteered at a regional horse trial where hundreds of horses and riders gathered to compete at different levels. Ranged […]

Many historians believe that fireworks originally were developed in the second century B.C. in ancient Liuyang, China. It is believed that the first natural “firecrackers” were bamboo stalks that when thrown in a fire, would explode with a bang because of the overheating of the hollow air pockets in the bamboo. The day I left […]

On November 6, the nation awoke to the news that Donald Trump was elected the 47th President of the United States. While nearly half of America was in shock and grief, the winning half pretended like Donald Trump received an unanimous vote and is entitled to wreak havoc on our “liberal democracy.” It’s not my […]

“We’re not on a planet we think we’re on—when we call it the earth but it’s clearly the ocean.” Richard Powers Trying to imagine a planet that is ¾ water and contains 90% of the life on the planet, where life first evolved before life on the terrestrial surface, is a humbling thought. Trying to […]

The evangelical faith is a current that runs through this country. And it runs real deep in the south. During the election this year, the Christian right organized behind Donald Trump. The outcome of the election was a shock to many of us. And I’m still in disbelief as I think about the stark contrast […]

In an on-line adventure, Laurel Casey, writer, singer and performer happens upon a small camper, a ’67 Euriba Puck, in hopes of fulfilling a dream of living an engaging nomadic (and romantic) life. Fueled by this fantasy, she spends $10,000 on a small camper that falls short of her expectation. In this short video, Ms. […]

The capacity and limitations of the human brain fascinate me: how much of this world can we process at once? How much can we hold in our heads simultaneously? Obviously, there is a limit to what we can see and understand about the world, because so much of it is not apparent to the human […]

After returning recently from a vacation to northern Maine coastal waters, and kayaking on the open waters, I have a renew awareness of the rise and fall of the tides: twice a nearly 11 feet, leaving large mudflats and rocky coastal shores visible at low tide. At high tide, mud flats became inlet bays. A […]

Imagine that the entire universe exists inside your head. All of the expanse “out there” exists “in here.” Two parallel universes. Next, imagine on this planet in this universe — the innocence of a young child in the nascent period of their life. In this moment existing in an unselfconscious way… sitting, legs outstretched, feet […]

Everyday in the world “acts of spontaneous expression” are created. Graffiti artists incite us to stop and take notice of their creativity appearing in unexpected places. For some, the act is a crime and for others an aesthetic object of admiration. For the creators it results out of doing what feels natural or good, combined […]

I believe that the world is a mysterious place, that all life is a mystery. And in its mystery, it can be a cruel, indifferent and lonely place. In the spirit of defining mystery, humans have created narratives. And in our endeavors to explain our place on the planet or to escape our loneliness, we […]

In August 2021 we sold our loft in New York City and moved north to the Hudson Valley. In December 2022, I returned to visit. This video includes 38 video shorts, assembled as I recorded them in a trance-like walk in midtown. In 1987, I moved to New York to live and work. The energy […]

Working in clay is a world away from working with computers, a tools that enables our current design practice. On a computer we create in a virtual space and tend towards rectilinear and geometric forms. Over time, we lose our tolerance for imperfection and our skills of improvisation. We strive for intentional, quintessential, precise shapes […]

“TWIST, TURN, PLUNGE, SLIDE, SPLASH, WIND, FLOAT & RELAX Zoom Flume Water Park has more than a dozen ways to pump up the fun.” A visit to the water park with my 8 year old grandson. The Zoom Flume Water Park is where strip down to their swim suit essentials, eat fast food and get […]

Estelle Kurzen, the sister of my friend Aaron Kurzen, died shortly after her brother in 2021. Aaron lived to 103 and Estelle three years younger. While Aaron was well known in his circle of friends and students as an artist and art teacher, Estelle was little known and had no circle of friends. She gifted […]

Once upon a time, Whirlwind Creative was located in the heart of the fashion district. In the busy-ness of our daily design endeavors, we forgot that we were in the heartland of extravagant costuming in the making. The recent discovery of an “International Fashion Magazine Store” on 37th Street between Broadway and 7th Avenue prompted […]

A recent visit to an installation by the South African artist, William Kentridge, at the Marian Goodman Gallery in New York City left me silenced in its presence. A faceted, panoramic landscape with projections of human silhouettes, mostly African, moved in a ritualized procession against a bleak monochromatic, flickering background. Stylized cut-outs of large heads […]