Image by @dso.m42
Such an incredible image of the moon shadowing the sun.
breathe
Image: Breathe by Yoko Ono
Some wisdom about life from Yoko Ono: “When people ask me what the most important thing is in life, I answer: Just breathe.”
hangin' with the hippo
Artwork: From exhibition Allora & Calzadilla, Fundació Antoni Tàpies museum, Barcelona, 2018
Just hangin' with the hippo...
Hippo featured in the exhibition Allora & Calzadilla at Fundació Antoni Tàpies museum, Barcelona, on until 20 May 2018.
amnesiac
Gearing up to write. Trying to reset my brain/mood with some music. First song that came on—Radiohead's Amazing Sounds of Orgy from their album, Amnesiac (Deluxe version). Check it out.
i see you, you see me
Artwork: Wall mural by @cyrcle, Los Angeles, California, USA, 2017
Great mural created by cyrcle (The Dougs, @cyrcle) in Los Angeles, California, USA, (2017):
“I See You I Am You We Are One”
“You See Me You Are Me We Are Free”
black balloons
When two becomes one...
Lithuanian artist, Tadao Cern's (Tadas Cerniauskas) Black Balloons in a glass tank (2016).
cool angel
This popped out at me while I was walking around Melbourne's CBD yesterday: @kambeeno's paste-up of a very cool, happy and zoned-out angel.
your dinosaur
Image: photo by @kambeeno
Some great advice: NEVER LOSE YOUR DINOSAUR!
DO
Image: From the Lewitt Collection via www.brainpickings.org
Seems that American artist, Sol Lewitt, was way ahead of Nike and their slogan “Just do it”. In this fabulous letter written in 1965 to artist, Eva Hesse, who was obviously going through tremendous doubt about her work, and possibly life, he tells her to cut through the crap and “DO”!
Here's an excerpt:
“Try and tickle something inside you, your ‘weird humor.’ You belong in the most secret part of you. Don’t worry about cool, make your own uncool. Make your own, your own world. If you fear, make it work for you—draw & paint your fear & anxiety. And stop worrying about big, deep things such as ‘to decide on a purpose and way of life, a consistant [sic] approach to even some impossible end or even an imagined end.’ You must practice being stupid, dumb, unthinking, empty. Then you will be able to
DO
I have much confidence in you and even though you are tormenting yourself, the work you do is very good. Try to do some BAD work—the worst you can think of and see what happens but mainly relax and let everything go to hell—you are not responsible for the world—you are only responsible for your work—so DO IT. And don’t think that your work has to conform to any preconceived form, idea or flavor. It can be anything you want it to be. But if life would be easier for you if you stopped working—then stop. Don’t punish yourself. However, I think that it is so deeply engrained in you that it would be easier to
DO”
what matters
Every day I'm reminded of what matters. I wear my Lise Vanrycke “Love” bracelet 24/7. It's a bit battered, but it's always there on my wrist so I never forget what's important.
The cuff I also wear most days, and for ages I thought the matrixy-glyphs were just a pattern until my friend, Hanna, pointed out they were Chinese characters! She made out “truth”, “love” and “know”, and I was so intrigued, I contacted the jeweller, Camilla Gough, and asked for the full text. She replied that she'd lifted the text from a Chinese newspaper and was simply relieved to know she hadn't inscribed the recipe for two-minute noodles on my bracelet!
little fang
Occasionally great oddball stuff crops up on IG, like French band, Dionysos' album cover, Vampire En Pyjama. I went in search of the album and sadly, the music did nothing for me, but the visual of a lone vamp brooding in his abode and wearing his jammies definitely made up for it.
But it did bring to mind a song by Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks—Little Fang. This wonderfully wonky song is about the journeys of a cat vampire called, Little Fang. It’s kind of nuts (the video is bonkers). Enjoy!
unexpected
Artwork: by @phlegm_art
So, I was walking down Chapel Street the other day (probably one of my least favourite streets in Melbourne), and halfway between the fashionista and the grunge end, I happened to look up and saw this: a pretty remarkable artwork by @phlegm_art.
grow new thoughts
Artist Sean Yoro's—aka the hula (@the_hula)—new mural was created in a burnt forest in the US that had recently been devastated by wildfires. He was inspired by, “the need to grow new thoughts on preserving and protecting our lands.”
le guin
It's Virginia Woolf's birthday today and Ursula Le Guin recently passed away. Such literary greats. Just last week I was thinking about re-reading Le Guin's novel, Lavinia. A retelling of Virgil's Aeneid from the perspective of Lavinia, the daughter of King Latinus and Queen Amata, and the future bride of Turnus, who never once speaks in the original tale, but in Le Guin's book, is given her own voice.
Here's Le Guin's view on being called a “science fiction” writer, and about the genre in general:
“I don't think science fiction is a very good name for it, but it's the name that we've got. It is different from other kinds of writing, I suppose, so it deserves a name of its own. But where I can get prickly and combative is if I'm just called a sci-fi writer. I'm not. I'm a novelist and poet. Don't shove me into your damn pigeonhole, where I don't fit, because I'm all over. My tentacles are coming out of the pigeonhole in all directions.”
(The Paris Review, 'Art of Fiction no. 221')
angel
Angel is one of my favourite tracks from Massive Attack's brilliant album, Mezzanine. Disquieting, shadowy and beautiful. Check it out.
A Yoshitomo Nara Day
Yep, this about sums it up.
channel orange
Image: The alternative 'nostalgia' cover art for Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange
It's HOT. If I go outside I pretty much melt into a puddle. So, I've been holed up under the AC to work, while occasionally listening to one of my all-time favourite albums, Frank Ocean's Channel Orange. It continues to enthral—that voice!—with his compelling lyrical storytelling.
Ocean once said : “[Storytelling’s] the more interesting part about making music for me, or making albums and songs and stuff. So much so that I might not make another album. I might just write a novel next.”
He made that comment before the drop of his albums Blonde and Endless. I love the idea of him writing a novel and hopefully, more music. Here's a small taste: Sweet Life.
new moon
Image: photograph by @isaacexplores & featured on @universetoday
New moon today. Contemplating the cosmic, some wise words from Carl Sagan: “For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love”'
curiosity feeds imagination
Artwork: wall mural, Curiosity Feeds Imagination by @mantrarea, 2016
For book lovers, readers and dreamers, here’s this amazing wall titled, Curiosity Feeds Imagination by Mantra (@mantrarea), created for the Kufa Urban Art, Esch festival in 2016.
red thread
Artwork: Akiko Ikeuchi, Knotted Thread, 2011
Red: primary and primal.
The colour of blood; what’s basic to life. It’s a colour associated with passion, love, anger and pain. It’s chromatically intense and draws the eye whether you see it in nature or on the street.
Discovering the work of Japanese artist, Akiko Ikeuchi, what jumped out at me was her use of red thread. Some of her sculptural installations feature white or black thread, but it’s her red thread pieces that drew me in.
Artwork: detail of Akiko Ikeuchi, Knotted Thread, 2011
Using delicate silk thread, Ikeuchi meticulously plans her thread sculptures using 3-D modelling and knots them by hand. The construction is then anchored in space and oriented by geomagnetism: north, south, east and west. These webs have associations with natural phenomenon: whirlpools, hurricanes and galaxies. With the energies of life. Ikeuchi’s creations limn what is seen and unseen; what is tangible and intangible. The viewer engages with the piece through their very movements: the threads vibrate with the air, the changes of humidity, by breath.
Artwork: detail of Akiko Ikeuchi, Knotted Thread, 2011
In Ikeuchi’s words: “I am continuously trying to mediate something invisible, not easily visible in this world, which is mostly fragile.”
As for the colour red, what I found fascinating is the similarity with two other Asian artists I’ve written about in ‘Art Stories’, both featuring red thread in their art.
For Chiharu Shiota, the red thread is a symbol of connection, the “ocean of life”: “It’s like a red ocean you can see from the top. When people look in the space, they immediately can see the universe.” Specifically relating to her installation for the Japanese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, The Key in the Hand (2015), the threads signify the connection of humans throughout the world by red threads.
This is similar to Beili Lu’s Lure/Wave (2010) installation, except she’s referring to a specific Chinese folk legend, The Red Thread of Fate. It tells of how when children are born, invisible red threads connect them to their soul mates. Over the years, their lives become closer until they eventually find each other, overcoming social and physical divides that might otherwise separate them. This magical cord might stretch and tangle, but will never break. There's a comparable Japanese folk legend, but it extends to all relationships, whether friendships, family, or couples.
I’ve yet to unravel the significance of the red thread for Ikeuchi, but I have a feeling it stems from the life force of the energies she works with to create her exquisite art.