Blue Moon

The piece that I chose to share is a work of African art by El Anatsui.  His latest works have been made from recycled bottle caps and scrap metals which he collects in the town where he has resided the last 28 years: Nsukka, Nigeria.  Usually they are constructed into quilt-like creations, all out o the metal scraps.  Using the discarded scarp to form into art is a reflection of the African culture, who with limited resources recycle most everything and find uses for most everything.

The specific piece that I chose of Anatsui’s galleries is called Blue Moon.  It differs from most of his work in that it is a landscape.  Still constructed from scraps, it has a greater aesthetic appeal in my opinion, and less of a cultural or political feel.  When interviewed about this landscaping choice, Anatsui said the idea of a moon came to him, he did not want to make it yellow as was common, choosing blue instead.  His thoughts wandered to the concept of a blue moon and evolved into the landscape from there, keeping the theme of melancholy with leafless trees.  Later he reveals that there was perhaps a memory attached to the concept as his college band learned a song titled Blue Moon.  I was interested in choosing a piece of African art because I have had the opportunity to spend time in Africa.  In 2004 I spent two weeks in Uganda, Africa and have since had interest in the African cultures. This piece is beautiful, i don’t know what exactly it is about it that has me so captivated, but I love it.  The colors, the lines, the movement.  It all works for me. The interview where I found the information can be listened to at the website: http://www.nmafa.si.edu/exhibits/gawu/artworks.html

The following pieces of art were chosen for this exhibit based on the theme A Walk in the Park.  Although some are a touch of fantasy for an actual park, they tug on the imagination to explore what it might be like to see such things on a walk through the park.  Most include a pool or creek, which I believe all good parks should have.  This theme also gave me an opportunity to explore works from my favorite styles from the postmodern era: environmental art and street art.  The gallery includes art form two artists: Julian Beever and Andy Goldworthy.

Julian Beever is a British artist who specializes in street drawing incorporating optical illusions.  Beever’s work has been seen gracing the streets throughout Europe, Australia, and the United States.  As his mediums is chalk, the only remnant of his life’s works are the photographs that capture the images.

Andy Goldworthy is an Environmental artist who creates sculptures from various item found in nature.  His creations are constructed in their natural setting and only documented through the photographs taken of them.  Goldsworthy, like Beever, is British.

“Carefully broken pebbles scratched white with another stone”

This piece was created by Andy Goldsworthy in June 1, 1985 in St. Abbs Scottland.  I enjoy the whimsical feel of the spiral of pebbles. The meticulous task of cracking each stone in just the right place must have been time consuming, but it gives great aesthetic appeal to the creation.  As all of the photographs in this gallery will elude, when walking through the park, one would be most delighted to happen upon such a scene, even if only in ones imagination.

“Floating hole”

This piece by Andy Goldsworthy was constructed in September of 1986 in Loughborough, Leicestershire.  I have often been walking in the fall here in Alaska when I have seen a pond filled with leaves such as this.  Of course those I have seen have lacked a hole, but it is a familiar sight for sure.  For this reason, I chose to include this piece of art.

“About to meet Mr. Newt”

Julian Beever’s creation above (I was unable to find date and location information for his artwork) depicts a scene that many who have strolled along ponds of parks have come across.  Lily pads dance atop the water as exciting creatures await below.  As a child one of my favorite things to do was to search for frogs and salamanders in the ponds, lakes, and streams around Spokane, Washington.  I enjoy the playful feel of this drawing. Not only is it playful because of the drawing itself, but for the medium it is constructed with.  Chalk, perhaps the most exciting art medium for children during long summer days.

Iris leaves with Rowan berries

Once again I had trouble finding a date and location for the above work of art.  It is a creation again of Andy Goldsworthy.  This is perhaps my favorite of all the works I have seen in his portfolio.  The contrast between the green of the Iris leaves and the red of the Rowan berries is captivating. It reminds me of the contrasting colors that can be seen in the early fall on the nature walk in Creamers Field in Fairbanks, AK.

“Feeding the fish”

I have a vague memory of a similar scene to the above from a trip my family took to the Japanese Gardens where we used to live.  There was a waterfall from a stream in the park, and at the bottom, the pool was filled with goldfish of similar coloration to the one in the street drawing above by Julian Beever.  The theme of this gallery is almost perfectly embodied in this one drawing.  A trip back in time to distant childhood memories and imagined happenings built from walks through various parks or up the banks of a stream.

“Meeting Madame Butterfly”

What is better than a life sized butterfly? Well, a dream sized butterfly.  Meeting Madame Butterfly was drawn in Mexico City by Julian Beever to be captured by the television show Concrete Canvas.  Every one of Beever’s drawings amazes me.  It seems that the butterfly is actually floating above the pavement, but a closer glance at the crowd standing around the drawing gives a better sense of the size and anatomy of the drawing.

The information for Beever’s work was found at http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/pave.htm and the information for Goldsworthy’s work was found at two websites: http://www.goldsworthy.cc.gla.ac.uk/ and http://www.morning-earth.org/ARTISTNATURALISTS/AN_Goldsworthy.html.

The Faces of the Great Depression

The artwork I chose to share this week is not a painting, but a photograph.  As the world of photography began to evolve, the photograph was used to capture specific scenes that in most cases were meant to evoke a certain emotion, or to entice certain political or moral convictions.  Both purposes are used in Dorothea Lange’s photo journal of the families most hurt by the Great Depression and in the photo journal capturing the lives of those affected by the Dust Bowl.    As the pains of the Great Depression spread across the nation for years, another disaster inflicted poverty on many Americans–The Dust Bowl.  Lange was hired by the Farm Security Administration to capture the crisis many families had fallen into during the time of the Dust Bowl as they searched for employment in the fertile lands of the west, or were left in ruin.  One such photograph, “People Living in Miserable Poverty. Elm Grove, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma” is shown below.

This picture was taken in August of 1936.  It is hard to believe that people in the United States fell into such poverty that was present in the Depression era, but here it is, in black and white.  I find it interesting that the mother and son are looking into the distance and the daughter looks straight at the camera, I do not know what that means, but it puzzles me. Lange did not consider herself an artist, according to peoplewhotellthetruth.com, but her ability to capture the emotion of the subjects in the photograph is amazing.  The distress on their faces is very evident, although they almost seem numb. My heart aches for the people in the photographs that Lange took.  They would have convicted me, jolted me to action.