Glassblowing @ Luke Adams

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Institute of Contemporary Art Boston (ICA)

This past weekend during our mid-winter heat wave (the temps were above freezing) I decided to emerge from hibernation just long enough to enjoy all the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston (ICA) had to offer.

Designed by award winning architects Diller Scofidio and Renfro the 65,000 sqft building housing the ICA is a masterpiece of its own. The building was designed to echo the appearance of the nearby gantry cranes. It is 4 floors designed for galleries, education, theatre and dining/shopping. Its appearance has attracted both awards and criticism but either way it has definitely made a splash in the revitalized seaport district.

There were four exhibitions on display at the ICA Boston during my last visit.

When the Stars Begin to Fall: Featured 35 artists who share an interest in the American South, this exhibition explores the relationship between contemporary art, black life, and “outsider” art. Some of the pieces really caught my eye like Je Minter’s work titled “Housewife”. Made from vintage Kirby vacuum cleaner heads and a mannequin it spoke volumes of about the gender fight amongst southerners.

I also enjoyed the geometric work titled “The Eyes of the Universe” by Henry Ray Clark that made you feel watched no matter where in the room you might be. I think it is symbolic of the lack of privacy people have today even in places they call their own.

While there we got to listen to and interact with guest speaker and assistant professor of African and Afro-American & Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Brandeis University Jasmin E Johnson. Her interactive gallery talk discussed many topics from black life, slavery, and the black rights movement and how the south has shaped black history. It was an informative and educational conversation.

The next exhibit was not only a visual delight but a full immersion of sight and sound. Titled Sonic Arboretum we were immersed into an environment where the sounds of Andrew Bird added another layer to the beauty of the colorful horn speaker’s collection by artist Ian Schneller. The music makes you want to close your eyes and imagine the world where the symphony might exist but to do so would rob you of the visual delight of the hardware producing it.

The hardware is a unique thing of its own. Ian Schneller’s creations are sold and branded under the Specimen Products name and the horns are made from recycled newspaper print, dryer lint, baking soda and shellac before being mounted to the also handmade tube amplifiers. The quality of the sound and the visual appeal make them both a sight and sound to be remembered.

Before taking in the next exhibition we took a few minutes to enjoy the beauty that is the view of Boston Harbor from the panoramic windows of the Founders Gallery. This breathtaking room measures 80feet long and 33ft wide and has floor to ceiling windows.

The next more unusual exhibition was that of Adriana Varejão one of Brazil’s leading artists. This exhibition is her first solo museum show in the United States and embodies a macabre artistry. It is her interpretation of cultural cannibalism. Some of her works like “Corner Jerked-Beef Ruin” mix the simplicity of a while tiled wall and the gruesomeness of a marbled meat interior.  

Other works like her “Wall with incisions a la Fontana” reflects to me an anger and frustration with the purity that a clean white tiled wall represents. The incisions are not clean and crisp but jagged and made as if by a passion gone awry.

Another piece that at first I thought was a tattoo map turned out to be the skin fileted and laid flat called “Exploratory Laparotomy II” for me it was too much of a visceral image to be appreciated. All I could think of was an autopsy.

The last gallery on current exhibition was ICA Collections: In Context which featured works that explore social and political issues while transforming the genre of landscape by the expansion of the medium to include drawing, photography, sculpture, and video.

With the impressive architecture of the facility, the educated and thought provoking gallery talk by Asst Prof Jasmin E Johnson and impressive collection of contemporary art the ICA lived up to expectation in causing the mind to broaden its vision and see past the normalcy of our lives. The sounds and sights of the Sonic Arboretum took you to a place of peace and tranquility while Adriana Varejão’s work elicited the anger feel anger and violence everyone sometimes feels. The vistas of the Founders Gallery eased the mind and allowed you to quietly contemplate the questions in your mind. All in all you left feeling more enlightened then when you arrived.

Taza Chcolate Tour [Somerville, MA]

Taza Chocolate is located in an urban warehouse area of Somerville, MA in a very non-descript building. When we arrived we checked in at the counter of their factory tour and were told to enjoy the samples they had out while we waited for our tour to begin.

It wasn’t long before our guide Krisha gathered us together and explained how the company founder had traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico and had a hot chocolate that changed his life. She went on to explain that he apprenticed with a local molinaro who taught him their way of making chocolate using hand carved stones known as molinos. They use the bean to bar process of making chocolate and no dairy products are used and everything is all natural.

The first of the three rooms we entered was the roasting room. Here we learned that the first step in Taza’s chocolate making process is to roast their cacoa beans which dries and helps loosen their shells and also helps develop their flavor. Also in the roasting room was the winnower which winnow’s or (separates the shell from the cocoa nib).

After isolating the nib from the shell it moved into the first grinders which use Molinos or Mexican stone mills sourced from Oaxaca Mexico. The molino’s are hand carved specifically to grind cocoa nibs into a paste called cocoa liquor. Creating those molinos by carving very precise shapes and grooves into the stone was part of the skill the founder learned while apprenticing in Mexico.

Next Taza add’s organic raw cane sugar to the cocoa liquor in the mixing tank. The result creates a mixture called Chocolate Mass.

Next the Chocolate Mass is pumped into a second set of Molinos to further grind and refine the Chocolate Mass by shattering the sugar crystals. Some of the chocolate is then further refined in the roll refiner to reduce the grittiness of the chocolate to make bars. The less refined chocolate mass makes the Mexican stone disc’s.

Once refined the chocolate is then held in holding tanks at 110 degrees until it is ready for tempering and ultimately packaging.

Tempering is a process where the chocolate is heated and cooled to create a specific crystal structure in the cocoa butter. Tempering increases the melting point of the chocolate and gives it is glossy appearance.

Once tempering is completed the chocolate is pumped into molds where they are vibrated to remove air bubbles. They those molds are put in a cooling room held at 40 degrees to cool them quickly.

Not all chocolate is made into molds however. Their covered treats take a different path and after the chocolate is tempered the treats tumble inside the copper revolving pans until they are evenly coated with a drizzle of chocolate. The tumbling helps create a glossy appearance by the chocolate rubbing together.

Once done both the covered treats and the molds are sent to the packaging room where two types or wrappers are used to wrap the discs and the bars. Everything is hand packaged after being wrapped and shipped globally all over the world. 

They named it Taza since taza in Spanish means cup and it all started with a cup of hot chocolate in Oaxaca, Mexico.

After completing the tour we were again offered more chocolate to try and given the opportunity to purchase anything we wanted from their factory store. Having had a Groupon I was entitled to one free disc. I also picked up a few bars and a t-shirt.

Mapparium @ Christian Science Center

Located in the Christian Science Center’s Mary Baker Eddy Library is an amazing 3 story tall glass globe. Inspired by architect Chester Lindsay Churchill to represent the Christian Science Monitor’s global awareness and reach he constructed this 30-foot diameter glass globe based on the Rand McNally Political map of the time.

It is frozen in time in 1935 when Thailand was known as Siam and much of Africa was under colonial rule. The globe is made of 608 stained glass panels and was designed to allow the countries to be viewed in accurate geographical relationship to each other.

Guests of the Mapparium are grouped together in small batches and taken into the mapparium for a 20 minute long stay where they enjoy a light and sound show. Guests walk across a glass bridge suspended in the middle of the globe where it’s unusual acoustics allow visitors voices to be amplified.

They do not allow pictures from within the globe since the map is copyrighted by Rand McNally but I couldn’t resist sneaking a few for my blog. It’s a great location to visit and see what the world looked like in 1935.

Sons of Liberty Spirits Company

Mike Reppucci, founder of South Kingstown’s Sons of Liberty Spirits Company recently gave us a tour of his 3,100 square foot distillery where he craft's superb whiskies, vodka's and the occasional beer. It was the first tour of the day for Sons of Liberty and thankfully there was a limited number visitors in attendance.

The distillery was as you would expect a warehouse feel with the walls lined with barrels of whiskey surely aging to perfection. In the corner a tasting bar with many of their varietals ready for the end of the tour and another room where all the magic happens loaded with all kinds of equipment.

Mike welcomed us to his distillery and explained how he got his start 5 years ago. He explained that he does things different then most distilleries. He got his start as a student in London who went on a series of scotch tours where they explained to him that scotch is a distillers beer. Scotch is whiskey made in Scotland. Whiskey starts as a beer. Its a non-hopped un-boiled beer that has been distilled. He thought and asked why he has never heard of a stout beer whiskey or a Belgian whisky or any seasonal whiskey.

One of their whiskey's is called Uprising which is a stout beer turned into a single malt whiskey. They also make Battle Cry which is a Belgian beer turned whiskey.

They also do seasonal whiskeys like their pumpkin spice whiskey in the fall and an IPA whiskey in the summer. When he started everyone thought that he had no idea what he was doing but 15 gold medal winners and worlds best from Whiskey Magazine for the pumpkin spice. That distinction made them the first craft brewer to win that distinction.

When he returned from school in London he trained with the master distiller from Makers Mark. While there he learned all the tricks of bourbon makers. He choose to do it a little differently to produce a smoother products. They start at the mash lauder ton using a darker roast barley. Next they move to the mash to the fermenters where they are temperature controlled. topping out at 70-75 degrees for 2 weeks. That gives them a better flavor. They focus on the flavors instead of volume. Most have a three day fermentation cycle.

There are one of two distillers that temperature control. Next they move to the still which they use 250 gallon Vendome stills. they strip the beer to 30% alcohol and then double distill to only 120 proof. that keeps the product clean but flavorful. Each time you distill you are cleaning out a lot more of the product. anything to 190 proof is vodka. 1,000 gallons of beer yields 90 gallons of whiskey.

In their spirit safe there is three compartments where they remove the heads and tails keeping just the hearts. The heads and tails should not be consumed. He trusts his pallet versus testing the product. He said that the heads taste like jolly rancher green apple notes and when that dissipates then he cuts to the hearts. When the product becomes oily then he cuts again to remove the tails.

Then they barrel the products into fired oak barrels. That helps them add more complexity to their product. He also showed us how they can use the same still to make vodka.

After learning the process we moved onto the bar where we tried four different whiskey's. We tried Uprising and Battle Cry as well as their two seasonal whiskey's Pumpkin Spice and their Summer Seasonal. Then we sampled three of their vodkas. Plain, Vanilla and Mint Cucumber. I enjoyed the vanilla and mint cucumber.

I will be honest that whiskey isn't really my thing and I found most of them very harsh and bitter. This isn't specific to Sons Of Liberty as I feel this way about all whiskey. I will admit that I did enjoy their beer's I loved the brewed Battle Cry Beer. On our way out I picked up one of their cool t-shirts and Dan picked up a bottle of Battle Cry for his father. Grace like me got a t-shirt.