The Golden Spoon of Art
The British conceptual artist, Tracy Emin, is an ordinary girl who caught the eye of an Art Collector. It is ten years since her installation, My Bed which caused much debate over the quality and content of British contemporary art. Shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 1999, Ms. Emin's installation was constructed from her personal belongings which included an untidy mattress with a few effects piled on a blue rug. She left no mark untouched as the bedsheets was stained with her own body secretions.
Placed at the Tate, for all to grok and consider over her personal life whether it was appropriate, she had the courage to show that the aspects of an artist's personal life could be viewed as art in itself; She is female therefore she menstruates; She has a boyfriend, so she fucks; She like drinking and so forth and finally she keeps a messy room. One wonders, if this had been a photographic installation by Nan Goldin being beaten up if any debate surrounding the content would have been questioned.
Ms. Emin's hardest critic is herself as she among other artists in her rank find themselves in a place where they somehow need to top themselves. But she also must be true to her callings, and question the reasoning behind her work. To be casual about it may damage its credibility. Yet, the greatest aspect to her is the fertile environment which she has to produce work, to explore other areas less demanding to public scrutiny and more fulfilling to her heart.
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I was reading a letter from a friend about a topic that I discussed here on sexypink the other day. He was really upset about the work of Tracy Emin, his gripe was about taste and intention, purpose and shock value. A whole bunch of International names were thrown about, Gilbert and George, Chris Ofili and Kara Walker, to name a few.
Today I thought about an observation I have made about film. The Postman always Rings Twice was remade in the late nineteen eighties. I saw the remake before the original.Where to me, the Lana Turner version, was much more moving than the perceived, sexy, modern interpretation. That was one of the films that drew my attention to what films today bring to the genre.
Sometimes it is easy to think that all modern movies do is add sex and violence and tonnes of special effects. This is the belief that the movie industry has about what we, the public want to see. Are Artists in some way apeing this form of entertainment?
Let us just look at random of some of the Art offerings that I have seen on the Internet and up close for 2005/7. Actual dead bodies willed to science posed in a gallery space for viewing. This included a boy on a skateboard. Colourful murals of Anime-like characters half naked in a stylised forest with mist and running waters. A fox, taxidermied and repeated thousands of times to look as though it were a swarm of foxes within a gallery space and the larger than life sculpture of a woman in bed, caught looking vacantly into space.
Artists want to test themselves. Test what they can do, try things they haven’t seen before. Is it safe to say that they cannot help but be guided by their times? If Picasso were alive today, wouldn’t he be doing things like Jeff Koons? Perhaps when we look at Art, we should remember that there is a part of work, by its very presence, away from a studio space, that is an element of showmanship. Art is a verb, an activity that you respond to.
I started the entry with the words testicular fortitude. That was one of the things my friend talked about, the shock value. Tracy Emin’s work may not be liked by anyone. But it is her work, and she is moved by her times to create those things, and history shall determine her place, as she has managed to draw attention to what she does, and that in itself is no small thing.
The question we remain with is how and why? - Adele
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Tracy Emin - The Golden spoon of Art
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Art - Who has to right to see it
These are the antics people do to cause some controversy and attention, or is it what goes around comes around?
It looked as if it was taken from a movie scene. In October, masked men stormed into the Kulturen Gallery in Skåne, Sweden and took a crow bar and axe to the large Ilfochrome works by the American photographer, Andres Serrano. In 90 seconds, it was all over, and what was left had the potential to be art in itself. In the rampage of the morality of taste, the photographs were scarred, scattered on the floor of the gallery or completely destroyed. It was by all means an unconventional installation piece.
But what incensed these thugs? What had them so outraged to give their forthright view on morals of Art? The show, A history of sex, was an exhibition that dealt with the perversive aspects that surround sex. Mr. Serrano's photographs may have very well been provocative, as he toyed with the idea within the spectrum of the unseen acts which people do engage sexually. To push the boundaries of what humans find pleasurable certainly wilded up these bandits as they hacked and gored at the parts of the photographs which exposed the genitals in some sort of physical contact.
At one point, the camera focused on a photograph of a white man giving fellatio to a upright black man and the attacker repeated hacked at the man's penis yet seemed less agitated with kneeling man. It made you wonder at the degree of racism at a time people should be less ignorant. Out of hate, envy and disgust, they neglected to allow individuals the right to express themselves, and further, it boosted the artist's career by the defiled act. His works are now more infallible. People will be curious to see which are the works that caused such repulsion.
In general, Mr Serrano photographs emanate an appeal from the Renaissance in the way light falls on the his subjects in the art of chiaroscuro. They look as if they were photographed outside at night. But they are stark cold with the undertones of grounded catholicism. Yet, not as clever as Pierre et Gilles or as warm and sensual as with Robert Mapplethorpe.
Mr. Serrano is not new to controversy regarding his work, in 1989, he used his own urine as a patina for the work entitled the Piss Christ. It raised the debate over public fundings and artistic freedoms in United States. So the age old question bubbles to the surface from both sides of the coin. Who decides in Art, what we can see?
Video stills from a Swedish Nationalist group responsible for the destruction of several photographic works in October, 2007, Kulturen Gallery, Sweden. The incident was posted on youtube.
A history of sex - Fotografier av Andres Serrano
Andres Serrano ställer ut sin bildsvit A History of Sex på Kulturen. Den består av 14 porträtt av människor som utför sexuella handlingar.
The History of Sex exhibition continues till December, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
The deadly sins in Art
Nothing we make or do can last for eternity
As it is reported, a man climbed over the guardrail of the chapel of the Pietà in St. Peter's Basilica and wheeled a hammer to the Madonna's left arm, it sheared off. He also smashed the nose and left eyelid of the marble sculpture. A work which took a toll of the young Italian sculptor for over two years.
Michelangelo's feat was that he encased both figures as one piece and the marble's grain had to be precise in every aspect so that the Virgin's lap was the center of balance. Here is were her son lay.
Yet, in the frenzy, in the assailant's quest for infamy, his actions proved the power which art possess, that is of its beholden truth, in its self sacrifice, in the blisters and weeping nights. From a block of stone, the form, the expression and weight conceptualized in the mind before Michelangelo wheeled at the marble with his chisel. The man found that by attempting to destroy an irreplaceable masterpiece, it could reflect on the fragility of man, and his man-made objects. In seconds, parts of the sculpture was reduced to dust. Nothing we make or do can last for entity.
The damaged Pietà by Michelangelo, 1499
Marble 68.5 × 76.8 in
St. Peter's Basilica, Rome
Left: The 33 year old assailant striking the Pietà, in May of 1972 at the St. Peter's Basilica, Rome
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Two lefts confronts genius
The Pan tuner and arranger, Two Lefts, so named because he always had his left hand in his pocket was invited to a pan yard to train some guys and introduce new songs he had composed. He got to the yard a bit early and saw some young men playing basketball not too far from the yard. He waited and waited, then he got a bit impatient and decided to spend his time going through scales and trying out some of what he planned to show his late arrivals.
After more than an hour, the person who invited him to the yard casually showed up. He was naturally incensed by then and said to the guy, “Boy, you have me waiting here for more dan ah hour, boy! Where dees people I suppose to see? ” The guy casually pointed to the basketball players and said that they were there all the time. A bit miffed, Two lefts introduced himself and decided because he was pissed, to ask them what they understood about pan. One of the players took his sticks from him and proceeded to copy precisely all that he had played while they were dribbling the ball on the court. He was so shocked that all he could sheepishly say was, ‘Fine, let’s get right into the song I am here to show all you.” True Story - Adele
Above: A Steelpan arranger airbrushed on the interior wall, located at the Smokey and Bunty bar in St. James, Trinidad, West Indies.
Article courtesy of Point of Departure
Friday, November 23, 2007
Roberta Stoddart - The dark sides of society
The artist Roberta Stoddart is clearly a very strong painter. Her palette for her show as well as the scale of her work recalls the fine portraiture of British Artist, Lucien Freud in its classical sensibilities. She seems to deliberately choose a stark grouping of colour to drive home her messages and keep her focus very sharp.
I find this show very disturbing. The artist looks at beauty within the fringes of society. Yet there is a very harsh aftertaste, and this must be discussed because it is a very tantalizing, confusing and relevant underpinning. She is asking the question, why do we feel uncomfortable and by doing so, she places heads onto insects commonly referred to as vermin, in several small paintings that encourage coming closer to look at the details. Without doubt there is a searching to understand how she relates to the dark sides of society.
A gay friend of mine has spoken with me about feelings of being on the fringes recently. Despite the strides made in his society of Toronto, he has still felt the inability to be what he wants to be and this has left scars on his psyche. He asks the question, why does he have to be mindful of not putting his life out there because he does not want to upset the majority?
In Ms. Stoddart’s work, this is also apparent, but moreso, by her use of ‘black’ people as her
predominant choice here, she does bring to question the idea of the black place in society. The very real, tenuous reality of “these people” as problems. Very much like the challenged adult in society. Someone whom you may acknowledge, but be at pains to associate with. Unless you have to. This may be impolitic to say, but it is the truth of many circumstances where people have difficulty with differences of any kind, difficulties that show up deficiencies in themselves to be tolerant for any length of time.
Is she saying that she feels as alienated as people of colour who are caught between races? What of the insect paintings? Is she looking at this group as many believe them to be? There is a clear wrestling with prejudice. I can skirt the fact that she is a Jamaican, Caucasian artist and say that this has nothing to do with her painting choices. But this would be disingenuous, because hers is a long, difficult struggle of privilege in a predominantly black society. There is no way to discuss this artists works and not feel the growing pangs and delicate balance that is race, class and colour in the islands.
Miss Stoddart also includes an older painting of children and a self portrait in a wedding gown. I have written about the former painting before, but the latter, being a new work and chosen for this show, is a bold statement about marriage. Although she may be dressed in wedding finery, her pose is stiff and doll like. Marriage is certainly more than the day in question. Is she perhaps saying that marriage is not all that it is cracked up to be?
People naturally gravitate towards her work because of the excellent technical skills, but how many really want to look at the gut wrenching questions she employs? I suspect not many, as I have found in the writing I have come across on her works, and I believe that we are poorer for not engaging the questions that Miss Stoddart is trying to articulate through her work.
An exhibition of recent works, In the Flesh - Roberta Stoddart. National Museum of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad, West Indies. 22th November till 8th December, 2007.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Beauty in all living things - Roberta Stoddart.
People in general want the same things, they deserved to be respected and acknowledged. And this is where the conflicts arise in all societies, from injustice to hate, to violence, to war and finally to genocide
At the National Museum of Trinidad and Tobago, Roberta Stoddart's much anticipated show, In the Flesh opens to a large turnout. Held at the Annex, Ms. Stoddard shows a body of work that deals with the subject of discomfort and unseen social obligations. She includes a portrait of herself in a wedding dress, yet unwed.
By a simple study of a common Roach, she paints to disturb the mind with living things which may repel the viewer because of its parasitical quality. Ms Stoddard, otherwise sees a beauty which she translates onto the canvas in the finest veneer. Here, she captives the notion of Race by replacing the head of the insect with the portrait of a human. It should be noted in the history of Western Art, Michelangelo played on similar puns by painting the faces of clergymen as the gland of the penis. These were a satirical commentary on the ills of religion. With Ms. Stoddard, it is the racial stereotyping she sees.
A clue to her composition, Saints and Sinners 120 x 72 ins, is a place quite recognizable to the Tortuga Roman Catholic Church, which sits at the crest of the Montserrat hills in Gran Couva, Trinidad and Tobago. The composition includes four studies, were Ms. Stoddart is portrayed to the lower right in a posture somewhat bereaved. The unusual perspective tilt is taken from the upper level of the church, where the organ once stood. Her subjects are the freaks of nature who suffer from a skin disfigurement by the absence of pigmentation. What is unique about these studies is that her pallet offers a similar approach in the splotches of colour, as with their skin cancer. The overlaid are precisely layered to give the skin its tonal flake.
For those who have a love for fine art, In the flesh offers a scope to the island's finest painter whose technical range is clearly shown in oils. There is an opportunity to see what portraits should look like, as Ms. Stoddart's strengths are those very aspects in a smaller scale.
An exhibition of recent works - Roberta Stoddart. National Museum of Trinidad and Tobago, 22th November till 8th December, 2007. A catalogue accompanied this show which is a retrospective of her work. Enquiries regarding the publication
Monday, November 19, 2007
Albrecht Dürer's perspective
Albrecht Dürer is much known for his copper engraving, but he also devised the means in which the line, geometry and perspective were an essential part of composing. The devisions of the human body could be calculated mathematically and Dürer stressed that with drawing any object, the proportion and weight was needed to give a realistic sense of what was observed.
With these superimposed portraits painted between the period 1493 and 1500, Albrecht Dürer viewed himself as an noble man, equating himself to the deity of the Christian faith. Yet, it is in his work, in the simple life of the peasant, and the representation of his Deutschland that bequeaths his legacy.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Madness, Surrealism and Meret Oppenheim
Geniuses don't need to think
For those of you who studied twentieth century Art. The object superimposed over a image of the artist marked a period of the amalgamation of readymade objects. It is one of the most recognized feminist pieces produced during the Surrealists movement. In 1936, the German, Meret Oppenheim devised the object by simply covering a cup, saucer and spoon with fur.
Ms. Oppenheim brought to the foreground the agility of class, refinement and fetishism. Holding the object could bring some sort of pleasurable sensation. The object was merely to poke fun at the absurdity of it, which in itself, the work, Le Déjeuner en fourrure was surreal. (Lunch in fur) examined the concept that an idea could be more important than the creation of an object itself. The piece is a collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Twentieth century Art: Le Déjeuner en fourrure by Meret Oppenheim
Why paint - Oh what joy it brings
A rainbow fertilizing the soil of a nation
Esmand and Ann Dasent are an older couple from Trinidad and Tobago. Together, they have a great history of the originals of the Trinidad Art Society, and a calender highlighting Chinese painters brings back fond memories. It is, as Ann says, as refreshing as if they were painted yesterday, the works by Sybil Attect, Amy Leong Pang, Willie Chen and master of them all, Carlise Chang. Both she and her husband are grounded in a period when painters who meant something, painted something of more substance. There is no comparison from works seen today.
But in their small home, there is a humble painter, a man trained by America's very best among others, Norman Rockwell in the 1940s. There, he was taught about the principles of the form, anatomy and the differences between illustration and painting. Illustration was for the common man, while painting was purely artistic in its content.
Mr. Dasent has stopped painting due to his poor eyesight and his scenic oils have become etchings in color pencil kept in a small drawing book. The drawings look as if his vision is masked by a curtain, his pencil strokes fill in shapes that represent a landscape.
But it is his broken-spirit of not being able to have a clear focus of his subjects that detours his efforts. And yet it is his inner passion to work from pencils and colour markers that gives a clue that artists are born artists.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Found Aboriginal Art - Readymade
The term "Readymade Art" can be traced to the French artist, Marcel Duchamp whose work in 1917 titled, "Fountain" changed the world of twentieth century art. It was basically a urinal placed at an exhibition.
Yet, objects of any kind can have a presence of symmetry, beauty and power if considerable thought is behind it. As with these aboriginal stone discs, shields and war clubs, they are arranged to evoke a sort of tribal honor. In itself, the formation of these objects are an art installation. The weapons circumvent the entrance door, and the ceiling of a colonial building is eclipsed by the Bird of Paradise.
Postcard - New Guinea 1889
Unexplained symmetry - Tajmahal
King of the World to a fallen Queen
It is and shall remain a structure of unexplained symmetry and beauty which instills the human heart. Constructed from 1631-53, the Taj Mahal stands on the bank of River Yamuna in Agra, India. It is mausoleum to honour Mumtāz Mahal, the wife of Shah Jahan. Her body and that of her husband are interred in the white ornate marble enclosure.
Capturing the heart of the living
In its symmetry, geometric patterns and filigree carvings, what is clear is that architects, mathematicians and artisans where able to draw on patterns in stimulate the human mind. A simple test of closing your eyes would induce overlapping patterns of shimmering black and white shapes. They are distorted yet uniform as a grid. May this be the key of the Taj Mahal's beauty? Or is there more?
There has been debate over the origins of the Taj Mahal, what is known is that it has its root to Islamic architecture. But in all, it speaks of a underling unseen presence and that is of what it was conceived from; Beholden love. The core of its truth. No other man-made structure in the world has equaled it.
Shah Jehan, between the earth and heavens, ruler of the Mughal Empire in the Indian from 1628-1658 and the architect behind the Taj Mahal.
From the watercolor drawing of the Taj Mahal above, it appears to take the shape of a seated Buddha.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Patna's Divali in Trinidad and Tobago
The small community of Patna in Diego Martin, Trinidad and Tobago celebrates Divali, the Hindu Festival of Lights. During the course of the evening, bamboo structures of a Helicopter, Swan, Cobra, Bicycle, Scorpion, Tarantula and a train were set with Dayas on the eve of the Divali celebrations. See the process and synopsis on youtube
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In Trinidad Tobago, all festivals are known by everyone because there are many people who talk to other people of different races. Divali or Diwali is a well-known festival in Patna Village. Mr. Bhasook Mahadeo (AKA ” Keeshan “) is a Hindu living here in Patna and he owns the bar on the street. He loves Divali and likes to get everyone to known of it by hiring Mr.Dexter, a craft man who makes creations with Bamboo. And every Divali, Mr. Dexter will create vivid creatures with Bamboo.
Busting Bamboo; The process is to cut the Bamboo and bore a hole. Then you insert fire through that hole. You run and the Bamboo bursts. That’s how I know to do it. It is very Dangerous so don’t try it. Coming close to Divali, and Mr. Dexter will finish his master-pieces. After they are finished, they will tie wire onto the Bamboo, then, Deyas will be placed in the wire. After, you put oil and a wick.
In the evening, Mr. Bhasook will start his show. Other children of different races from various places will light the deyas. Some do it for fun, some do it for the proper use (giving tribute to Mother Laxmi or Lutchmi- Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity) Divali is very nice. Hindus clean their homes, fast by eating no egg or meat for 14 or 21 days and on Divali night, they light their deyas in their home to welcome Mother Laxmi into their home and lives (for Spiritual blessings) and Mother Laxmi will remove any evil from your life. The light of the Deya shows that good will always over come the bad.
Voices from the street: Justin Ramsaroop, Patna village, Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies on the eve of the Divali celebrations, 2007.Thursday, November 08, 2007
Devil's Pie - Chris Ofili - Home sweet Home
Trinidad's enigma to the Art World
In Manhattan's Chelsea district at the David Zwirner Gallery, Chris Ofili solo exhibition, Devil's Pie is closed after its opening in September, 2007. Mr. Ofili showed a body of work which incorporated life sized sculptures, large oils and smaller framed drawings. One Art critic from the clip says that his paintings speak for themselves, and that his creditability as a painter is over. Harsh words indeed.With his hand-held camera and clumsy focused range, the reporter James Kalme gives a formal and bland summary of the exhibited pieces which are placed in a large spacious white gallery. These include life-sized sculptures like the big belly black devil wining on a Red woman to your left. But one would like to think that Jeff Koons had some part of it by the highly polished veneer.
Yet, patrons at the opening looked horrified or puzzled as if the sculptures were of a tribal courting from the deep dark jungle, or a monster from the black lagoon. They are what they are, Trinidadians playing mas and anyone not familiar with the festival could clearly misinterpret it. Or was this a sensational ploy to shock his audience?
If anything, Mr. Ofili's flaw may be his close association with fellow painter, Peter Doig. It is clear that some of his large works look unfinished, and appear to be loose washes similar to Mr. Doig's weaker StudioFilm posters. It may be just a mirror of Mr. Doig, for now.
Yet, there is something sensual, mysterious, subliminal and loving about them. In the simple outlines, in the rich palette, and in the vivacious female and male forms that lurk behind a limp branch looking to brush. You just have to see a Black label wall painting of the silhouetted women to understand why. His influences, and where his ideas are lifted from. Make no excuse. The painter may be aroused by his own executions, they are highly and sexually charged.
These paintings and sculptures are not about New York or London, but rather of Trinidad and Tobago in Mr. Ofili's integration of its rich untapped culture. What is dishearting are that many local Art goers in Trinidad and Tobago are not privy to his work.
See a preview of the show courtesy of James Kalm
Brushing - an idiom for sex
Devils - A carnival character from Trinidad and Tobago
Red woman - A fair skin black female
Wining - A dance native to the West Indies
Chris Ofili: Devil's Pie
September 21 to November 3, 2007
David Zwirner Gallery
525 W. 19th Street. New York
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Criticism
The whole approach to criticism applies to the very act of observation, like the Art object itself, it falls into the category of a public arena, and asks the question of; meaning, interpretation, debate and value in societal terms
Many Artists I know deny strongly that they are entertainers. They seem to consider the very idea a dirty word. But in my understanding, the artists who know that it is a component of Art, are those who fair better in its unpredictable seas. However, this also depends on what ‘better’ really means. I have been alive long enough now to know that fame is not necessarily the thing to court. So, if Art is about entertaining, and fame is fickle, then what about opinions? Why take stock in them at all?
I have looked at a great deal of work from many places over my lifetime, and patterns emerge from this constant observation and attempting to make sense of why one image can make you feel longing and another can leave you cold and unresponsive. I am still impacted by this, even now. I must leave room enough to look at things afresh, and that is why for example in something even more fickle, like Fashion Design, a shifting of silhouette can make all the difference from year to year. Fashion knows its role, and so does Art.
So, with this known, Art can be maddening in its intent. Some things can excite now, itch your retina for more, but as a dear friend says, in a flash, it is like fast food. Not particularly healthy memories.In fact that is the point of some work. Today, one good idea can be stretched out and exploited to such an extent that the original is rendered useless. My point ultimately is that with all the media and imagery floating about, much rises to the surface, and these things that do, demand observation. Those observations encourage further interpretation and analysis. Criticism is part of the process. It actually is the steering that gives the work its compass.
Above: Self portrait superimposed with Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti SimoniMonday, November 05, 2007
Win Lose or Draw
A Nation decides on her future
It may not have come from to place of the heart, but it brought a sense of debate at a moment in Trinidad and Tobago's history. On the wall of the old racing paddock at the Queen Park Savannah, a graffiti artist has painted quite crudely a four letter word with significant meaning to citizens of any country who have constitutional right too.
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Film at 15fps - Mario Lewis
An education in Art school, culture and the West Indian Blackman
Before the performance by Michelle Isava at Alice Yard, Trinidad, West Indies, a loop of a series of video works produced by Mario Lewis was running. These were short yet stylized pieces which reflected an artist with a working background in video and an eye for high Art. The videos shown were smooth, slick and similar to a Calvin Klein black and white television ad. With slow pans and overlays of pre-recorded footage, where elements of London's streets merged with its black inhabitants.
With the short, In Proverb, the language composed of a memory etched with imagery of a family portrait. Mr. Lewis incorporated himself in a fraction of a fired flash, which then fades to a loop of dissolved film of a wedding portrait. There is also the fascination with a golden winged arched statue captured in the still of darkness. These works have a textural feel and edginess to it, but sacrifice warmth to coldness in matching the standards of how art should look and be presented in contemporary art trends. Mr. Lewis is carefully canvasing the success of Black artists, and copying as close to where it can mislead you to whose work it is. For an instance could it mistaken for Isaac Julien. This unfortunately is a form of plagiarism by an art education driven by the motive to be recognized.
See Isaac Julien, a British filmmaker working with identities of the West Indian
Friday, November 02, 2007
All Souls Day

Lapeyrouse cemetery is one of the oldest graveyards in Trinidad and Tobago and on this night, November the second, All Souls Day is observed. The cemetery is quite clean and a scent of incense adds a sweet palette to the air. Loved-ones light candles in remembrance to the dead together with a few shifty characters seeking the more pleasurable virtues of the living.
All Saints Day, Festum omnium sanctorum falls on November 1st, followed by All Souls' Day on November 2rd. The photomontage is of Lapeyrouse cemetery Trinidad, West Indies.
Public Confinement - Michelle Isava
Artophhobia vs Feteophobia
What is more important? the idea, the performance or the public reaction to both? Michelle Isava wants to test the waters and she is given the opportunity to do so at Alice Yard in Port of Spain, Trinidad, West Indies. Alice Yard is a platform for independent artists to showcase their work.
Ms. Isava's work entails a performance piece of a type not seen to this degree locally. With her video camera, she enclosed herself into a cardboard box and projected a live image onto a screen visible to the people mulling around in the yard.
Ms. Isava's duration is set at closing time, which means she may confine herself in the enclosure for over four hours. Her concept prior to the performance, she says is to expose herself to places where she feels socially uncomfortable, The power of this installation is its simplicity. And as inquisitive humans are, the disillusion to the reality that the projected video was indeed of a woman fidgeting around in a box all this time had members of the audience scratching their heads and finding the piece quite disturbing.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
The Annunciation at Black Rock Tobago
The Annunciation marks the visit of the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, during which he told her that she would be the mother of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
At the Black Rock Transfiguration Anglican church in Tobago, West Indies, a mural is painted with a Biblical teaching in mind. At the entrance of the church, two unpainted concrete obelisks support an archway with spheres. This leads to a white semi-circular filigree disc and above it, a second carving of filigree patterns comprise of geometric shapes that resemble the Star of David. Light, therefore can penetrate through the maze to revitalize the congregation with beams of early Sunday sun-rays.
The front facade of the church is divided by two murals, painted by an artist commissioned to God's word or perhaps by a member of the congregation with a high-strung zest for flair and bolts of cloth, and a calling for two or three basic colours; Blue, magenta and brown. Yet,to put his name to a work with such great Biblical significance supersedes the likelihood that the mural will fade over the years by God's divine awaking.
The wall paintings are depictions of the Annunciation and John the Baptist with the Virgin Mary at the shore of the Tobago seascape, Black Rock.
Transfiguration at Black Rock: Emulsion on concrete 10 x 12 feet x 2
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