Ah bounce yuh wall

A decorative wall painting in a mechanic shop, Trinidad, West Indies

This creative wall painting says it all about speed, perspective and shadow. The typography, "We Install All Parts" is due to the driver picking up a skid and careening through the blue brick wall. Not only does the artist show his skill for the visual three-dimension look, but he also gives the shadow underneath the car a dimension to ponder as he struggles with where it should fall. Painters such as Leonardo da Vinci would be pleased that the lessons in the study of shadow and perspective were overlooked, thus entering a new field of observation called; What the hell is it?.
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PERSPECTIVE by Leonardo da Vinci

1. The vertical plane is a perpendicular line, imagined as in front of the central point where the apex of the pyramids converge. And this plane bears the same relation to this point as a plane of glass would, through which you might see the various objects and draw them on it. The different converging pyramids produced by the objects, will show, on the plane, the various sizes and remoteness of the objects causing them.

2. All those horizontal planes of which the extremes are met by perpendicular lines forming right angles, if they are of equal width the more they rise to the level of eye the less this is seen, and the more the eye is above them the more will their real width be seen.

3. The farther a spherical body is from the eye the more you will see of it. A simple and natural method; showing how objects appear to the eye without any other medium.

4. The object that is nearest to the eye always seems larger than another of the same size at greater distance.

5. How every large mass sends forth its images, which may diminish through infinity. The images of any large mass being infinitely divisible may be infinitely diminished.

6. Objects of equal size, situated in various places, will be seen by different pyramids which will each be smaller in proportion as the object is farther off.

7. Perspective, in dealing with distances, makes use of two opposite pyramids, one of which has its apex in the eye and the base as distant as the horizon. The other has the base towards the eye and the apex on the horizon. Now, the first includes the [visible] universe, embracing all the mass of the objects that lie in front of the eye; as it might be a vast landscape seen through a very small opening; for the more remote the objects are from the eye, the greater number can be seen through the opening, and thus the pyramid is constructed with the base on the horizon and the apex in the eye, as has been said. The second pyramid is extended to a spot which is smaller in proportion as it is farther from the eye; and this second perspective [pyramid] results from the first.

8. Simple perspective is that which is constructed by art on a vertical plane which is equally distant from the eye in every part. Complex perspective is that which is constructed on a ground-plan in which none of the parts are equally distant from the eye.

10. No surface can be seen exactly as it is, if the eye that sees it is not equally remote from all its edges. When an object opposite the eye is brought too close to it, its edges must become too confused to be distinguished; as it happens with objects close to a light, which cast a large and indistinct shadow, so is it with an eye which estimates objects opposite to it.

11. In all cases of linear perspective, the eye acts in the same way as the light. And the reason is that the eye has one leading line (of vision) which dilates with distance and embraces with true discernment large objects at a distance as well as small ones that are close. But since the eye sends out a multitude of lines which surround this chief central one and since these which are farthest from the centre in this cone of lines are less able to discern with accuracy, it follows that an object brought close to the eye is not at a due distance, but is too near for the central line to be able to discern the outlines of the object. So the edges fall within the lines of weaker discerning power, and these are to the function of the eye like dogs in the chase which can put up the game but cannot take it. Thus these cannot take in the objects, but induce the central line of sight to turn upon them, when they have put them up. Hence the objects which are seen with these lines of sight have confused outlines. The relative size of objects with regard to their distance from the eye.

12. Small objects close at hand and large ones at a distance, being seen within equal angles, will appear of the same size. There is no object so large but that at a great distance from the
eye it does not appear smaller than a smaller object near.

13. Among objects of equal size that which is most remote from the eye will look the smallest.

14. Why an object is less distinct when brought near to the eye, and why with spectacles, or without the naked eye sees badly either close or far off [as the case may be].

15. Among objects of equal size, that which is most remote from the eye will look the smallest.

16. No second object can be so much lower than the first as that the eye will not see it higher than the first, if the eye is above the second.

17. And this second object will never be so much higher than the first as that the eye, being below them, will not see the second as lower than the first.

18. If the eye sees a second square through the centre of a smaller one, that is nearer, the second, larger square will appear to be surrounded by the smaller one.

19. Objects that are farther off can never be so large but that those in front, though smaller, will conceal or surround them.

20. This proposition can be proved by experiment. For if you look through a small hole there is nothing so large that it cannot be seen through it and the object so seen appears surrounded and enclosed by the outline of the sides of the hole. And if you stop it up, this small stopping will conceal the view of the largest object.

21. Linear Perspective deals with the action of the lines of sight, in proving by measurement how much smaller is a second object than the first, and how much the third is smaller than the second; and so on by degrees to the end of things visible. I find by experience that if a second object is as far beyond the first as the first is from the eye, although they are of the same size, the second will seem half the size of the first and if the third object is of the same size as the 2nd, and the 3rd is as far beyond the second as the 2nd from the first, it will appear of half the size of the second; and so on by degrees, at equal distances, the next farthest will be half the size of the former object. So long as the space does not exceed the length of 20 braccia. But, beyond 20 braccia figures of equal size will lose 2/4 and at 40 braccia they will lose 9/10, and 19/20 at 60 braccia, and so on diminishing by degrees. This is if the picture plane is distant from you twice your own height. If it is only as far off as your own height, there will be a great difference between the first braccia and the second.

22. A second object as far distant from the first as the first is from the eye will appear half the size of the first, though they be of the same size really.

23. If you place the vertical plane at one braccio from the eye, the first object, being at a distance of 4 braccia from your eye will diminish to 3/4 of its height at that plane; and if it is 8 braccia from the eye, to 7/8; and if it is 16 braccia off, it will diminish to 15/16 of its height and so on by degrees, as the space doubles the diminution will double.

24. Begin from the line _m f_ with the eye below; then go up and do the same with the line _n f_, then with the eye above and close to the 2 gauges on the ground look at _m n_; then as _c m_ is to _m n_ so will _n m_ be to _n s_. If _a n_ goes 3 times into _f b, m p_ will do the same into _p g_. Then go backwards so far as that _c d_ goes twice into _a n_ and _pg_ will be equal to _g h_. And _m p_ will go into _h p_ as often as_d c_ into _o p_.

Although the objects seen by the eye do, in fact, touch each other as they recede, I will nevertheless found my rule on spaces of 20 braccia each; as a musician does with notes, which, though they can be carried on one into the next, he divides into degrees from note to note calling them 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th; and has affixed a name to each degree in raising or lowering the voice. Let _f_ be the level and distance of the eye; and _a_ the vertical plane, as high as a man; let _e_ be a man, then I say that on the plane this will be the distance from the plane to the 2nd man.

The differences in the diminution of objects of equal size in consequence of their various remoteness from the eye will bear among themselves the same proportions as those of the spaces between the eye and the different objects.

25. Find out how much a man diminishes at a certain distance and what its length is; and then at twice that distance and at 3 times, and so make your general rule.

26. The eye cannot judge where an object high up ought to descend.

27. If two similar and equal objects are placed one beyond the other at a given distance the difference in their size will appear greater in proportion as they are nearer to the eye that sees them. And conversely there will seem to be less difference in their size in proportion as they are remote from the eve.

28. This is proved by the proportions of their distances among themselves; for, if the first of these two objects were as far from the eye, as the 2nd from the first this would be called the second proportion: since, if the first is at 1 braccia from the eye and the 2nd at two braccia, two being twice as much as one, the first object will look twice as large as the second. But if you place the first at a hundred braccia from you and the second at a hundred and one, you will find that the first is only so much larger than the second as 100 is less than 101; and the converse is equally true. And again, the same thing is proved by the 4th of this book which shows that among objects that are equal, there is the same proportion in the diminution of the size as in the increase in the distance from the eye of the spectator.

29. The practice of perspective may be divided into ... parts. The space for the number is left blank in the of which the first treats of objects seen by the eye at any distance; and it shows all these objects just as the eye sees them diminished, without obliging a man to stand in one place rather than another so long as the plane does not produce a second foreshortening.

30. But the second practice is a combination of perspective derived partly from art and partly from nature and the work done by its rules is in every portion of it, influenced by natural perspective and artificial perspective. By natural perspective I mean that the plane on which this perspective is represented is a flat surface, and this plane, although it is parallel both in length and height, is forced to diminish in its remoter parts more than in its nearer ones. And this is proved by the first of what has been said above, and its diminution is natural. But artificial perspective, that is that which is devised by art, does the contrary; for objects equal in size increase on the plane where it is foreshortened in proportion as the eye is more natural and nearer to the plane, and as the part of the plane on which it is figured is farther from the eye.

31. And let this plane be _d e_ on which are seen 3 equal circles which are beyond this plane _d e_, that is the circles _a b c_. Now you see that the eye _h_ sees on the vertical plane the sections of the images, largest of those that are farthest and smallest of the nearest.

32. Natural perspective acts in a contrary way; for, at greater distances the object seen appears smaller, and at a smaller distance the object appears larger. But this said invention requires the spectator to stand with his eye at a small hole and then, at that small hole, it will be very plain. But since many (men's) eyes endeavour at the same time to see one and the same picture produced by this artifice only one can see clearly the effect of this perspective and all the others will see confusion. It is well therefore to avoid such complex perspective and hold to simple perspective which does not regard planes as foreshortened, but as much as possible in their proper form. This simple perspective, in which the plane intersects the pyramids by which the images are conveyed to the eye at an equal distance from the eye is our constant experience, from the curved form of the pupil of the eye on which the pyramids are intersected at an equal distance from the visual virtue.

33. This diagram distinguishes natural from artificial perspective. But before proceeding any farther I will define what is natural and what is artificial perspective. Natural perspective says that the more remote of a series of objects of equal size will look the smaller, and conversely, the nearer will look the larger and the apparent size will diminish in proportion to the distance. But in artificial perspective when objects of unequal size are placed at various distances, the smallest is nearer to the eye than the largest and the greatest distance looks as though it were the least of all; and the cause of this is the plane on which the objects are represented; and which is at unequal distances from the eye throughout its length. And this diminution of the plane is natural, but the perspective shown upon it is artificial since it nowhere agrees with the true diminution of the said plane. Whence it follows, that when the eye is somewhat removed from the [station point of the] perspective that it has been gazing at, all the objects represented look monstrous, and this does not occur in natural perspective, which has been defined above. Let us say then, that the square _a b c d_ figured above is foreshortened being seen by the eye situated in the centre of the side which is in front. But a mixture of artificial and natural perspective will be seen in this tetragon called _el main_ that is to say _e f g h_ which must appear to the eye of the spectator to be equal to _a b c d_ so long as the eye remains in its first position between _c_ and _d_. And this will be seen to have a good effect, because the natural perspective of the plane will conceal the defects which would [otherwise] seem monstrous.

Ideas - Exchanges- Experiences - UWI Art

UWI students get it right


Drawing by Nicolai Noel shown at the National Museum of Trinidad and Tobago

I ventured in to The National Museum on Friday to see the latest University of the West Indies student show. I was very pleased with the results. The only little issue I have is in the annex space. The work in that space looked like the poor step-child next to the wonderfully finished displays in the main gallery. At last the students are coming into a maturity in regard to process and presentation. There are definately reasons to go take a look. Pottery with a sensitivity by Adam Williams, gorgeous experimental bags made in mesh by Linda Goodridge, A super modern, whole grown art piece by Kim See Tai, a really tongue in cheek, cheeky, clever installation sculpture by Eden Bissoon and a lovely fractured canvas of riotous colour by Seema N. Pustam are all worth the trip. After many posts about my concerns about what is being prduced at UWI, this show is on the right track. - Adele

The Mind, Thought and Realization part 1

What I think I am, What I believe, I shall


The lovable and great scientist of the twentieth century, Albert Einstein

The words or the language, as they are written or spoken, do not seem to play any role in my mechanism of thought. The psychical entities which seem to serve as elements in thought are certain signs and more or less clear images which can be "voluntarily" reproduced and combined. There is, of course, a certain connection between those elements and relevant logical concepts. It is also clear that the desire to arrive finally at logically connected concepts is the emotional basis of this rather vague play with the above-mentioned elements. - Albert Einstein's view on his own process of thinking

The following revised notes are by Charles Haanel (1866-1949). The author of the Master Key surmised that the power of thought and the control and discipline of it could produce greater possibilities for humankind on the physical plane.
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1. The mind is creative, and conditions, environments and all experiences in life are the result of our habitual or predominant mental attitude.

2. The attitude of the mind depends upon what we think. All achievements depends upon our method of thinking.

3. We must "be" before we can "do," and we can "do" only to the extent which we "are," and what we "are" depends upon what we "think."

4. We cannot express powers that we do not possess. The only way we may secure power is to become conscious of it, and we can never become conscious of it until we learn that all power is from within.

5. The world within is governed by the mind. When we discover this world and we will find the solutions for every problem and the cause for every effect; and since the world within is subject to our control, all laws of power are also within our control.

8. The world is a reflection of the world within. What appears is what has been found within. In the world within may be found infinite Wisdom, infinite Power, infinite Supply of all that is necessary, waiting for unfoldment, development and expression. If we recognize these potentialities in the world within they will take form in the world outwards.

9. Harmony in the world within will be reflected in the world without by harmonious conditions, agreeable surroundings, the best of everything. It is the foundation of health and a necessary essential to all greatness, all power, all attainment, all achievement and all success.
10. Harmony in the world within means the ability to control our thoughts, and to determine for ourselves how any experience is to affect us.

11. Harmony in the world within results in optimism and affluence; affluence within results in affluence without.

12. The world without reflects the circumstances and the conditions of the consciousness within.

13. If we find wisdom in the world within, we shall have the understanding to discern the marvelous possibilities that are latent in this world within, and we shall be given the power to make these possibilities manifest in the world without.

14. As we become conscious of the wisdom in the world within, we mentally take possession of this wisdom, and by taking mental possession we come into actual possession of the power and wisdom necessary to bring into manifestation the essentials necessary for our most complete and harmonious development.

15. The world within is the practical world in which the men and women of power generate courage, hope, enthusiasm, confidence, trust and faith, by which they are given the fine intelligence to see the vision and the practical skill to make the vision real.

16. Life is an unfoldment, not accretion. What comes to us in the world without is what we already possess in the world within.

17. All possession is based on consciousness. All gain is the result of an accumulative consciousness. All loss is the result of a scattering consciousness.

18. Mental efficiency is contingent upon harmony; discord means confusion; therefore, he who would acquire power must be in harmony with Natural Law.

19. We are related to the world without by the objective mind. The brain is the organ of this mind and the cerebro-spinal system of nerves puts us in conscious communication with every part of the body. This system of nerves responds to every sensation of light, heat, odor, sound and taste.

20. When this mind thinks correctly, when it understands the truth, when the thoughts sent through the cerebro-spinal nervous system to the body are constructive, these sensations are pleasant, harmonious.

21. The result is that we build strength, vitality and all constructive forces into our body, but it is through this same objective mind that all distress, sickness, lack, limitation and every form of discord and in harmony is admitted to our lives. It is therefore through the objective mind, by wrong thinking, that we are related to all destructive forces.

22. We are related to the world within by the subconscious mind. The solar plexus is the organ of this mind; the sympathetic system of nerves presides over all subjective sensations, such as joy, fear, love, emotion, respiration, imagination and all other subconscious phenomena. It is through the subconscious that we are connected with the Universal Mind and brought into relation with the Infinite constructive forces of the Universe.

23. It is the coordination of these two centers of our being, and the understanding of their functions, which is the great secret of life. With this knowledge we can bring the objective and subjective minds into conscious cooperation and thus coordinate the finite and the infinite. Our future is entirely within our own control. It is not at the mercy of any capricious or uncertain external power.

24. All agree that there is but one Principle or Consciousness pervading the entire Universe, occupying all space, and being essentially the same in kind at every point of its presence. It is all powerful, all wisdom and always present. All thoughts and things are within Itself. It is all in all.

25. There is but one consciousness in the universe able to think; and when it thinks, its thoughts become objective things to it. As this Consciousness is omnipresent, it must be present within every individual; each individual must be a manifestation of that Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent Consciousness.

26. As there is only one Consciousness in the Universe that is able to think it necessarily follows that your consciousness is identical with the Universal Consciousness, or, in other words, all mind is one mind. There is no dodging this conclusion.

27. The consciousness that focuses in your brain cells is the same consciousness which focuses in the brain cells of every other individual. Each individual is but the individualization of the Universal, the Cosmic Mind.

28. The Universal Mind is static or potential energy; it simply is; it can manifest only through the individual, and the individual can manifest only through the Universal. They are one.

29. The ability of the individual to think is his ability to act on the Universal and bring it into manifestation. Human consciousness consists only in the ability of man to think. Mind in itself is believed to be a subtle form of static energy, from which arises the activities called 'thought, which is the dynamic phase of mind. Mind is static energy, thought is dynamic energy -the two phases of the same thing. Thought is therefore the vibratory force formed by converting static mind into dynamic mind.

30. As the sum of all attributes are contained in the Universal Mind, which is Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent, these attributes must be present at all times in their potential form in every individual. Therefore, when the individual thinks, the thought is compelled by its nature to embody itself in an objectivity or condition which will correspond with its origin.

31. Every thought therefore is a cause and every condition an effect; for this reason it is absolutely essential that you control your thoughts so as to bring forth only desirable conditions.

32. All power is from within, and is absolutely under your control; it comes through exact knowledge and by the voluntary exercises of exact principles.

33. It should be plain that when you acquire a thorough understanding of this law, and are able to control your thought processes, you can apply it to any condition; in other words, you will have come into conscious cooperation with Omnipotent law which is the fundamental basis of all things.

34. The mind is the life principle of every atom which is in existence; every atom is continually striving to manifest more life; all are intelligent, and all are seeking to carry out the purpose for which they were created.

35. A majority of mankind lives in the world without; few have found the world within, and yet it is the world within that makes the world without; it is therefore creative and everything which you find in your world without has been created by you in the world within.
36. This system will bring you into a realization of power which will be yours when you understand this relation between the world without and the world within. The world within is the cause, the world without the effect; to change the effect you must change the cause.

37. You will at once see that this is a radically new and different idea; most men try to change effects by working with effects. They fail to see that this is simply changing one form of distress for another. To remove discord, we must remove the cause, and this cause can be found only in the world within.

38. All growth is from within. This is evident in all nature. Every plant, every animal, every human is a living testimony to this great law, and the error of the ages is in looking for strength or power from without.

End of part 1

What exactly is quality in a Trinidadian context? Part 1

Jason Nedd's painting of Tobago and representational of its culture, Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies

Whenever I write, I usually find that somewhere in the text lies the next possible article that causes me to go away and think about an angle to another question. Yesterday it was the idea of quality and what would these standards look like in Trinidad and Tobago. I have been asked on several occasions what constitutes good Art? This question is asked with great sincerity, by most. People really would like to feel that they have a good eye for it. So much so that they are willing to buy poor replicas of works by Van Gogn and Da Vinci or more recent local works like David Moore and Anthony Timothy.

I remember when Mr. Moore was making prints of his Rockwellesque pastiches of disappearing life on the islands. Even then, friends and acquaintances would engage me in heated discussions about Art. The question then was whether he was cheapening both Art and himself by creating such work. Today his work stands as very representative of a period. In some ways, it is a sad testimony of a time, because as far as I can summarize, he no longer works in Trinidad or produces work for Trinidad and Tobago. This is from talking to people who know him, but I will still leave that up to speculation and keep this open. He may return at this writing and flood the market place again.

David Moore painting from 1992, ( Arima, Trinidad West Indies)

What is clear with the work of Mr. Moore is that he grappled with something that artists are still dealing with in Trinidad and Tobago, and that is, how to represent what interests him about the country in a way that is visually appealing and lasting. My continued concern is in the repetition of these themes. Unlike other places in the world, of the hundreds of artists who make work on the islands, many of them do so in very similar ways, creating similar works.

There is always a market for a painting of a gingerbread house, a pastoral scene, a washer woman walking along a pristine trail to a small thatched house in the distance. Today these images are hard to reconcile when signage stating, stop the smelter factory along dirt roads laden with poles that are jumbled with wires suited for cell phones and Internet access, and that same little house has no place in a world that demands that such a life is one of poverty that can only be perceived as quaint on canvas. When I speak of quality or value, what I am talking about is an understanding of art production in Trinidad and Tobago for itself. A clear assessment of what is made and why.

So if one can say that we have five hundred landscape painters, four hundred and sixty eight wood sculptors, then we can begin to ask questions like, what engages the wood sculptor as opposed to the metalsmith or the person doing pottery? How much of the work is for high production and how much is made for on special consignment.

But also, once the number of people practicing is known, and this can be done by checking sites like the Art Society of Trinidad and Tobago, what has to be known, is, if a number of artists are all painting birds, who of the bird painters are considered the most skilled and why? Is it the photorealism? Is it the composition? The technique? At one point in art in Trinidad and Tobago, this was easy to state. People spoke about an artist’s ability to paint something in such a way that it made you feel that the thing was a photograph. But with the huge advances in photography and the inevitable change in tastes, that ability to create photorealism eventually fell away as the thing to look at. It helped for a moment to distinguish a certain group. The yearly show of artists best work at the National Museum did much for Art, but again, eventually it went the way of the wind.

Today, good art is relative to the press that work gets in the papers. If you want to know who is good or very good, apart from the luminaries who are constantly in the media, the playing field falls away quickly Is it wise to rate artists anyway? I do not believe that what I am suggesting is a rating, but a greater awareness of what is made in Trinidad and Tobago and why? Who do Artists like themselves? Do these artists support each others’ works? If so, how does this support encourage high standards of work in the future?

There is Studio 66 run by Makemba Kunle and Women in Art run by Frauline Rudder. How much these two examples manage to set standards is unknown. One can also ask the question, how does the work of artists in Trinidad and Tobago impact on or even influence work in the other islands or the other islands on us, if at all?

Francisco Cabral's chair, Trinidad, West Indies

Ever so often a small group appear on the horizon and tries to set themselves apart with a type of work. Yet very little is written about this, or followed up. Finding out about one such luminary like Francisco Cabral will lead you to a basic dead end. He’s possibly in Miami. He’s left Trinidad for good. He sparked and now he’s gone.

Of those who stay and keep their names prominent, Jackie Hinckson, LeRoi Clarke, Peter Minshall and Wendy Nanan, to name a few, they are more focused on producing their work, as they should. What you do see, is that the frame shops that are now also doubling as galleries, all artists are subject to spending a great deal on framing their work for show, and that represents a certain value and standard. It can even be argued that the frame influences the sale of the work. - Adele

Below: A television soft drink ad showing a fairly accurate interpretation of art work at a gallery opening in Trinidad and Tobago.

More money, more problems

The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on June 2, 1953

The history of the English Crown, the Monarchy explains is made up of the Union of Crowns from 1603. The concept is based on a single ruler developed from the eighth and ninth century. Figure heads such as Offa and Alfred the Great began to create a centralised system of government. Following the Norman Conquest, the rules developed a national institution including the formation of Parliament.

During the Middle Ages there were many contests over the Crown, which culminated in the Wars of the Roses, which lasted for a century. The conflict ended with the advent of the Tudors, a dynasty which produced some of England's prominent rulers. The death of the 'Virgin Queen' in 1603 ended Tudor family line and brought about the Union of the Crowns with Scotland.
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Last year the artist Damian Hirst created a stir by overlaying a skull with diamonds. Another artist has recently done a bushel of corn to real scale in diamonds. The piece is quite whimsical, and has less of a sinister quality than Hirst’s piece, because it is not a body part. Yet, the idea of using precious material in Art is quite provocative at this time.

In a world where there are more millionaires and billionaires than ever before, and airlines like Singapore Airlines are creating Above First Class as a class on their airline and billionaires are buying L1011’s to trick them out with bedrooms, bathrooms and boardrooms, the mind can spin at the thought.

You might hear yourself say incredulously, but shouldn’t we be thinking about global warming and famine? Prince Charles struggles to come to terms with using his private jet to go to meetings on sustainable agriculture and his wife Camilla Parker Bowles complains of the heat while walking around a little third world Caribbean island, from their private yatch.

Money is a great thing. It can help humanity tremendously. But what are we doing with it? Why is it that more money is spent on war than on joy? Why are we still so paranoid? Actually that is easily answered, just look at how we deal with each other on a daily basis. The way some people drive, I am glad that they do not wield political power. Using precious materials in the world of Art is not new, but what is interesting about their use today is the patron it will go to. I am sure that after the surprise of the Hirst head, the next expectation was, who would collect it?

Obviously there are people in the world very willing to purchase such objects for whatever reason, the ability to do so comfortably, the desire to have something that will continue to appreciate in value, bragging rights…maybe all of the above. What does this say about the artist? Is the artist right to play this commodities game when we are supposed to be the people who keep the reigns of society mindful of itself? Is Mr. Hirst’s head and Mircea Cantor's corn may be just a humorous analogy of all that is excessive in the world and moreso a statement of questionable taste? Is the purchaser in on the joke and ‘gets’ it? Working in diamonds or bronze or whatever expensive material available to artists who can afford to create costly visions may be more about wanting to push the limits of their ability, concept and our expectations.

I think that that is why we have seen huge blow up structures like Paul Mc Cartney’s piece that framed the Tate Museum in 2004. It may be why artists work so large right now. It is about competing with all the other media out there and reminding their public that a gynormous painting is way more flashy than a flat screen television when it’s off, and it is always impressive no matter what time of day or mood you are in after a day of stock trading.

The world of the rich makes you feel as though you never got the memo for the race. The gulf between the haves and have not’s is a Gulf Stream jet of air fuel. Yet this is not a pity party. Somehow, we all manage to live with poverty, vagrancy and insanity lying side by side as we smartly talk on our cellphones to friends complaining that we have no time and we wish that life was much simpler.

The artists who work with expensive materials are giving the patron value, and as Andy Warhol knew when he silk screenprinted money, artists are just giving that rareified group what they want. Whether it gives something back to art history in the process is an entirely other matter. - Adele

Money -Art -Integrity

A public painting as a billboard, Diego Martin, Trinidad

Of the many conversations that I have with artists, one of the most contentious is about money, not to be confused with making a living. Most artists are not specific about their financial needs, so much as they are interested in the alleged financial successes of others.

This may come from living in a small place, or from the fact that the artist community is also so very small, that it cannot be helped that many people in and around the arts have a tendency to focus on how much money is being made in it. Yet, when these conversations come up, I find artists to be both prudish and shrewd. Many people assume that when an artist has a show, everything sells. Many believe that whatever they make at the show, they get to keep. Neither of these statements is true. Looking deeper, one also has to observe the number of people practicing art and the number of new people cropping up every day, vying for the same small pie.

Everyone knows that Trinidad and Tobago is oil rich, but how many of us know how many of our wealthy citizens actually support Art? So many buildings are being built and have been built and very little Art ills these structures. I can assume that many people who buy art do so for their homes, and so artists should really not get too upset when their patrons want that work because it matches their couch and curtains.

What about the cost of a lot of what is out in the gallery spaces for sale? Sometimes you wonder how did that piece of work fetch that price? Overall, I find that the local patrons of art are very kind in their choice of purchases. I have seen works fetch ten and fifteen thousand dollars, knowing that it would be a better buy from another artist of greater skill. Does the patron know this? Are they buying for love or for sentiment or are they purchasing because they want to just spend money?

Of the patrons I know, it can be a bit of all of the above. Yet there is a real tiny market of people who do make very good livings on art investments. However, they have their own challenges, as they have to do a lot of homework to find quality. So what invariably happens is buying a lot of specific names and trading based on that name, and doing some ambulance chasing as well.

The artist LeRoy Clarke has enough work made, and enough of a mystique surrounding himself as to be the equivalent of a Naipaul in terms of cache. Whether you like his body of work or not, he has been working for a very long time, making Art that has met with a certain level of acceptance in our society. His art has even managed to cause great controversy over cost, a controversy that for many may now seem particularly absurd.

I believe that artists should talk about money, because they should talk about value, and they
should educate their patrons about value. Artists should determine these standards, although anyone may seem to be able to, as the saying goes, ‘wash their foot and jump in…” to the art arena, and clearly the arena is willing and able to absorb them. The art world of Trinidad and Tobago needs to set standards of quality. If so, everyone will rise to the level that they are comfortable with, and things would not be so ambiguous as they presently seem to be.

Guinness - Sexual Impotence

An incomplete figurative painted billboard advertising the stout beverage, Guinness, Port of Spain, Trinidad

For many men in Trinidad and Tobago, this is a remedy which the washed-out graffiti explains (Sexual Impotence) for those who may lack the sexual prowess. A couple of Guinness may do the trick to make your wood stand and to double-break in the process.
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Wood - Penis
Break - Ejaculation

State Graffiti near KFC

On an abandon wall in Port of Spain, a graffiti artist declares the right for public art. The stenciled reads; By order of POS city council, this wall is designated Graffiti area. Note: This graffiti has been removed.

Searching for Steelband archive - Kim Johnson

Pan reach

The National Pan History Project

The author Kim Johnson is on a mission to amass as many photographs capturing Trinidad and Tobago's national musical instrument, the Steelpan. The material is for a coffee table book entitled the National Archives of the Pan. The project is a thorough history of the steelpan's beginning from 1939 to its present day. The two hundred and fifty page document will examine the culture behind the only musical instrument invented in the twentieth century and its foundations integrated within Trinidad and Tobago.

An unknown steelband from San Fernando, Trinidad, courtesy of Kim Johnson

Mr. Johnson is appealing to the public for any photographs of the steelpan they may have of Trinidad carnival during the 1940 - 90s. A gem from those old steelband snapshots could find its way between the pages of the National Pan Archive Book. If you can contribute to this project, Kim Johnson can be emailed for further details.

Pan Am North Stars on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. courtesy of Kim Johnson

A man and his subjects - Pablo Ruis Picasso

Sketches for Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907, a new form of contemporary Western European Art

Pablo Ruis Picasso was big success from very early in his life. It can be argued that he may have had the sort of appeal of the rock star today where women are concerned. He had many relationships in his long career, and he did not treat the women he attracted to him very well. Most recently the Nobel Laureate V.S.Naipaul came under scrutiny for his treatment of his first wife and it caused quite a stir. What is it about some famous men and their relationships that we, the public must trawl? Does the famous person's skill become more or less apparent with the knowledge of their peccadillo's? I think it depends on what they have done. When it is bad behavior with another consenting adult, it may be goggled at, but when it falls into the line of abhorrent and deviant behavior, it causes one to look deeper at their body of work for clues. Perhaps Picasso had a more deep seated reason for disassembling women in his paintings. That is just a joke people...or is it? - Adele .........................................................................................................................................................................

Pablo Picasso realized the power of being true to whatever his inner drive lead him to. His love of women and his despise of being too smothered reproduced art that reflected his sadistic means of mutilation and harm. In his portraits of women, he publicly humiliated the subject, yet he was incapacitated without their motherly nurturing instincts. In the process, his works looked repulsive, but then it began to be accepted from a circle of artists that he convinced over the meaning or secrets behind any man-made objects. The mystic was that it should not be disclosed. The strength of a paintings should hold up to publicly scrutiny whether its content seemed crude, uncultured or unclear. Acceptance marked its legitimacy.

Blue Basin - Trinidad Map Series

A paradise we are, a paradise we'll be


Colorful photographs of what to do and see on the island of Trinidad, West Indies from a tourist map produced from 1971. Insert of the waterfall and bathing beauty at Blue Basin, Trinidad. The blurb read;

Blue Basin, approximately two and a half hours from (Port of Spain). Along the Western main road through the Diego Martin valley, to the end of a paved road which is half a mile from Blue Basin waterfall and pool. The footpath is steep in parts, but the pool is shaded and cool.
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The description related to the Blue Basin Falls and Pool, The bather has come with a large umbrella to shade her from the cool mist. It should be noted that the water can be quite cold.


View a higher resolution of the map of Trinidad, 1971 edition

Damian Hirst - Mythology to God

The Greek mythological Pegasus, the winged horse as a relief out of cement, Trinidad, W.I

In our quest to trail the ether for ideas and hunches, thebookmann and I have been speculating on what Art may look like in years to come. We were talking about the prolific British artist, Damien Hirst. thebookmann believes that he shall be looking at mythology and will be in the position to create life sized effigy of the creatures from cadaverous of people and animals. The Taxidermist shall be very honored to be part of such an ambitious project of great macabre and wonder. Look out for the work Centaur, half man, half horse.
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These hybrids creations are an attempt to make some sort of kunstfrankenstein for public display. They are sacrilegious by fusing the soul of man and animal as one.

The sitter Sue - Lucien Freud

Obeseoeroticia

Lucian Freud's subject of a civil servant asleep, (The Benefits Supervisor) 1995 The (German) painter.

Lucian Freud's portrait of a nude woman may break the auction record for any sold work by a living artist. The sitter, Sue Tilley, is painted asleep on a tattered sofa in a small room with wooden floors. Lucian Freud is fascinated with painting human flesh. He is particularly moved to paint unusual body types in his hallmarked thick, caked brushstrokes that explore the layers of grey, yellow ochre, blue and pink on the bodies surface. Freud works like a voyeur, picking up all the details that make skin's mystery, alive and his ability to also combine a tonal subtleness without any contamination.

This work shows the ability to paint expressively as the hefty model visually sinks into the sofa's springs and is offset by the detail of the upholstery fabric. Collectors are infatuated with paintings that have a similar appeal to Vincent van Gogh, the Dutch Post-Impressionist Painter, 1853-1890, (Van Gogh's landmark use of tilted perspective draws the attention most desired and Freud's flatness is shown. The work goes on sale in New York and may fetch over 35 million US Dollars, an unnoticeable dent in the wallets to perspective buyers.

arbre verre - glass tree

Why create a work of art when dreaming about it is so much sweeter - Pier Paolo Pasolini


A wall painting depicting the Tree of Life from the turn of the century 2005, Trinidad, W.I.

One of the most important works of the twenty-first century? What could it possibly be? Arbre verre, extending ten metres into the sky. A hand-blown, glass tree. The art work is forged entirely from its roots, truck, branches, leafs and buds, the sculpture is visually blinding yet spectacular to the retina as light refracts on the glass surface described as a psychedelic masterpeice in terms of its precision and lifelike appeal. Visitors can be stroll below on the surface where the tree’s roots are fused with a highly polished noir epoxy or just look towards the branches to the open dome where rays of light can penetrate through. This neo-garden of eden is crystallized to simulate nature but fruits are not to be touched or picked.

arbre verre began its construction in 2040 and was completed in 2047, Toulouse, France

Art and the Comfort Zone

A typical wall painting in local Bar in Trinidad. The artist makes no doubt about his training, his passion overrides the artistic qualities which may never be debated.

Most recently the question was put to me about process. Is an artist better for having skill or for having opportunity? At first blush, the question may seem pointless. But this has to do with some work that thebookmann and I was sent to review. More and more in Trinidad, the artists who come out of the University of the West Indies, want to have shows. Some of them work together to produce group events and one or two have solo shows. These shows are then seen in the daily papers and sometimes the weekly papers with very little text about the work itself.

In almost every instance the art that is produced from these endeavors are in keeping with work seen before. There is usually the same type of themes and skills. This is quite curious, as the work seen at the National Museum that represents the best of the school year at the University of the West Indies, puts together a better showing of concept and skill of the student body.So why is it that when students graduate, they cleave to the overtly familiar ground? Perhaps it is advice from other artists? Perhaps it is a desire to be safe and to make money after being in school and working in accordance with teachers whose grades they need to advance?

I know that my comments may seem harsh. It may seem as well that I am tarring every young and upcoming artist with the same brush. I am not doing this at all however, I am basing my thoughts on what I have been seeing over the last five years. When I look at what is happening in art all over the world, I am usually stopped cold by what is happening at home and the reason that this is the case is because there is very little personality in what I see locally. I see people playing it safe and not engaging the audience at all. And I am very concerned. With all of that stated, an artist having opportunity to engage an audience and having skills that they want the said public to see, why is it that so little of what is seen memorable? I think the question is largely about skill. What kind of skill are we really seeing? Again, how many artists are pushing out and beyond their comfort zones to produce something that goes against the expected? How many artists have the commitment or the desire to really explore what they think they want to say?

Artists at their best should set the standards that the public by experience will want to see. Why isn’t this happening in art in Trinidad and Tobago today? - Adele

Bambi and Art Deco

A fashionable 1920 Art Deco belt clasp. The New Cash Store, est. 1918, Sangre Grande, Trinidad. Approximately 5cm x 5cm. A circular disk with a cylindrical coil to one end. A brown spherical button is attached to the metal. Condition: Slightly tarnished. $300


A Bambi imitation broach pin. Cast metal, 1940s. Flaked paint in areas. $300

What he know? - Leonardo Da Vinci

This is a painting taken in a drinking bar in Trinidad and Tobago, the work was produced nearly fifty years ago and it shows a time when Trinidad was the idyllic place it once was.

A painter ought to be curious to hear the opinions of everyone on his work Certainly while a man is painting he ought not to shrink from hearing every opinion. For we know very well that a man, though he may not be a painter, is familiar with the forms of other men and very capable of judging whether they are hump backed, or have one shoulder higher or lower than the other, or too big a mouth or nose, and other defects; and, as we know that men are competent to judge of the works of nature, how much more ought we to admit that they can judge of our errors; since you know how much a man may be deceived in his own work. And if you are not conscious of this in yourself study it in others and profit by their faults.

Therefore be curious to hear with patience the opinions of others, consider and weigh well whether those who find fault have ground or not for blame, and, if so amend; but, if not make as though you had not heard, or if he should be a man you esteem show him by argument the cause of his mistake. - Leonardo Da Vinci notebooks 1452-1519 ................................................................................................................................................................

When Leonardo Da Vinci devised his thoughts on the ethics of paintings, we should consider that in regard to the judgment of a painter's work, the opinions of others is based on the representation in terms of rendering the (person or thing) as close to the forms in reality. A painted apple should take on the appearance of the fruit in weight, texture and perspective space. The artist ability to do so would be critique if his work failed and an open ear may give answers to the work's inaccuracies. The artist should take this as constructive criticism rather than to mull over the faults of the viewer.

When we think of twentieth century art and the looser forms of art expression devised in modernism, the Spanish painter Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), for an example simplified the (person or thing) to mere shapes and outlines. This could be seen as a cop-out but make no doubt, Picasso could formally paint. The question here is how do we judge this form of representation and what references do we have to compare it with other than an abstraction of it.

Public Art's Dilemma

Today on Yahoo news, a public art project caught my attention. Graffiti artist Alex Poli has been faced with the dilemma of having to whitewash a large mural that he with the help of other graffiti artists was commissioned to paint. The work is now being criticized for having some objectionable content as well as encouraging vandalism. The mural in question is 10,000 square feet and was painted on a long concrete bank that supports a river in Los Angeles.

When the permit was given to do the work, it was seen as a relief to the present unattractive area. This situation talks about the way art is viewed and valued, how certain types of work gets funded and made, and how art eventually affects society. The artist was approached because graffiti art is edgy, youthful and fits the image that the powers that be who commissioned it, must have found to be appropriate. I am sure that none of the work was started without complete authorization that the imagery was acceptable. Type in the word graffiti, and millions of sites come up, particularly in relation to galleries only too
happy to show the work of such artists.

This article brought into question what is fitting, as well as what is not. Some city officials claimed that there were areas of the mural that were offensive. The muralists are now being tagged with the responsibility of not having their ‘work’ extended and expanded on by real vandals who are now taking advantage of the space. To be fair, the muralist was asked to have a touch up crew replenish the work, however, is vandalism the responsibility of the artist? Of course not! It cannot be helped that graffiti is still seen as undesirable by many. It is a question of proper maintenance and discussion on how public art should be handled. Why is it that when art causes discussion and dialogue, the first reaction is usually heated emotion that leads to negative outcry, when what should be done is to look at what the point was to begin with. What I suspect is that many people in government simply use artists for their own political ends, giving very little thought to what art means and what it can do. This issue in Los Angeles is a good look at how precarious it can be to get projects in public spaces with the best intentions and then what can happen to the hapless artist who is then left to carry the weight of public opinion when things do not go as the officials want them to. Sadly, disrespecting artists work is so old hat.

Here in Trinidad and Tobago, we have seen artists works just destroyed in very casual ways by the powers that be. But that shall be left for another post. Artists must stand their ground about what they make for public spaces, and everyone involved in the project must understand why the work is important in the first, second and third place. - Adele

Read the article from the Los Angeles Times

Luis Buñuel - Un chien andalou - The right to imagine

Somewhere between chance and mystery lies imagination - Luis Buñuel


I wonder what this box contains?

The Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel believed that memory was coherence to our reasoning, feelings and action. Without it, he said, we were nothing. In 1929, Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali both produced the film Un chien andalou sparking the very notion of voyeurism, delusion and shock.

Un chien andalou is a journey into fetishism from a hallucinated-dream state brought to life by the moving picture, and by Salvador Dali's subconsciousness. His inner urge to express these layering motifs are reconstructed by Luis Buñuel's beautifully orchestrated cinema photography particularly with his play on shadows. The sixteen minute silent film is considered a cinematic masterpiece with its surreal imagery capped with a sadistic deviancy. Un chien andalou shows the power of thought and the possibility of truly duplicating the lines between reality verses falsehood, and toying with the desires of, What if.

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Pertaining to the object of painting, photography and film, these art forms survive in the human consciousness because of its seductiveness to replicate a memory closes to reality. Film, for an example can draw in the viewer into a place where his emotions can be triggered by a similar experience. Only the sensory of touch is missing.