Solstice 58.58°

The winter solstice this year was a doozy: a solar eclipse, new moon, solstice trifecta. It’s wonderful to know the days will be getting longer as the sun’s light becomes more prominent.

Flipping to the northern hemisphere, here’s a short film by director/photographer Lewis Arnold Solstice 58.58° documenting a trip made on the Summer Solstice exploring pertinent issues of sustainability, creativity, revolutionary surfboard designs and travel during these challenging times.

Set in northernmost Scotland the film features Easkey Britton, Sandy Kerr and Chris Noble musing on alternative ways to approach taking a journey “in search of pristine Atlantic waves and the liminal Solstice light.”

Lasco Project, Palais de Tokyo

Artwork: installation by JR and OSGEMEOS, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2016

Artist JR (@jr) posted this yesterday on IG, a timely reminder of a project he worked on with the Sao Paulo twins OSGEMEOS (Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo) in the tunnels under the Palais de Tokyo, Paris in 2016: 

Artwork: installation by JR and OSGEMEOS, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2016

 “4 years ago, with my brothers @osgemeos we did a very special project in the basement of the @palaisdetokyo #LascoProject@hugovitrani.

During Occupation (1940-1944), the basement of the Palais de Tokyo was requisitioned to store the 1200 pianos stolen by the Nazis to the Jews. Working on the walls and on memory, we used archive images, paintings, and drew candles on the ceilings. The pianos and the pianists came back. For security reasons, these pieces are not accessible to the public. They will stay forever on these walls and our memory.

Racism and antisemitism kill. We must refuse them.”

noughts & crosses

Recently I discovered Malorie Blackman’s YA series, Noughts & Crosses. First by watching the BBC adaptation of the books, which is excellent, then, I began reading the books (and I’m hooked!).

Bringing into razor sharp focus the corrosiveness of racism and prejudice, Blackman reverses the racial hierarchy where Blacks (Crosses) dominate Whites (noughts) to emphasise how discrimination based on skin colour infects all aspects of life, including love.

Here’s a précis from Malorie Blackman’s website:

“A Book of Love

‘Life is meaningless only if we allow it to be. Each of us has the power to give life meaning, to make out time and our bodies and our words into instruments of love and hope.’

‘Why love if losing hurts so much? We love to know that we are not alone.’

‘Radical superiority is a mere pigment of the imagination.’

Sephy is a Cross – a member of the dark-skinned ruling class. Callum is a nought – a ‘colourless’ member of the underclass who were once slaves to the Crosses. The two have been friends since early childhood. But that’s as far as it can go. Until the first steps are taken towards more social equality and a limited number of Noughts are allowed into Cross schools… Against a background of prejudice and distrust, intensely highlighted by violent terrorist activity by Noughts, a romance builds between Sephy and Callum – a romance that is to lead both of them into terrible danger…”

(www.malorieblackman.co.uk)

the planet needs...

Truth ❤️

Image: Words by David W Orr, mural by @creativaty

soft & lovely

Artwork: Jenny Holzer from Survival series, San Francisco, 1987

“Turn soft & lovely anytime you have a chance”

Jenny Holzer’s truism from her Survival series (1987, San Francisco) seems an appropriate reminder for navigating life with grace, even during difficult times.

However, there’s always a dark undercurrent to Holzer’s work that layers the truism’s message, in this case the message has been interpreted as referring to women through time being encouraged to be deferential and obliging in their behaviour, often simply to survive, instead of being vocal and strident. The double edge meaning can also be a sign for balance—that both softness and stridency is equally effective when the situation calls for it.

Today, I see it as a sign for kindness, to oneself and others. Any chance you get.

normal/not normal

Image: by Sonya Renee Taylor (source: @yashayoungprojects)

What’s normal?

Seems like the right time to reflect on how we might want to individually and collectively reshape a new way of inhabiting this beautiful planet.

vivus

“Vivus”— Latin for “alive” or “living”

The wonderful designers Vivienne Westwood and her partner Andreas Kronthaler recently celebrated Earth Day with a collaboration involving their fashion house with Canopy, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting old growth forests and wild life by drawing attention to the link between the clothing industry and the destruction of forests. The result is a poem “vivus” by artist and activist Aidan Zamiri celebrating the world’s forests while highlighting the connection of how they’re endangered by the fashion we consume. So, if you’ve ever wondered about the true cost of that humble basic T-shirt you’re wearing, check out Zamiri’s poignant spoken poem/performance. 

a velocity of being

Reading, writing, words, language, books, stories…they’re so much a part of my life it’s like breathing. Air. Oxygen. Necessary. Life-giving.

A Velocity of Being: Letters to a Young Reader is the labor of love of Maria Popova (check out her inspirational www.brainpickings.org) who compiled 121 original illustrations and letters for children from wonderful people from all walks of life about why we read and how books transform and shape our lives.

Here’s one letter from American writer Anne Lamott (whose book on writing Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life is fantastic):

“Hi You,

I really want you to hear what I am going to say, because I think it is the truth. Okay? I’ll make it fast.

If you love to read, or learn to love reading, you will have an amazing life. Period. Life will always have hardships, pressure, and incredibly annoying people, but books will make it all worthwhile. In books, you will find your North Star, and you will find you, which is why you are here.

Books are paper ships, to all the worlds, to ancient Egypt, outer space, eternity, into the childhood of your favorite musician, and — the most precious stunning journey of all — into your own heart, your own family, your own history and future and body.

Out of these flat almost two-dimensional boxes of paper will spring mountains, lions, concerts, galaxies, heroes. You will meet people who have been all but destroyed, who have risen up and will bring you with them. Books and stories are medicine, plaster casts for broken lives and hearts, slings for weakened spirits. And in reading, you will laugh harder than you ever imagined laughing, and this will be magic, heaven, and salvation. I promise.

Okay? Deal?

Love you,

Anne Lamott”

joie de vivre

Joy of Life. For anyone celebrating Easter—or not!—stay safe, healthy, hopeful and strong.

Artwork: A collab between @wrdsmth @ami_imaginaire_streetart & @polarbearstencils, Los Angeles, 2018

f major

Something beautiful. Something to imagine.

Polish pianist/composer Hania Rani’s video for her piece F Major from the forthcoming album Home is set in a stunning, wild Icelandic coastline. In our current locked-down lives—the sheer magic of music and dance merging with the elements of nature is freeing. Lets the mind fly. For a while.

the pandemic is a portal

Artwork: SETH (@seth_globepainter) and one of his rainbow portals

Author Arundhati Roy (The God of Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness) recently wrote an article in The Financial Times titled ‘The pandemic is a portal’ (read here). Amid the unfolding situation in her country, India, here’s an excerpt that resonates beyond borders:

“Whatever it is, coronavirus has made the mighty kneel and brought the world to a halt like nothing else could. Our minds are still racing back and forth, longing for a return to “normality”, trying to stitch our future to our past and refusing to acknowledge the rupture. But the rupture exists. And in the midst of this terrible despair, it offers us a chance to rethink the doomsday machine we have built for ourselves. Nothing could be worse than a return to normality. 

Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next. 

We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it.”

joy

Image: Subjoi EP Me & U (2020)

Definitely need more joy right now! Been listening to this a lot—Subjoi’s great track, Joy from their recently released EP Me & U (2020).

wait for it...

Artwork: @WRDSMTH

Street artist WRDSMTH created this paste-up reflecting on the current corona situation and it’s free to download at his website: https://www.wrdsmth.com.

#frommywindowframe

Image: JR in his window frame

Love this. Posted today by JR on IG about self-isolation and creative projects and opportunities.

“A few years ago, the Buddhist monk Mathieu Ricard showed me the book Motionless Journey with photos he took from his window while he was confined in Nepal during a yearlong retreat. It was amazing to see how many different perspectives you can have from a single small window to the outside world… In 2015, the work of the Japanese photographer Masahisa Fukase was presented during the Rencontres d’Arles: During 13 years, he took very moving photos of his wife Yoko from his window… In the film Smoke by Paul Auster (directed by Wayne Wang), Auggie takes the a photo every morning from the same corner. When he shows the 4’000 clichés to his friend, he reacts by saying that they are all the same. And Auggie replies “They're all the same, but each one is different from every other one.” Today, we are confined at home and we must make it a valuable experience. I have asked the students of the Kourtrajmé Photo School @ecolekourtrajme in Paris to do a photo from their confined place every day and to publish it with the hashtag #frommywindowframe 

Of course, everyone can participate …. Stay safe, stay home”

Day 1

Image: Day 1 by Marco Godhino (@marcogodhino24)

In response to self-isolation during the covid pandemic, Luxembourg based Portuguese artist Marco Godhino is creating a daily project on Instagram (@marcogodhino24). He’s up to Day 3.

Here’s Day 1.

uncertainty/hope

Image: from @studioolafureliasson

Hope within this space/time of uncertainty.

A quote from writer Rebecca Solnit via artist Olafur Eliasson from his studio’s research wall.

be safe

Artwork: close-up of street art by @pobel.no

Love in the time of Corona…

Keep safe and empathetic everyone! Amid the fear and anxiety, let’s try to help others who need it and share what we can. Be as healthy, compassionate and kind as possible.

And keep falling in love…(and maybe not watch that film Five Feet Apart or anything with “apocalypse” in the title!)

Bia underwater

I’ve always loved the original portrait of Bia de’ Medici by Agnolo Bronzino (1542) that this street artwork is based on. I especially love Joseph Cornell’s version as part of his Medici Slot Machine series (see my short story The Girl in the Box based on the work here).

But this takes it to another level! Created by Florence based street artist Blub (@blub_lartesanuotare) in Ravenna, Italy, it’s Bia underwater with scuba diving mask. It makes me smile.

Artwork: street art by Blub (@blub_lartesanuotare), Ravenna, Italy

people power

Sometimes people power wins against big oil and the politicians supporting the fossil fuel industry.

Norwegian oil company Equinor has pulled out of drilling in the Great Australian Bight.

This is a big win in Australia for environmentalists, indigenous peoples, local South Australian communities and industries, and anyone who loves nature. Such a beautiful, wild and pristine marine environment and whale breeding sanctuary has been saved. It’s been a long, ongoing protest for so many people. Late last year there was a collective sense of dread that drilling was inevitable given the current Coalition government’s support and the approval for the project by the national offshore petroleum watchdog NOPSEMA. There were still more hurdles for Equinor to jump and the Wilderness Society took legal action against NOPSEMA over their consulting (or lack of) process. But Equinor has bailed and there’s now a push to have the Great Australian Bight Marine Park placed on the World Heritage List.

An amazing win. And a HUGE relief.

no noise

A short meditation on the sea, winter and cold water surfing by director Andrew Kaineder in collaboration with Finisterre and featuring surfer, Noah Lane, No Noise (2019). Kind of a teaser for Kanieder’s feature length film, Beyond the Noise. Check it out.