Buckminster Fuller at the Whitney

By a total fluke of timing, last night I got to go to the opening of Starting With the Universe, the Whitney retrospective of Buckminster Fuller's life and work. Holy shit! I mean, there were many neat things about the exhibit - getting to see the Dymaxion car in person, and one of the Dymaxion shelters set up. But even cooler? Checking out the crowd that shows up with earnest interest in the opening of a Bucky Fuller exhibit. Lots of long grey braids, one gentleman in a tinfoil crown. I highly recommend the exhibit if anybody is going to be in New York before mid September, when it closes. I'm always awestruck by looking at the work and thought process of obviously brilliant people, but the added bonus of Fuller's work is that even his sketches are just so pretty. I particularly enjoyed some of his non-technical color drawings, which reminded me a lot of my dad's doodlings. But that damn car gets me every time. 1933. Mr. Fuller was obviously deposited here by aliens, along with crystal skulls, to leave our puny civilization with knowledge that we could not fully understand or appreciate.