Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
[caption id="attachment_10555" align="alignnone" width="497"]
How he rolls. Looks like Hansen's statue is about to run the barricade.[/caption]
As I rode west along 10th Avenue I happened to spy a big hunk of something behind barricades and yellow caution tape in the little parking lot beside the Blusson Spinal Cord Centre. It was a very impressive statue of the famous wheelchair athlete Rick Hansen.
This was not a new statue; it had previously been featured on the grounds of Rogers Arena in downtown Vancouver. I had no idea why it was parked here, but here it was in stall 2524.
The larger-than-life size granite sculpture was carved by sculptor Bill Koochin in 1997 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the completion of Rick Hansen's Man in Motion World Tour.
How he rolls. Looks like Hansen's statue is about to run the barricade.[/caption]As I rode west along 10th Avenue I happened to spy a big hunk of something behind barricades and yellow caution tape in the little parking lot beside the Blusson Spinal Cord Centre. It was a very impressive statue of the famous wheelchair athlete Rick Hansen.
This was not a new statue; it had previously been featured on the grounds of Rogers Arena in downtown Vancouver. I had no idea why it was parked here, but here it was in stall 2524.
The larger-than-life size granite sculpture was carved by sculptor Bill Koochin in 1997 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the completion of Rick Hansen's Man in Motion World Tour.
[caption id="attachment_10409" align="alignnone" width="497"]
Not quite the cat's meow, but I respect the thought that goes into any stencil graffiti.[/caption]
Yesterday I saw another version of the stencil graffiti of the Cat on a Pedestal, this time in on the edge of the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood.
I was making the first leg of my journey westwards from the bottle depot through the alley on the north side of West Broadway Avenue. It was in that lane, west of Columbia Street, that I saw the cat. I'm quite sure it wasn't there even a few days ago.
Not quite the cat's meow, but I respect the thought that goes into any stencil graffiti.[/caption]Yesterday I saw another version of the stencil graffiti of the Cat on a Pedestal, this time in on the edge of the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood.
I was making the first leg of my journey westwards from the bottle depot through the alley on the north side of West Broadway Avenue. It was in that lane, west of Columbia Street, that I saw the cat. I'm quite sure it wasn't there even a few days ago.
[caption id="attachment_10201" align="alignnone" width="497"]
The Lovers II by Gerhard Juchum, a 1973 sculpture in concrete on the grounds of City Hall.[/caption]
As I was passing City Hall on Friday, on the Cambie Street side, I glanced eastwards over the grounds and spied these two naked guys in close embrace. My first thought naturally was that they must have been freezing their, ba... um, tuckuses off.
On closer inspection the duo turned out to be a sculpture. According to a plaque affixed to the base, it's called "The Lovers" by Gerhard Juchum. And the pair wasn't entirely naked; they were partially covered by dirt and moss.
The Lovers II by Gerhard Juchum, a 1973 sculpture in concrete on the grounds of City Hall.[/caption]As I was passing City Hall on Friday, on the Cambie Street side, I glanced eastwards over the grounds and spied these two naked guys in close embrace. My first thought naturally was that they must have been freezing their, ba... um, tuckuses off.
On closer inspection the duo turned out to be a sculpture. According to a plaque affixed to the base, it's called "The Lovers" by Gerhard Juchum. And the pair wasn't entirely naked; they were partially covered by dirt and moss.
Notice how outside the picture frame it's just a photo of a back alley but inside the picture frame it's a Photo of a Back Alley! Definitely should've kept the frame.
This architectural detail -- three rings and a cube on a stick -- crowns a little shopping plaza on the south side of West Broadway Avenue just a block east of Oak Street.
These kinds of decorative doo-dads appeared on a few 1990s-era buildings -- not all of them, just a select few. They look pointless now but just wait until the alien invasion Click the images to enlarge them.
What are we disposed to think this might be? Creative personal expression; grade school assignment worth a C-plus, or perhaps a kind of memento mori? I can't decide. The only thing I can say for sure is... it's a piece of garbage, and I mean that literally. Click the image to enlarge it.
When I first thought of taking a photo of the above tree in Mount Pleasant today it was because I liked the upside-down "paint drips" of the thin vertical branches. Then a completely different idea came to me.
I considered how similar the photo would be to a prehistoric fossil.
The photo is created in a moment using a "cheese slice" of light and the fossil requires millions of years in a geological sandwich press to come to us as it does. The photo, depending on technology, is either particles of silver nitrate on a medium like paper or it's... complicated to explain. The fossil is made of minerals.
Neither are any more than a delimited representation of the original thing. Both the photo and the fossil are dead, flat representations of things that only live in three-dimensions. They are each stripped of significant amounts of important information. Through completely different means they have both been crushed flat.
[caption id="attachment_9785" align="alignnone" width="497"]
Artist representation of unveiling with dignitaries and Harper government officials.[/caption]
The news on Friday that a giant slab of granite sits idle in a Gatineau Hills barn while Vancouver's new condo kitchen counter tops go begging was frankly irksome to me.
The granite was meant for a statue of the late Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. However the drive to memorialize the politician who repatriated the Canadian Constitution and gave us the Charter of Rights and Freedoms ran out of gas somewhere between now and the year 2000.
After his death that year, a "Trudeau Sculpture Committee" was formed, granted charitable status and duly commissioned sculptor John Batten. He in turn came up with a design approved by the Trudeau family and land was set aside in the former City of Nepean overlooking the Ottawa River at a spot that, according to the Ottawa Citizen, Justin Trudeau had described as perfect.
A 29-tonne slab of Canadian Shield granite was harvested deep in Vermont, then hauled to John Batten's barn in the Gatineau Hills area outside Ottawa, the capital of Canada in the province of Ontario.
All these many years later that slab is still sitting in the barn. It's disappointing.
Artist representation of unveiling with dignitaries and Harper government officials.[/caption]The news on Friday that a giant slab of granite sits idle in a Gatineau Hills barn while Vancouver's new condo kitchen counter tops go begging was frankly irksome to me.
The granite was meant for a statue of the late Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. However the drive to memorialize the politician who repatriated the Canadian Constitution and gave us the Charter of Rights and Freedoms ran out of gas somewhere between now and the year 2000.
After his death that year, a "Trudeau Sculpture Committee" was formed, granted charitable status and duly commissioned sculptor John Batten. He in turn came up with a design approved by the Trudeau family and land was set aside in the former City of Nepean overlooking the Ottawa River at a spot that, according to the Ottawa Citizen, Justin Trudeau had described as perfect.
A 29-tonne slab of Canadian Shield granite was harvested deep in Vermont, then hauled to John Batten's barn in the Gatineau Hills area outside Ottawa, the capital of Canada in the province of Ontario.
All these many years later that slab is still sitting in the barn. It's disappointing.
[caption id="attachment_9760" align="alignnone" width="497"]
Zo you dreamt your mothzer vas a trapeze artiste? Zas ist very intervestink.[/caption]
It has been said there's a fine line between art and madness but there are no fine lines in this art at all. This looks more like therapy than art to me; like someone had to get something out of their system -- fast. Nice of them to share. Click the image to enlarge.
Zo you dreamt your mothzer vas a trapeze artiste? Zas ist very intervestink.[/caption]It has been said there's a fine line between art and madness but there are no fine lines in this art at all. This looks more like therapy than art to me; like someone had to get something out of their system -- fast. Nice of them to share. Click the image to enlarge.
[caption id="attachment_9675" align="alignnone" width="497"]
Using a power washer and a stencil is a common way to "clean" a message onto a sidewalk.[/caption]
Reverse graffiti is one of the favourite techniques of a new generation of marketing firms using "natural media" techniques to catch the attention of young, media-savvy people. It's eye-catching, cheap, and non-permanent. But, as far as the City of Vancouver is concerned, it's still graffiti, and it's illegal.
Graffiti tagging is usually done using spraypaint or markers -- paint or ink is added to a surface. Reverse graffiti on the other hand -- or "clean graffiti" -- is a way of tagging a message by "cleaning it" onto a surface, using a power washer, or cleaning chemicals, or something even simpler.
If you've ever seen a really neglected car and given in to the temptation to use your finger to write "Clean Me" on the dirty windshield then you've indulged in reverse graffiti.
Using a power washer and a stencil is a common way to "clean" a message onto a sidewalk.[/caption]Reverse graffiti is one of the favourite techniques of a new generation of marketing firms using "natural media" techniques to catch the attention of young, media-savvy people. It's eye-catching, cheap, and non-permanent. But, as far as the City of Vancouver is concerned, it's still graffiti, and it's illegal.
Graffiti tagging is usually done using spraypaint or markers -- paint or ink is added to a surface. Reverse graffiti on the other hand -- or "clean graffiti" -- is a way of tagging a message by "cleaning it" onto a surface, using a power washer, or cleaning chemicals, or something even simpler.
If you've ever seen a really neglected car and given in to the temptation to use your finger to write "Clean Me" on the dirty windshield then you've indulged in reverse graffiti.
[caption id="attachment_8891" align="alignnone" width="497"]
This fills me with Christmas cheer! Thanks for being open Waves.[/caption]
I woke up this Christmas morning refreshed but a bit disappointed. I slept like a lamb but, sadly, still no pony from Santa. Oh well, perhaps he can't deliver to parkades. And Santa would be pretty law-abiding -- I bet Vancouver has rules about that sort of thing: chickens yes; ponies no.
The Waves Coffee House on Broadway Avenue at Spruce Street was open -- the Blenz at Broadway and Granville Street was open also, but I'm monogamous by nature when it comes to my love affair with coffee.
Not only did Waves barista Eun-Hye deliver up a real "White Christmas" dark mocha but her counter mate, who declines the stardom which comes from being named on this blog, gave me both a big heart-fluttering smile and a cute little bobble-headed giraffe from her native Mexico.
I wasn't aware they had giraffes in Mexico, but I know they have one less now.
Does anyone remember the flocked bobble-head or "nodder" dogs that were a popular fixture on the "dash" of car back windows some some 40-years-ago?
Those were only slightly less surreal than the 1980s Christmas duet between Bing Crosby and David Bowie playing over the sound system as I polish off my dark mocha and this post. Click the top image to enlarge it.
[caption id="attachment_8890" align="alignnone" width="497"]
Are you hungry? No? Do you need to go potty? No? What is it then?[/caption]
This fills me with Christmas cheer! Thanks for being open Waves.[/caption]I woke up this Christmas morning refreshed but a bit disappointed. I slept like a lamb but, sadly, still no pony from Santa. Oh well, perhaps he can't deliver to parkades. And Santa would be pretty law-abiding -- I bet Vancouver has rules about that sort of thing: chickens yes; ponies no.
The Waves Coffee House on Broadway Avenue at Spruce Street was open -- the Blenz at Broadway and Granville Street was open also, but I'm monogamous by nature when it comes to my love affair with coffee.
Not only did Waves barista Eun-Hye deliver up a real "White Christmas" dark mocha but her counter mate, who declines the stardom which comes from being named on this blog, gave me both a big heart-fluttering smile and a cute little bobble-headed giraffe from her native Mexico.
I wasn't aware they had giraffes in Mexico, but I know they have one less now.
Does anyone remember the flocked bobble-head or "nodder" dogs that were a popular fixture on the "dash" of car back windows some some 40-years-ago?
Those were only slightly less surreal than the 1980s Christmas duet between Bing Crosby and David Bowie playing over the sound system as I polish off my dark mocha and this post. Click the top image to enlarge it.
[caption id="attachment_8890" align="alignnone" width="497"]
Are you hungry? No? Do you need to go potty? No? What is it then?[/caption]
All the really big trees were gone; I was lucky to get this one. At least it'll be easy to recycle. Click the image to enlarge.
My friend Kent Crawford has finished his painting of Routeburn Creek on the Routeburn Track, Southland, New Zealand -- I've followed it's progress in two previous posts: October, and November 2013.
At right is the 6" by 9" sketch Kent did in New Zealand back in April. Below is the finished painting. Click the images to enlarge them.
At first glance some of the contents of this paper recycling bin looked mildly alarming to me, but what do I know, I'm not a child psychologist. Click the images to enlarge them.
[caption id="attachment_8316" align="aligncenter" width="398"]
Strangely awesome or awesomely strange.[/caption][caption id="attachment_8317" align="aligncenter" width="278"]
Bad Kitty?[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_8284" align="alignnone" width="497"]
Billy has to work at what some binners do without trying: making a mess.[/caption]
Paper and books strewn all over the place. Was it bookish crows? Did some dumpster diver do that? Wait a minute... that's suspiciously clean garbage. Is that a mess or an art installation?
Billy has to work at what some binners do without trying: making a mess.[/caption]Paper and books strewn all over the place. Was it bookish crows? Did some dumpster diver do that? Wait a minute... that's suspiciously clean garbage. Is that a mess or an art installation?
Here's a wonderful chalk drawing seen in a Fairview alley yesterday afternoon. We'll never know exactly what the artist had in mind but we can guess. Click the images to enlarge them.
Shiny! Metal has always been prized for it's perfection of form. Even better than glass and fire, metal combines otherworldly shine and smoothness with strength and durability. Gold is the most magical of all because it never rusts. It corrupts but is never corrupted. And yet, someone threw this away!
[caption id="attachment_7778" align="alignnone" width="497"]
Nature is awesome. Soon as natural coffee shop formations are discovered, I'm there.[/caption]
It took nature much longer to create Routeburn Creek in New Zealand than it's taking my friend Kent to paint it, but then nature was probably being paid by the hour. All Kent is being paid is a visit -- by me, but that's priceless right?
It's been about a month-and-a-half since I last visited the painting, and it's painter. Now he seems to be laying in the devilishly fine detail which I find so interesting about his style. Click the image to enlarge it.
It's been
Nature is awesome. Soon as natural coffee shop formations are discovered, I'm there.[/caption]It took nature much longer to create Routeburn Creek in New Zealand than it's taking my friend Kent to paint it, but then nature was probably being paid by the hour. All Kent is being paid is a visit -- by me, but that's priceless right?
It's been about a month-and-a-half since I last visited the painting, and it's painter. Now he seems to be laying in the devilishly fine detail which I find so interesting about his style. Click the image to enlarge it.
It's been
[caption id="attachment_7624" align="alignnone" width="497"]
It's unsightly, but the building did it on purpose.[/caption]
The job a building in Fairview recently did labeling their brand new Vancouver grey garbage bins brought to mind Lululemon founder Chip Wilson paying taggers to tag, oops, paint a mural on the seawall of his Kitsilano property.
I agree there are times when it makes sense to hire a real graffiti tagger. This building would have been better off hiring one to label their building's bins. A tagger would've known when and how to to use a a spray can, or a metallic marker. The result would be as clean and legible as they wanted it to be, unlike the uncontrolled mess the building made.
It's unsightly, but the building did it on purpose.[/caption]The job a building in Fairview recently did labeling their brand new Vancouver grey garbage bins brought to mind Lululemon founder Chip Wilson paying taggers to tag, oops, paint a mural on the seawall of his Kitsilano property.
I agree there are times when it makes sense to hire a real graffiti tagger. This building would have been better off hiring one to label their building's bins. A tagger would've known when and how to to use a a spray can, or a metallic marker. The result would be as clean and legible as they wanted it to be, unlike the uncontrolled mess the building made.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)