Lockdown life…
Sky Room
Artwork: Elvio Chiricozzi, Sky Room (La Stanza del Cielo), 2103, Castello di Rivara, Torino (mixer media on wood); Photo: Sveva Angeletti
Elvio Chiricozzi’s installation at Castello di Rivara in Torino, Sky Room (La Stanza del Cielo), 2103, is wondrous. The artist who employs a meticulous rendering of natural elements has brought the clouds, the sky, to earth. The natural elements are a metaphor for Chiricozzi into the state of being. Clouds—effervescent, changing, vaporous, compelling—and in Chiricozzi’s installation, poetic and philosophical, both subtle and powerful. Beneath our feet, reverie is not simply inspired by looking up at the sky, at a distance, it is within our reach, more tangible, more real.
The video directed by Sveva Angeletti is a riveting documentation of the installation process.
Banksy's Spraycation
Banksy at his satirical best, The Great British Spraycation (2021). Enjoy!
never without his mask
Artwork: Seth, Never without his mask, St-Pierre at La Réunion, 2021.
Wonderful recent mural from Seth, Never without his mask, that’s part of his upcoming exhibition, L’ile aux marmailles at Galerie Very Yes in St-Pierre at La Réunion. It resonates as we’re currently in lockdown #WTF in Melbourne, and it’s masks everywhere, curfews etc. Ugh. But the sun is out and spring is nearly here and that makes me happy. I’m writing a timely story called Ghost Girl about a late-teen vampire skater girl during the worst Melbourne lockdown last winter and I’m loving it! Also reading Robert Jordan’s epic fantasy Wheel of Time, which is coming out as a TV series in November and I have no idea if I can get through the 14 books by then! Art, music, nature, stories—it’s what I love and what’s got me through this freaking crazy time we’re in. Have a great day!
the world in our hands
Artwork: Mural by Rocket01 (@rocket01.co.uk), Lisbon, 2021
I’m tired of being bludgeoned by the toxic stew of an endless MSM cycle spinning the same things, centred on fear and negativity—covid, climate, whatever— that’s not helpful. I’d like to see what’s possible and positive and good for a change. Which is why I’ve posted this gorgeous mural by street artist Rocket01, The world in our hands. Because it is. And this world, the natural world and its creatures, is beautiful and precious. So, today if you can, get close to nature, be in it, look at images of it—whatever!—just appreciate it. And imagine a world which we’re helping to nurture—a happier and healthier world.
create
Artwork: Paste-Up by WRDSMTH, create, Cleveland Institute of Art, 2021
Another great paste-up by WRDSMTH in Cleveland. And pretty good advice.
Arise Sun
Here’s a dreamy, dreamy new song from Robert Levon Been from BRMC (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club—love these guys!), Arise Sun. It’s from a film score Robert worked on last year with Paul Schrader for his upcoming film The Card Counter, coming out September 10th.
And lockdown ends tonight!!! Woohooo! 😊
Jackie
It’s lockdown in Melbourne again! Been listening to Yves Tumor’s great new EP, Asymptotical World. Got the track Jackie on repeat. Check it out!
key to the sky
Artwork: Mural by Seth (@seth_globepainter), “Courant d’air” Altkirch, Alsace, France, 2021
Magical. Seth’s recent mural “Courant d’air” (Current of air) in Altkirch, Alsace, France. Imagine being given a key to the sky!
Anything is possible.
a reminder
Artwork: by @adidafallenangel
This resonates.
Street artist @adidafallenangel wrote about rejection today on IG and why he makes art:
“I make art because it’s like air to me, I simply could not exist without it, creating new things out of nothingness is pure magic to me and without it I would be an empty shell.”
Just needed the reminder to focus on the process and love it, not necessarily on the outcomes and opportunities, that “creating new things out of nothingness is pure magic”.
Yes!
A Yoshitomo Nara Day
Artwork: Yoshitomo Nara drawing, 2021 (@michinara3)
Brainstorming!
the sky is a sea
Artwork: Photograph by Enric Gener, 27MM, Mediterranean Sea, 2020
One of my favourite ocean photographers, Enric Gener or 27 MM (@27mm_photo)—photographing the heavens.
In the light saturated city I live in, I can only wish to look up at the sky and see the stars so close and clear.
A beautiful vision—the sky is a sea.
To Be List
Artwork: Billboard by Madame Gandhi, To Be List, 2021
Artist Madame Gandhi (@madamegandhi) was asked to design a billboard by For Freedoms in Boston to raise awareness about Asian hate and in the process asked the question: Why does anyone hate to begin with?
She said this about the project: "I thought about how we need more love, more kindness, more empathy, more compassion and more care. So often in our day to day lives, we are consumed by the daily grind and immediate tasks at hand on our to-do list. So what if instead, we were reminded on a daily basis of the higher vibrational qualities that we should all aspire to have?"
Totally agree.
breathe
Love this! On repeat. Remix of The Prodigy’s Breathe by Tom Frankel & Dayne Harper who front the UK indie/underground label Council Work (free DL on SoundCloud here). Check it out.
three cages
Artwork: Mural by SETH (@seth_globepainter), Three Cages, Amman, 2021
Beautiful mural by SETH (@seth_globepainter) Three cages, painted in Hashmi Al Shamali in Amman for the @baladk festival, 2021.
racist sexist boy
PUNK IS NOT DEAD!!!
The Linda Lindas song, Racist, Sexist Boy, has gone viral because it’s awesome. The Asian/Latinx band of four girls (ages 10-16) are signed up with Epitaph Records for their first EP The Linda Lindas, and have already made an impact, opening for Bikini Kill at the Hollywood Palladium.
Check out the song performed at the LA Public Library (which is a crazy cool backdrop—but i‘m a book nerd).
to build a home
The dance duo and brothers Marvel and Victory Ebinum from Lagos, Nigeria, create movements that resonate with abstract feelings and big issues relating to mental health, belonging, racism and the planet. The power and beauty of their expression comes as much from their connection to each other, as with the world around them.
Recently they spoke of what inspires them to dance, despite the challenges:
“Your life is a story where you choose the words with your actions. You can choose to lead, follow, fail, win, fall or grow. We had no shoes to dance on and we became so used to it that we loved dancing barefooted even when we had the shoes, it became a part of us.
We had no studios to train, we trained in different floors, in sands, concrete, under the rain, in the room, wherever we were, we became so used to it that even when we had the studios we just loved expressing ourselves anywhere, it wasn't about how we did it anymore it was why we did it.
Even with all that, we still kept expressing ourselves. We got hurt on the way, we argued, we fought, we cried, we almost died but we never stopped because we had a dream, a purpose. We are happy to not only express ourselves through movements but to also inspire and change minds with it and still growing to fulfill our dream which is for the world to be filled with love.
That's the key to keep moving, having a purpose and believing in your dream. That way, you will never lose focus no matter the circumstances that come your way, you will keep moving because you can already see where you are headed.”
Their performance To Build a Home featured here, was created in collaboration with @artelsewherelondon and @areprojectsfor for a project Art & Ecology. The Ebinum brothers said this about the piece:
“This piece was created minutes before we shot it […] We being in that environment, seeing the sand, the water flow, and leaves, we actually tap into that feeling of togetherness. We created our movement to tell a story of how nature brings us together, watching the communication of the wind and the water including the trees, watching them speak without actually speaking, that's what we wanted to create with our movement. We actually became the water flow, the sand, the wind and trees. Communicating to ourselves without saying a word, even when we want to be alone, when we feel depressed, when we feel anger, it just brings us together despite the craziness of this world. So the whole piece is all about TOGETHERNESS.”
words on walls
Artwork: Words by Addam Yekutieli, 2014
The escalating Israeli/Palestinian situation is horrific. Today Addam Yekutieli (aka Know Hope; @thisislimbo) wrote this on Instagram, with images from words he wrote on walls in Europe and Tunisia during the Israel-Gaza war 2014. Words that are tragically still relevant now.
“Revisiting some pieces from the time of the Israel-Gaza war in 2014.
About a week into the fighting, I left for a few months for projects around Europe and Tunisia and throughout this time, witnessed the atrocities taking place from afar.
It was a difficult and extremely surreal experience that brought forth feelings of shame, anger, disorientation and immense heartbreak.
Throughout this time, I wrote these phrases on walls in Austria, Italy, Tunisia and Germany. Like an organic diary of sorts, I used these different spots as moments for reflection. Walls or locations that visually reminded me of a human condition, an emotional situation, places that felt personified by adding thoughts or words onto them that reflected my processing of the events that were going on thousands of kilometers away.
How the barbarity of war reveals the worst of ourselves, collectively and individually, internally and externally.
How people can be hypnotized to believing that there is no other way, how we so easily succumb to the arrogance of war, the self righteousness that indoctrinates and justifies our acts of violence.
Artwork: Words by Addam Yekutieli, 2014
How we look to place guilt anywhere besides on ourselves in order to rationalize the unthinkable.
How we’re not willing to admit what a high price we all pay for this.
How we are shortsighted and fail to see that what is happening is a result of generations of dispossession, humiliation and systemic and systematic oppression.
How we are complicit in sustaining, enforcing and perpetuating this reality for the Palestinian people- even if we're not violent people on an individual level, even if we only keep to ourselves and live our small lives.
How stubborn we are to insist on erroneous terminology to describe this reality.
How in any other context, in any other place, with any other narrative, we would understand this and condemn these systems.
How this reality might give us a sense of safety, but at the expense of a vast population of people indigenous to this land. A people that are fighting for their freedom- of movement, of believing in a future and for their dignity to live a full life.
How on one hand we have our own personal histories ingrained in our psyche but on the other hand are not aware that we are using our generational trauma to justify causing new generational trauma to others.
How it's as if we haven't learned anything, so from within our denial our trauma has mutated into a monster that will end up devouring us all, a Golem that is unaware of its own self.
Artwork: Words by Addam Yekutieli, 2014
How the Occupation is an ongoing process, how it continues to morph and get more elaborate and its engineering more sophisticated.
How we all so actively make sure that we don't lower our guards and take a moment to reflect what we would do if we were in the same situation, without insisting on resorting to cold pragmatism.
Looking back at this and reliving my thoughts, partially through a more current prisma, I'm not surprised at how little has changed.
It emphasizes how much unlearning needs to take place and how urgent the need for the myths that paralyze our morality and overbear our empathy need to be dispelled.
Realistically, these were just words written with spray paint on a wall. Words that can mean anything to anyone, or nothing at all. That they can be loaded and filled with interpretation or be empty of meaning.
Ultimately, it's our choice to see reality and what's in front of us in the way that we do.”
Old Tree
Artwork: Pamel Rosenkranz, Old Tree, Highline, new York, 2021
Pamela Rosenkranz’s recent commission for the Highline, New York, is a stunning, vibrant and mythic sculpture of a red-pink tree. Old Tree references the myths of ancient trees connecting heaven and earth, but set within the concrete, glass, tar and steel of the city, it’s a stark reminder of the blood and roots of what makes this world liveable and beautiful. Trees are fundamental to life, and Old Tree wonderfully connects the blood, vessels and tissues of the human circulatory system with that of the tree which sustains our lives. And it’s a reciprocal relationship.
Starry Beach
In 2020, a’strict, the art division of the Korean digital design group d’strict, created this amazing and skin tingly immersive art installation, Starry Beach.
First shown in Kukje Gallery, Korea, the digital artists of d’strict/a’strict explore the intersection of humans and technology, especially in light of the transformation of digital technologies during the pandemic. Starry Beach is a surreal landscape created in a black box space, engulfing the viewer in a synesthetic experience of encountering massive waves on a beach under a starlit night. The inspiration was “the complexity of nature, in particular the diverse visual and sonic characteristics of water.”
It’s simply hypnotic and awesome.