Table for Six

16°33'12.39N
98°49'41.13W 

After finishing up our work in Santa Cruz, El Rincon (see Misty Mountains and a Goat), we decided to head to the coast for lunch and a bit of beach time. What a great idea. Lunch was "camarones al mojo de ajo" (grilled shrimp with garlic, lime juice, cilantro, chipotle chili). I actually didn't get in the water. Spent some time in the hammock shown in the foreground reading Bring Me the Rhinoceros by John Tarrant. I miss living in Mexico. 

Chilies, and Beans, and Oraciónes

One-stop shopping at a market stall in Marquelia, Guerrero. Here you can buy chilies, wild honey, fresh ginger, an assortment of dried beans, and a wide selection of oraciónes, or ritual prayers. Specifically, an "oración" is an attempt to communicate with God or a saint, and, in most cases, it involves asking for something. Several great oraciones are on the rack shown above. There is, for example, the oracion "de la santa muerte", or the angel of death, and, my favorite, the "milagrosa oracion del sueño negro", or the miraculous prayer of the black dream. [NOTE: After carefully reading the package, it seems that what is being prayed for here is a good night's sleep].

Current Situation in Guerrero

Things are a bit complicated in Guerrero at the moment. There are divisions between communities about the CRAC-PC (community police), the teachers are on strike in response to educational reform, the violence from the war against drugs continues to escalate, and the recent Campaign Against Hunger is sending the army into rural villages to cook food. There are roadblocks and checkpoints on many roads and trucks loaded with soldiers are circulating all over the state.

The image above, from Chilpancingo, shows heavily-armed soldiers in battle gear and says (loosely translated): Did you know? Guerrero has created a military force to guarantee your security.

Community-based resoure management loses some of its relevance with all of this going on in the background. [NOTE: Nestle and PepsiCo are major corporate sponsors of the National Crusade Against Hunger (Cruzada Nacional Contra el Hambre or CNCH) in Mexico].

Misty Mountains and a Goat

Image shows the landscape around Santa Cruz El Rincon, Guerrero (see What I Do) where I have been working for the last couple of days. Somewhat rainy and the mountains are covered with clouds in the morning. Magical. Goat added for scale. [NOTE: I saw that dog again every morning when I walked over to the kitchen for breakfast. Don't think he remembered me].

Torqued Ellipse

Spent several wonderful hours wandering through the Dia:Beacon, Riggio Galleries this weekend. The museum is located on the banks of the Hudson River in Beacon, NY in a former Nabsico, box-printing plant that was built in 1929. With 240,000 square feet of old brick walls and polished wooden floors and beautiful natural light from skylights, the gallery space is perfect for large scale installations of contemporary art, e.g. the crushed automobile scultures of John Chamberlain, Imi Knoebel's brightly colored polygons, the flourescent lights of Dan Flavin, Andy Warhol's Shadows series, and the precise pencil geometries of Sol LeWitt, among many, many others.

I was particularly taken with Richard Serra's massive Torqued Ellipse sculptures. Image above is looking up at the Dia:Beacon ceiling from inside Torqued Ellipse II (1996). My cellphone camera went off by itself.

Off early tomorrow morning to Guerrero, Mexico for a week or so. Posts, if any, will be sporadic. Happy Labor Day to everyone.