The Houston Texans wont have fans in the stands at NRG Stadium when they take on the Baltimore Ravens Sunday, but they could have the Texans faithful back in the building for Week 4.

Team president Jamey Rootes is monitoring the NFL teams that will be having a limited number of fans in the stands for Week 2, such as the Dallas Cowboys and Indianapolis Colts.

One critical factor is COVID-19 trends in the greater Houston area. If city officials or Harris County health officials believe the novel coronavirus is on an upward tick, it could nix any plans to have fans in the stands. Nevertheless, the Texans will need their approval. Should they get it, Rootes outlined what a home game in the new normal would look like.

In terms of the capacity, weve had to go from 71,500 to 15,000 as kind of the ceiling for us because thats all we can do and still be able to maintain social distancing, Rootes said. Theyre social distanced not from individuals, but in pods two, four, six. Groups of tickets that theyre together and then in all directions theres six feet away from them, so that as theyre at the game, theyre together in their pod, but theyre socially distanced from everyone else.

All of the seats in NRG Stadium are marked, and seats that are unavailable for fans will have zip ties around them so that they cannot be accessed. The team will also have personnel conducting sanitizing before, during, and after the event.

Another way the Texans are ensuring a clean, sanitary experience is with the installation of 500 sanitizing stations throughout NRG Stadium. Fans will be required to wear a mask and are encouraged to be socially distant and wash their hands.

If we do those things, weve proven, at least here in Texas, that we can do a great job containing the virus, said Rootes.

Another way the Texans are going to increase sanitary practices is by implementing touchless and cashless transactions; the Texans are doing away with cash for 2020.

Rootes thinks fans will appreciate the swiftness of the cashless transactions.

Said Rootes: The cool thing is when you do that, the speed of your transactions is going to go up dramatically. If people ever had a concern about standing in line at NRG Stadium, I think we wont have any of that.

All tickets will be mobile tickets, and arrival times will be staggered to comply with social distance guidelines.

We will have a very significant staffing level, probably comparable to what youd see for a sell-out environment just because we want to make sure this goes right, Rootes said. We know its not just about a football game. This has got to go well for our community to feel comfortable that we can get back to some sense of normalcy. We do feel an incredible responsibility to get it right.

If the Texans can get it right, they may serve as another example to the sports world that humanity can safely adapt its pastimes amid a pandemic.

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What will a Houston Texans home game with fans look like? - Texans Wire

Steel erection work was split between Aristeo, Ideal Contracting and Indiana Bridge Inc., a Muncie, Ind.-based steel fabrication company that worked on Little Caesar's Pizza's downtown Detroit headquarters and the paint shop at FCA's Sterling Heights assembly plant.

"We had two concrete contractors, we had three excavation contractors, we had two different roofers," Haller said.

Schreiber Corp. in Warren rebuilt the roof on Mack I for the general assembly shop and Toledo-based Fred Christen & Sons Co. did roofing work on Mack II for the body shop.

"We did that so that enough craft labor and craft supervision was available to complete the job," Haller said.

Skilled trade labor unions were given monthly projections of man-hours by trade to help union leaders plan and organize labor in a "superheated" construction labor market, Haller said.

The coronavirus shutdown in the spring required additional shifts and workers, particularly millwrights for the assembly of the tooling inside the new plant, said Mike Barnwell, president of the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights.

"The timeline was extremely tight to begin and then with COVID thrown in it really didn't change the end dates much, it just changed the amount of hours that our men and women had to work out there and the amount of people it took to do it," Barnwell said.Approximately 14 percent of the dollar value of contracts and subcontracts for the general assembly and body shops was awarded to minority-, veteran- or women-owned businesses, Haller said.

See the article here:
Revved up: How FCA and an army of contractors raced against time to put together 1st new assembly plant in Detroit in 3 decades - Crain's Detroit...

BENTONVILLE There is freedom in anonymity.

Artist Nick Cave understands that by submerging your presented self your gender, racial and generational and class identities in a costume that obliterates all these observable details, you become less inhibited and more inscrutable. To the eyes of others, you cease to be your traits.

He was thinking of Rodney King, who in 1991 was beaten before cameras by Los Angeles police officers after a high-speed chase. The sirens and helicopters woke up a man who lived nearby, who had the month before acquired a video camera.

When he got out of bed to see what the commotion was about, he grabbed his new toy, stood out on his balcony, and filmed King's arrest. When no one at the police department was interested in viewing his footage, he took it to a local television station, which cut the first 10 blurry seconds of the nine-minute tape and aired it.

Everyone saw four cops beat King who had taser wires attached to his body with batons and kick him with their boots while perhaps a dozen others stood around kibitzing. Everyone saw them hit him at least 56 times with what was, in LAPD parlance, "power strokes."

It was horrible. Even police chief Daryl Gates a man infamous for his hard-line paramilitary approach to policing said he wanted his men to stand trial for the beating.

They did. And their acquittal touched off five days of rioting in Los Angeles.

Some people still argue what happened in that street was a reasonable expression of police control. That those first 10 seconds were crucial to understanding why the officers might not have simply been highly irritated with the intoxicated King but in authentic fear of him. Some people still argue it made no difference that three of the four officers who beat King were white men, while the fourth was Mexican-American. Some people still argue it didn't matter that King is Black.

When King and his attorney filed suit against the city, they wanted to downplay the racial angle. A lot of people remember King pleading during the riots, asking if we could all just get along. Fewer people remember that he also said that, as a Black man, he was constantly intimidated by the police, who he did not believe had his interests in mind. King said the police were a family and he was from another family.

Cave though he is sometimes mistaken for the Australian singer-songwriter-band leader of the same name is a Black man, and so also part of that other family. In the wake of the King verdict, he felt the sting of being discarded, of loving a country that did not love him back. He found a lonely twig, discarded, unnoticed a thing totally without value. You could say he identified with it. He took it back to his studio.

He collected other sticks and twigs and fashioned them into a wearable sculpture he called a Soundsuit because of the noises the sticks produced when he climbed into it and began to dance. (Cave was trained as a dancer; he studied at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.)

After that, Cave went on to create more than 500 other Soundsuits, sewing together sisal, dyed human hair, beads, plastic buttons, wire, feathers, toys, sequins, tchotchkes and other found and ordinary objects into elaborate and strange bubbles into which he or anybody else might climb and disappear. Most of them are bright, exuberant and funny, as reminiscent of sport teams mascots like the Philadelphia Flyers' Gritty as they are of African ceremonial costumes or haute couture.

In art circles, Cave is well-known famous for these Soundsuits. They are an important part of his practice as a performance artist. You could say they are one of his identities the identity that obscures the others and that they level the field by presenting the audience with something unique, new and possibly terrifying, something about which they could hold no pre-existing expectations. Something with which they will have to engage if they are going to even begin to understand.

You should not be disappointed that there are no Soundsuits on display in glass cases or anywhere else in Cave's exhibition at the Momentary, where you can climb into his latest work, the experiential "Until." This might frustrate some people, particularly those who know Cave as an art world figure and like to tick off the famous and important works to which they have been proximate.

But there are probably far fewer of those people than there are people who have a vague notion that Australian pop singer Nick Cave has some kind of art show at the Momentary.

About the best I can do in describing "Until," which further elaborates on Cave's recurrent themes of social justice and the ways we confront (or fail to confront) the "isms" that divide humanity into ruthlessly competing tribes (other families), is to say it is like a Soundsuit turned inside out. That the exhibit takes its title from the first principle "innocent until proven guilty" and its counter-thesis "guilty until proven innocent," is like climbing into the artist's head.

Here we can walk through Cave's subconscious, experience the irrational details that swarm up unbidden handguns amid kitschy lawn ornaments like spinners, repurposed lawn jockeys poised to snag dreams from the ether of Cave's imagined heaven, where (he hopes) there is no racism.

It is beautiful and weird and untranslatable into words. Cave's mode is more evocative than provocative; his images don't directly challenge or provoke so much as bemuse and mystify. To walk through these installations is to tour an alien civilization with a dream logic markedly different from our familiar practical world. Cave's interior has been realized in these spaces, and the Momentary space itself an old cheese factory has become an integral part of his cosmos.

While "Until" has been erected before in 2017 at MASSMoCA (the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) in North Adams, Mass., and in 2018 at Carriageworks in Sydney its character is necessarily different from what it might have been were it it installed in a hermetic shoe box of a gallery.

While I've only seen photographs of the other "Until" iterations, it would seem to have been drastically adapted if not completely re-imagined for the Momentary's less regular spaces. Whether or not "Until" benefits from the way the architecture directs both installation and perception is hard to say. But the Momentary certainly benefits from the timeliness and scale of Cave's new work, which seamlessly incorporates the industrial multi-purpose feel of the building.

You can sit and have lunch at a counter overlooking Cave's "Kinetic Spinner Forest," which consists of about 16,000 shiny metallic mobiles of various hues, glinting as they spin in and out of focus.

It's playful and ambiguous one's initial reaction to "Kinetic Spinner Forest" is likely to be an almost infantile delight. You might want to reach out and grasp the shimmering objects (please don't touch the art) to check their weight and quality. Literally dazzling, it might take a moment before the embedded terror shows itself.

Next door, the ceiling rises and the walls are covered by "Beaded Cliff Wall," an installation of millions of barrel-shaped plastic pony beads of various colors strung by hand on shoelaces by Cave and 12 assistants over the course of 18 months. Positioned in the middle of the room is "Crystal Cloudscape," a raised installation of considerable weight (reportedly more than five tons) that might be regarded as "Until's" centerpiece.

"Cloudscape," when viewed from ground level, appears to be a cheeky approximation of a heavenly realm, with banks of angled chandeliers casting beneficent vanilla-colored light on observers.

But climb one of the industrial rolling ladders and peer over the world atop a crowded visual cacophony of repurposed objects, including dream-catching lawn jockeys. These objects were sourced from flea markets and thrift stores by Cave and his artistic collaborator and life partner Bob Faust, and can be seen as parodic of such works as Hieronymus Bosch's "The Garden of Earthly Delights." Like a lot of work by the Dutch masters, there's a sense of something turned and rotting in his jumbled images.

"Flow/Blow," a double bank of 14 tilt drum fans rippling a curtain of shimmering Mylar filaments, is sequestered in its own dim room, lending it a monstrous quality as it hums away. It feels implacable, not unlike one of those low-budget monsters from drive-in horror movies of the '50s and early '60s. You might want to keep a little distance from this shape-shifting and breathing appliance. (Once again, you're not supposed to touch the art; but is it all right to let the art touch you?)

Elsewhere Cave has mounted a window from MASSMoCA through which a hawk crashed while they were setting up the exhibit there. For hours the bird flew around the gallery, and after he escaped Cave took down the window.

There is both wit and dread in "Until," a sardonic undertone that reveals itself gradually. Cave began the project as a site-built installation for MASSMoCA, but its roots are in the shooting death of Black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., less than 100 miles from where the artist was born in Fulton, Mo., in 1959. Like the beating of Rodney King, Brown's killing set off a wave of riots, as once again the police and the community being policed were revealed as different families.

Outside a Soundsuit, Cave felt his Blackness made him a target. Outside the gallery space, Blackness becomes his signal identity, the one perceived instantly and most directly by strangers. His Soundsuits provide a way for Cave to remove the artist from the equation, forcing the audience to consider the work without thinking much about the person who created it.

"Until" reverses this strategy, putting us deep in the belly of the beast to feel the discomfiture of the marginalized. Here he's not trying to erase the various identities of the artist but to make us all complicit in both the art-making process and the society we have built.

"How do I create art that is of service?" Cave asked last week in a video call designed to preview the exhibit for journalists. Normally that's the sort of remark that's dismissed as simply filler, the kind of thing one says when one wants to project humility and seem less ego-driven than one suspects oneself of being.

But in this instance this moment as the United States goes through yet another season of racial reckoning, allowing us to share his specific head space does feel generous.

The best way to receive "Until" is as an invitation to empathy. Cave is inviting us inside, showing us the world as it seems to him. Things can be both ordinary and freighted with deep meaning; there is nothing that does not have some psychic heft. There are no innocent symbols or gestures and even in heaven there might be decay and ruin.

While there is freedom in anonymity, an anonymous life is no life at all. Names should be said, injustices should be called out, platitudes and euphemisms should be understood as the unhelpful prettifiers that they are. You can't live your life in a Soundsuit, allowing the observer to project whatever wishful notion they might harbor upon your form.

People talk a lot about artists growing. Usually that's just code for becoming bored with the old work and wanting to try something new. But here we see actual and inarguable progress.

A Soundsuit is a form of armor, a shell to protect you from the world. "Until" is a kind of surrender, an offering of the artist's neck. It's a brave thing, and all the braver for being so delectably strange, so other than the usual cant.

We all contain multitudes; on the inside, we are all warm and vulnerable.

Email: pmartin@adgnewsroom.com | blooddirtangels.com

ART: 'Nick Cave: Until'

Continued here:
OPINION | CRITICAL MASS: Invitation to empathy - Arkansas Online

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At last. After months of demurring, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art has made public a floor plan for its new building, designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. The release includes half a dozen new renderings that offer some answers to what form the galleries will take in his blob-shaped building that will bridge Wilshire Boulevard.

The topline: Other than necessary mechanical systems and bathrooms, the buildings entire second story will be devoted to galleries, a total of 110,000 square feet of exhibition space. The galleries are composed of two dozen rectilinear spaces basically, boxes arranged in clusters and surrounded by interstitial spaces that will also display art.

Other services, among them the museums education department, shop and three restaurants (including a new wine bar), will be at ground level. As will a 300-seat theater in the section of the building on the southern side of Wilshire.

It is a porous, flexible design, says LACMA Director Michael Govan. The visitor chooses the path, he says, instead of the museum leading you by the nose.

A floor plan shows the distribution of LACMA gallery spaces in Peter Zumthors design.

(LACMA)

The release of the plans comes after months of delays.

In February, Govan said the plans would be ready in March. In April, the museum pushed the release to early summer. Only now, as LACMA demolishes the last of its older buildings all that remains of the 1960s structures by William L. Pereira & Associates is a fragment of the four-story Ahmanson Gallery and begins excavation for the section of the building on the southern side of Wilshire, do we have some idea of how the largest museum in the western United States plans to showcase its art.

Like everything else about the building, it will not be traditional. I did ask for and got something that would be very different, says Govan. I think its going to be absolutely sublime, but thats for the public to see.

There have been countless unknowns surrounding LACMAs vast rebuilding project: the nature of the landscaping, whether the underside of the massive concrete structure would feel like a pleasant, shady spot or an oppressive freeway underpass, where the museums playful Alexander Calder fountain sculpture might go.

The biggest question mark has hovered over the form and nature of the galleries a troubling mystery given that the museums core mission is the care and display of art. This has been made more urgent because the layout not only will break with the traditional regional and chronological display of encyclopedic museums but it also has to inhabit a highly unusual form.

The newly released schematics reveal that the galleries will come in one of three forms: core, courtyard and terrace.

A rendering of a core gallery an internal space where the light can be fully controlled to protect fragile works.

(Atelier Peter Zumthor & Partner / The Boundary)

Twenty-six core galleries will offer the most controlled viewing experience. Arranged in four broad clusters around the new building, each is designed in the form of a square or a rectangle at various scales to accommodate everything from a large-scale exhibition to a single master work.

A single, combined entrance and exit is meant to provide a focused curatorial experience. Each will be sheltered from daylight, with controlled lighting systems to allow the display of fragile works, such as photographs, textiles and paper.

In between these clusters are the courtyard galleries.

These spaces, at the juncture of different paths through the building, will also serve as display sites. The courtyards will receive some visible daylight sidelight and will showcase three-dimensional installations as well as works that dont require highly controlled lighting conditions.

Around the buildings perimeter are winding terrace galleries, which will have direct sunlight and views of the city and Hancock Park. These will accommodate more durable objects that can be displayed in broad daylight, such as Roman sculptures, temple statuary from Asia and other works designed to weather the elements.

A rendering shows a courtyard gallery in the foreground with a terrace gallery along the windows.

(Atelier Peter Zumthor & Partner / The Boundary)

Govan likens each cluster to a European village like a medieval Italian town, where myriad roads might lead to a small plaza.

You might come to a [courtyard] gallery through any number of paths, he says. Once you are inside a core gallery ... then you are 360 degrees controlled by the curatorial proposition.

The format, he adds, will allow for a more considered display of different types of works from like-minded collections. In the old Ahmanson building, Southeast Asian art was displayed in a darkened, light-controlled gallery whether it was paper or more durable sculpture.

They had to put everything in the dark: paper and sculptures made for temples, he says. Now you can put the paper [in a core gallery] and the sculpture [in a courtyard or terrace gallery] like a temple with light.

Some of the spaces are big enough for other uses.

We do talks, we have done concerts in galleries, we do readings in galleries, Govan says. So we have sized some of these spaces very generously, so we can have them in galleries.

While the renderings and floor plan provide some vision for the LACMA of the future, key details are still outstanding.

The renderings depict solemn (too solemn?) gray interiors with black terrazzo floors, although the exact nature of these materials is still being finalized.

Architect Michael Mann, a managing director at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the international architecture firm collaborating with Zumthor on the buildings design, engineering and construction, says the team has been working on getting the walls color and texture just right.

You cant imagine the energy that has been spent getting the right concrete mix, he says. But the plan is for the color scheme to be gray and the surfaces smooth.

A rendering shows Peter Zumthors design for the terrace galleries, which line the perimeter of the building.

(Atelier Peter Zumthor & Partner / The Boundary)

The bigger question is the floor. Mann says theyve exploring two options: polished, poured concrete, as well as a softer-on-the-knees asphalt terrazzo, a type of material currently used in Europe.

Peter has it in his studio in Haldenstein, Mann says. Its really quite beautiful. Its not like you would think.

While beautiful, there is also the question of how these materials will read at a scale of 110,000 square feet. Thats a whole lot of asphalt and concrete.

Mann says his team has also worked on a lingering question related to all that concrete: namely, how the museum will manage the installation and deinstallation of works on such a hard surface. (Boring into poured concrete is more complicated than hammering a nail into drywall.)

Mann, who has studied Zumthors buildings in Europe including two museums, the Kunsthaus Bregenz in Austria and the Kolumba Museum in Germany, which feature vast areas of poured concrete says that has been worked out. Works are hung using anchors instead of regular nails. And there are methods for patching up concrete after art has been moved.

Weve been working with Peter he worked with the curators at Bregenz about how to patch, Mann says. There is a precedent that we will bring to LACMA.

Zo Kahr, LACMAs deputy director for curatorial and planning, notes that working with concrete is a different methodology, and it will take some practice to perfect it. But our team preparation and installation and our exhibition design team have been involved in every facet of analyzing concrete samples.

At ground level, the floor plan puts other details into focus.

The underside of the structure as well as the ceiling in the exhibition spaces will not be flat concrete, like an overpass, but will bear a rhombus pattern drawn from the buildings structure. It will also be illuminated.

On the southern side of Wilshire, on what has long been a parking lot at Spaulding Avenue, the 300-seat theater will occupy the ground floor of the elevated buildings southernmost leg.

The yet-to-be named theater replaces LACMAs 600-seat Bing Theater. But Govan says the museum will also have access to the two theaters at the neighboring Academy Museum of Motion Pictures when that institution opens in spring.

A floor plan shows the ground floor at LACMA. The dark gray boxes are the bases of each pier supporting the elevated building and house different museum functions, including a theater, the education department and a street-level gallery.

(LACMA)

The southern side of Wilshire, site of a new wine bar, is where Govan hopes to relocate Calders colorful 1962 mobile Three Quintains (Hello Girls), which is activated by sprays of water.

The museum is in discussions with the Calder estate about the move. Originally, it was in an angular pool, says Govan. Then it was in a circular pool. There has to be some testing done.

On the northern side of Wilshire, at the base of the buildings various piers, will be loading docks, a restaurant, a cafe and the museum shop. Ticketing will remain at the Smidt Welcome Plaza, next to Chris Burdens Urban Light. The education department will be based at the foot of one of the piers. This will include an art gallery visible from Wilshire.

An architectural rendering shows a courtyard gallery in the foreground. A rhombus pattern, evocative of the buildings structure, will mark the ceiling.

(Atelier Peter Zumthor & Partner / The Boundary)

Education will program that gallery with art works, but a program that makes sense for it, says Govan. This street-engaging art storefront that, we have never had before.

Also on the northern side will be outdoor spaces for events, including screenings, talks and live music.

When we have our galas or events, we have to close the plaza, says Govan. So this is prewired for setting up a dinner for 500.

Part of Govans plan for the new building is to re-conceive the encyclopedic museum. To move away from the regional and chronological model of showing art that linear Western march that leads museum-goers from ancient Greece and Rome to medieval European art to everything Renaissance, with side galleries devoted to the rest of the world.

The buildings design, with multiple points of approach and fluid paths, is designed so that no story is given primacy over another, Govan says. We looked at an overall structure that would be nonhierarchical. No obvious front or back.

And if the goal is to show more work by women and non-Western artists, he notes, installation needs to be rethought: If you only have women in the last 10 minutes of a collection, you need a new way to organize the museum.

That might mean a cross-departmental exhibition that mixes works from various regions or a thematic show that looks at a certain topic say, landscape painting over time.

How exactly this will play out in real life, however, remains to be seen. (Times art critic Christopher Knight was no fan of one such show, To Rome and Back: Individualism and Authority in Art, 1500-1800, which he described as bland and ineffectual.)

Govan and Kahr are reviewing more than 200 proposals submitted by LACMA curators for how the Zumthor building might be installed.

The proposals range widely from single-focus, single-artist presentations to looking at a single medium, to looking at a theme, to looking at a place across time or time across a place, says Kahr. They speak to all of the different approaches you can take to art history in a museum, and thats an amazing opportunity the museum has.

The architecture, she says, will help support some of the curatorial fluidity. Interstitial spaces such as the courtyard galleries and terrace galleries can provide adjacencies between cultures say, the links between Latin American and Asia rather than having everyone boxed off in their own worlds.

An architectural rendering shows one of the courtyard gallery spaces at LACMA.

(Atelier Peter Zumthor & Partner/The Boundary)

Some installations will remain fixed because of stipulations that they remain on display as a condition of their donation. This includes the Carter Collection of Dutch paintings, which will occupy a permanent space in the new building, and the Lazarof Collection of Modern and Impressionist art, which will be installed at the Broad Contemporary Art Museum, the Renzo Piano-designed building on the western edge of LACMAs campus.

Currently, the tab for construction stands at $750 million. Govan says he has received $655 million in pledges toward the project and, of that, $300 million has been paid. (This includes $125 million from Los Angeles County taxpayers.)

An older rendering shows the view west on Wilshire Boulevard. The area on the north side of Wilshire will feature a street-side gallery.

(Atelier Peter Zumthor / The Boundary)

Will the building adhere to that budget? Big construction projects have a way of climbing in price as construction progresses. Just ask the Academy Museum next door, which is $100 million over budget.

But Govan says that so far, the budget remains on track: Ninety-six percent of the trade and contracts have been bid out, so the risk level on cost has plummeted. There is very little risk now.

Of course, that is betting on not turning up any mammoth remains during construction. The La Brea Tar Pits, after all, are right next door.

Govan estimates that the building will be completed by 2023, with move-in scheduled for 2024 an ambitious timeline.

But Mann says that so far, there hasnt been a single missed deadline even with the COVID-19 pandemic.

I tell you, he says. If this team cant do it, nobody can.

Originally posted here:
Here is what LACMA's Zumthor design will look like inside - Los Angeles Times

EDITORS NOTE: We know now is not the time for travel, but we offer this as inspiration at a future date, when the time is right.

I arrived in Gstaad, Switzerland, playground of old Hollywood stars like Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, jetlagged and sporting a huge red wine stain across the front of my white sweater, the aftermath of a mealtime mishap during the overseas flight to get here.

The staff behind the desk at the Park Gstaad, ever the consummate professionals, didnt notice. Or, rather, they politely ignored it. They welcomed me cheerfully and led me to my room, where I nibbled kumquats and lychee from the fruit plate as they swung open the balcony doors to a breathtaking view of the snow-capped mountains.

Me, in Gstaad? Youd as likely find someone on the red carpet at the Oscars wearing a pair of zip-off hiking pants. But as Julie Andrews once quipped about this lovely alpine village, where tiny white lights twinkle on the rooftops and cows reportedly outnumber humans, "Gstaad is the last paradise in a crazy world."

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I changed shirts, splashed enough cold water on my face to revive myself from the travel, and dashed down to meet a horse-drawn carriage for a tour. Gstaad looks like the European village of your dreams: gorgeous slant-roofed chalets, a cheese shop within walking distance, cobblestone streets, and a glowing palace perched at the top of a hill.

Our tour ended at that very palace the Gstaad Palace, another 5-star hotel, where we were whisked down into the old bank vault, now a traditional Swiss restaurant called La Fromagerie. There we twirled crusty bits of bread in a simmering pot of cheese melted with a dash of booze.

"Switzerland really is about cheese, chocolate, beautiful nature and respecting life," said Stefan Ludwig, a representative of the Gstaad Palace. "Also, there is one thing you need to know the perception is of the rich and famous, chalets and beautiful hotels, but this does not mean the rest of the world is not welcome."

That fondue dinner was just the introduction to four glamorous days in Gstaad, where I tasted my first caviar, sipped real champagne from France and walked down streets alongside designer shops Id never step foot in. Through it all, though, Gstaad held on to a remarkably down-to-earth vibe that made even me feel comfortable. Thats because Gstaad, as it turns out, is as much about the outdoors and nature as it is about fine dining and luxe accommodations.

Here are the highlights:

A day of skiing at Eggli, the local ski mountain

We rode a panoramic gondola designed by Porsche up to the top of Eggli, took a few runs and paused for a gourmet lunch inside a cozy wooden cabin. When the rest of our group decided to head back down for spa treatments, I kept skiing.

Id never skied in Europe before, and its different than skiing in the United States. The resorts around Gstaad are smaller more of a network of ski lifts connecting multiple towns than one bustling base area. Its possible to ski to six different villages from here, pausing in each one to sip white wine and eat fondue.

A funny thing about Switzerland some parts are German speaking while other parts are French speaking. We started on the German side and ended up in the French part, in the span of just a few miles. Another difference? Instead of swift-moving four-pack or five-pack chairlifts, we rode mostly one- or two-person T-bars and Poma lifts. Its a slower pace, yes, but civilized, nonetheless.

Also, the views are stupendous. You can see for miles, and a jagged peak called the Gummfluh draws the eye. As I swooped to the bottom of the last slope, I glided right off the mountain to the back of a van, where a driver helped me load my gear before driving me back to Gstaad.

Art appreciation

Head to Gstaad Mirage, an installation by American artist Doug Aitken, for an ever-changing view of the Alps. The Mirage, a one-story house with every surface but the floor clad in mirrors, reflects its surroundings, whether theyre glistening in snow, flashing in a lightning storm or popping in fresh green grass.

The installation opened here last year and will remain until January 2021.

According to the artist, its designed as a "reflection of the dreams and aspirations projected onto the American West."

Time your visit for a Friday, and you might meet Stefan Welton, who is in charge of washing the mirrored walls. "It's all about the fingerprints," he told me as he made the walls and ceiling shine.

The house is open 24 hours a day and entry is free.

Winter hiking

With the weeks cheese, butter and chocolate consumption off the charts, I needed to hike. Fortunately, thats easy to do in Switzerland, where you can explore the countryside via a spaghetti bowl of well-marked gravel pathways.

I squeezed in two hikes my last full day in Gstaad, starting with a chilly walk along a twisting river in Lauenen, where an overnight snowfall had put a delicate crust of diamonds on every twig and blade of grass. When the sun broke over the mountains, the entire forest shimmered.

Later in the day, I caught a ride to Schonried, a 20-minute drive from Gstaad. From there, I followed the "wanderweg" signs (I love the Swiss term for hiking) back to Gstaad on foot. Even though it had snowed a day earlier, the trails had been cleared, another indication of that perpetual Swiss tidiness. I clomped past farmhouses and the occasional bed and breakfast, inspected some pumpkin-sized cowbells hanging from a barn, admired fields frosted in white, and followed the trail as it led me across a ridge with views of old chalets and hillside villages. At one spot, I discovered a wooden cabinet holding an array of milk and cheeses for sale. What a concept just pop your money in the cash box, using the honor system instead of a credit card, and help yourself to a snack.

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Glorious Gstaad: Enjoy the great outdoors in this sparkling Swiss town - austin360

As summer nights transition to autumn evenings, youll need one of the best patio heaters to keep your home toasty. And if your back deck comes with a backyard, owning a portable heating unit lets you enjoy the ambiance of the great outdoors even when the weather doesnt want to cooperate.

Your experience with patio heaters might be limited to restaurants with sidewalk seating, but having one of these for yourselves takes family-time gatherings to another stratosphere after the sun goes down. Theyre not just for heating things up, either: some of our favorite patio heaters can double as artful, functional furniture. (Color me crazy, but theres something magical about a dancing flame in front of your face after dinnertime.)

Whether youre interested in standing, mounted, or tabletop options, weve scoured the web for the best patio heaters you can buy today. Read on to get your heat on.

When it comes to the best patio heaters on the market, you cant do much better than the Hampton Bay 48,000 BTU Patio Heater. Thanks to an affordable combination of style, functionality, and power, its a great value for the price. Its durable steel construction should last a while, too.

If youd like your home-heating accessories to make a fashion statement, the Thermo Tiki Deluxe Outdoor Propane Patio Heater is second-favorite on our list. The dancing flame will keep your friends mesmerized for hours, while simultaneously creating light and heat for everyone. Its more expensive than competing models, but for the additional atmosphere, its worth it.

Extra warmth doesnt have to drain your bank account, and the Dr. Infrared Heater DR-238 is a perfect case-in-point. For less than $150, you get a spacious 1,000 square feet of coverage in a safe, discreet package. Its a solid option for families with small children running around.

One thing to note: As with many other lockdown-related items, theres been an unprecedented surge in interest in patio heaters, so some of the options listed below may be out of stock temporarily.

The best patio heater overall

Type: Free Standing | Total BTU: 48,000 | Fuel Type: Propane | Heating Area: 200 square feet | Size: 87.3 x 32.3 x 32.3 inches | Weight: 33.0 pounds

Competitively priced

Durable steel construction

Less heat output than more expensive models

If youd like to give your patio an outdoor restaurant vibe, the Hampton Bay 48,000 BTU Patio Heater is a great choice. Constructed from durable stainless steel, this 33-pound heater is a good blend of style and functionality.

The best patio heater overall has a piezoelectric ignition to ensure quick, seamless starts, and the adjustable heat control settings let you customize the temperature as needed. (Up to 48,000 BTUs of warmth.) At 87 inches high and 32 inches in diameter, this portable hotspot (in the literal sense) will look right at home on the back porch, and its easy enough to stow in a corner when not in use. (Propane gas cylinder sold separately.) Pound for pound, this is one of the best values we could find.

The best mid-range pyramid patio heater

Type: Free Standing | Total BTU: 40,000 | Fuel Type: Propane | Heating Area: 10 square feet | Size: 91.0 x 21.0 x 21.0 inches | Weight: 65.2 pounds

Attractive hammered bronze design

Sturdy base

Heavy, tall

For a pyramid-style heat source that will grab some attention (in a good way), the Hiland HLDSO1-WGTHG Pyramid Patio Propane Heater is one of the best patio heaters you can get. Thanks to its 40,000 BTU output and a mesmerizing visual flame, this heater is pretty darn cool (err, hot).

Utilizing a 20-pound propane tank (hidden below via the easy-access door), the durable base isnt going anywhere unless you want it to. The attached wheels make it portable, but at 91 inches high, this isnt the best patio heater for smaller spaces. Be sure to measure your ceiling height before pulling the trigger on this one, but if you have room for it, the Hiland HLDSO1-WGTHG Pyramid Patio Propane Heater has a rustic-yet-snazzy look thats sure to please.

The best budget-friendly infrared patio heater

Type: Infrared | Total BTU: 42,000 | Fuel Type: Electric | Heating Area: 1,000 square feet | Size: 47.0 x 35.0 x 4.0 inches | Weight: 8.0 pounds

Inexpensive

Huge coverage area

Infrared is safer around children

Some reviews reported odor during first use

Dr. Infrared proves that the amenity of outdoor heating isnt just for one-percenters. For less than $150, this wall- or ceiling-mounted device is one of the best patio heaters youll find at this price point.

Perfect for covered patios, the adjustable Dr. Infrared DR-238 Heater provides clean, instant warmth at 900, 1,200, and 1,500 watts. (It also comes with a handy remote control.) And since infrared heaters themselves do not warm up during use, this is one of the best heaters for families with small children; the clean-burning warmth stays comfortably out of reach. Dont let the reasonable price tag fool you: the DR-238 Heater has a coverage area up to 1,000 square feet.

Some reviewers reported an odor when using the DR-238 for the first time, but otherwise, this is a top-notch heating machine that wont let you down (or burn your wallet).

The best tabletop propane heater

Type: Tabletop | Total BTU: 10,000 | Fuel Type: Propane | Heating Area: 1,000 square feet | Size: 13.4 x 20.9 x 34.7 inches | Weight: 16 pounds

Tabletop design is easily portable

Great for small groups

Affordable

Not meant for large spaces

If your space-heating needs are modest, this is one of the best patio heaters you can get. At just 38 inches high, its easy to move this tabletop heater from one surface to another. Its also available in two color optionsa neat bonus.

The Fire Sense Stainless Steel Table Top Patio Heater is ideal for small groups of three to four people; the propane lasts for about three hours at a time. Theres a weight plate in the base for added stability, and the burner screen guard adds some extra peace of mind for errant fingers. Should your space options be limited, youll want to give this heater a look.

The best heater-table combo

Type: Free Standing | Total BTU: 42,000 | Fuel Type: Propane | Heating Area: N/A | Size: 49.5 x 35.5 x 23.5 inches | Weight: 147.7 pounds

Doubles as a table

Distinguished bronze design

Hidden propane compartment

Expensive

Heavy, bulky

If youre going to invest in one of the best patio heaters, you may want to consider one that doubles as furniture. The Hiland Fire Pit is much more expensive than most patio heaters, but theres something to be said for the elegance of a bronze fireplace-island. (And one that never has to be stoked, no less.)

The Hiland FS-1212-T-10 Aluminum Scroll Propane Pit is the perfect accessory for outdoor relaxation and any self-respecting BBQ. The hammered bronze will look good in just about any backyard, and is perfect for year-round use. (The propane tank is hidden underneath.) Sure, its pricier than the average standing heater, but for the price, you get double the usefulness. Staying warm under the stars all year long has never been easier. Just dont burn your feet!

The best standing infrared heater

Type: Free Standing/Infrared | Total BTU: 5,500 | Fuel Type: Electric | Heating Area: 120 square feet | Size: 93.0 x 18.0 x 18.0 inches | Weight: 45.0 pounds

Eco-friendly

Weatherproof

Silent operation

Low heat output

Somewhat bulky

If youd like to take the more eco-friendly route for outdoor heating, the Fire Sense 1500W Electric Infrared Patio Heater should keep the shivers away during after-dinner cordials. Operating at 90 percent heating efficiency, this infrared patio heater is less expensive than its propane-based cousins, and it starts heating up in just a few seconds; according to the company, this results in a 9-feet blanket of heat in the surrounding area, which is perfect for small gatherings in small spaces.

This patio heater is quiet silent, in fact. The aluminum-and-steel construction is weatherproof, too, so you dont need to worry about the rain. The attached wheels allow for easy mobility, and the 1,500-watt bulb lasts for up to 5,000 hours. This is a sought-after model at a variety of online retailers, and user reviews are consistently high across the board.

The best premium mounted heater

Type: Wall Mount | Total BTU: 39,800 | Fuel Type: Propane/Natural Gas | Heating Area: 200 square feet | Size: 29.7 x 15.6 x 14.9 inches | Weight: 40 pounds

Space-saving wall-mount design

Elegant and discreet

Energy-efficient

Very expensive

If youre looking for a sleek, discreet heater for uninsulated spaces, look no further than the Bromic Heating BH0110003-1 Smart-Heat Platinum 500 Radiant Infrared Patio Heater. As opposed to freestanding heaters, this one is meant to be mounted permanently on a wall or ceiling, so theres nothing to trip over.

For modern homes and contemporary spaces, this is one of the best patio heaters you can buy (if your pockets are deep enough, that is). Providing direct and automated ignition, this powerhouse heater pumps out 39,800 BTUs (up to 200 square feet of coverage), and its slow-release ceramic burners are environmentally friendly. The patented screen and ionization probe technology provides excellent wind resistance (up to 12 miles per hour), and the pivoting mount bracket lets you control heat distribution as needed. If you have the money to spare, you wont be disappointed with this bad boy.

Note: professional installation may be required, but according to most user reviews, its worth the splurge.

The best patio heater for outdoor parties

Type: Free Standing | Total BTU: 38,000 | Fuel Type: Propane | Heating Area: 15-foot diameter | Size: 54.0 x 30.5 x 8.0 inches | Weight: 57.9 pounds

Commercial-grade build quality

Stylish dancing flame design

Push-button ignition

Expensive

Fragile glass components

For those who prefer their outdoor heating with a side of style, the Thermo Tiki Deluxe Outdoor Propane Patio Heater puts its pyramid-style aesthetics on the same plane as its functionality. In addition to 38,000 BTUs of heat output, the added light makes this one of the best patio heaters for auxiliary ambiance.

Featuring a 15-foot diameter of warmth, your guests will flock to this ultra-efficient heat source like moths to the flame. It's mostly weatherproof, too; the components are made to withstand rust, fading, and corrosion. The push-button ignition is super convenient, and the controls let you adjust both the temperature and the dancing flame. (Theres also a safety valve that automatically cuts the fuel supply if the heater is tilted or tipped.) Some reviews reported fragile glass components, so be careful moving this thing around.

Before you invest in a portable heater, make sure it checks off all the appropriate boxes for your wants and needs. There are lots of different styles and sizes out there, so youll want to find one thats just right in regard to both features and aesthetics.

Deck/Room/Patio SizeIf youre just adding some warmth to a small porch, you wont need the most powerful heater on the market. And not every home has the proper indoor/outdoor space for a standing heater. (The tallest one on our list is about 7.5 feet. Not exactly compact.) Measure accordingly.

BTU (British Thermal Units)This is the formal measurement for all heating appliances: the higher the number, the higher the potential temperature. While tabletop heaters usually pump out 10,000 to 12,000 BTUs, larger heaters can blast your yard with 40,000 BTUs of heat or more.

Heater TypesThere are several types of portable patio heaters:

Heat SourcesThere are three primary types of heat sources:

Safety FeaturesIf youve got kids, the best patio heater for you might be the one with the best safety features. As you shop, look for tilt-over protection, automatic shut-off valves, and cool-touch glass. (Infrared heaters can be a good option for families, since there arent any physical flames.)

Round up of today's best deals

Hiland HLDSO1-WGTHG Pyramid...

Dr. Infrared Heater DR-238

Hiland FS-1212-T-10 Aluminum...

Bromic Heating BH0110003-1...

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The best patio heaters in 2020 - Tom's Guide

It was the response Strachan had hoped for. He wanted to confront the children with something alien to show that otherness is OK, and to inspire a curiosity about the world beyond. I think being an artist, to me, always had to do with disrupting some system or another, and just putting that piece of ice there was the most disruptive thing I thought I could have done, he said. It was the opening salvo in what became a long crusade to expose young people in the Bahamas (and elsewhere) to the forms of knowledge he wishes he had encountered as a child.

To that end, Strachan later established the Bahamas Air and Sea Exploration Center (B.A.S.E.C.), a community organization where children can perform experiments, conduct research and meet visiting artists and scientists. With a collapsing educational system and the distraction of tourism, a focus on developing an agency that allows its citizens to expand beyond its waters seems appropriate, Strachan wrote about B.A.S.E.C. This project, though difficult for me to summarize, comes down to the belief in the possibilities of what art can do and where it may take us. In 2011, Strachan launched B.A.S.E.C., which supports teaching programs in the Bahamas with a clothing line exclusively made by locals in collaboration with his mother.

That project is tied to Strachans training as a cosmonaut at Star City, a complex of Brutalist buildings about an hour east of Moscow. Being there was essential for Strachan, for whom the usual academic definitions of research are insufficient. I needed to go and experience it versus reading about it, he said. Every part of the trip was a challenge, from the stomach-churning effects of being strapped in a chair and spun upside down, to the more intangible ones: Its hairy being a Black man in Russia, he said. But physical and mental discomfort parallels nicely with the project of being an artist.

DURING THE EARLY stages of Strachans career, each piece became a strategic means of funding the next one. If he sold an artwork its not like he bought himself some shoes or whatever, said Hoover, who noted that he was impressed that Strachan didnt just want to do expensive things, but [that] he wanted to do these expensive things to invest in himself. In the case of the cosmonaut training, Strachan convinced Grand Arts, an erstwhile project space in Kansas City, Mo., founded by Margaret Silva (a Hallmark heiress), to underwrite the experience. The negotiation process felt familiar. Rewind back to RISD, rewind back to the meeting with the provost, he said. You ask 16 times, and the 17th time, you get it.

Strachans refusal to take no for an answer is inextricably tied to the life he left behind in the Bahamas. Seeking hard-to-reach places with no guarantee of success is what motivates him, and the uphill process of blasting through invisible barriers is as important to him as the physical objects that might result. I do imagine that these actions add up to something, but I think for me the joy of it is the pursuit, he said. And theres a certain pain-to-pleasure ratio in that pursuit, because its a super risky enterprise, its a risky set of problems that youre creating and inventing for yourself and its why I think most artists do what they do.

Most artists, though, do not train as astronauts to make work about space travel. Strachan sees artists like Titus Kaphar and Tala Madani painters who engage, in markedly different ways, with issues of representation and the Western canon as his immediate peers, but his scientific experiments, adventures to remote destinations and pure ambition set him apart. For Strachan, science is not just a subject but a medium, one that allows him to aim a floodlight at the shadowy reality that knowledge and truth do not just exist in the world but are actively created by society. Science is widely held to be an objective, authoritative discipline, but Strachans work reminds us that it is also a subjective, interpretive practice that exists within larger systems of control. A huge part of scientific narrative has to do with power, he said. Biology was for centuries used to legitimize racist eugenic theories and colonial oppression, and even now, science remains part of a capitalist structure, one that determines which types of research get funding and support.

Excerpt from:
The Artist Whose Medium Is Science - The New York Times

Its too much.

First the pandemic, which divided us, economically devastated us, and has killed nearly200,000 of us. Then the racial unrest, erupting at the deaths of more Black Americans at the hands of police:George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, Daniel Prude.

Now the extreme weather. For only the second time in history, the National Hurricane Center has moved into the Greek alphabet for storm names. This seasons wildfires are bigger, deadlier and more frequent than in years past. In the West, people cant breathe.

Dual disasters: How climate change is worsening wildfires and hurricanes

Add the headlines: Feminist icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg, lost to complications of cancer on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, 46 days before the presidential election. Black Pantherstar Chadwick Boseman, a hero in the Black community, gone at 43 after quietly battling colon cancer. Another woman accuses the president of sexual assault. A whistleblower claims federal immigration detainees underwent full hysterectomies without their consent.

And the polarization, worsethan ever. We dont agree on masks, on reopening schools, on what to do when a vaccine becomes available.

Many of us are vacillating between horror and disbelief at what can only be described as an American nightmare. Devastation doesnt cover it. Its impossible to know if the worst is behind us or still lies ahead.

Apart from our own suffering, constant exposure to suffering of others exacts a toll. Experts say what many of us are experiencing is disaster fatigue.

Its a sense, essentially, of psychological overwhelm, said Patrick Hardy, a certified emergency manager and risk manager. Youre being constantly bombarded with negative information. It creates this sense of doom.

Story continues

When disasters occur sequentially, it can make it seem as though our problems are insurmountable. Its getting worse and worse, we think. Its never going to get better.

A strict interpretation of disaster fatigue, Hardy said, puts disasters into three major categories: Natural disasters (such as COVID and hurricanes), technological emergencies (chemical spills and power outages) and security emergencies (acts of terrorism and active shooters).

But Hardy said what qualifies as a disaster can also be subjective.

What may be a disaster to someone else, isnt a disaster to you and me, he said.

While all of us are tapped into the disasters that become national news, community events can add to the mental load. A plant closing in your town that puts hundreds of people out of work is a disaster, too.

Manyare personally suffering and bearing witness to even more suffering, which can lead to another condition called compassion fatigue.

Its really referring to the stress or the emotional strain of having that high level of empathy, and exposing yourself to this level of suffering, and when that happens over long periods of time, it can manifest in a variety of different psychological ways, said Vaile Wright, director of clinical research and quality at the American Psychological Association.

Lisa Phillips, 57, who lives with depression, says shes sick over whats happening to the country.

Her husbands dental practice was on mandatory closure for two months, and since she works there, too, both incomes stopped. Theyve since re-opened, but many of the staff have been struggling with health issues and lack of childcare, which has ripple effects for Phillips and her husband.

Her daughters university moved exclusively online. Wildfires in Oregon forced her brother and sister-in-law to evacuate their home. The day after their evacuation, her father died in California. The family didnt gather for a funeral.

To cope, Phillips went back to counseling and increased her medication.

A culmination of crises: America is in turmoil, and a mental health crisis looms next

It kind of feels like when something else cant possibly happen, it does, she said. I put one foot in front of the other but it takes quite a bit of effort.

Political differences have also divided her family, compounding tangible losses. Stress and conflict are the new normal.

I dont feel apathetic, I feel overwhelmed and Im very discouraged about the polarization in our country, she said. Im fearful we wont get back to who we were.

Matt Wunderli, 36, was in the middle of building a technology startup when he went into lockdown with his wife and kids in Salt Lake City. Now, hes surrounded by wildfires.

In the beginning, I think we were all kind of sheepishly laughing about this, like what is going on?, he said. From the pandemic to the civil unrest to the political divides. As a country were sort of being slowly unwoven.

Wunderli says hes often overwhelmed by the negativity on Twitter, and can find it hard to stay optimistic. Living in a very religious state, he said, people around him often talk about this as the end of times.

Its a very stressful time for me as a founder, an entrepreneur, a husband, a father, a neighbor thinking about all the calamity around me and whats next, he said.

Christina Cuevas, 35, lives with her husband and two sons in Gardena, California, and recently recovered from postpartum depression. Then the pandemic hit.

Her anxiety spiked. Cuevas, who has asthma, is having panic attacks. Shes stressed about her familys businesses she and her husband are in real estate developmentand shesworried for her children and their futures.

Every day youre bombarded with something new, she said. Im of Mexican descent, and I was born in America. Yesterday was Mexican Independence Day. I had tequila with my husband. We were celebrating the culture and then I read that news article about hysterectomies being performed on immigrant women. I was sick. Its repulsive that this can happen in America.

Right now, she says there is no hope. There is only the election.

Abbey Barton, 26, lives in New Orleans, which is often hard-hit during the hurricane season. New Orleans has had a couple of close calls in 2020, on top of the pandemic.

Were in the peak of hurricane season, and theres no outlet for stress fatigue, she said. Can 2020 just be over?

She knows people sooverwhelmed theyre not preparing for storms as they typically would.Defeat, she says, seems all around.

Ive had people say to me I was exhausted by everything before the hurricane season. If it gets me, it gets me,' she said.

Barton worries about what her city, in some ways already unrecognizable, may look like when the pandemic is finally over.

Walking downtown, you dont hear the music anymore, she said.

Austin Sargent, 29, is an English teacher and high school football coachin South Carolina. There are times hes felt overwhelmed, but mostly hes focused on his students, who often seem paralyzed by their circumstances.

School was a release for a lot of kids. And while in-person instruction has resumed where he teaches, they are now dealing with new and different stressors. Friends whove been apart for months are adjusting to new protocols and social norms.

The kids, he said, are struggling just as much as adults.

Im an English teacher.We read, and then we ask ourselves, What is the author really trying to say? In the first couple of weeks of school, were going over literary terms, talking about the mood of the text, how it makes the reader feel. And one of my students raised their hand and said I dont watch the news, because it makes my mood so terrible.'

Denys Williams, 48, moved from San Leandro, California, to Reno, Nevada, about a year ago, when it all felt different. Now, shes living in a new citymuch less diverse than her previous one, which can be isolating.

Its not only that 2020 is a dumpster fire, its that theres no one around me who I can really relate to or talk to about it, she said. We couldnt breathe in Reno for a good week and a half, add to that the political unrest, the racial injustice, not feeling like anyone is in my corner its been so difficult.

George Floyd video adds to trauma: When is the last time you saw a white person killed online?

This summer, she said the KKK showed up in a town about 20 minutes from where she lives. Shes dealing with stressors some of her non-minority friends and co-workers cant fathom.

My co-workers will say, How are you? and Ill say, Its tough. Theyre like, Hang in there, were all in this together. But were not. I want to say, You have no idea.'

Hardy says when feeling overwhelmed, look for positive stories. Theyre out there, even when theyre difficult to find.

Cut yourself slack: Its called decision fatigue

There arestories of people surviving disasters, people doing the right things, people enduring, he said.

So much of what feels surreal and absurd about this moment is how much is out of our control. Making a plan, for what to do in a disaster or even what to do to feel productive amidthe chaos, can help people wrest back some control.

We all want to know how this ends: How do we cope with uncertainty?

COVID has robbed us all: Let yourself mourn the loss, experts say

The greatest danger, experts say, is a descent into apathy. That people will start to believe that the things they do dont matter.

Phillips, Wunderli, Cuevas, Barton, Sargent and Williamsall said they plan to vote in November. Wunderli started a podcast addressing mental health issues for founders and entrepreneurs. Phillips said she joined the board of a local non-profit and has continued to support local charities. And even though shealways wears a mask when shes out, she says she still tries to smile, with her eyes, at everyone she sees.

What if everybody just gave up? Wright said. Then the world would really be in trouble. Individual actions do count because they accumulate. The worst thing that we could do is throw up our hands and say, Nothing matters, so why even bother? Because if every single person did that, what would this world look like?

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID, hurricanes, wildfires, politics: Is 2020 the worst year ever?

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It was a cat and dog fight in the battle for human hearts during lockdown, says animal charity - Sports Grind Entertainment

In a Zoomed press preview this morning about Until, Nick Caves monumental, injustice-addressing collection of installations opening Saturday at the Momentary in Bentonville, Crystal Bridges curator Lauren Haynes provided a poignant show-stopper of an observation: Under the Crystal Cloud, I feel like I can breathe. For an African American who witnessed the smothering of George Floyd earlier this summer, that would be a precious feeling.

The Crystal Cloudscape is Caves piece within Until that helps illustrate the question, Is there racism in heaven? Until, which premiered in 2016 in a vast gallery at MASS MoCA (the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, which like the Momentary is in an old industrial building), was born of what the shows first curator, Denise Markonish, described as a tragically American moment:the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.

Thats when everything came together, Cave said of his planning for the work: The legal maxim Innocent until proved guilty has become for African Americans in this country guilty until proven innocent. Known for his sound suits, sound-maker encrusted suits made to be worn by dancers as a form of performance art, Cave was inspired to immerse the visitors to the 18,000-square-foot space at MASS MoCA with millions of objects in six installations that would encourage consideration of disparate forms of justice. At MASS MoCA, Until was about the black experience; when it appeared at SydFest in Sydney, Australia, the treatment of aboriginal people was front of mind.

Until is entered through the Kinetic Spinner Forest, an installation of thousands of spinning objects hung from the ceiling, a dizzying field of kaleidescope-like discs on which images guns, bullets and targets are imposed. The Beaded Cliff Wall contains millions of netted plastic pony-tail beads, shoelaces and rope in which a such things as a peace symbol, a smiling face and a rainbow are woven. Shimmering party streamers make up Flow Blow; a video installation puts viewers in the center of a room of staring eyes in Hy-Dyve; a bronze hand pointing skyward like the gravestone art of the 18th century is surrounded by a flower wreath in Unarmed. Haynes freeing installation, Crystal Cloudscape, is made up of 24 chandeliers ensconced in a thick crystal cloud; viewers will be able to see it from above, from ladders, or below, from the lower mezzanine.

In contrast to the serious matter of injustice, the shows physical elements of joy bright chandeliers, beads, crystals, glass spinners are also meant to inspire hope. Until, Cave said, is an interventional installation where people can confront the isms that are global issues and concerns. While he initially had doubts about the Momentarys space on his first visit, he said, I was like its not possible. The Crystal Cloud cannot fit in here he has seen an evolution. It has taken on a whole different format . It is really quite magnificent. The Momentary has gained an entire otherness that had never happened anywhere else.

For him, there are elements of Until that bring him comfort, Cave said. And so that is the takeaway: that everyone is going to come to it from all sorts of directions. But no one is going to leave without seeing what commitment looks like, what standing up for something looks like.

Until runs through Jan. 3, 2021. The show is free, and no reservations are required, but visitors must wear face coverings and maintain social distancing. There will be a limit placed on visitors to the museum.

A lineup of virtual, in-person and popup programming is being scheduled with local and regional performers and artists, Haynes said.

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Monumental at the Momentary: Nick Cave's "Until" - Arkansas Times