Today, students learning plein air painting were out in Balboa Park’s blooming Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden, interpreting the surrounding beauty!
Danny was kind enough to let me photograph his own painting. Then I walked about, absorbing the San Diego sunshine and the creative energy around me.
Is there a more beautiful setting into which one can place an easel?
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More public art is rapidly appearing along San Diego’s new Bay to Park Paseo!
The Bay to Park Paseo is a 1.7 mile downtown walking experience that will be filled with outdoor art. The paseo stretches from San Diego Bay up Park Boulevard to Balboa Park. The project celebrates San Diego/Tijuana’s selection as World Design Capital 2024!
This afternoon, I noticed that people were stringing up colorful art in front of the NewSchool of Architecture & Design, which stands at the midpoint of the Bay to Park Paseo. The installation is called Memories at the Midpoint.
According to this page, the design approach looks to stimulate the senses through sound, sight and interaction, challenging us to look at the past, present and future. From above, four canopies will be suspended from street trees using recycled painted plastic bags, suspended wooden wind chimes, and ocean drums to create awareness of the environment. At the pedestrian level, an installation of mystery mailboxes as well as window graphics with digital media information and prints will invite passerbys to interact with both students and designers.
I can’t wait to see how this completed installation appears!
Another installation on the Bay to Park Paseo popped up in the past day or two. The large graphic on the UC San Diego Park and Market building was created by The UC San Diego Design Lab. The installation is called What Does Home Mean to You?
All isn’t completed, however.
Passersby will encounter thought-provoking questions and a collage of visual imagery that represents different notions of housing on the windows of the empty retail space; a second location will invite pedestrians to reflect on their own housing experience.
Visitors will see life-size silhouettes of people who will share their perspectives on housing at the push of a button. Throughout the installation, passersby can use their mobile devices to scan QR codes to dive deeper into other housing experiences from the greater San Diego community or share their own stories through voice or text.
Lastly, I’ve noticed more figures are appearing on that fence just south of the City College trolley station. I blogged about this installation (which began to appear back in late January) here.
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Stunning. Powerful. I’m not sure how I can adequately describe one performance today at the La Jolla Playhouse WOW Festival.
Two acrobatic dancers from the Taiwanese circus troupe 0471 Acro Physical Theatre in their performance of Duo acted out the passion and turmoil of love. The crowd watching in UCSD’s Revelle Plaza was completely mesmerized.
Not only was the performing couple incredibly athletic, but they convincingly displayed the many emotions of troubled but enduring love. There was reluctance, passion, the pushing away, the pulling together. There were moments of sky reaching ecstasy.
There was interesting symbolism, too. It seemed to me the clothing they carried and displayed at times was symbolic of an ideal partner as lovers might see it. But the hesitation, indecision, conflict, resentment and other emotions made the actors, whirling about without that fancy clothing, more human, more true. Through the motion of their bodies, they transmitted their inner impulses and desires.
How the two acrobats could expressively move and fly about for half an hour nonstop was jaw-dropping. I thought their acting was even more impressive. It expressed what love is.
I saw people in the audience with hands over their heart.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
A pen full of vulnerable sheep was attacked today in La Jolla. A wolf somehow infiltrated the UC San Diego campus and made its way to the small sheep pen at Revelle Plaza, where the terrified, trembling sheep were saved by a shepherd, who chased the wolf away.
Onlookers clapped as the wolf slinked away. That’s because they’d just witnessed a unique, often funny performance of Les moutons by Canadian company CORPUS. The strange act was part of this weekend’s La Jolla Playhouse 2024 WOW Festival!
The sheep might have been sheepish, but they did entertain the crowd with their dull stares, herd mentality, their shearing, milking and feeding sessions, and a couple of natural but unspeakable animal behaviors!
Here comes a ram through the astonished crowd? What does it want?
A howl was heard in the distance. Then…
Panic! Chaos! (My camera wasn’t fast enough.)
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Yesterday a group of unsuspecting people confronted imminent danger at UC San Diego in La Jolla!
The large group could not know the sort of peril they’d be facing. We had gathered in Revelle Plaza to witness a performance by Cirque Inextremiste, but many didn’t realize that WE would be the performers!
Yann Ecauvre appeared and proceeded to drag long, very heavy wooden beams out to the surrounding audience. He stood the beams on end and then had ordinary hands (some of which were rather small) hold them upright. When unsteady beams began to precariously tip, the danger was safely overcome. Whew!
Then audience members began to build a wooden structure made of more beams. Higher and increasingly impressive the construct grew . . . those vertically held beams were added . . . then a chain of courageous humans holding hands mounted the crazy, tipsy structure!
The performance was called Damoclès. It was part of this weekend’s free La Jolla Playhouse 2024 WOW event!
Would you like to bring out your own courage? Damoclès will be repeated this afternoon. See the 2024 Without Walls Festival schedule by clicking here!
(By the way–were you there? That was me, surprised, given a yellow danger tape necktie, and helping to hold up the second beam. Taking photos during the ordeal was a challenge!)
These kids were fearless!
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Dangling high in the air, the BANDALOOP vertical dancers wowed a big crowd watching from below, near UCSD’s new Epstein Family Amphitheater. The dancers floated down from the roof of the multi-story Design and Innovation Building to whale song and watery music in a graceful ballet that made everyone ooh and ahh.
The dancers whirled, flew, even crawled like Spider-Man on the building’s side–it was anything but ordinary!
The Without Walls Festival quick guide describes Downstream (tributaries) as a “mix of dance and climbing technology guided by impermanence, wisdom and the memory of shared waterways.”
As you can see from my photos, the BANDALOOP performers were absolutely incredible. Just imagine the physical strength, steadiness and courage that is required for such a high-flying dance!
Personally, I really liked how the dancers’ shadows and reflections in windows danced right along with them!
To see the La Jolla Playhouse WOW Festival programming for tomorrow, Sunday, click here!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
What might the future look like? Can science and technology, guided by human compassion, intelligence and imagination, bring forth a better world?
These questions might enter your mind as you peer at works of art created by UC San Diego professor Dr. Pinar Yoldas, now on display in Balboa Park at the Institute of Contemporary Art San Diego.
Pinar Yoldas: Synaptic Sculpture is an exhibition that challenges the world that we presently know. It offers a window to a future that is possible. And some of the ideas are a little weird!
I visited the exhibition last weekend and loved the boundless creativity. Biology, artificial intelligence, psychology, environmental science and more–even mythology–are combined in unique ways by the speculative mind of Dr. Yoldas.
Imagine works of art in your home that grow environmentally beneficial algae! Imagine sitting on enormous molecules while having your mind calmed by an aroma-wafting sensory pendulum! Imagine having your life ruled by a cute kitten AI overlord! (Oh, wait. Would we really want that future?)
The free exhibition definitely stimulates a sense if wonder. It encourages open minds to speculate where all us human types might be headed.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
It’s a museum-like place that the public can tour, whose mission is: Advancing knowledge of the brain and mental health through research, education, and the arts.
I enjoyed a look inside the Brain Observatory recently and much of what I saw was astounding. I was shown about briefly and learned about the unique facility’s history and mission.
The Brain Observatory houses a fully-functional research laboratory. Students and visitors can learn about the brain by utilizing authentic, state-of-the-art scientific equipment and by exploring real data, including samples from a large collection of donated human brains.
Founded in 2005 by Dr. Jacopo Annese, the Brain Observatory began as a brain research lab at UC San Diego. Ph.D. scientists from around the world, including a Nobel Prize winner from the Salk Institute, are on the Advisory Board.
The Brain Observatory uses MRI and microscopy to understand the biological basis of normal brain function and neurological disease. Advanced scientific equipment is also used to educate youth who take part in school programs.
Curious? The public can tour the Brain Observatory by reservation. In addition there are lunchtime lectures. Learn about these great opportunities by clicking here.
Dr. Jacopo Annese enthusiastically talked about his endeavors during my short visit. He has big plans. My own brain tried to assimilate so much information.
Brain Observatory tours and lectures, and the programs for students, are certain to be very stimulating!
A look inside the Brain Observatory in downtown San Diego. This space was last occupied by the SDSU Downtown Gallery.The fascinating Brain Observatory uses scientific equipment to slice brains and conduct microscopic investigation.Education is a focus of the Brain Observatory. Student artwork hangs on one wall.Photos of people who donated their brains to science.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
This unique memorial was created several years ago in La Jolla, on the Scripps Institution of Oceanography campus. Words on a circular plaque read: IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO DONATED THEIR BODIES TO SCIENCE – UC SAN DIEGO SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA.
Walk down the Coastal Meander Trail, look for two benches above the beautiful Pacific Ocean, and then look for this memorial.
The memorial plaque points to where the sun sets during the Winter Solstice, Spring/Autumn Equinox and Summer Solstice. A quote on the plaque, by Carl Sagan, reads: We began as wanderers, and we are wanderers still. We have lingered long enough on the shores of the cosmic ocean. We are ready at last to set sail for the stars.
Families remembering loved ones who gave their bodies to further scientific knowledge can sit on the benches and enjoy a sunny day, and watch a beautiful sunset over the wide ocean.
You can read more about the UC San Diego School of Medicine Body Donation Program Memorial Site by clicking here.
UPDATE!
I took the next photo during a later walk…
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
The Art of Science is a photographic exhibit that explores the intersection of art and science. Curious eyes can view this cool exhibit inside the Sally T. WongAvery Library at UC San Diego, and at the Natural History Museum in Balboa Park.
The above fluorescent image of a pine tree stem cross-section was taken using a microscope. A stem that is scientifically examined might be a natural object, but like any art the resulting image is human-created, and can stimulate complex thought and emotion.
Many would say the above image is beautiful.
Do you consider it to be beautiful?
Why or why not?
Aren’t all things in this world potentially beautiful?
Is beauty entirely in the eye (or mind) of the beholder?
The Art of Science presents several intriguing images that appear simultaneously familiar and strange.
Here’s a web page that describes the exhibit, including: Now in its third year, the Library’s Art of Science contest celebrates the beauty that can emerge during scientific research at UC San Diego and beyond. This year, librarians and staff pre-selected items from the Research Data Collections repository. From these selected images, winners were chosen by the campus and the broader San Diego community via online voting.
More samples from the exhibit…
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Cool San Diego Sights! 