Mikael Kennedy Polaroid from Passport to Trespass
…there was a moment, sometime in 2002 or 2003 when I was sitting by the sea, up on an island off the coast of New Hampshire when I realized I could make my life into anything I wanted, that I could choose my reality. That was when I put myself fully into this, that I decided to just go and see what happened, nothing else mattered.—Paradigm Magazine interview with Mikael Kennedy
Robert Smithson, Detail of Mirror and Crushed Shells showing map of Sanibel Island, Florida
On July 9, 1969 Robert Smithson wrote the following letter to Andy Warhol about Mirror and Crushed Shells:
Dear Andy,
This is to certify that the Mirror with Crushed Shells (Sanibel Island) is an original work of art. It consists of three mirrors which may be restored if broken, and one burlap bag of crushed shells collected by the artist at Sanibel Island, April, 1969. If any shells are ever lost, the owner has the right to restore the work by collecting more shells from Sanibel Island (northern part of island – see map of site which is part of the work). The three mirrors are held in place in a corner by the pressure of the shells only. (See photo). The work is owned by Andy Warhol, and can not be duplicated.
Robert Smithson, Mirror and Crushed Shells 1969
Read more from Tate here.
Joan Mitchell, Les Bluets, 1973
In German, to be blue—blau sein—means to be drunk. Delerium tremens used to be called the “blue devils†(Burns, 1787.) In England “the blue hour†is happy hour at the pub. Joan Mitchell—abstract painter of the first order, American expatriate living on Monet’s property in France, dedicated chromophile and drunk, possessor of a famously nasty tongue, and creator of arguably my favorite painting of all time, Les Bluets, which she painted in 1973, the year of my birth—found the green of spring incredibly irritating. She thought it was bad for her work. She would have preferred to live perpetually in “l’heure de bleu.†Her dear friend Frank O’ Hara understood. Ah daddy, I wanna stay drunk many days, he wrote, and did.
—An excerpt from Maggie Nelson’s Bluets.
This is actually my last post on this blog so I’m gonna go out in style with one of my favorite artists, James Turrell. If you still want more awesomeness you can always follow me on twitter @lundhansen.
Photo and fins from Tim Orr, Pure Life Surfboards
For all you fin fanatics, surf on over to the I Heart Fins blog. Their mission: “We love a good foil under our rear foot. Fins drive your board and thus your surfing experience. The design and placement of a board’s fins are such an important aspect of how it rides. This site is an effort to raise awareness on some of the more interesting fin designs that are out there and, when possible, make them accessible for people to expand their surfing into new dimensions.”
Anonymous, Shiva Linga, 2002
I have noticed in the Tantric works how the simplicity of their conventional, geometric forms is complemented by the infinite complexity of their particular execution: water stains, flaws in the handmade paper, fragments of unrelated text combine to make each work not only unique but somehow perfect. These images would clearly not have the same power if they were drawn on a computer and digitally printed. It’s not just a desire for the antique or a nostalgic patina that makes the incidental marks so important, it’s precisely that ideal forms—forms plumbed from the depths of the mind, of the soul—need to co-exist with randomness and the emptiness of chance. How is it that a symbol of god alone is so dull, but when juxtaposed with a smudge or a smear it comes alive? Ever since I moved to the country I’ve fantasized about sleeping at night in the woods, with a blanket maybe but nothing else to separate me from the world and the life around me. I haven’t done it, but I see in these Tantric images what such exposure might feel like and what awareness it might lead to. —Lawrence Rinder from Tantra Song.  If in NYC, you can check out these paintings at Feature Inc.
Minimalistic photographs by the Chinese artist Ann Woo. See more of her work at annwoo.com
In honor of Valentine’s Day, a cool card from Byvik Ink studio in California. Illustrator Cristina Martinez Byvik has created several surf-themed cards for many occasions; they are hand-printed on an 1890’s Chandler & Price platen press.
© 2026 by Harmony Blog
