Great short documentary about WRDSMTH and his collaboration with The Artemizia Foundation in Bisbee, US. Check it out!
Al Ula
Artist eL Seed recently completed a project at Al Ula in Saudi Arabia and spoke of his experience in a place he’s been visiting since 2019, and how it relates to his art process:
“As an artist, it is important for me to bridge my artwork to the place where I paint. In this particular series, I wanted to pay tribute to the people of Al Ula.
I have been visiting the city since 2019. The beauty of its landscape, with its towering mountains and palm trees, gives you an immediate and striking impression. But what truly sets the city apart for me is the hospitality of its people.
Artwork: eL Seed mural at Al Ula, Saudi Arabia, 2023
Their warmth and generosity is unique and humbling, and it inspired me to create works that celebrate and honour their kindness.
I spent 2 weeks there working on 2 murals with my team. I invited the community to help me filling up the colours, involving them, to make sure they feel the artworks belong to them. At the end of the project, I wanted to give back to the community by inviting them to have a tea/coffee around a fire in front of one of the murals. Friends and members of the community came, passers-by and random tourists stopped and joined us. I loved it.
As an artist, I wanted at the beginning of my journey to leave something behind. To leave a trace. So I travel around the world, meeting people, discovering cultures. I wanted to leave a trace in people’s life. Soon enough, I realised that people were leaving something in my life. It wasn’t about me anymore. It was about the people. I carry their story with me, the moments we shared.
Thank you Al Ula for leaving a trace in my life.”
Today a Poem Disappears into the Universe
Belgian artist Marco Godhino has been performing an ongoing project titled Today a Poem Disappears into the Universe since 2018. This particular iteration featured here was performed on February 5, 2023.
The project was first activated In Taipei at The Cube Project Space, and this was written to outline Godhino’s intentions:
Artwork: Marco Godhino, Today a Poem Disappears into the Universe, The Infinite House, Sinspelt, Germany, 2023
“In 2018, Every Day a Poem Disappears into the Universe […] was inspired by a ritual observed in the city’s streets, where shopkeepers burn imitation banknotes as offerings in front of their stores. The artist asked the gallery managers to burn a poem exhibited during the day each evening in front of the gallery. In exploring poetry writing and thresholds of language in fleeting, temporal form in solo and group exhibitions, the artist developed a series of actions that use writing as a daily link to the indoor or outdoor space where they are performed. The length of each poem is defined by the length of the exhibition: the text, equal in lines to the number of days, is disclosed in fragments. The action is repeated each day but is never the same; it becomes a ritual and invites new ways of celebrating the quotidian. This simple gesture, which materialises differently in each setting, is a measure of the passing of time that reveals, through the appearance and disappearance of words, a sense of poetic rebellion against the instability of the present.”
the water carrier
Artwork: Seth, the water carrier, Qalandiya, Occupied Palestinian Territories, 2022
Seth’s (@seth_globepainter) latest mural, the water carrier, was painted in Qalandiya, Occupied Palestinian Territories. Seth wrote this about the project:
“Several months ago, I made a series of paintings in the ruins of ancient villages in Palestine, at the invitation of the Jordanian association @baladk and @riwaq_palestine.
I painted this woman in Qalandiya, a village located between Ramallah and Jerusalem, a few kilometres from a sensitive checkpoint between Israel and the occupied territories. Bordered by fir forests and olive groves, the hamlet is home to magnificent historic buildings maintained and restored by @riwaq_palestine association. I have made it a rule not to touch the old stones which sometimes date from the Roman Empire. Inspired by old photos, I tried to pay homage to the lifestyle of this region in peace for centuries.”
Alfred the llama
Artwork: David Zinn, Alfred enjoys a strict regimen of exactly one thought per day, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 2022
I adore llamas and their furry relative, the alpaca, so this brought a smile to my face this morning, David Zinn’s (@davidzinn) llama, Alfred: “Alfred enjoys a strict regimen of exactly one thought per day.” Alfred is obviously very Zen.
How do you live?
I’m a big fan of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli films and can’t wait for the release of Miyazaki’s next film to be released in 2023, How Do You Live? The film is based on a 1937 novel of the same name by Genzaburo Yoshino and is about 15-year-old Junichi Honda and his life after the death of his father.
Miyazaki “retired” in 2013 after making the film The Wind Rises, and chose to create How Do You Live? simply because he wanted to. These words from Miyazaki speak to the heart of his perspective on creating and obvious love of what he does: “Whenever someone creates something with all their heart, then that creation is given soul.”
A Yoshitomo Nara Day
Artwork: Yoshitomo Nara’s current painting in progress in his studio, 2023
Starting something new. Here’s Yoshitomo Nara’s current work in progress. A new work for the new year.
Salt Surf 2022
Image: Creator/founder of Salt Surf Nabil out surfing, California, 2022
I love the Californian-based clothing company Salt Surf, especially their ethos: “Nice and Cool” and anyone can surf. Their T-shirts and sweaters are awesome as well! The founder/creator, Nabil, posted his 2022 end-of-year review today and it resonated big time. The feeling of “stillness’ or “stuckness” he experienced made sense to me, and then these bursts of creativity leading to something being produced. The highs and lows, losses and gains, and a strange sense of waiting, while also trying to feel grateful for the smallest things. Last year was a challenge, so here’s what Nabil had to say:
“My end of year reflections usually happen a little late. This past year was full of a lot of things. There was a lot of stillness. Calling it stillness might actually be giving it too much credit. It was actually more like stuckness. A lot of the year felt almost like waiting for something. There were some moments of movement. Creativity. Sometimes creativity paired up with productivity and there was a creation. Sometimes creativity looked like presence and stillness. It was a humbling year. I cried a lot (happy and sad tears…weddings, deaths, joys, heartbreaks…) I said the phrase STFU a few too many times (mostly in my head). I tried to get buff. Some new relationships came. Some went. A lot of wonderful friends helped make this year a lot more beautiful. I wish I could list all of you. Gratitude was present a lot. I think the prior years taught me to be thankful for everything because everything can be lost. So, in the past year it felt easier to be grateful, even when it sucked. Truthfully, and this isn’t a marketing thing, surfing got me through a lot in this past year. It was a consistent place to turn to. Beauty was always present in surfing.
There isn’t a pretty bow to put on this past year. It’s not wrapped up nicely. It was complex. Multifaceted. But, grateful for it nonetheless. ❤️ u all.”
chasing light
Artwork: Photograph by Tom Pearsall of surfer Jack Robinson, 2022
I love surf photography, so seeing this incredible image by Tom Pearsall today brought to mind what inspired my novel Chasing Light: surfing, the sea, light, photography, journeys, life, creativity and love. All the good stuff shadowed with loss, heartbreak, history and despair. The incredible light and shadow of this image encapsulates perfectly what shaped my story.
Love Letter
Artwork: Mural by Dominga Zapata, Love Letter, New York (Thompson St/Houston St), photo by @johndomine
Joyous wall mural in New York by artist Dominga Zapata. And the last line: “I love you this way because I don’t know any other way to love”. ❤️
from vivienne
The amazing creator Vivienne Westwood passed away yesterday. I just wanted to share some of her words and her guiding belief in Taoism as a spiritual compass which formed the foundation for her own life.
“Tao spiritual system. There was never more need for the Tao today. Tao gives you a feeling that you belong to the cosmos and gives purpose to your life; it gives you such a sense of identity and strength to know you’re living the life you can live and therefore ought to be living: make full use of your character and full use of your life on earth.”
And this:
“You’ve got to invest in the world, you’ve got to read, you’ve got to go to art galleries, you’ve got to find out the names of plants. You’ve got to start to love the world and know about the whole genius of the human race. We’re amazing people.”
Such a beautiful spirit that touched so many people in this world.
more art=more joy
Artwork: David Zinn (@davidzinn) This message is brought to you by the Underfoot Arts Council and the philanthropic hole in the ground, Berkley, Michigan, 2021
Wishing for everyone this Christmas, the holidays and the coming new year: more art, more joy and definitely more love!
the soul does exist
Image: Krzysztof Kieslowski directing actor Irene Jacob on the film The Double Life of Véronique
I read this today and it was so wonderfully affirming of the importance of art to life. Film maker Krzysztof Kieslowski (I highly recommend his Three Colours series of movies—sublime) speaks about a beautiful encounter with a viewer of his film The Double Life of Véronique:
“At a meeting just outside Paris, a fifteen-year-old girl came up to me and said that she’d been to see my movie. She’d gone once, twice, three times and only wanted to say on thing really…that she realized that there is such a thing as a soul. She hadn’t known before, but now she knew that the soul does exist. There’s something very beautiful in that. It was worth making Véronique for that girl. It was worth working for a year, sacrificing all that money, energy, time, patience, torturing yourself, killing yourself, making thousands of decisions, so that one young girl in Paris should realise that there is such a thing as a soul. It’s worth it.”
(source: @_nitch)
Emily
I recently saw the film Emily, a passionate, imaginative and sometimes disturbing portrayal of Emily Brontë’s life leading up to writing her novel Wuthering Heights. While this is a creative telling and not simply a biopic, I loved how it delved into the process of writing as much as the relationships that shaped and inspired her life and work. Woven into the story was one of Emily’s poems, The Night Wind. While only fragments featured, I wanted to share the entire poem here for its poignant beauty.
The Night Wind
Emily Brontë
In summer's mellow midnight,
A cloudless moon shone through
Our open parlour window,
And rose-trees wet with dew.
I sat in silent musing;
The soft wind waved my hair;
It told me heaven was glorious,
And sleeping earth was fair.
I needed not its breathing
To bring such thoughts to me;
But still it whispered lowly,
How dark the woods will be!
"The thick leaves in my murmur
Are rustling like a dream,
And all their myriad voices
Instinct with spirit seem."
I said, "Go, gentle singer,
Thy wooing voice is kind:
But do not think its music
Has power to reach my mind.
"Play with the scented flower,
The young tree's supple bough,
And leave my human feelings
In their own course to flow."
The wanderer would not heed me;
Its kiss grew warmer still.
"O come!" it sighed so sweetly;
"I'll win thee 'gainst thy will.
"Were we not friends from childhood?
Have I not loved thee long?
As long as thou, the solemn night,
Whose silence wakes my song.
"And when thy heart is resting
Beneath the church-aisle stone,
I shall have time for mourning,
And THOU for being alone."
make it happen
Artwork: Paste-up by @strassenmaid, Hamburg
Trying to find inspiration and make stuff happen. 😊
Fireflies' night
Artwork: Paste-up by Marquise, La nuit des lucioles, on rue de la Lune, Paris
Poetic collage/paste-up by street artist Marquise (@marquise.streetart) that’s now gone, La nuit des lucioles, on rue de la Lune, Paris.
Our Labyrinth
I just wrote an art story for Lee Mingwei’s ongoing artwork The Letter Project, where viewers act as participants in the piece, being given the opportunity to write a letter and then leave it either closed or unopened to be read. Similarly, Mingwei sees his performance work Our Labyrinth as a gift to the audience for deep reflection and was inspired by his trip to Myanmar where he visited temples and watched volunteers daily sweep the pathways as a gift to the visitors, keeping the sacred space clean and inviting. The process was physically, spiritually and mentally cleansing, and Mingwei wanted to bring that sense of sacredness and beauty into the museum space. Dancers in Our Labyrinth perform a slow and meditative piece where they use brooms to shape the rice in unchoreographed movements. The dancers have been instructed by Mingwei to “be guided by the rice” and the performance is also inspired by a question posed by Mingwei: Can art be made out of attention itself?
Check out the video of Our Labyrinth being performed at the Tate Gallery in London, and an interview with Mingwei about the artwork.
L17 Matrix Bird
Artwork: L17 Matrix, Los Angeles, 2022
I’ve always loved L17 Matrix’s birds. Incredible colour, vibrancy, dynamism and a sense of freedom. Here’s his recent creation in Los Angeles.
Minotaur
Artwork:Pate-up by @a_r_d_i_f, Minotaur, Paris, 2022
Given my love of labyrinths and the Ariadne/Minotaur myth, I couldn’t resist posting this, the recent past-up of @a_r_d_i_f Minotaur in Paris. The melding of the maze structure with the minotaur is brilliant.
Song Zero
Great new track from Vaal (aka Eliot Sumner) Song Zero, from her recently released album Love Reversed (Bedouin Records). It’s a little dark with a lot of dirty reverb and a real kick at the end. Love it. Check it out.