Avant Garde Appreciation Week

Sunday I went to my favorite circus again and was very sad to find out that they are taking a winter hiatus and I won't be able to share the wonderful experience with any of my guests that are coming to visit. I am however glad that I got to see it at least twice. This past week's show was just as innovative as the last one, and perhaps a little bit more off the wall. There were some technical difficulties which always proves interesting for an audience, especially when it is a show like this. By "like this" I mean, a group or performers who may or may not have met each other before and almost surely haven't done a run-through of the show. But it was inspiring nonetheless. There was an amazing fabric act - the variety of tricks down here in Argentina is very different from what I was familiar with back home. There are many more tricks that, in my opinion, depend more on the strength and/or flexibility of the performer, rather than a specific knowledge of the particular wraps. Hard to explain really, but quite beautiful to watch. Below you can also see pictures of the girl who did a really great handbalance/contortion act. I've seen acts like hers before, and probably some that were "better" in the sense that they were longer or included more tricks, but I've never been so close and you could feel how powerful and strong she was which was a new experience. Very glad I went and I even ran into a girl from my program who went on my recommendation! 

Since one theatrical activity for the week didn't seem to be quite enough, Monday night I joined a friend at a theater in the Abasto neighborhood. We went knowing the place had a good vibe - or buena onda, as they would say here - but not knowing exactly what the show was going to be. It turned out to be a Brazilian puppet troupe and they put on an absolutely brilliant puppet show. It got me thinking. Last semester I took a class at Columbia called "Theatricality and Spectacle in the History of Russian Culture" during which, as you can imagine, we discussed topics and disciplines of all sorts, but a major part of the last unit we discussed a sort of puppet renaissance that happened in the early 20th century. Renaissance might not be the right way to phrase it because I'm not sure if there was ever  a puppet golden age to begin with, but I'm just going to go with it. Anyway, the point is that one of the ideas of my final paper was that at this point in Russian history puppets really become something more than a way to tell a story to children ( I tried - and the key word here really is tried - to connect this to how the anime genre of films today) and that puppetry should be viewed as such even today. And to get back to where I began this slight tangent, I don't think I really believed my own thesis until I saw this Brazilian show. The puppets were simple: just hands draped in fabric. A love story about two old ladies (gender was actually debatable).  There were no words, just a gibberish language and gestures and some hum-singing. But in the span of about thirty minutes I laughed really hard, smiled like crazy, and at the end, my heart broke a little bit. It was so spectacular that I went back last night to see them perform their other show, which they billed as being aimed more at children. It was also really great. Maybe not as great as the old lady love story, but still great. And until this week I don't think I really appreciated puppetry for the real art form that it is. I've always appreciated that it can be funny and inventive but now I really think that there should be more puppeteers out there bringing puppetry to the masses. 

Circus and puppetry are definitely two art forms that are definitely on the fringe. Circus is less so with Cirque du Soleil's popularity in the last few years, but I still usually get an eyebrow raise when I tell people that I would run away with the circus in a heartbeat. No eyebrow raise when I tell them I'm a Visual Arts major. Well, okay, sometimes there is an eyebrow raise - being an artist is still kinda fringe, but maybe this is because they expect me to say Econ/PoliSci since I go to Columbia... who knows. Anyway, it seems like people really do consider not only puppetry but also circus as activities best suited for children's birthday parties. Both art forms have so much more potential and it was great to see that Buenos Aires, and Brazil apparently, seem to be embracing that. The circus shows and the puppet shows were filled with adults. Of course there were a few children there too, partly probably because children seem to go everywhere at all times of the night here. (Seriously, I would be out of a job if I lived here. I don't think anyone ever hires a babysitter, they just haul the kids along. And for the record, they are all super well behaved and never tired. They must nap all afternoon. But I will expound further on my child-rearing theories in regards to Argentina some other time.) The clowns, the stories, the imagery, the puppets - all of it was aimed at a mature audience. Slightly curious and more than just entertaining. This city has really put forth a strong showing in the arts and culture department. New York has its work cut out for it when I get back. 

A serious amendment...

After looking into it a little more, apparently my statement that the Argentine team is "very good" might be a bit of an understatement. They happen to be rated number 1 in the world (theworld!) on the FIFA website, and Ecuador comes in at less than inspiring 59. In light of this new knowledge, Argentina hardly lived up to their reputation. They should have completely dominated the game. Nonetheless, the game was good. I just didn't want you all to go around thinking the soccer here is Argentina is anything less that the best in the world. Below I will enlighten you a bit more, and share with you everything I know about the Argentine team. 

Pictured above is Lionel Messi. His number is 18 and he is only 20 years old. He plays for FC Barcelona and has probably accomplished more that I ever will. He is arguably the best player on the team, and it seemed like the only way that Ecuador knew how to deal with him was to put at least two defenders, as can be noted in the above photo, between him and the goal, or the ball. This only worked sometimes. He is really quite amazing to watch play. 

Pictured above is Sergio Agüero. He is also good, and also a baby - 19 years old. He plays for Atlético Madrid and seems to be equally famous for his soccer playing talents as for dating Diego Maradona's daughter. (In case you're not up on your soccer history, Maradona scored both of the goals that led Argentina to victory on England in the 1986 World Cup. One of those goals was actually a handball - yes, this legend scored a goal in the World Cup with his hand. Totally illegal!)

Pictured above is Rodrigo Palacio. He's the guy who finally scored the goal in the last few seconds of the game. He was subbed in during the second half of the game and I bet someone is super happy that decision was made. 

Winding Down

It has been a while since I've really even thought about documenting about Buenos Aires and I think it is because I have settled into life here as just a normal life, and not something to be marveled at every moment. That doesn't mean that those marvelous moments have stopped occurring, instead it is that, as humans are so often inclined to do, I have begun to take my life here for granted. It is comforting in a way as well, that I feel so comfortable here, and I think a lot of this has to do with the group of friends I have made while I've been here. Unfortunately they are American and we normally speak English with each other, but I couldn't have asked for a better group of friends. We go out dancing together, visit new restaurants, and have recently started a weekly Sunday brunch tradition. I was trying to explain to my host mom that studying abroad fosters fast and strong friendships because you are experiencing so many new and challenging things together that form a natural bond. I really think this is true and I will be sad when we all have to return to our separate universities in the US. I hope that the bonds we have formed don't disappear with distance and time, but at the very least I am sure we will keep in touch and who knows, maybe eventually all end up in similar places a few years down the line. Enough with the philosophical musings, which I sometimes think I share too frequently with you all.

I'll share a bit about the tangible activities that I have been up to, and perhaps even try to organize them chronologically.

• Two Weeks Ago: I challenged myself academically (shocking, yes, something academic in this long vacation) by giving a presentation in my Jorge Luis Borges class at the Universidad de Buenos Aires. Each class students give short presentations to the class on the stories for the day and then the professor expands on points that he feels are important. It was not required to give a presentation, after all there are many more students than stories on which to present, but it was recommended, mostly as a way to distinguish yourself in the eyes of the professor and show your participation. So I signed myself up and presented on a short story called "La Busca de Averroes" with another girl - an Argentine - from the class. It was not the best presentation I have ever given; Marilina (my partner) probably spoke 75% of the time, but I frankly feel lucky I managed to squeak out anything in front of the class I was so nervous. And hopefully what I did say was intelligible and at least sort of intellectual.

• One Week Ago: I went to a circus show called Aires de Circo. It was on the hollowed out bottom floor of an old house, and had the feeling of an arts collective. Every two weeks different acts are presented during a show on Sunday night. The night I went there were a number of clown acts, one stand up comic, two trapeze artists, one hoop act, an all male improv dance group with fabric incorporated, and a really spectacular clown/mime/contact juggling act. The performers were young and you could feel the creative energy overflowing from their limbs and into the equally young crowd who was sitting on old couches, wooden benches and chairs made of tires and empty plastic soda bottles. The performers joined the audience when they weren't on the stage and helped out with technical aspects as well. I love seeing shows like this because the energy and drive and ideas that were so evident in every moment of the show is really inspiring. Among other places, I was raised in theaters and art galleries. But I was also raised in a competitive environment where should's abound and success is defined very narrowly. Occasionally I lose track of my creative upbringing, and get caught up in striving for a life that I'm not sure I even want. Seeing this circus reminded me I need to keep that crazy artist's spirit alive in me.

• Saturday: I moved! My host family here bought a new apartment and it was ready before they were expecting, and so we packed up the apartment and moved. Before I was living in Palermo/Recoleta/Barrio Norte neighborhood which is very young and hip, as well as central. We moved to a new building in Caballito which is a bit further from the center of the city and definitely has a different feel as far as the people I see walking the streets. I will admit that it is slightly inconvenient having  to a neighborhood that is farther away. Compared to an average commute of 15-20 minutes to most places, I now average 30-40 minutes. But I am getting to know a new neighborhood, new bus routes, and will be that much more comfortable in Buenos Aires by the time I leave. I was joking with my friends that it seems like I have to move at least every four months, so it was about time! I've gotten fairly good at putting my life into a couple of bags and moving on. The new apartment is brand new which is very fun for me, my host mom and my host dad. It is a bit smaller than our last place, but we fit just fine. The only true bummer is that the internet has not been installed yet and so I have to walk to a coffee store a couple blocks away just to check my email. Let me tell you I had no idea how dependent I was on the internet until this happened. Still, if this is the worst thing - it's clear that life is good here.

• Sunday: I went to my very first soccer game! It was really quite fun. I went with a friend from another program, and his Argentine friend and we were in la popular where all the Argentines stand and yell obscene remarks at the other team and sing patriotic songs. This particular game was filled with lots of patriotism because it was the Argentine national team versus Ecuador. Alejandro, the Argentine we went with, was telling us that the game was actually very calm in comparison to a game between two Argentine club teams. At those games everyone gets very riled up and it probably would not have even been a good idea to be a foreigner standing in the section we were in. Luckily, it was a pretty calm game, and I had a great time. I have always liked watching soccer and this was no exception. We were a little far from the field but the aerial view meant we could see the whole field and watch the game with a little more distance. Now, I like watching soccer but I do not actually know that much about it. Apparently the Argentine national team is very good, with a number of players who play for club teams in Europe, but that they were not putting up a good fight on Sunday. Ecuador scored a very nice goal in the first part of the second half and finally, in the last twenty or so seconds Argentine finally tapped one it to tie it up right before the game ended. I myself was a bit shocked when the game did end. There is no clock anywhere showing the time, so if you want to know how much of the game is left you must keep the time on your own watch, and with those extra minutes they sometimes end at the end of the half, who knows how much could be left. I am glad that I finally got to see a soccer game while I was here because everyone is so soccer crazed here, much like the rest of the world, excepting the US of course. If I get the chance to go to another one, I would go in a heartbeat. 

• Today: I finally gave into my American consumerism and visited Argentina's first Starbucks which opened about three weeks ago in the Alto Palermo shopping mall. And my Triple Grande Sugar Free Vanilla Skim Latte, or Grande Vainilla Latte con Tres Shots, Syrup sin Azucar y Leche Descremada, was absolutely delicious! I've been sitting here using their internet for the past couple of hours and the line has not been less that twenty people the whole time. It is actually creepy how much I feel like I am sitting in any Starbucks in New York. The same jazzy music, the same displays selling ceramic Starbucks cups and Tazo tea, the same chairs and tables. It has made me appreciate the corner cafés with all their unique character even more, but I'm not sure that their Café con Leche's would ever win a taste test against that tongue twister of an order that Starbucks has perfected for me. I will actually be interested to see how much Starbucks catches on here. The Argentine café culture is about sitting down over an espresso and lingering, enjoying - not running out the door with a two foot tall confection hardly resembling coffee that cost an arm and a leg, as we are so inclined back home. It will succeed if only because Argentine's seem to be endlessly covetous of American culture. They'll put their own spin on it of course. As I look at the menu, I can see that they already seem to have done so, adding a Dulce de Leche Latte to the menu and Migo sandwiches to their sandwich cooler. In the mean time, I hope I have satisfied my craving for my own countries "specialties" and won't feel the need to wait in a ridiculously long line for something that is so common back in New York and Colorado - but equally overpriced no matter what currency. 

• Upcoming Weeks: Visitors from home, final papers and projects, chilly weather, and my attempt to make the most of my last few weeks in this brilliant country.

Sensory Overload at the Art Fair

Buenos Aires is, according to more than a few articles in the New York Times, home to a "buzzing art scene" that is drawing the attention of the international art community. After attending arteBA this weekend, the annual contemporary art fair, I can agree wholeheartedly with that sentiment. I haven't been as dutiful of an art seeker as I usually am in New York, but going to fair I felt like I got a good feeling for what the art scene is like down here. The fair had more than seventy-five exhibitors, the majority of whom were Argentine art galleries, but other South American countries were represented as well. All the big players were there (Ruth Benzacar, Braga Menendez Arte Contemporáneo, and Appetite were the three I had heard of previously) but there was also a section called Barrio Joven where smaller, less established galleries were showing lots of young artists' work. While the bigger galleries favored clean white walls to display one or two works by a select few artists, the Barrio Joven galleries (as you can see in the above picture) absolutely covered their walls with as much art as possible, even letting it spill onto the floor and into the space usually reserved for walking around. The booths themselves had more personality as well: in one faux grass covered the concrete and in another sitting pillows were surrounded by potted plants and an old coat hanger. I was glad to see that it wasn't only the established art community that was being represented, but they were making room for the younger generation as well. 

The fair itself might be considered part of the younger generation in the larger scheme of the world art community, but I was very impressed by what I saw, and at times couldn't help but feel that I had somehow wandered into The Armory Show, "The International Fair of New Art", that happens every year in New York. Whether or not this is a good thing, as I know many people who bemoan the commercialized and overpriced art market of today, I'm not sure. I do know that like all good art shows, I saw pieces I loved immediately, some that disturbed me, ones I did not understand, or didn't like. There were lots of paintings, a good number of drawings, not as many sculptures and few pieces of video art. It is interesting to really get a feel of what is "in" in the art market just by walking around for a couple hours. After all, everything at the fair was also for sale and the galleries are motivated to actually sell what they hang on their walls. After too much thinking about these sorts of things, I just tried to enjoy the art. Below I've included some pictures of some of the art that most interested me as I walked around. I hope you like it too!