Venus Water Mobile - Lotta Hannerz

Lotta Hannerz - Venus Water Mobile

I stumbled across this somewhat surreal sculpture when walking through Le Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris in 2006 with a friend. The Garden was incepted by Queen Marie de Medici during the 17^th century.

It would have to be one of my favourite parks.

Hannerz's Venus is siutated in the Garden is at the Medici Fountain, which has a rich history itself. The Fountain is a 19^th century permanent sculpture by Auguste Ottin,  (1811–1890) French academic sculptor and recipient of the decoration of the Legion of Honor.

Ottin's sculpture depicts Ovid's Metamorphoses - Greek mythology of the love story between Acis (spirit of the Acis River, Sicily) and the sea nymph Galatea and the giant Polyphemus sneaking up on the lovers. Polyphemus, Galatea's jealous suitor drives Galatea into the sea and crushes her sweetheart Acis to death with a boulder.

 Polyphemus Surprising Acis and Galatea, (1866), the Fontaine Médicis, Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris )

Hannerz’ gigantic temporary sculpture with lovely shaped nose lips and chin protrudes mysteriously from the water, floating lightly and seems to pay homage to the Medici Fountain story – Galatea rising from the water.Also the mythology of Venus (representing beauty, love, sex, fertility and prosperity) and Venus rising from the sea as a fully plays a part. The oraficial nature of the sculpture could also relate to the fragranced garden site.

The Birth of Venus, Botticelli, 1486

Coming from a props background, the theatricality of the piece and the production of this sculpture interests me. I would think the piece is originally made from chicken wire, followed by plaster and bandage,  and then clay to create the sculpture and sealed with shellac varnish.  The mould would then be taken, probably of plaster, moulded in separate sections and reinforced with fibreglass and resin. The mould would be left to dry then removed from the sculpture. The mould would then be filled with coloured fibreglass resin or possibly silicone to create the cast. The mould is then removed from the cast, and the cast painted with many layers to create the realistic flesh colours.

The sculpture stuck with me ever since I saw it. I was drawn to its romantic, melancholic, mysterious aesthetic and since researching, the sculpture is enriched by the site’s beautiful tragic love story. This acknowledgment and connection to the site makes the artwork appealing to me.

The work also strikes some similarities with Ron Mueck's work

  Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris (Luxembourg Gardens

Vincent Van Gogh painting of the gardens 1886

 

 

Joseph Griffiths - drawings

Jessie Trail - etching - 1912

Photos from Sydney Feb 2013 by Casey Temby

 

Bronte from the 378 bus

 

The Blue Mountains

 

Potts Point hotel room

James Jean

Pauline

 

Choir

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Shift dress for Darwin weather

Charles Anastase printed linen dress with pockets - perfect attire for the Darwin wet season

Joseph Tawadros at Avatar Studios, NY with Bela Fleck, Roy Ayers & guests

A friend of mine sent me the music of Joseph Tawadros, Chamelions of the White Shadow.
This was recorded at Avatar Studios, NY with Bela Fleck, Roy Ayers and guests.

I had never heard of Joseph Tawadros and sometimes this is the way I like to discover an artist as there are no preconceptions. I prefer to launch straight into it and form my own opinions without being tainted by reviews and research.  So I had a small glance at the artist on youtube, pressed play and then closed my eyes.

I was taken to the streets of Paris, the markets of Istanbul, the jazz clubs of New York, Cuba and the toe-tappin' towns of Virginia and North Carolina.
But not only did I travel to these places, I travelled the world and also to the unknown where I have not even ventured to yet.  I am transported to a new place where things collide but form a coherent and captivating fusion and celebration.
A new place is created as is a new style of music, a fusion of bluegrass, acid jazz, afrobeat, rumba, flamenco, gypsy jazz, and even sometimes medieval-well to my ears anyway.

Sign me up for the magical mystery tour to this unbeknown destination!

Album sessions

The Silence Room

The Silence Room
Alex Cochrane Architects
A public space at Selfridges, London for people to escape the noise.
A minimal space with built-in seating almost entirely covered in feltt.
Celebrate the power of quiet.
DJs?

Chanel unveils its Métiers d'Art 2013 collection at Linlithgow Palace, Scotland

Incredible site

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Otto Piene

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My new artwork for design competition

The competition was ran by a building company and an NT newspaper.

The winning work would be displayed on four 8x35m metal panels on the ends of two apartment towers in Darwin. 

The theme was loose but had to reflect the Territory in one way or another.

 The judges were to select 5 finalists and then the public vote for the winner, with the winner receiving $10,000.

I incorporated the building's name, Spirit & Soul into my concept: 

To me the strongest impression of Darwin that I first noticed when I moved here and will stay with me, is the contrast in weather and the feelings that the weather evokes - the red hot sunsets of orange, violet and pink hues; the stormy turbulent blue, grey skies that threaten to explode.  My atmospheric paintings show the varying skies that present themselves daily to Territorians.  I have attempted to express the colours of the skies and the feelings these colours evoke.

I believe the NT weather is part of Territorians' daily lives thus encompassing the spirit and soul of the Territory.

When the NT is discussed I find that we always, in some point of the conversation talk about the weather.  To me, this shows that it is an important and powerful theme, forming the spirit and soul of place and should be celebrated.

The four below represent the exciting constantly changing NT skies - vibrant sunsets and storm. I created them as diptychs.

 

I designed these to be in in 4 panels. 

Supporting concept photographs

I did not get through unfortunately. Here were the finalists..

 

 and the winner is....

 

Kouichi Okamoto

Kouichi Okamoto - balloon lights

Harry Taylor - Tintypes

Tintype photography by Harry Taylor

For more info

Sidsel Becker

Photographs taken at nightfall in Copenhagen by Danish artist,director and scenographer Sidesl Becker

Katharina Grosse

I stumbled across Katharina Grosse when I was given a book about her.
She is a Berlin based artist.
Grosse seems to airbrush anythign she can get her hands on.
The intensity, uniqueness, limitless quality and exuberance of her work fascinates me.

Building underground for urban density - future cities by Casey Temby

Could subterranean spaces for human occupation be a better solution than building up to tackle the problem of urban sprawl, and create urban density?
It would certainly free up land above ground for important purposes such as agriculture and parklands.

If you believe the reports that we are to expect more natural disasters in the future due to climate change, perhaps building underground is an attractive alternative.

When I first heard about this I was immediately intrigued and wanted to find out more.  I am always fascinated at how planners keep on creating suburbs on the outskirts of cities.  Think of the McMansions in the new 'burbs such as the Western suburbs of Sydney like Harrington Park.

This is an exciting yet challenging future for architects and especially interior designers.
How do you make these spaces habitable?
I would think the priority would be how to get natural light into the spaces and how to reduce the feeling of claustrophobia.

This idea seems to be permeating with city planners for example Helsinki's Masterplan in which to underground industrial facilities and data centres are stored underground  http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xh165b_helsinki-s-underground-master-plan_news

The Helsinki project puts industrial facilities and data centers below the surface in order to improve the quality of life above ground and maintain a nice cityscape. Data Centres are cooled by seawater and the heat created from the data centres is then pumped through pipes to warm cities above ground.

I see many positives with the underground model primarily being:

• Reducing our carbon footprint and energy use
• Freeing up space on the surface and conserving existing natural areas or restoring damaged areas which provides habitat and promotes biodiversity.
• Reduction in the devastation to buildings from natural disasters.
• Controlling erosion and stormwater runoff; often, this is done by covering much of the site with vegetation.

Could it be an ideal model for hot climatic areas such as the Northern Territory?
Understandably it would be a major shift in ideologies of living however is it achievable?

German street artist EVOl small scale model of an underground city
 http://www.architizer.com/en_us/blog/dyn/26677/an-underground-city-in-the-fields-of-hamburg/#.UKmTDGfbWUM

Further reading:
http://www.subsurfacebuildings.com/DiggingfortheGreen.html