Wednesday Edition: Scott Whittle
Prospect Park #9
8.5"x11" ($20) | 17"x22" ($200) | 30"x40" ($2000)
and
Prospect Park #11
8.5"x11" ($20) | 17"x22" ($200) | 30"x40" ($2000)
by
Scott Whittle
As foreshadowed in my previous newsletter, I love the way the timing of this week's editions has worked out so far — yesterday we were looking at the stars, and today we're turning our gaze downward to what falls to earth. As for me, I'll be airborne in a few short hours, heading back to NYC after an amazing visit here in Austin, Texas. Once I'm done with this dispatch, I'm hoping to catch Birth of the Cool at the Blanton Museum before I head for the airport, and if there's no time for that I'm hoping to squeeze in a quick visit to Domy instead.
Alas, I fear that I'm leaving Austin with the same worn boots I rode in on — I made two trips to Allen's but was unable to make a decision. (If you've seen all the boots lining the shelves there you'd understand why.) While I'm on the topic of local shops, I'll tell you about a few other places in Austin that made me happy during my visit. Yesterday we stopped into this really great little shop called IF+D and acquired some Enron memo pads which espoused their company values in bold type along the bottom, (Integrity, honesty and respect, in case you were wondering). IF+D is right near milk + honey where I got a transcendentally relaxing pedicure upon my arrival here last week. Right now I am typing from the convivial Jo's, which has been my morning haunt for the past week.
What I've liked about this year's Texas sojourn is that I've been in Austin long enough to get to know the place a little. In spite of the fact that I travel all the time, I'm actually kind-of a bad traveler. In part it's because I'm a creature of habit, but mostly it's because I am much more interested in how a place IS rather than how it seems. And you only get to know how a place really is by spending time there.
It might seem like a stretch, but this feeling of understanding Austin a little more makes a lot of sense to me in relation to today's editions, Prospect Park #9 and Prospect Park #11 by Brooklyn-based photographer Scott Whittle. First of all, I did meet Scott in Texas — at Fotofest, almost a year ago to the day. Scott's gotten to know Brooklyn — Prospect Park specifically — over the course of years, not days. And while a lot of the things he captures are the kinds of things that you might find at a park in a city setting, knowing what his process has been makes me understand that he is knowing a place in the way that we all get to know the places that we live in. His practice might be meditative and solitary, in process at least, but there's something about it that makes me think of connectedness as well. The human trace, I suppose.
I am also thinking about him in relation to this amazing dinner that I had last night, at a place called Ranch 616, with the Kitchen Sisters, following the party celebrating the release of their new Blurb book, Hidden Kitchens, Texas. Davia and Nikki are finding stuff that no one might see otherwise too, exploring the world of hidden kitchens and sharing them with the world on NPR. I heard SO many great stories about Texas at the dinner, affirming my belief that one of the things that artists do best is help us see things in the world that we wouldn't notice (or perhaps even know about!) otherwise.
At dinner we were surrounded by an amazing array of people — the owner, the chef, a musician named Cindy Cashdollar, a cowboy actor (for real!) and a woman who works for the Texas Attorney General. For the past 17 years, she's been speaking about crime prevention all over the state and she promised to send me some speaking tips via email. I have a feeling she'll school me in speaking better than any professional PR coach might ever be able to do! By the time dinner was done, I knew Texas a whole lot better and am curious to learn more.
That's exactly what I'm going to do right this second, as the clock is ticking. I'll be back tomorrow, writing from the East Coast to introduce you to this week's bonus fine art edition. Look for me then!
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