Driftwood has never looked so beautiful. The instillation “Beach Tangle” 2009, by Gordon Smith on display at the West Van Community Centre, highlights the beauty of collected flotsam and jetsam we take for granted along the west coast.
I was lucky to have witnessed the work of art in progress, to which many close friends brought over found objects for him to incorporate… amongst them a bright orange tire.
In situ at West Van Community Centre
Although technically a sculpture, it reads like one of his iconic painting, incorporating many layers of colour and texture. The tactile nature of this piece makes you wish you could run up and touch it, really inspect it.
It makes you wonder from where the wood drifted; either lost logs from a boom or broken branches from windstorms. Each piece has a story of its passage from the root of the forest to a beautiful work of art that showcases the next chapter in the life of a forest.
Tagging people in photos on Facebook is risky. If it is a good photo of you, you are pleased to be recognized, and if it is a terrible photo you might consider un-tagging yourself.
Thus when I was recently tagged in a photo of the Sydney Opera House in the background, and what looked like to me an infestation of shrimp I was bemused. Having never been to Australia, and not knowing what this photo was about, I needed to understand why this would be of interest to anyone.
What my research unearthed was that the infestation of shrimp was actually a sea of naked bodies lined up in front of the iconic Australian landmark, and was taken by New York photographer Spencer Tunick. As it turns out, this was the latest of his photos from his travels around the world, soliciting thousands of volunteers to pose nude on mass, early in the morning, in front of famous landmarks.
So is this art? Why would anyone want to see thousands of naked bodies outdoors in front of buildings or places of interest? After all it is illegal to be outdoors without clothes in many countries, and the photographer has been arrested many times for taking such photos. So why do artists continue to make art with naked bodies, and why do we continue to accept, appreciate and acknowledge them as art?
I believe it comes down to our humanistic questioning of the human form and it’s place in society. We walk around all day in our own flesh and bones and we all have flaws - things we would change about our bodies and things we hide with clothing, accessories and makeup.
What I find fascinating about these photos by Tunick, is that on mass we do not objectify or pick out the body flaws of the participants. Instead the viewer is asked to see how the colour and composition of many human forms together play with the landscape or architecture surrounding it. It shows the amazing juxtaposition between the softness of the human form against the harsh landscape. Thus the viewer can appreciate it as an art form and not feel uncomfortable with personal issues of body image.
Although I was not a willing participant in the actual photo at the Opera House, I am thankful for friends who introduce me to new images and ideas about art.
New York city has been on my mind a lot this week. It started while watching my new favorite show called "How to Make it in America" which is set in NYC and captures the raw desperation of breaking into a career in the Big Apple when I happened upon a link to "Every Painting in the MoMA on 10 April 2010".
Out of the many of works of art in this photo montage, every few seconds I am hit with an image that moved me to the core when I saw it in the flesh for the first time at the age of 18.
It is one thing to see reproductions of art in magazines, books and even prints, but it is quite another to see them up close. I will never forget coming within inches of the luscious texture on the canvas of “Starry Night” by Vincent VanGogh.
Coming face to face with a work of art that was made, touched and conjured up by creative marvels such as VanGogh, Picasso or Pollack is like no other experience; the likes of which often brings me to tears.
What moves me when visiting galleries such as the MoMA is that we get to experience and take in modern masterpieces that were not created with our viewing pleasure in mind, but yet we reap the visual benefits of their genius.
Original works of art should be seen up close.. but as I rarely get to New York, I will continue to visit with some of my favorite paintings through this video.
Walk through a park or to work in the lower mainland and you will most certainly be engaged in a dialogue with public art.
The Vancouver Biennale pursuing the theme of “in-TRANSIT-ion” started in 2009 and on until 2011 is an exhibition with an emphasis on physical movement of people and changing our societies view towards public art.
Photo by Danielle Dewonck
I remember the moment I first came across one of the sculptural pieces of the biennale, while working in Richmond before the Olympics. The buzz was that just outside the hotel was a giant reproduction of Lenin’s head with a tiny figure balanced with a high-wire walkers pole on top entitled “Miss Mao Trying to Poise Herself at the Top of Lenin’s Head” by Beijing artist brothers Zhen and Qiang Gao.
My initial reaction was one of astonishment that an art piece such as this would be placed in the epicenter of Asian culture in Richmond just before the Olympics; and that city officials would embrace starting such a conversation when under the spotlight on the world stage.
After visiting Beijing and the center of their art district called 789 just before the 2009 Summer Olympics, I was pleasantly surprised that many artists from China were producing politically charged and controversial art such as this and increasingly being recognized internationally for their artistic contributions.
If public art starts the conversation, I enlist you to seek out, enjoy and perhaps stop to questioning what story might it tell rather than simply whether you love it or hate it.
My excitement and anticipation in visiting the Rennie Collection at Wing Sang in Chinatown, comes close to stepping into the Guggenheim Museum in New York for the first time; I knew it would change my perception of how the history of architecture relates to showcasing art.
Bob Rennie’s reputation as an avid art collector and recently acquiring the Wing Sang building in Chinatown, has kept me keenly interested in seeing the outcome of the specific renovations created to house his real estate development offices and revolving art collection.
Previously only close art and business associates were given access to the site until this year, when it was decided to open the doors to the public on a small scale.
Entrance to the main gallery space at the Rennie Collection
As a privately funded space, visitors are asked not to take photos, but I couldn’t resist taking a few of the rooftop garden and the beautiful old walls of the original building he kept in tact.
The current show of American sculptural painter Richard Jackson, is thought provoking and well worth the visit, as you soak in the dialogue between preserving the history of Chinatown and showcasing how it can be transformed in a modern way.
A disturbing photograph has power. It draws the viewer in with its beauty and composition, and then repels you when you take in the graphic content.
Watching Charlie Rose I happened upon his interview with the editor of Time Magazine in regards to the very shocking new front cover photo of Aisha, an 18-year-old girl who under the Taliban regime, had both ears and nose cut off by her husband and brother in law.
This photograph holds so much weight in terms of how it portrays the political and social unrest in Afghanistan, and the inequality of the sexes. However what interests me is how the photographer has made the viewer feel about the subject matter.
What I find fascinating is that I first noticed how beautiful she was, how the composition and the colours of her clothing shape and accentuate her face. My eye was then drawn to her disfigurement, which is indeed shocking. It made me question why someone would want to destroy something so beautiful.
Powerful images such as these are what sell magazines, newspapers and art in galleries. What is it about images that shock and make us uneasy, that draws us in closer, and compels us to purchase them? I believe it is the storytelling behind them that intrigues us, and urges us to find out more about the artist and the subject matter. Like it or not, it starts the conversation.
Video of the photographer speaking about the photographs of Aisha (photo not available)
