Author Archive

Surf Survival: A Boot Camp for Aspiring Watermen

Surf Survival: A Boot Camp for Aspiring Watermen

ER Doc and author, Andrew Nathanson, tells the Harmony Blog about the surfing injury that inspired him to write a book on how to survive fin cuts, sting ray barbs to the shin and related big wave beat downs that can come with surfing.   Andrew Nathanson, an ER doctor and avid waterman, is probably […]

Michael Gaillard

Michael Gaillard

The Harmony Hotel’s first Artist in Residence talks with the Harmony Blog about his work past and present. Artist Michael Gaillard is grappling with too many names. For over a decade now, he has produced photographs of Nantucket landscapes as “Michael Gaillard,” while making a separate, more conceptually driven body of work under his New […]

The Good Farmer

The Good Farmer

Fashion designer turned farmer, Christopher Totman, returned to his  family farm in Western Massachusetts and then created a farm-to-table program for The Harmony Hotel. It was 2008, and Christopher Totman was asking himself the harder questions. â??Where are you the happiest?â? And: â??Why is it so difficult to do what makes you the happiest?â? At […]


Nosara's New Recycling Center

Nosara’s New Recycling Center

Architecture students from New York Institute of Technology collaborate with locals in Costa Rica to build a sustainable recycling center. The main waste-disposal site in Nosara, Costa Rica, lies at the end of a dusty roadway aptly nicknamed “dump road” by locals. There, jungle gives way to a clearing in a small valley. The full […]

River of Doubt

River of Doubt

Join the Harmony Blog at a studio visit with artist Sandy White as he discusses how Teddy Roosevelt’s journey inspired the drawings in his first solo show.

Tomorrows Tulips

Tomorrows Tulips

Just saw a show by Tomorrows Tulips at Piano’s. The band’s lead singer turns out to be pro surfer Alex Knost.


The Reclaimed-Wood Bowls of Alex Downs

The Reclaimed-Wood Bowls of Alex Downs

Brooklyn-based artist Alex Downs makes bowls out of rummaged scrap wood that he glues together then carves with a chainsaw on a giant spinning wheel. It’s a high-octane version of pottery “throwing.” When he works, bits of wood fly through the room and sometimes even lodge themselves into the walls. The end results are beautiful […]

One-Third of the World's Food Wasted

One-Third of the World’s Food Wasted

A study released on Wednesday by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, via The New York Times, finds that “fully one-third of all food produced globally—a staggering 1.3 billion tons—is lost or wasted every year.” In developed nations, the waste apparently occurs in the form of edible food being thrown away.

Walking on Water

Walking on Water

The Harmony Blog sits down with Spencer Klein, paddleboarder, surfer and founder of adventure outfitter Experience Nosara.


Timothy Geithner Surfs

Timothy Geithner Surfs

Various newspapers have been atwitter over the US’s latest high-profile surfer: Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner. Geithner and his daughter were spotted learning to surf at Half Moon Bay, CA. Now that we have Geithner hanging ten, and Obama as the first president to ever be photographed wearing flip-flops, America might currently be witnessing […]

Surfrider Gets Artists to Paint Epic Waves

Surfrider Gets Artists to Paint Epic Waves

From the LA Times “In celebration of the Surfrider Foundation’s 25th Anniversary Gala, held in fall 2009 in downtown L.A., the organization asked 25 contemporary artists to interpret 25 of the world’s most legendary surf breaks. The artworks were a part of the third installment of the nonprofit’s “Art for the Oceans” auction series.

The Vatican Has Gone Green!

The Vatican Has Gone Green!

They’ve installed solar panels on the roof. Benedict XVI has criticised “the unbalanced use of energy” in the world. He has also said environmental damage was making “the lives of poor people on earth especially unbearable.”


Robert Rauschenberg's Art for Sustainability

Robert Rauschenberg’s Art for Sustainability

Robert Rauschenberg is … surprise … an artist who has done a lot of pro-environment art, including the first Earth Day poster in 1970. There’s a show in New York City that opened yesterday, which displays art he’s made that deals with issues of global warming. If you happen to be in the Big Apple, […]

"Shocking" Coral Reefs Back to Life

“Shocking” Coral Reefs Back to Life

Did anyone else read the news on Bali’s coral reefs? They’ve suffered incredible damage from “rising temperatures and destructive fishing methods.” Now scientists are trying to send low-voltage electricity through the corals, to “jolt” them back alive. Let’s hope this won’t become an experiment gone awry.

Performa

Performa

RoseLee Goldberg, an art professor, curator, and former Harmony Hotel guest, just wrapped up her week-long performance art series in New York. Congrats to RoseLee! Check out Artforum’s coverage of Performa (ok, full disclosure: I work there). Also, what’s exciting is that, last spring, I interviewed RoseLee right in Harmony Hotel’s very own open-air restaurant. […]


Monday Morning Wave (from The Surfer's Path)

Monday Morning Wave (from The Surfer’s Path)

(From www.surferspath.com.)

Light Blue Line

Light Blue Line

There was this cool project planned in Santa Barbara that would show the increasing water levels in the city if Greenland turned into slush.

From Surfer's Path

From Surfer’s Path

This photo is by Sean Davey and was included in the Monday Morning Wave. Don’t know if the colors are photoshopped, but it’s incredible.


Green Wave Awards

Green Wave Awards

Want to nominate someone for The Surfer’s Path 2nd Annual Green Wave Awards? They’re for “excellence and achievement in promoting sustainability and environmental consciousness in the surfing world.”

Dirk Westphal: Surfboard Art

Dirk Westphal: Surfboard Art

Sorry if any of you were trying to post recently, and couldn’t log in. The blog was having technical problems — but now it’s up and running!

Barefoot on Grass

Barefoot on Grass

I just came across this via Inhabitat (so those of you who are all “up-to-the-minute” on the internet are rolling your eyes) — but what a perfect thing. If only they could somehow make one with that great Playa Guiones sand; those of us in NYC could pretend we were back by the Harmony Hotel’s […]


Second Chance for George: Not the Last Tortoise of His Kind

Second Chance for George: Not the Last Tortoise of His Kind

The New York Times has a great article about “Lonesome George,” who was thought to be the last of his tortoise-subspecies. Now scientists think there’s a female for him somewhere out there.

The Green

The Green

What do we all think of Robert Redford’s new Sundance channel — The Green — dedicated to TV shows about the environment and green living? Check out the programming here.

Greg Noll: The Art of the Surfboard

Greg Noll: The Art of the Surfboard

By Drew Kampion. Released a week ago! There are photos from a Surfing Heritage release party for this book, and a summary on Surfer’s Path.