The COVID-19 pandemic has turned the world inside out. In one fell swoop, the very nature of human connection has been rewritten. Stay-at-home orders have been imposed in cities around the world. Second-nature expressions like handshakes and hugs are a strange and distant memory. Terms like social distancing, lockdown, quarantine, and droplets (currently our least favorite word in the English language) have invaded the parlance of our times and taken root. A public health disaster whose only logical remedy is an adherence to science and data has been grossly politicized. Moral quandaries usually reserved for academic halls of philosophy are playing out the world over, pinning public health outcomes against economic well-being. The most vulnerable members of our global society — including the elderly and those living in minority communities — are dying in disproportionate numbers while medical staff are literally ill-equipped to prevent it. Patients die alone, their loved ones unable to visit them. Unemployment rates climb past Depression-era highs. On every continent, people are self-isolating while time slows and blurs.
Read MoreNotorious/Glorious
In the latest dearantler show we attempt to convey the indescribable allure that the desert has for us. My deer relatives, accustomed to the nourishing bounty of Southern California's oak woodlands and chaparral-covered hills, turn their ears away whenever I sing the desert's praises. E+J tell me that their human brethren often greet them with similar disinterest, asking questions like: "What's so special about the desert? Isn't there just a whole lot of nothing out there?"
Read Moredearantler turns 3!
dearantler opened its virtual doors on December 15, 2013 and we're throwing a party (in real life, not virtual!) to celebrate 3 years of shenanigans and 10 art shows.
Come out and say hello, enjoy live music by holiday carolers and the Peanut Butter & Jellies,* go on a guided moonlight hike, sip a drink...and of course enjoy the artwork. Brand-new work and selections from all past shows will be on display, including work by the talented Diana Kohne. Check out the gallery and attic for a taste.
The event takes place at TreePeople's Coldwater Canyon Park, a beautiful refuge in the middle of LA. Extra points for anyone who can decode the symbols at the bottom of the poster (hint: each represents a past show title and a Hitchock film).
*The PB&Js are: Edith de Guzman, Laura Derby, Jessika Mitchell, Danny Carmichael and Rodney Rodriguez.
And so it begins
Dear Antler,
Who are you? And what's this blog idea all about?
Sincerely,
Ernest Walter Chipmunk
PS: My friends say that there's a bag of walnuts waiting for me across the road. They've double-dog dared me to run blindfolded, dodge cars and cross the street to get it. Are there really walnuts on the other side of the road?
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