black cloud.

This week I had the opportunity to participate in the installation of a work of art called the "Black Cloud" by Carlos Amorales. It's part of a contemporary Latin American art exhibition opening in the museum next week. The work consists of 30,000 black paper moths and butterflies attached to the walls and ceilings that spread throughout the entrance to the museum to the galleries and swarming in the central gallery. It's fantastic.

This picture is NOT from the Phoenix Art Museum as the installation is still in progress and few photos have been released. But I will tell you, the effect is remarkable, especially in the hall that museum staff refers to as the "Canyon." The museum was built to imitate the land and this particular hall has an extremely high ceiling and the walls undulate in and out. The cloud is simultaneously intimidating and beautiful. It has been fun to watch the progress of the two week installation - I still can't help but stop and marvel. If you get a chance to come to Phoenix before May, take it. And come see this.

I have to admit, I did not get to do any of the work up on scaffolding putting up paper insects because the artist was attending to his work the day I came to volunteer. Instead I was set to the task of prepping each piece for installation. The work has been installed in 8 or 9 other museums, but new moths/butterflies are used for each installation. That meant we had to take every little bug out of the box it was shipped in, unfold it, give it some shape, and attach some poster putty to its nose so it could be hung on the wall. While the work was tedious, I got to chat with some cool people while I was doing it, and I'm glad I can say I was part of the process. At the end I stuck one on the wall anyway - hopefully I can remember which one it is!

In other news, people here still think they are freezing. It's close to 70 degrees each day and everyone is still wearing boots, sweaters, scarves and tights. Meanwhile I'm trying to convince myself not to break into my spring wardrobe while pretending I don't feel like the oddball with my bare legs. It rained a little the other day and someone told me to be careful driving home. This weather things baffles me.

Tip of the day: You can't complain about weeding until you've weeded around a cactus. I wrestled a cactus bush today, and the bush won.