ask ancient question,
Is everything OK or not?
and Trickster appears
photo and haiku by clinock.
Thanks and credit to unknown dumpster artists.
‘The 100′ series was initiated by my 100th Post in April 2012. As text and images are the essence of my blog my intention is to present 100 pieces of textual art from historical and contemporary artists and from my own hand. To view the series to date click on ‘The 100’ in my Category Menu.
Posted in Art, Photography, poetry, Street Art, Text and Art, The '100', The Inner Path
Tagged dichotomy, dualism, dumpster art, haiku, OK or not?, philosophy, The Trickster
who is this mystery
behind the weird
shaped window?
is she the artist
or the portrait?
why the incongruous
splodges of earth tones
and greens?
is that a cat
roughly made?
and what
oh what
is behind the curtains?
Poem and photo by clinock.
Looking, but not seeing
this leaping spring,
observed in surreal intensity
by the world
in your museum,
an incongruous anachronism
frozen in place and time,
stuffed stiff with allegiance
to moss covered empires,
your Freudian
hat and gun stand to,
but not with,
attention,
while across the street
cherry blossoms bloom
and all the human tribes
sing for peace.
Heroic statue, on guard
for the forgotten,
May the Fourth be with you.
Poem and photo by clinock. Vancouver street art by unknown stencil artist and taggers, with thanks.
‘The 100′ series was initiated by my 100th Post in April 2012. As text and images are the essence of my blog I will post 100 pieces of textual art from historical and contemporary artists and from my own hand. To view the series to date click on ‘The 100’ in my Category Menu.
So, Clinock, enough already with these Redux posts – when are you going to publish some new art? Well my friends – I’m working on it – not just for you but also for me, me, me (it’s all about me don’t ya know). I’ve been delightfully moodling – happily idling, dawdling and puttering.
This redux is from Mexico last year with strong connections to Easter which will be hatching for us all soon.
All photos by yo. Click on images for larger detail.
Spring 2012 – Hundreds of Indigenous dancers from across Mexico and from many tribes in North America recently gathered in the center of San Miguel De Allende to celebrate a local religious event connected to Easter festivities and ritual. When viewing the photos you can complete the picture by imagining the swirling movement of the dancers combined with the sensual intensity of the loudest drumming I have ever heard, the explosion of fireworks and the ringing of church bells.
This is an event that combines pre-Christian spring ritual with Catholic beliefs. J.C. (not me) is ever present but becomes a partner in the timeless dance of life.
I was blown away by the sensuality – sound, colour, movement, intensity and shared humanity of these dances. My Vancouver home has little to compare with these celebrations of new life – too much sangfroid in our northern climes.
The inclusion of animals in the dress of the dancers was a reminder of our sharing of this planet with all living creatures. In Mexican mythology and legend animals play a leading role. We are all animals – which one do you choose to be?
Sharing water – do you all grok this?
This weeks art and quote all tied in one. Found this quote from the tumblr of a lovely friend, felt it quite apropos in light of the coming Spring what with its age old theme of 'new beginnings.'
Another Vancouver Transit textural public art work. All details are on the yellow official description plaque below. Click to enlarge. What do you think?
‘The 100′ series was initiated by my 100th Post in April 2012. As text and images are the essence of my blog I will post 100 pieces of textual art from historical and contemporary artists and from my own hand. To view the series to date click on ‘The 100’ in my Category Menu.
On my way back from the dentist, located on Vancouver’s north shore, I came across this sculpture. And just when I thought I had exhausted all textual art in this city…
This stainless steel sculpture, titled: OVERFLOW IV is by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa and dated 2007.
I am showing three different angles and really enjoyed the see-through quality of the work – it was solidly present and yet it also tended to disappear or integrate with the sky, buildings, trees and traffic around it. I couldn’t detect any hidden messages in the letters, they are just letters although they also form the outer surface of a seated human figure.
I wondered how much of our perceived reality of ourselves and of the world consists of words (which consist of letters). Mostly we label things with words and symbols and move on. It is maybe only the artist and the poet who see beyond labels.
To see is to forget the name of the thing one sees. – Paul Valery
To define a thing is to substitute the definition for the thing itself. – Georges Braque
Zen is the madman yelling, “If you wanta tell me that the stars are not words, then stop calling them stars!” – Jack Kerouac
‘The 100′ series was initiated by my 100th Post in April 2012. As text and images are the essence of my blog I will post 100 pieces of textual art from historical and contemporary artists and from my own hand. To view the series to date click on ‘The 100’ in my Category Menu.
The Stop by Chinese artist Michael Zheng was installed in a local park (just realized the visual pun inherent in its setting) as part of Vancouver’s 2009-2011 Art Biennale. It was removed last year but I have just found the photographs. Delighted to find, I was, that it fit nicely into my Text in Art, ‘The 100′ series.
You can read the official blurb by enlarging this photo.
I passed this piece often because it was on my cycle route to art school. It became a familiar landmark for me and I always enjoyed its surreal and brightly incongruous location. I imagined children playing in the park on bicycles and tricycles using these signs in their games. I also loved watching people’s double takes as they passed by this installation. I liked that people who hadn’t seen this before did Stop to look.
We take such signs for granted but in many places in the world such signs don’t exist. In San Miguel De Allende, Mexico, where I go annually to paint, there are no Stop signs or traffic lights. Instead there are Tropes, giant speed bumps, or as we used to call them in England, ‘Sleeping Policemen.’ In the town they are known to be the place you cross the street, because the traffic has to slow down there. On the highways they act as speed regulators.
I don’t know about your city but here the everyday Stop sign on the street has become a ground for making political statements. Stickers or stencils are applied under the word ‘Stop’ to make a point. For instance: “Killing Whales” / “War” / “Homelessness” / “The 99%” etc, etc.
You can Stop reading now…
‘The 100′ series was initiated by my 100th Post in April 2012. As text and images are the essence of my blog my intention is to present 100 pieces of textual art from historical and contemporary artists and from my own hand. To view the series to date click on ‘The 100’ in my Category Menu
Another text-based public art project by BC Transit. Vancouver, Canada. I found these large poster style images outside and inside of the Broadway / City Hall Sky Train station.
Each image involves a figure seemingly entering a door. The figures are photographed from the rear to presumably ensure anonymity. The figures are overlaid with white text that reflects the hopes, fears, dreams etc of the person depicted. The format of the text is similar for each image and leads me to assume that all participants were asked the same questions. Based on the answers given I am led to believe that all participants are young people.
The following are all of the images shown presented in Gallery format. Click on thumbnails for larger image.
I like the content of the text, especially the dreams and fears and find the innocence of the responses extremely touching ; however, I am puzzled by the intent behind these confessional posters. Someone decided that this is an interesting idea for a public art project – I wish I had been a fly on the wall at those meetings. As a retired teacher of young people I am familiar and always fascinated by their hopes and dreams; however, I wonder how many of the general public share my interest. What do you think, dear readers, of this project – its mode of presentation and its intent?
‘The 100′ series was initiated by my 100th Post in April 2012. As text and images are the essence of my blog my intention is to present 100 pieces of textual art from historical and contemporary artists and from my own hand. To view the series to date click on ‘The 100’ in my Category Menu
This strange and incongruous wall relief and text that I photographed in Mexico reminds me of discussions with my past art history students about angels. When we explored the Renaissance I always asked them what sex they thought angels were. Most students believed that angels were male – the intellectuals of the class believed they were unisex or hermaphrodites. I also asked what they thought about the make up of angel wings, the nature of halos, where angels obtained their cool outfits and did they live in nests? Their ideas were legion and creative – in terms of wings (the other questions I might deal with in another post) students thought angel wings could be like bird wings OR be of an unspecified leather type substance like fantasy creatures such as flying dragons OR be custom made by Leonardo…
The Annunciation by Sandro Botticelli. c.1490
Even though quite non-angelic, the double ended wall relief shown above could symbolize the ambiguous nature of traditional angels. The concept of angels may be as fantastical as Hobbits or Alice’s grinning cat but we need to accept them as factual iconic participants in paintings of our cultural past.
The New Age and UFO movements have written volumes about El Angel but we all secretly have our own ideas. What do you think of when you think of angels?
The 100′ series was initiated by my 100th Post in April 2012. As text and images are the essence of my blog my intention is to present 100 pieces of textual art from historical and contemporary artists and from my own hand. To view the series to date click on ‘The 100’ in my Category Menu.
Posted in Art, Photography, Reflections on Art, Street Art, Text and Art, The '100'
Tagged angels, El Angel, Mexican wall art, Sandro Botticelli, what are angels?
