Perfect For Tiny Climbers

On October 21st Like The Spice held our monthly dinner! This time the theme was Asian Landscapes, featuring wonderful food and only slightly more wonderful art.



Our first speaker was bonsai expert Martin Haber (on the far left, slightly hidden by a bonsai). Unscheduled, but still just as important, was his wife, Ruth Haber (owner of the hand beside Martin). The pair spoke about bonsai with the sort of hilarious interaction you only find in two people with a deep love for both their subject and each other. Those tiny trees are in good hands.



Next was curator Eric LoPresti. Eric spoke on the role of curation and his decisions in making our current show, The Variegated Landscape, as well as his passion for landscapes themselves. It was a valuable insight into the "behind the scenes" of art.



Following Eric was Mary Mattingly, whose work "Advanced Forestry" is a arresting sculpture made from a variety of media, including sound, that represents the way nature and technology are coming to blows, specifically around the wild honeybee. As more bees vanish from the landscape each month, theories fly as to what is causing them to die. Mary forces us to confront one of the most popular, that it is our cell phone towers causing the damage to one of the most important parts of our food chain. It is a sobering issue and well worth the attention.



Finally Melissa Dubbin showed us a presentation about her art, from laser etching techniques to the use of video. She included a preview of her upcoming "Songs For Psychos" which left the whole dinner amused and excited.



We thank Zen Palate for catering the fantastic meal. It was a great night for every one of our guests, ranging from gallery owners to artists to bonsai fans, and we look forward to next month. You should join us then! Keep an eye on our home page for upcoming details.

Grill Bill

On October 20th, come enjoy the clash of cultures as Like The Spice follows up September's 100 Mile Dinner with Asian Landscapes, featuring an inspiring lecture/demonstration on the art and history of bonsai and pan-asian food from Zen Palate.

This delicious way to spend an evening will also feature Steve Robinson, Paul Whiting, Mary Mattingly and Melissa Dubbin, all three artists involved in our current show, The Variegated Landscape. Curator Eric LoPresti will also be here, talking about the concepts and decision-processes behind this show. Doors open at 7:30pm but the food will not take the stage until 8, and since food does not have an opening act you will want to be on time!

Also, and we cannot stress this enough, reservations are highly recommended. Contact us at info@likethespice.com or call 718-388-5388 to save your space.






(From the blog of Mary Mattingly)Advanced Forestry: to represent the prosthetic collision of nature and technology. These trees are a cross between cell phone towers and natural trees. Webs of copper wire and other braided or latticed semiconductors surround these hybrids, with satellites made from maps and with variety of metal antennas.
As we know, a recent connection has been made between cell phone towers and the harming of nature, specifically, the bee population. Scientists are stating that a 25% loss in bee population in eleven countries may be due to their homing sensors conflicting with the amount of cell phone radio waves running through the air. Maps from every country suspected of bee loss due to cell phone rays were used to make satellites and bee hives on Advanced Forestry.