The Bonfire of the Vanities

The Bonfire of the Vanities

Florence, 1497I was in Florence when Savonarola organized the Bonfire of the Vanities. I stood in the Piazza della Signoria and watched it burn. Mirrors. Books. Musical instruments. Paintings. Cosmetics. Games. Anything that could be construed as bringing pleasure to...
Berlin, 1927

Berlin, 1927

Berlin, 1927I was in Berlin in the late 1920s. I want to record what it felt like from the inside, because I think the texture of it is relevant to the present moment and I have not found a way to describe it precisely in any of the forms I have used for...
What Leonardo Taught Me About Light

What Leonardo Taught Me About Light

Milan, circa 1495I was in Verrocchio’s workshop before Leonardo was well known and I was in Milan when he was painting the Last Supper and I want to record something specific about what it was like to be in proximity to a mind like his, because it is relevant to...