So I decided to play up the notion of dirty ice. Four images that I envision presented in the following manner. Definitely work viewing in full screen (in my opinion).
Month: January 2016
… on “thin ice”…
As many of you know visually, I “see” in abstract. It’s just the way my mind works. Some people see gorgeous sweeping mind altering landscapes but I like to get to the “nitty-gritty” of things. Looking at the common in a way that makes people stop, question, and consider what they are looking at and how they feel about it.
Abstraction is often confused with surrealism but it is not the same thing. Surrealism, in my opinion has more to do with pictorialism. Surrealism shows easily recognizable things in fantastical setting[s] setting up uncommon and at times illogical relationships. Abstraction on the other hand tends to zoom in on details to the point that the viewer is not sure what they are looking at. It purposefully alters either in presentation, or creative manipulates the subject to the point of no return focusing on shapes, lines, patterns and spaces which results in more of an emotional/psychological connection for the viewer. Even if the viewer dismisses the work as balderdash, crap, f’d up, worthless, pointless, etc, they still have had an emotional response to the work.
The two series I am posting today are examples of my abstract way of seeing nature. This latest project focuses on images from a frozen lake. This first series involves subtle manipulation of the image by increasing contrast, desaturating color etc. It consists of 6 images simply titled Lake Ice #1 – #6.
The second series is the result of trying to figure out what to do with the “bad photos” from that frozen adventure. I always try to salvage my so-called bad images. And that salvage process usually involves manipulating them to the point of oblivion. This series is titled LAKE ICE EXTREME #1-#9 and tells us some valuable things.
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There are more “bad” photos than good ones (that’s why there’s 9 in this series and only 6 in the previous series.)
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The acronym for this series is L.I.E. which basically says that what you are looking at is a lie of the mind caused by extreme manipulation of crop, color and exposure.
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While you may not recognize what you are seeing; I think we need to ask ourselves, “What is missing?”, “Does what’s missing matter?”, “Out of sight, out of mind?”, and “How does this increase or change our understanding of nature and the world around us?” And those are questions each individual has to answer for themselves.
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Other considerations are “Why square?” – I was able to crop out a lot of the unmanageable parts of the image and the square crop helps us center our focus (in this instance).
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Color is a tricky thing. If I’d left it natural they all would have been a dirty blue with some brownish tones and white. When I decided to change the color to make the image a little more disorienting I was surprised to find that each individual image had its color preference. For example if the image is green (as in #) it’s because that’s the only color that “felt” right. Honestly the red/purple/blue/yellow options just didn’t fit. I always find it amazing how once you get started the artwork seems to dictate it’s own color palette. I’m curious if painters and other artists feel the same.
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I also envision these 9 images displayed together in the following configuration.
(you can “right click” then open in a “new tab” to view larger versions of individual images for more details.)
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….on “equal”….
…..on new truisms…..
These two images are the latest installments in a series I started last year.
They will be part my new book called visual glossolalia 3: TRUISMS FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM ….. I’m also thinking about printing in greeting card format and mailing out randomly to people – just to make them think and keep guessing.
…on values…
… no answers…
I’m enjoying this series. I guess it could be called jarring cynical sarcasm to piss people off – LOL!!!!.
Most of the thoughts in this series are just random waking musings. For example; the first image was a realization that came to me when I heard people talking about values; promoting certain values but never practicing those values themselves.
The second image, “…no answers…” came to me at work (yesterday) as I realized that no one really has any “answers” any more. What I mean is that they have no idea how to fix something. They’re just guessing and trying different things in the blind hope that something will work. There’s no practical application based on knowledge. A bit like, with eyes closed, randomly tearing a page out of a book and saying, “Let’s try this.”
Yes, that is a stark criticism for corporate America – but since the shoe fits – they’ll have to wear it. And whether you agree or disagree it is something to think about.
….on something weird…..
Last night I dreamt in french
….Bowie WILL live forever….
….. on letting loose…..
… sometimes we need to just let loose and have some fun…..
…on sci-fi…
Lunar Lift:
An astro-phenomenological event that occurs once every 4 years in the Circinus System. The placement of the moon in conjunction with the sun and planet so that the gravity of the moon will “lift” the sun pulling it to an earlier sunrise.
In fact, a conjunction where the combined gravitational forces of moon and sun cause the sun to rise (up to 1 hr) earlier than normal. Usually during the month of January during the “new moon” phase of the lunar cycle. Often a faint impression of the moon will be seen simultaneously in the sky as the sun breaks over the horizon. This year it will occur on 1/10/16 (5:58am earth time).
Because of this disruption in the normal cycle it can lead to more solar activity like solar flares and eruptions. Can also lead to more environmental activity on the planet as the combined increase of gravitational pull can cause Tsunami’s & Tornado’s creating wind damage and flooding on the planet.
***** Okay, so that was a little fiction that came from a dream I had last night. Boy my dreams can be dangerous. LOL. Maybe it’s just some deep subconscious desire to see that which is deemed “lesser” to be more highly valued.
…..and now – what I’ve been listening to lately…..
…on Ingvar Cronhammar…
“Art begins where language stops.”
… on a 160 day special…
So, I’ve decided that 2016 will be special!
Special – for me at least – and I’m looking forward to what the year ahead holds; both good and bad.
What makes this year different?
Well this is the very first time, since I was born, that my birthday falls on the exact day of the week that I was born. I was born on the 160th day of the year, Wednesday, June 8, 1960. It was a “leap year” (like this year) and like this year my birthday falls on a Wednesday (hump day https://youtu.be/Vs5QJi-dX-4) as it did 56 years ago in fateful late spring day in 1960. with all that “alignment” it’s bound to be interesting and wonderful.
So, yes, I’m a little optimistic. 🙂
Some little known facts: about my birthday.
Mick Hucknall (a.k.a. Simply Red) was born the same day/year.
Also Norwegian Jazz bassist/composer Terje Gewelt was also born 6/8/1960
Although June 8, 1960 was quiet (relatively speaking – except for me screaming my lungs out for the first time) here are some events that happened on June 8 throughout history:
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68The Roman Senate proclaims Galba as emperor.632Muhammad, Islamic prophet, dies in Medina and is succeeded by Abu Bakr who becomes the first caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate.
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793Vikings raid the abbey at Lindisfarne in Northumbria, commonly accepted as the beginning of the Scandinavian invasion of England.
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1042Edward the Confessor becomes King of England, one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England.
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1191Richard I arrives in Acre (Palestine) dn date=September 2015 thus beginning his crusade.
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1776American Revolutionary War: Battle of Trois-Rivières: American attackers are driven back at Trois-Rivières, Quebec.
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1783Laki, a volcano in Iceland, begins an eight-month eruption which kills over 9,000 people and starts a seven-year famine.
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1789James Madison introduces twelve proposed amendments to the United States Constitution in the House of Representatives; by 1791, ten of them are ratified by the state legislatures and become the Bill of Rights; another is eventually ratified in 1992 to become the 27th Amendment.
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1794Robespierre inaugurates the French Revolution’s new state religion, the Cult of the Supreme Being, with large organized festivals all across France.
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1861American Civil War: Tennessee secedes from the Union.
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1862American Civil War: Battle of Cross Keys: Confederate forces under General Stonewall Jackson save the Army of Northern Virginia from a Union assault on the James Peninsula led by General George B. McClellan.
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1887Herman Hollerith applies for US patent #395,781 for the ‘Art of Compiling Statistics’, which was his punched card calculator.
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1906Theodore Roosevelt signs the Antiquities Act into law, authorizing the President to restrict the use of certain parcels of public land with historical or conservation value.
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1912Carl Laemmle incorporates Universal Pictures.
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1929Margaret Bondfield is appointed Minister of Labour. She is the first woman appointed to the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.
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1941World War II: Allies invade Syria and Lebanon.
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1942World War II: The Japanese imperial submarines I-21 and I-24 shell the Australian cities of Sydney and Newcastle.
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1948Milton Berle hosts the debut of Texaco Star Theater.
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1949The celebrities Helen Keller, Dorothy Parker, Danny Kaye, Fredric March, John Garfield, Paul Muni and Edward G. Robinson are named in an FBI report as Communist Party members.
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1949George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is published.
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1953An F5 tornado hits Beecher, Michigan, killing 116, injuring 844, and destroying 340 homes.
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1953The United States Supreme Court rules that restaurants in Washington, D.C., cannot refuse to serve black patrons.
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1959The USS Barbero and United States Postal Service attempt the delivery of mail via Missile Mail.
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1966Topeka, Kansas, is devastated by a tornado that registers as an “F5” on the Fujita scale: The first to exceed US$100 million in damages. Sixteen people are killed, hundreds more injured, and thousands of homes damaged or destroyed.
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1967Six-Day War: The Israeli army enters Hebron and the Cave of the Patriarchs.
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1968Robert F. Kennedy’s funeral takes place at the St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.
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1972Vietnam War: Nine-year-old Phan Thị Kim Phúc is burned by napalm, an event captured by Associated Press photographer Nick Ut moments later while the young girl is seen running down a road, in what would become an iconic, Pulitzer Prize-winning photo.
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1984Homosexuality is declared legal in the Australian state of New South Wales.
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1987New Zealand’s Labour government establishes a national nuclear-free zone under the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987.
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1992The first World Ocean Day is celebrated, coinciding with the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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2004The first Venus Transit in modern history takes place, the previous one being in 1882.
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2007Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, is hit by the State’s worst storms and flooding in 30 years resulting in the death of nine people and the grounding of a trade ship, the MV Pasha Bulker.
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2009Two American journalists are found guilty of illegally entering North Korea and sentenced to 12 years of penal labour.
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2013The Wedding of Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Christopher O’Neill takes place in Stockholm, Sweden.
Other fun facts:
My birthday numbers 6, 8 and 1960 reveal that my Life Path number is 3. It represents vision, imagination and joy of living. It says I possess a great talent for creativity and self expression. (also explains my HUGE interest in music, film & art)
The zodiac sign of a person born on June 8 is Gemini ♊. According to the ancient art of Chinese astrology (or Chinese zodiac), Rat is the mythical animal and Metal is the element of a person born on June 8, 1960.
The number-one hit song in the U.S. at the day of your birth was Cathy’s Clown by The Everly Brothers as compiled by Billboard Hot 100 (June 13, 1960).
Pearl is the modern birthstone for the month of June while Moonstone is the mystical birth stone (based on Tibetan origin). The zodiac gemstone for Gemini is agate. Lastly, the birthday stone for the day of the week ‘Wednesday’ is amethyst.
Other people born on June 8 (not 1960) in history:
Bob Scaggs, Julianna Margulies, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Kathy Baker, Bonnie Tyler, Griffin Dunne, Sônia Braga, Annie Haslam, Sara Paretsky, Tim Berners-Lee, Joan Rivers, Nancy Sinatra, Chuck Negron, Andrew Weil, Francis Crick, Robert Preston, Tomaso Albinoni, Emperor Xizong of Tang, Robert Schumann, John Everett Millais, Barbara Bush, Frank Lloyd Wright
As i said at the beginning “So, yes, I’m a little optimistic. :-)”
… on nirvana/heaven…
The Kingdom of Heaven is near. ~ Jesus Christ [Matthew 10:7]
This is Nirvana
We do not see that our life right here, right now, is nirvana. Maybe we think that nirvana is a place where there are no problems, no more delusions. Maybe we think nirvana is something very beautiful, something unattainable. We always think nirvana is something very different from our own life.
—Maezumi Roshi, “Appreciate Your Life”
... on being and becoming ... 