Glass by Dale Chihuly

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Glass

Glass, photo by Spencer Olinek.

In the course of looking for photos for Michigan in Pictures, I see a lot that I say “I can’t blog this today, but I’ll definitely come back some day and do it.” Often, some day never comes. Sometimes it does though…

Here’s a photo from the 2005 Dale Chihuly glass exhibit at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. Get it at the Wallpapery delicious size.

There’s a Dale Chihuly Wikipedia page and at Dale Chihuly’s web site you can see a lot of his work including a ton of videos at his web site (check out “Chihuly In Action”). His bio says:

Dale Chihuly is most frequently lauded for revolutionizing the Studio Glass movement by expanding its original premise of the solitary artist working in a studio environment to encompass the notion of collaborative teams and a division of labor within the creative process.

However, Chihuly’s contribution extends well beyond the boundaries both of this movement and even the field of glass: his achievements have influenced contemporary art in general. Chihuly’s practice of using teams has led to the development of complex, multipart sculptures of dramatic beauty that place him in the leadership role of moving blown glass out of the confines of the small, precious object and into the realm of large-scale contemporary sculpture. In fact, Chihuly deserves credit for establishing the blown glass form as an accepted vehicle for installation and environmental art beginning in the late twentieth century and continuing today.

Here’s a cool slideshow of Flickr photos from the 2005 Dale Chihuly glass exhibit at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts.

The Michigan Jump

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Jump

Jump, photo by jnhkrawczyk.

I saw this photo of Nikki jumping which reminded me of the photos last week of assorted maniacs jumping over Detroit and I realized that there’s a whole lot of jumping going on in the Absolute Michigan pool on Flickr.

The part of me that tries to relate everything to Michigan thinks that all this jumping could be a very essential skill for Michiganders in the days to come. By all accounts, our free-falling state economy is still falling, meaning that more cuts to schools and other public services could be coming this year and next. While Michigan’s auto manufacturers have been granted a temporary reprieve, I don’t think anyone expects them to return to the point where they can drive our economy as they once did.

I think we’re at the point as a state where we need to make our best guess as to where Michigan’s future is, gather our strength, and jump with all our might.

This photo is part of Jill’s Black & White set (slideshow). It was taken in front of the Fisher Building at the Motor City Am Jam at the Comerica Cityfest last summer and was in no way selected for this post to imply jumping OFF anything as a solution – rather to show how high and exuberantly we will need to jump!

To the Edge

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

To the Edge

To the Edge, photo by hardyc.

Chris got this shot of geese walking to the edge of the ice at Gallup Park in Ann Arbor. I wonder if the sunsets do anything for birds? (other than making them think “gonna be getting cold now” and “almost bed time”)

Be sure to check it out bigger, have a look at this great shot he got of the Detroit Princess and also see Chris’s web site.

Motown Records / Hitsville USA 50th Anniversary in 2009

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

FH040003

FH040003, photo by haycarrieanne.

If you check it out bigger you can read the historical marker … or check out the front and back at Mich Markers! Carrie has many more cool shots in her Capturing Detroit set (slideshow).

Wikipedia’s Motown Records page says that Motown Records (Tamla Motown outside of North America) was founded in Detroit, Michigan. by Berry Gordy as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959. That makes next Monday Motown’s 50th birthday!

“Hitsville USA” is now the Motown Historical Museum. They write:

There were many many talented young artists, musicians, song writers, producers, engineers and staffers who contributed to the Motown Sound. They came to Hitsville because they loved making music. Hitsville became known as a hit factory. It was open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, cranking out hit after hit record from 1959 until 1972.

“My own dream for a hit factory was shaped by principles I learned on the Lincoln-Mercury assembly line. At the plant, cars started out as just a frame, pulled along on conveyor belts until they emerged at the end of the line – brand spanking new cars rolling off the line. I wanted the same concept for my company, only with artists and songs and records. I wanted a place where a kid off the street could walk in one door an unknown and come out another a recording artist…a star!”
~ Berry Gordy, (Founder, Motown Record Corporation)

Motown is just one of the Michigan businesses, organizations and municipalities celebrating an anniversary in 2009 – head over to Absolute Michigan and the 2009 Michigan Anniversaries page to see many more and add ones we might have missed!

Exposure.Detroit Gallery Opening

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Untitled, photo by mlephotos.

Exposure.Detroit, which I think is Michigan’s largest photographer group, will be taking another step next week with the January 15th opening of the Exposure.Detroit Gallery at the Garden City Hospital. Here are the details on the opening, and I’m guessing that someone from the group might drop by to tell us more about the gallery.

I don’t know if Meghan will have any work hanging in the inaugural show, but I bet she will before too long. See this photo (and others) bigger in her my favorites set (slideshow)

Luge Run at the Muskegon Winter Sports Complex

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

DANGER--Wipeout Ahead

DANGER–Wipeout Ahead, photo by taterfalls.

Tate says that this is what happens when you don’t steer enough. Be sure to check the photo out bigger.

The Muskegon Winter Sports Complex is located at Muskegon State Park. This amazing complex features over an acre of skating rinks (including a 700′ skating trail), 16k of groomed and lighted cross-country trail through woods and along Lake Michigan (he longest lighted trail system of its kind in the Midwest) and the luge track.

The Muskegon Luge is one of four luge tracks in the United States and is considered the most publicly accessible. Although much smaller than the Olympic tracks in New York and Salt Lake City, the Muskegon track was designed with the public in mind. The track was designed by three time Olympian Frank Masley. The track consists of six curves and two starting areas, the public start for recreational “learn to luge” sliders and the other from the top for more experienced sliders from the Muskegon Luge Club.

Click through to the Muskegon Luge page to see a cool video from Wild Weekend TV showing how accessible it is to the public.

Lake Superior Shore in Winter

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Lake Superior Shore in Winter

Lake Superior Shore, photo by Treefarmer.

It’s been a while since I posted a straight-up winter background – be sure to check this out bigger for maximum chill. Treefarmer has some more great ones in his Upper Peninsula of Michigan set (slideshow).

Find more winter backgrounds on the Michigan Winter Wallpaper page.

Detroit Journal – Words and Pictures by buckshot.jones

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

gray

gray, photo by buckshot.jones.

Scott aka buckshot.jones has a tremendous set of photos titled Detroit Journal – Words and Pictures. Some are funny, some revisit the past and many more take a hard look at the state of the city.

If you love Detroit or simply wonder what happened and is happening in the city, I cannot recommend this collection highly enough. Here are the words that go with the photo above:

I’d look into the mirror every morning only to find the same guy staring back. Then, it seems suddenly, I find some 50 year old grump is staring back. Who is this guy? The changes happen so slowly with such steady force I failed to see the changes. I noticed the laugh lines around my eyes are now stubbornly etched into my face even in times of scorn. As I contemplate these changes I think of friends and family and how, in my mind’s eye, they are still 21, bolted down in time. Just like me, or so I thought. Now consider that old friend you haven’t seen in 10 or 15 years. Think of how you had to do a double take when you met after all those years. The face is familiar but the changes make you not quite sure. You hesitantly state their name with a question, “John?”

For me my home town is curiously like encountering that long lost friend. I have lived here my entire life yet over the last couple years the changes in Detroit have, at times, struck me as startling. For most of my early life, as a schoolboy and a young adult, I spent my time working throughout the city neighborhoods and business districts. During all that time these neighborhoods were in decline, I just never noticed the change. About 10 years ago I took a job that had me traveling a great deal in Canada and since that time my professional life has found me spending most of my time away from home traveling all over the Midwest.

As my body banned me from playing basketball and my lack of patience killed my golf game, photography filled the distraction void. Trading the links for a photo safari on my weekends, I started to wander around my old haunts mostly in search of connections to my memories. I was struck by what I found, or in some instances failed to find- my home town suddenly got old. “Detroit….right?”

Ultimate Fishing Early Risers Edition presents: What’s your favorite Michigan fish?

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Early Risers

Early Risers, photo by docksidepress.

The Ultimate Fishing Show – Detroit gave me a few tickets to give away. The show is about fishing trips, boats and gear and it happens January 8-11, 2008 in Novi.

I figured I should offer some over here on Michigan in Pictures, so here’s the deal: Post a comment with your favorite Michigan fish to catch, eat or look at below and then send an email to giveaway@absolutemichigan.com with your name, city and email address and we’ll give away as many as we can!

Note that if you don’t want to go you can still post your fish!

This photo is in Matt’s My Photos by Most Interesting set (slideshow) and like all his photos, it’s posted background bigalicious!

Sailing into 2009

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Sailing

Sailing, photo by gh patriot.

I thought it was pretty neat that this photo showed up in the Absolute Michigan pool after yesterday’s post. Be sure to check it bigger. It’s part of Kevin’s pier/sunset set (slideshow)

As 2009 dawns, I feel some trepidation. While things have been bad for us here in Michigan, there seems to be little doubt that our national economy has even further to fall. What that might mean to us is anybody’s guess.

One thing I do know is that after years of being in a “single state recession,” we now have company. That will undoubtedly mean less assistance in some cases, but it will also open up more opportunities and solutions as other states and nations begin to grapple with the issues we have been wrestling with.

I expect that in the year to come we in Michigan will make decisions that will have profound effects on our state’s educational system, our infrastructure and our amazing natural resources.

My most profound hope is that our decisions take into account the truth that Gov. Milliken referred to below.

The truth is that the quality of life in Michigan depends on nature. The natural beauty of our state is much more than a source of pleasure and recreation. It shapes our values, molds our attitudes, and feeds our spirit … in Michigan, our soul is not to be found in steel and concrete, or sprawling new housing developments or strip malls. Rather it is found in the soft petals of a trillium, the gentle whisper of a headwater stream, the vista of a Great Lakes shoreline, and the wonder in children’s eyes upon seeing their first bald eagle. It is that soul that we must preserve.

-Michigan Governor William G. Milliken
from William G. Milliken: Michigan’s Passionate Moderate

Happy New Year folks!