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Biennalist :
Biennalist is an Art Format commenting on active biennials and managed cultural events through artworks.Biennalist takes the thematics of the biennales and similar events like festivals and conferences seriously, questioning the established structures of the staged art events in order to contribute to the debate, which they wish to generate.
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links about Biennalist :
Thierry Geoffroy/Colonel:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thierry_Geoffroy
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Room_(art)
www.emergencyrooms.org/formats.html
—--Biennale from wikipedia —--
The Venice International Film Festival is part of the Venice Biennale. The famous Golden Lion is awarded to the best film screening at the competition.
Biennale (Italian: [bi.enˈnaːle]), Italian for "biennial" or "every other year", is any event that happens every two years. It is most commonly used within the art world to describe large-scale international contemporary art exhibitions. As such the term was popularised by Venice Biennale, which was first held in 1895. Since the 1990s, the terms "biennale" and "biennial" have been interchangeably used in a more generic way - to signify a large-scale international survey show of contemporary art that recurs at regular intervals but not necessarily biannual (such as triennials, Documenta, Skulptur Projekte Münster).[1] The phrase has also been used for other artistic events, such as the "Biennale de Paris", "Kochi-Muziris Biennale", Berlinale (for the Berlin International Film Festival) and Viennale (for Vienna's international film festival).
Characteristics[edit]
According to author Federica Martini, what is at stake in contemporary biennales is the diplomatic/international relations potential as well as urban regeneration plans. Besides being mainly focused on the present (the “here and now” where the cultural event takes place and their effect of "spectacularisation of the everyday"), because of their site-specificity cultural events may refer back to,[who?] produce or frame the history of the site and communities' collective memory.[2]
The Great Exhibition in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, in 1851, the first attempt to condense the representation of the world within a unitary exhibition space.
A strong and influent symbol of biennales and of large-scale international exhibitions in general is the Crystal Palace, the gigantic and futuristic London architecture that hosted the Great Exhibition in 1851. According to philosopher Peter Sloterdijk,[3][page needed] the Crystal Palace is the first attempt to condense the representation of the world in a unitary exhibition space, where the main exhibit is society itself in an a-historical, spectacular condition. The Crystal Palace main motives were the affirmation of British economic and national leadership and the creation of moments of spectacle. In this respect, 19th century World fairs provided a visual crystallization of colonial culture and were, at the same time, forerunners of contemporary theme parks.
The Venice Biennale as an archetype[edit]
The structure of the Venice Biennale in 2005 with an international exhibition and the national pavilions.
The Venice Biennale, a periodical large-scale cultural event founded in 1895, served as an archetype of the biennales. Meant to become a World Fair focused on contemporary art, the Venice Biennale used as a pretext the wedding anniversary of the Italian king and followed up to several national exhibitions organised after Italy unification in 1861. The Biennale immediately put forth issues of city marketing, cultural tourism and urban regeneration, as it was meant to reposition Venice on the international cultural map after the crisis due to the end of the Grand Tour model and the weakening of the Venetian school of painting. Furthermore, the Gardens where the Biennale takes place were an abandoned city area that needed to be re-functionalised. In cultural terms, the Biennale was meant to provide on a biennial basis a platform for discussing contemporary art practices that were not represented in fine arts museums at the time. The early Biennale model already included some key points that are still constitutive of large-scale international art exhibitions today: a mix of city marketing, internationalism, gentrification issues and destination culture, and the spectacular, large scale of the event.
Biennials after the 1990s[edit]
The situation of biennials has changed in the contemporary context: while at its origin in 1895 Venice was a unique cultural event, but since the 1990s hundreds of biennials have been organized across the globe. Given the ephemeral and irregular nature of some biennials, there is little consensus on the exact number of biennials in existence at any given time.[citation needed] Furthermore, while Venice was a unique agent in the presentation of contemporary art, since the 1960s several museums devoted to contemporary art are exhibiting the contemporary scene on a regular basis. Another point of difference concerns 19th century internationalism in the arts, that was brought into question by post-colonial debates and criticism of the contemporary art “ethnic marketing”, and also challenged the Venetian and World Fair’s national representation system. As a consequence of this, Eurocentric tendency to implode the whole word in an exhibition space, which characterises both the Crystal Palace and the Venice Biennale, is affected by the expansion of the artistic geographical map to scenes traditionally considered as marginal. The birth of the Havana Biennial in 1984 is widely considered an important counterpoint to the Venetian model for its prioritization of artists working in the Global South and curatorial rejection of the national pavilion model.
International biennales[edit]
In the term's most commonly used context of major recurrent art exhibitions:
Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, South Australia
Asian Art Biennale, in Taichung, Taiwan (National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts)
Athens Biennale, in Athens, Greece
Bienal de Arte Paiz, in Guatemala City, Guatemala[4]
Arts in Marrakech (AiM) International Biennale (Arts in Marrakech Festival)
Bamako Encounters, a biennale of photography in Mali
Bat-Yam International Biennale of Landscape Urbanism
Beijing Biennale
Berlin Biennale (contemporary art biennale, to be distinguished from Berlinale, which is a film festival)
Bergen Assembly (triennial for contemporary art in Bergen, Norway)www.bergenassembly.no
Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture, in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, China
Bienal de Arte de Ponce in Ponce, Puerto Rico
Biënnale van België, Biennial of Belgium, Belgium
BiennaleOnline Online biennial exhibition of contemporary art from the most promising emerging artists.
Biennial of Hawaii Artists
Biennale de la Biche, the smallest biennale in the world held at deserted island near Guadeloupe, French overseas region[5][6]
Biwako Biennale [ja], in Shiga, Japan
La Biennale de Montreal
Biennale of Luanda : Pan-African Forum for the Culture of Peace,[7] Angola
Boom Festival, international music and culture festival in Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal
Bucharest Biennale in Bucharest, Romania
Bushwick Biennial, in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York
Canakkale Biennial, in Canakkale, Turkey
Cerveira International Art Biennial, Vila Nova de Cerveira, Portugal [8]
Changwon Sculpture Biennale in Changwon, South Korea
Dakar Biennale, also called Dak'Art, biennale in Dakar, Senegal
Documenta, contemporary art exhibition held every five years in Kassel, Germany
Estuaire (biennale), biennale in Nantes and Saint-Nazaire, France
EVA International, biennial in Limerick, Republic of Ireland
Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art, in Gothenburg, Sweden[9]
Greater Taipei Contemporary Art Biennial, in Taipei, Taiwan
Gwangju Biennale, Asia's first and most prestigious contemporary art biennale
Havana biennial, in Havana, Cuba
Helsinki Biennial, in Helsinki, Finland
Herzliya Biennial For Contemporary Art, in Herzliya, Israel
Incheon Women Artists' Biennale, in Incheon, South Korea
Iowa Biennial, in Iowa, USA
Istanbul Biennial, in Istanbul, Turkey
International Roaming Biennial of Tehran, in Tehran and Istanbul
Jakarta Biennale, in Jakarta, Indonesia
Jerusalem Biennale, in Jerusalem, Israel
Jogja Biennale, in Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Karachi Biennale, in Karachi, Pakistan
Keelung Harbor Biennale, in Keelung, Taiwan
Kochi-Muziris Biennale, largest art exhibition in India, in Kochi, Kerala, India
Kortrijk Design Biennale Interieur, in Kortrijk, Belgium
Kobe Biennale, in Japan
Kuandu Biennale, in Taipei, Taiwan
Lagos Biennial, in Lagos, Nigeria[10]
Light Art Biennale Austria, in Austria
Liverpool Biennial, in Liverpool, UK
Lofoten International Art Festival [no] (LIAF), on the Lofoten archipelago, Norway[11]
Manifesta, European Biennale of contemporary art in different European cities
Mediations Biennale, in Poznań, Poland
Melbourne International Biennial 1999
Mediterranean Biennale in Sakhnin 2013
MOMENTA Biennale de l'image [fr] (formerly known as Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal), in Montreal, Canada
MOMENTUM [no], in Moss, Norway[12]
Moscow Biennale, in Moscow, Russia
Munich Biennale, new opera and music-theatre in even-numbered years
Mykonos Biennale
Nakanojo Biennale[13]
NGV Triennial, contemporary art exhibition held every three years at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
October Salon – Belgrade Biennale [sr], organised by the Cultural Center of Belgrade [sr], in Belgrade, Serbia[14]
OSTEN Biennial of Drawing Skopje, North Macedonia[15]
Biennale de Paris
Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art (RIBOCA), in Riga, Latvia[16]
São Paulo Art Biennial, in São Paulo, Brazil
SCAPE Public Art Christchurch Biennial in Christchurch, New Zealand[17]
Prospect New Orleans
Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism
Sequences, in Reykjavík, Iceland[18]
Shanghai Biennale
Sharjah Biennale, in Sharjah, UAE
Singapore Biennale, held in various locations across the city-state island of Singapore
Screen City Biennial, in Stavanger, Norway
Biennale of Sydney
Taipei Biennale, in Taipei, Taiwan
Taiwan Arts Biennale, in Taichung, Taiwan (National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts)
Taiwan Film Biennale, in Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, U.S.A.
Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art [el], in Thessaloniki, Greece[19]
Dream city, produced by ART Rue Association in Tunisia
Vancouver Biennale
Visayas Islands Visual Arts Exhibition and Conference (VIVA ExCon) in the Philippines [20]
Venice Biennale, in Venice, Italy, which includes:
Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art
Venice Biennale of Architecture
Venice Film Festival
Vladivostok biennale of Visual Arts, in Vladivostok, Russia
Whitney Biennial, hosted by the Whitney Museum of American Art, in New York City, NY, USA
Web Biennial, produced with teams from Athens, Berlin and Istanbul.
West Africa Architecture Biennale,[21] Virtual in Lagos, Nigeria.
WRO Biennale, in Wrocław, Poland[22]
Music Biennale Zagreb
[SHIFT:ibpcpa] The International Biennale of Performance, Collaborative and Participatory Arts, Nomadic, International, Scotland, UK.
—---Venice Biennale from wikipedia —
The Venice Biennale (/ˌbiːɛˈnɑːleɪ, -li/; Italian: La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation.[2][3][4] The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of its kind. The main exhibition held in Castello, in the halls of the Arsenale and Biennale Gardens, alternates between art and architecture (hence the name biennale; biennial).[5][6][7] The other events hosted by the Foundation—spanning theatre, music, and dance—are held annually in various parts of Venice, whereas the Venice Film Festival takes place at the Lido.[8]
Organization[edit]
Art Biennale
Art Biennale
International Art Exhibition
1895
Even-numbered years (since 2022)
Venice Biennale of Architecture
International Architecture Exhibition
1980
Odd-numbered years (since 2021)
Biennale Musica
International Festival of Contemporary Music
1930
Annually (Sep/Oct)
Biennale Teatro
International Theatre Festival
1934
Annually (Jul/Aug)
Venice Film Festival
Venice International Film Festival
1932
Annually (Aug/Sep)
Venice Dance Biennale
International Festival of Contemporary Dance
1999
Annually (June; biennially 2010–16)
International Kids' Carnival
2009
Annually (during Carnevale)
History
1895–1947
On April 19, 1893, the Venetian City Council passed a resolution to set up an biennial exhibition of Italian Art ("Esposizione biennale artistica nazionale") to celebrate the silver anniversary of King Umberto I and Margherita of Savoy.[11]
A year later, the council decreed "to adopt a 'by invitation' system; to reserve a section of the Exhibition for foreign artists too; to admit works by uninvited Italian artists, as selected by a jury."[12]
The first Biennale, "I Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte della Città di Venezia (1st International Art Exhibition of the City of Venice)" (although originally scheduled for April 22, 1894) was opened on April 30, 1895, by the Italian King and Queen, Umberto I and Margherita di Savoia. The first exhibition was seen by 224,000 visitors.
The event became increasingly international in the first decades of the 20th century: from 1907 on, several countries installed national pavilions at the exhibition, with the first being from Belgium. In 1910 the first internationally well-known artists were displayed: a room dedicated to Gustav Klimt, a one-man show for Renoir, a retrospective of Courbet. A work by Picasso "Family of Saltimbanques" was removed from the Spanish salon in the central Palazzo because it was feared that its novelty might shock the public. By 1914 seven pavilions had been established: Belgium (1907), Hungary (1909), Germany (1909), Great Britain (1909), France (1912), and Russia (1914).
During World War I, the 1916 and 1918 events were cancelled.[13] In 1920 the post of mayor of Venice and president of the Biennale was split. The new secretary general, Vittorio Pica brought about the first presence of avant-garde art, notably Impressionists and Post-Impressionists.
1922 saw an exhibition of sculpture by African artists. Between the two World Wars, many important modern artists had their work exhibited there. In 1928 the Istituto Storico d'Arte Contemporanea (Historical Institute of Contemporary Art) opened, which was the first nucleus of archival collections of the Biennale. In 1930 its name was changed into Historical Archive of Contemporary Art.
In 1930, the Biennale was transformed into an Ente Autonomo (Autonomous Board) by Royal Decree with law no. 33 of 13-1-1930. Subsequently, the control of the Biennale passed from the Venice city council to the national Fascist government under Benito Mussolini. This brought on a restructuring, an associated financial boost, as well as a new president, Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata. Three entirely new events were established, including the Biennale Musica in 1930, also referred to as International Festival of Contemporary Music; the Venice Film Festival in 1932, which they claim as the first film festival in history,[14] also referred to as Venice International Film Festival; and the Biennale Theatro in 1934, also referred to as International Theatre Festival.
In 1933 the Biennale organized an exhibition of Italian art abroad. From 1938, Grand Prizes were awarded in the art exhibition section.
During World War II, the activities of the Biennale were interrupted: 1942 saw the last edition of the events. The Film Festival restarted in 1946, the Music and Theatre festivals were resumed in 1947, and the Art Exhibition in 1948.[15]
1948–1973[edit]
The Art Biennale was resumed in 1948 with a major exhibition of a recapitulatory nature. The Secretary General, art historian Rodolfo Pallucchini, started with the Impressionists and many protagonists of contemporary art including Chagall, Klee, Braque, Delvaux, Ensor, and Magritte, as well as a retrospective of Picasso's work. Peggy Guggenheim was invited to exhibit her collection, later to be permanently housed at Ca' Venier dei Leoni.
1949 saw the beginning of renewed attention to avant-garde movements in European—and later worldwide—movements in contemporary art. Abstract expressionism was introduced in the 1950s, and the Biennale is credited with importing Pop Art into the canon of art history by awarding the top prize to Robert Rauschenberg in 1964.[16] From 1948 to 1972, Italian architect Carlo Scarpa did a series of remarkable interventions in the Biennale's exhibition spaces.
In 1954 the island San Giorgio Maggiore provided the venue for the first Japanese Noh theatre shows in Europe. 1956 saw the selection of films following an artistic selection and no longer based upon the designation of the participating country. The 1957 Golden Lion went to Satyajit Ray's Aparajito which introduced Indian cinema to the West.
1962 included Arte Informale at the Art Exhibition with Jean Fautrier, Hans Hartung, Emilio Vedova, and Pietro Consagra. The 1964 Art Exhibition introduced continental Europe to Pop Art (The Independent Group had been founded in Britain in 1952). The American Robert Rauschenberg was the first American artist to win the Gran Premio, and the youngest to date.
The student protests of 1968 also marked a crisis for the Biennale. Student protests hindered the opening of the Biennale. A resulting period of institutional changes opened and ending with a new Statute in 1973. In 1969, following the protests, the Grand Prizes were abandoned. These resumed in 1980 for the Mostra del Cinema and in 1986 for the Art Exhibition.[17]
In 1972, for the first time, a theme was adopted by the Biennale, called "Opera o comportamento" ("Work or Behaviour").
Starting from 1973 the Music Festival was no longer held annually. During the year in which the Mostra del Cinema was not held, there was a series of "Giornate del cinema italiano" (Days of Italian Cinema) promoted by sectorial bodies in campo Santa Margherita, in Venice.[18]
1974–1998[edit]
1974 saw the start of the four-year presidency of Carlo Ripa di Meana. The International Art Exhibition was not held (until it was resumed in 1976). Theatre and cinema events were held in October 1974 and 1975 under the title Libertà per il Cile (Freedom for Chile)—a major cultural protest against the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.
On 15 November 1977, the so-called Dissident Biennale (in reference to the dissident movement in the USSR) opened. Because of the ensuing controversies within the Italian left wing parties, president Ripa di Meana resigned at the end of the year.[19]
In 1979 the new presidency of Giuseppe Galasso (1979-1982) began. The principle was laid down whereby each of the artistic sectors was to have a permanent director to organise its activity.
In 1980, the Architecture section of the Biennale was set up. The director, Paolo Portoghesi, opened the Corderie dell'Arsenale to the public for the first time. At the Mostra del Cinema, the awards were brought back into being (between 1969 and 1979, the editions were non-competitive). In 1980, Achille Bonito Oliva and Harald Szeemann introduced "Aperto", a section of the exhibition designed to explore emerging art. Italian art historian Giovanni Carandente directed the 1988 and 1990 editions. A three-year gap was left afterwards to make sure that the 1995 edition would coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Biennale.[13]
The 1993 edition was directed by Achille Bonito Oliva. In 1995, Jean Clair was appointed to be the Biennale's first non-Italian director of visual arts[20] while Germano Celant served as director in 1997.
For the Centenary in 1995, the Biennale promoted events in every sector of its activity: the 34th Festival del Teatro, the 46th art exhibition, the 46th Festival di Musica, the 52nd Mostra del Cinema.[21]
1999–present[edit]
In 1999 and 2001, Harald Szeemann directed two editions in a row (48th & 49th) bringing in a larger representation of artists from Asia and Eastern Europe and more young artists than usual and expanded the show into several newly restored spaces of the Arsenale.
In 1999 a new sector was created for live shows: DMT (Dance Music Theatre).
The 50th edition, 2003, directed by Francesco Bonami, had a record number of seven co-curators involved, including Hans Ulrich Obrist, Catherine David, Igor Zabel, Hou Hanru and Massimiliano Gioni.
The 51st edition of the Biennale opened in June 2005, curated, for the first time by two women, Maria de Corral and Rosa Martinez. De Corral organized "The Experience of Art" which included 41 artists, from past masters to younger figures. Rosa Martinez took over the Arsenale with "Always a Little Further." Drawing on "the myth of the romantic traveler" her exhibition involved 49 artists, ranging from the elegant to the profane.
In 2007, Robert Storr became the first director from the United States to curate the Biennale (the 52nd), with a show entitled Think with the Senses – Feel with the Mind. Art in the Present Tense.
Swedish curator Daniel Birnbaum was artistic director of the 2009 edition entitled "Fare Mondi // Making Worlds".
The 2011 edition was curated by Swiss curator Bice Curiger entitled "ILLUMInazioni – ILLUMInations".
The Biennale in 2013 was curated by the Italian Massimiliano Gioni. His title and theme, Il Palazzo Enciclopedico / The Encyclopedic Palace, was adopted from an architectural model by the self-taught Italian-American artist Marino Auriti. Auriti's work, The Encyclopedic Palace of the World was lent by the American Folk Art Museum and exhibited in the first room of the Arsenale for the duration of the biennale. For Gioni, Auriti's work, "meant to house all worldly knowledge, bringing together the greatest discoveries of the human race, from the wheel to the satellite," provided an analogous figure for the "biennale model itself...based on the impossible desire to concentrate the infinite worlds of contemporary art in a single place: a task that now seems as dizzyingly absurd as Auriti's dream."[22]
Curator Okwui Enwezor was responsible for the 2015 edition.[23] He was the first African-born curator of the biennial. As a catalyst for imagining different ways of imagining multiple desires and futures Enwezor commissioned special projects and programs throughout the Biennale in the Giardini. This included a Creative Time Summit, e-flux journal's SUPERCOMMUNITY, Gulf Labor Coalition, The Invisible Borders Trans-African Project and Abounaddara.[24][25]
The 2017 Biennale, titled Viva Arte Viva, was directed by French curator Christine Macel who called it an "exhibition inspired by humanism".[26] German artist Franz Erhard Walter won the Golden Lion for best artist, while Carolee Schneemann was awarded a posthumous Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.[27]
The 2019 Biennale, titled May You Live In Interesting Times, was directed by American-born curator Ralph Rugoff.[28]
The 2022 edition was curated by Italian curator Cecilia Alemani entitled "The Milk of Dreams" after a book by British-born Mexican surrealist painter Leonora Carrington.[29]
The Biennale has an attendance today of over 500,000 visitors.[30][31][32]
Role in the art market[edit]
When the Venice Biennale was founded in 1895, one of its main goals was to establish a new market for contemporary art. Between 1942 and 1968 a sales office assisted artists in finding clients and selling their work,[33] a service for which it charged 10% commission. Sales remained an intrinsic part of the biennale until 1968, when a sales ban was enacted. An important practical reason why the focus on non-commodities has failed to decouple Venice from the market is that the biennale itself lacks the funds to produce, ship and install these large-scale works. Therefore, the financial involvement of dealers is widely regarded as indispensable;[16] as they regularly front the funding for production of ambitious projects.[34] Furthermore, every other year the Venice Biennale coincides with nearby Art Basel, the world's prime commercial fair for modern and contemporary art. Numerous galleries with artists on show in Venice usually bring work by the same artists to Basel.[35]
Central Pavilion and Arsenale[edit]
The formal Biennale is based at a park, the Giardini. The Giardini includes a large exhibition hall that houses a themed exhibition curated by the Biennale's director.
Initiated in 1980, the Aperto began as a fringe event for younger artists and artists of a national origin not represented by the permanent national pavilions. This is usually staged in the Arsenale and has become part of the formal biennale programme. In 1995 there was no Aperto so a number of participating countries hired venues to show exhibitions of emerging artists. From 1999, both the international exhibition and the Aperto were held as one exhibition, held both at the Central Pavilion and the Arsenale. Also in 1999, a $1 million renovation transformed the Arsenale area into a cluster of renovated shipyards, sheds and warehouses, more than doubling the Arsenale's exhibition space of previous years.[36]
A special edition of the 54th Biennale was held at Padiglione Italia of Torino Esposizioni – Sala Nervi (December 2011 – February 2012) for the 150th Anniversary of Italian Unification. The event was directed by Vittorio Sgarbi.[37]
National pavilions[edit]
Main article: National pavilions at the Venice Biennale
The Giardini houses 30 permanent national pavilions.[13] Alongside the Central Pavilion, built in 1894 and later restructured and extended several times, the Giardini are occupied by a further 29 pavilions built at different periods by the various countries participating in the Biennale. The first nation to build a pavilion was Belgium in 1907, followed by Germany, Britain and Hungary in 1909.[13] The pavilions are the property of the individual countries and are managed by their ministries of culture.[38]
Countries not owning a pavilion in the Giardini are exhibited in other venues across Venice. The number of countries represented is still growing. In 2005, China was showing for the first time, followed by the African Pavilion and Mexico (2007), the United Arab Emirates (2009), and India (2011).[39]
The assignment of the permanent pavilions was largely dictated by the international politics of the 1930s and the Cold War. There is no single format to how each country manages their pavilion, established and emerging countries represented at the biennial maintain and fund their pavilions in different ways.[38] While pavilions are usually government-funded, private money plays an increasingly large role; in 2015, the pavilions of Iraq, Ukraine and Syria were completely privately funded.[40] The pavilion for Great Britain is always managed by the British Council[41] while the United States assigns the responsibility to a public gallery chosen by the Department of State which, since 1985, has been the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.[42] The countries at the Arsenale that request a temporary exhibition space pay a hire fee per square meter.[38]
In 2011, the countries were Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Congo, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechia and Slovakia, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Haiti, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela, Wales and Zimbabwe. In addition to this there are two collective pavilions: Central Asia Pavilion and Istituto Italo-Latino Americano. In 2013, eleven new participant countries developed national pavilions for the Biennale: Angola, Bosnia and Herzegowina, the Bahamas, Bahrain, the Ivory Coast, Kosovo, Kuwait, the Maldives, Paraguay, Tuvalu, and the Holy See. In 2015, five new participant countries developed pavilions for the Biennale: Grenada,[43] Republic of Mozambique, Republic of Seychelles, Mauritius and Mongolia. In 2017, three countries participated in the Art Biennale for the first time: Antigua & Barbuda, Kiribati, and Nigeria.[44] In 2019, four countries participated in the Art Biennale for the first time: Ghana, Madagascar, Malaysia, and Pakistan.[45]
As well as the national pavilions there are countless "unofficial pavilions"[46] that spring up every year. In 2009 there were pavilions such as the Gabon Pavilion and a Peckham pavilion. In 2017 The Diaspora Pavilion bought together 19 artists from complex, multinational backgrounds to challenge the prevalence of the nation state at the Biennale.[47]
The Internet Pavilion (Italian: Padiglione Internet) was founded in 2009 as a platform for activists and artists working in new media.[48][49][50] Subsequent editions were held since,[51] 2013,[51] in conjunction with the biennale.[52]
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وینسVenetsiya
art umjetnost umění kunst taideτέχνη művészetList ealaínarte māksla menasartiKunst sztuka artăumenie umetnost konstcelfקונסטարվեստincəsənətশিল্প艺术(yìshù)藝術 (yìshù)ხელოვნებაकलाkos duabアートಕಲೆសិល្បៈ미(misul)ສິນລະປະകലकलाအတတ်ပညာकलाකලාවகலைఆర్ట్ศิลปะ آرٹsan'atnghệ thuậtفن (fan)אומנותهنرsanat artist
venice biennale Venezia Venedig biennalen Bienal_de_Venecia Venise Venecia Bienalo Bienal Biënnale Venetië Veneza Μπιενάλε της Βενετίας ヴェネツィ ア・ビエンナーレ 威尼斯双年展 Venedik Bienali Venetsian biennaali Wenecji biennial #venicebiennale #venicebiennial biennalism
Veneziako Venecija Venècia Venetië Veneetsia Venetsia VenedigΒ ενετία Velence Feneyjar Venice Venēcija Venezja Venezia Wenecja VenezaVeneția Venetsiya Benátky Benetke Fenisוועניס Վենետիկ ভেনি স威尼斯 威尼斯 ვენეციისવે નિસवेनिसヴ ェネツィアವೆನಿಸ್베니스வெனிஸ்వెనిస్เวนิซوینس Venetsiya Italy italia
--------key words
headband protest fashion protestfashion artistic intervention performance artformat action installation critical critic critique institutional critic choregraphy scenography
#venicebiennale #biennalist #artformat #biennale #artbiennale #biennial
#BiennaleArte2024 #artformat
As the court began to question Thaddeus, Mateo began questioning Dramien.
"You're sure he's not, just another kid? I'm done losing any more younglings who don't even know what we're fighting for."
Dramien sighed, " He's unlike anyone you've met, Mateo. Thay boy says he came from an alternate universe, one where the dragons reigned, and men had settled their differences with them, and the orcs barley existed...I think he may know more than he shows."
Mateo rolled his eyes, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously. "Fine, but if you want my rebels to help you, make sure this boy knows what he's in for. If orcs barely existed in his home, he'll be scared silly to see their populations here…"
(2) SMGO
If realistic pictures of great execution were described as paintings that only luck voice, the superflowing plastic Gleitzeit painting only luck the tune.
The attempt to communicate visual art through speech is a continuation of an art experiment that started as long ago in ancient Egypt, in archaic Greece, in medieval art where scrolls come out of the mouths from figures to show what they were saying.
When Jaisini paints straight on canvas without preliminary sketch he is close to a transitory moment of creation that becomes an apogee of human effort when an artist doesn’t premeditate art but pushed himself to make future visible not yet existing in any other form or ready sketch.
The artist’s mind is a container of his picture’s idea.
At this moment of art making many factors contribute to the execution of the painting. Questioning this many times anyone will hardly get the final answer because of the nature of inquiry to explain the moment of high inspiration. How a man could paint complex paintings that allow endless topics to write about? Meanwhile Jaisini paints in short time duration of few hours bringing out something never seen before and of immediate production, not the result of prepared studies and sketches.
Watching Jaisini speaking I try to see anything that could connect to his art.
Language of gestures and words could explain the artist’s language of color and imagery. Jaisini seems to be tense and relaxed simultaneously.
His human condition overcomes regular norms of life. He is instantly analytical and frivolous and like a great actor doesn’t need a mask or a make-up to enforce his transition in a role. For him paintings are like roles where he can explore ambiguities through faces of the images and linear plastic. A skillful master he in fact never contributed time to polish his skills.
The mastery comes from another source. The freshness of his approach maybe explained by the authentic method and refusal to overdo or over practice that often is an enemy of creativity substituting productivity for inspiration. An artist who is a mass producer of his one discovery is not an artist but a craftsman manufacturing artifacts automatically. Jaisini had never repeated himself in predictable way. The artist pointed out that he can’t repeat any of his painting when he might even intent to adding that it is too complicated and impossible to remember the way it was once painted, the layer of colors, the spontaneity of the line is unattainable for repetition.
I was interested to create a connection with thoughts and visual subjects of complexity because of their strong potential to communicate.
Communication with these paintings has resulted in desire to write and even to start a new art of imagination.
I think that Jaisini’s entanglement of lines and thoughts, colors and images had trapped me. The plasticity of line is something programmed to catch the attention. When you think that you just caught the line it runs away as flirtatious suitor. The plastic configuration of line that allures you with superflowing outlines is as potent in words and in vision as for instance a succulent fruit, a seductive nude, and aroma of flowers. The plasticity invites you to puzzle out hidden content as if it was a personal secret.
You might not stop even if it takes time as in my case after my curiosity was never satisfied with finding explanation.
First I wanted to see the pictures and with time I was seeing in them more and more. But when I tried to establish meaning of the paintings the things I saw were changing. With time I returned to the stage of pure seeing but it was not the same as if I was already a different person. Apparently the mind is so avid to learn and find meanings that it will go on searching and integrating as if it is hungering for new all the time ready to devour new food for mind and uncover mysteries. Based on cognitive psychology people perceive reality and think through clusters of meanings. The style of Jaisini is based on creation of such clusters with information for the eye, mind, and instinct.
The picture offers certain clues and the picture’s puzzle adjusts to viewer’s capacity of understanding and seeing the idea in connection between reality and puzzle-like artistic formula.
The coherence of the picture can be reached by different approaches either through thinking, or seeing, by intuitive comprehension, or knowledge.
Jaisini’s line clusters do not claim to construct reality. They aim to present us with alternative connection to reality. And it is a self-conscious exercise of seeing but not believing, believing but not feeling, feeling but not knowing. The artist motivates us to experience many levels of this self-conscious exercise. Jaisini places more force of signification on linear spontaneity such as free flow, causality of the line that compete with conceptual activity of meaning creating that is a brain teasing game.
It was set up by the artist to bring out such a creation that when you are tired of looking you can think and read. The special achievement of Jaisini is his mastery over causality and non-tension of line that is a great tool to cultivate subconscious comfort and willingness to further understanding.
The original impulse of Show Must GO On creation drove the artist’s hand to build the meaning and idea, but at the same time the overall compositional elements of this painting are hardly explainable or meaningful.
It seems that this picture is a contest of subject matter against pure form, pure spatial balance with only purpose of space elaboration. Jaisini seems to consciously use his emotion of sorrow, emotion from musical stimulation to find unusual combinations of images, colors, and linear patterns. The painting’s ensemble of images is the most surprising in relation to title and original motive. The central main image of man in SMGO is being pulled by two opposing forces of creation and destruction, most likely self-destruction if read into the picture’s context. There is also a complex subject of rape that is presented in the painting.
In our minds and epoch rape symbolic seems to completely loose its original artistic context when the heroic rape was produced during the 15th through 18th centuries in pursuit of marital doctrine and to serve as erotic stimulation, sometimes to assert political authority.
Jaisini’s impulse to suggest a “heroic” rape from comes from an ingrain artistic reaction to the outside world as eternal antagonistic power to creativity. In such art as of Jaisini the symbolic of sexual nature transforms into yet another level of meaning. In classical art sexual subjects and images of rape were meant to justify violence against woman in a high fashion of submissiveness to husband and sacrifice for family. In Gleitzeit art presence of sexual symbolic is disinherits social quality.
It is a tool for creating figurative contrasts and points of higher sensibility.
At the same time imagery inherit a history of meaning in art and therefore can emit additional aspect of possible meaning. In that capacity Jaisini’s paintings are magnets for the mind. The line reminds a lasso that traps the prey. Jaisini’s visual manner of creating a tangled line derives from the deep-seated character of a hunter who has to capture his subject and tighten it up. But the picture’s composition is never strained. It is at the moment of creation and capture. The prey that could be the artist’s thought of an image is not restricted to one meaning, one vision. It is on a brink of new development. Just as interpretation of the picture.
Tradition in art to portray scenes of hunting traces back to ancient Greek but is transformed now in purely formal development of line that is not easily comprehended because in the art of Jaisini there is no figurative scenes of hunt or pursuit, no heroes with role ranks.
In Show Must Go On a central figure of a man non-ambiguously enters a figure of submissive person. It looks like a “heroic” rape scene but not as a classical representation of a god or a hero chasing a woman or a youth.
The painting doesn’t represent metaphorically sexual desire of Greek art’s sample where sexual relations were transformed in a metaphor of hunt.
This version is easily eliminated as the scene in Show Must Go On is homoerotic and the violated figure is not of youth or of an attractive appearance. As in many traditional images of “heroic” rape in the one in SMGO no one suffered great harm. A classical happy ending of marital story doesn’t apply to the concept of Show Must Go On that puts attacker in a position of victim. He is a victim of a personal creative urge of an artist who sacrifices something not known to majority of people shown by the unusual development when the raper in turn is violated by a portrayed predator (a sword-fish) who enters from the back and aims at his heart.
The image of submissive man might take on a role of bride who doesn’t resist the event of rape. His role of a silent victim seems to be a bigger burden then a role of transgressor or the rapist. Jaisini creates unique transformations in each of his work. The singer is this central man-rapist is not accidentally depicted as athletically build one to highlight a sensation of attractiveness worthy of assault. The transgressor is more worthy the assault then his victim. The prototype of a singer, Freddie Mercury, is not athletic.
The central man’s visual image doesn’t correspond to the initial inspiration.
The transformation changes percept of things when the prototype of the singer originally is not the body builder type.
The victimization by creative process is a complex subject taking in account the process of spontaneous painting style. In the works of Jaisini there are no pornographicall images, but sensuality is intense. It is achieved by the curvilinear plastic entrapping with line’s contact points accented by special symbolism making sensuality tangible without realistic portrayals.
One of the painting’s concepts is to show a victim of creative urge.
The mechanism of the offered role change is even more complex taking in account process of painting when the artist starts his work from a fleeting vision from mind finishing his painting in one session. It means that Jaisini executes inner thought and formulates it even before he fully understands what is done. That may explain mastery of the fresh and brisk approach of painting and unusual associations.
The main image of male in the painting who is rushing forward seems to be a deliberately provocative indication of an intercourse in bizarre set up. But the figure of aggressor is vulnerable by the depiction of a sward-fish attack.
Is this predator is a truer portrayal of maleness than of the central man meant to be masculine and aggressive but renewed in meaning with additional context of victimization. This image is going through immediate unusual change into a new type of androgen.
The man (creator) has attractiveness of female as recent popular incarnations of the androgen images in popular culture singers with strong sexual charge such as Alice Cooper, Freddie Mercury, Robert Plant.
The expression of sexual ambivalence in the artist establishes a fascinating game that exploits the confusion surrounding the male and female roles.
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important is to not stop questioning...
These three Met police officers have taken stuff out of his pockets and are questioning him about the contents. The young guy looks pretty miserable - that is obvious. AND very scared - one up against three!
But the police are just carrying on ,
insensitive to the realities of what is actually going on.
If they were more up with the times (which they are not, here)=there would have been a more racially mixed group of officers.
AND they would have been more aware of his age, and of how frightened he was feeling.
He is just a kid.
And the big White bloke at the back, is actually holding him down…..This is Peckham, where half the population is Black!
In London, young Black males are NINETEEN times more likely to be stopped and searched than White males! Yes - NINETEEN times! AND 70% of them are innocent!
Would I have had any rights, as a concerned citizen to have watched them more closely, and have intervened to offer the victim the support that he so badly needs here?
I don’t rightly know but I mean to find out….
This young Policewoman stopped me for questioning strictly telling me to listen to her directives and obey completely or she will use her Policewoman's billy to mercilessly club me down to her stiletto heels. I obeyed as directed by her.
The important thing is to not stop questioning :-) Albert Einstein
sarah p duke gardens, duke university, durham, north carolina
I always wonder... If, say... frogs don't have a soul (admittedly, who knows? :) ... at which point in evolution was the first "hu-man" blessed with one? Or is it all fairy tales for grown ups? Still we know there's a difference, but do we mistake a moderately higher level of consciousness with the ability to talk to God?
Frankly... I have no answers, obviously. I'd like to have some and I guess many of us might be happy with just a few, as well. Can't we have some? Depends on what "answers" mean to us, I'm afraid. I can't rely on faith alone, but it goes both ways and I don't reject any scenario.
ps - Real proud and happy about this :) Vatican chief astronomer just said belief in God and aliens is OK, even the contrary would not be real good :) Got a Jesuitical education... I must say this image is about that. About the questioning, hey, not the education... About tIme to reconcile beliefs and science. Or is it only the escape strategy from the loosing contender? Hhmmm... I'd like not to think so but I've been raised to put questions :)
c’mon... :-)
pps - OK Jay so I dedicate this image to Jose Gabriel Funes and to
YOU because you triggered the same thoughts in your own ways :) And you're both Zpanish zpeaking people. Don't call him Joze, though, if my old Vatican connections are still right... Don't... To some who might wonder... Don't we need to smile? Hehe, a pity Aristotle didn't sign with Disney, then...
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Somehow the metal grating stays sturdy in place although I found myself questioning it every step of the way.
I'm questioning my date on this shot. I'm about 99 percent sure that the water tank in the background was not there in 1992, so this slide might be misfiled.
As if we weren't already questioning our President and his administration, Donald Trump is now faced with his first national health crisis, the coronavirus. And, true to form, his response inspires and calms the fears of no one. In 2018, the President fired the government's pandemic team of experts. And when Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), declared the coronavirus a global public health emergency on January 30, 2020, the federal government had no one in place to respond to the emergency.
By contrast, during the 2014 Ebola outbreak, President Obama recognized the impact this might have on our country and abroad. He appointed Ronald Klain, a former Vice Presidential staffer, to organize the efforts of the many departments and agencies of the government. His job was to coordinate the roles and budgets of various agencies. There was no concerted effort by the Trump Administration to do something similar. Rather than appoint a person with experience in health-threat triage, he selected Vice President Pence to oversee planning, a man who, as Governor of Indiana, prolonged an HIV outbreak by refusing to institute a needle exchange program.
In the spring of 2018, the White House pushed Congress to cut funding for Obama-era disease security programs, proposing to eliminate $252 million in previously committed resources for rebuilding health systems in Ebola-ravaged Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. Under fire from both sides of the aisle, President Donald Trump dropped the proposal to eliminate Ebola funds a month later. But other White House efforts included reducing $15 billion in national health spending and cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS. And the government’s $30 million Complex Crises Fund was eliminated.
— Laurie Garrett, Foreign Policy
One of the Trump Administration's first acknowledgements of the virus was anything but calming. Instead of addressing the health threat, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross appeared on Fox Business to suggest the outbreak in China might improve the United State's job prospects. While at the World Economic Forum gathering in Davos the third week of January, Trump suggested Americans had nothing to worry about, since the outbreak was half-a-world away. By February, a number of cases had been reported in this country and they continue to rise. But, as late as February 26, the President was taking credit for making some "very good early decisions" he felt had kept the virus at bay. And, on March 4, in a meeting with airline executives, he appeared to turn aside criticism of his chaotic and slow approach by blaming the Obama Administration for rules that limited states' abilities to conduct coronavirus screenings, rules, he said he had just changed.
Meanwhile, the stock markets suffered their biggest loses since the 2008 bank crisis on pandemic fears, including the largest drop of the DOW in one day on February 27, 2020: 1191 points. Trump, who has touted his economic policies, feared this drop would negatively affect his chances for re-election. And, the next day, his son, Donald Trump, Jr., accused the Democrats of hoping the pandemic "kills millions of people so that they could end Donald Trump's streak of winning...." (Pence defended Jr.'s statement). CNN's Chris Cillizza responded by saying, "What Trump Jr. is doing here then is using rhetorical hyperbole for the political benefit of his father."
Rush Limbaugh, who Trump recently awarded the Medal of Freedom, called the pandemic a "deep state plot" to bring down the President and Trump agreed. On his radio show, Limbaugh said, "It looks like the coronavirus is being weaponized as yet another element to bring down Donald Trump... I want to tell you the truth about the coronavirus. Yeah, I’m dead right on this. The coronavirus is the common cold, folks." Donald tweeted, the media is "doing everything possible to make the Caronavirus [sic] look as bad as possible." He referred to criticism his administration was not prepared nor doing enough to contain the virus as a Democrat "hoax."
Once again, Donald Trump feels he is a shining example of a capable leader. People are sick and dying and his sycophants continue to enable him. He has done everything to downplay the severity of this crisis, while at the same time, looking like he's got this completely under control.
See the rest of the posters from the Chamomile Tea Party! Digital high res downloads are free here (click the down arrow on the lower right side of the image). Other options are available. And join our Facebook group.
Follow the history of our country's political intransigence from 2010-2018 through a six-part exhibit of these posters on Google Arts & Culture.
Please visit my website!
:::::www.johnathonpowers.com:::::
Location: Tomball, Texas
Date Taken: May 2015.
Camera: Hasselblad 500 C/M
Film: Kodak Tri-X 400 (shot at speed)
Format: 120 (medium format)
Lens: 80mm CF
Shutter Speed:
Aperture:
Development: Self developed in Kodak D76 1:1 for 9:45 mins.
Scanning: Scanned via betterscanning holders using an Epson v700 and Epson scan software.
Editing: Curves, levels, spot healing dust, and other minor adjustments were made in Lightroom.
Ink and inkwash on paper
Jim Bodman
"My name is Jim Bodman and I'm the chairman of the Vienna Sausage Company in Chicago. And the building that we are currently standing in, which is on the north side of Chicago, on Damon near the corner of Fullerton, was built around 1970."
I loved this short story that I heard on the radio program: This American Life from July 2003. The title of the episode is
"Call in Colonel Mustard For Questioning." It reminds me of a character I have created, except this guy is the real thing, so I felt I had to draw this story. I once thought sending it to TAL as a completed pamphlet but alas it has sat in my file drawer so here it is. Text is transcripts from TAL's website.
Mental Constructs: the cornerstone of self-improvement
Think about what moved you to self-improvement in the first place.
I guess that it probably was some frustration or some obstacle on the pursuit of an objective, which made you stop, step back, and think that maybe it was your own behavior or attitude which needed to change, rather than external circumstances.
Hopefully you solved your problem.
Nonetheless, the assumption you made — that you could change your own point of view and beliefs — would have not been possible for normal people before some centuries ago.
Before the birth of Kantian philosophy and then psychology, people could not even imagine that they had an inner life, that their psychology was separate from external reality, and that the former was viable to errors, and to be even doubted and changed. Your banal assumption is then the product of centuries of philosophical speculation by the finest minds humans have ever known.
What’s truly interesting about that idea though, is that its explicit content — that we can change our way of seeing things — is at once the application of such content to yourself. By thinking that maybe your way of seeing things can be modified, you are indeed already influencing your though patterns. You are moving your focus on different elements, from external elements, to your own thought process.
The consequences are real: your actions might change, your empathy towards others might too — maybe you’ll stop thinking you are right, and you might start thinking that your opinion is one among many. You might experiment with new ways to deal with people, or do things.
There nowadays exist entire professions devoted to studying and influencing our perceptions of things: psychologists, psychiatrists, marketers, politicians, philosophers, journalists. The common thread is the basic, uninteresting idea that our ideas, feelings and reality might not coincide. That we might be wrong.
Welcome to mental constructs.
The anatomy of Mental constructs
The example above is the father of mental constructs, while being a mental construct itself.
Mental constructs are simply the set of ideas and beliefs that we hold. While this seems easy on the surface, truth is that most mental constructs are so deeply ingrained in us, and backed up by so many experiences and emotional baggage, that we fail to see them as opinion, not facts.
Furthermore, I like referencing to them as constructs, rather than only beliefs, because they they indeed possess entire scaffolds to back them up, and we mostly experience them as entire world views, rather than individual ideas. This makes it even harder to separate them from facts.
Mental constructs literally form the structure of our world. This is because they orient our attention, and therefore actions in the World. They give meaning to our experiences. They are meaning itself. Experience without it would be raw data, as much as a foreign language is just mere sound before you know not only its words, but its rules as well.
The very idea of “World” is a mental construct.
We can’t ever really escape mental constructs, nor should we. The very beliefs which might not be fully accurate are the same ones that allow us to feel emotions and give richness to experiences.
The power of Mental Constructs
Mental constructs are power itself, as philosopher Michel Foucault held. They are since power itself is the desire to influence the world, and we define what is the world, and how to influence it, by mental constructs.
Mental constructs form the invisible net through which you live your life, the maze which you try to navigate and which determines which choices you’re allowed to take, and which ones seem inaccessible to you.
Your emotions are products of them, since emotions are our reaction to our perception of events. Between events and feeling stand the transparent world of ideas and beliefs, which determine if we feel sadness or joy, anger or calm.
We like to think that events are reality: we do since events are tangible, and therefore more readily available. Thoughts are not. We also do since most of our mental constructs are strongly backed up by hard emotions, since they constitute our most fundamental mean of power and security in life.
Mental constructs are the fabric of our worlds, and this is not going to change.
What can we do about it?
Some practical tips to use mental models
1)Discerning emotions, thoughts and facts
The basic tip is one from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
When living an experience, learn to discern between emotions and thought, and thought and facts.
You do this by questioning “is this an emotion, a thought, or a fact?”. Everyone gets this wrong from time to time. “I feel you are right” is actually an opinion, and should say “I think you are right, therefore I feel secure”.
The above tool is useful, and is taught in CBT sessions to patients, because emotions, thoughts and facts need to be dealt with differently.
Emotions need to be accepted as they are and experienced. They cannot be directly changed.
Facts must be accepted, but can be influenced with action.
Opinions can be seen, accepted but also questioned. “How much is this opinion realistic, and useful?”. This is the question to apply to opinions, after you’ve spotted it out.
Problems start when:
you treat emotions as facts, so you try to force them to change, you deny them, or you apply judgement (so called secondary beliefs) to them, thus making the feeling usually worse
you treat thoughts as facts or emotions, therefore forgetting that they can be questioned in their usefulness
It’s usually hard to treat emotions as thoughts since emotions are more direct and hardly get mistaken for something colder like a thought.
It is usually helpful to start from emotions, as they are directly noticeable due to their physical quality, then discern the event or fact associated to it, and last individuate the thought which stands in the middle. Thoughts are more elusive and usually taken for granted, so they are harder to pinpoint at first.
2)Finding alternatives to thoughts
Try it now. Pick a thought you had recently, maybe about an argument you had. Try for a moment to imagine an alternative explanation to it. Maybe you thought “they’ve been really rude to me”. Try to think “they behaved rudely, but maybe I need to understand their reasons”. Now check your emotions. Do you feel a difference? At first you felt resentful, annoyed. Now you feel calmer.
This brief experiment is simply to show you how experimenting with different perspectives can truly shift our feelings about a situation, and it also show how two different opinions are not more or less real, as they both feel true when you hold them.
It is not “lying to ourselves” as we do this all the times, albeit unknowingly.
The knowledge of mental models hopefully give you the tool to be more in control of your inner state in a conscious way.
A core idea is that of experimenting with new perspective after you’ve spotted an opinion. This is since we all hold our opinions very dearly and trying to force them to change can actually work against us, causing negative emotions and self-judgement to take place.
3)Accept your emotions, be compassionate of your mental constructs
Emotions are experientially closer to facts than opinions, because they are experienced in the body. Emotions cannot really be influenced directly (without the use of substances) but can be influenced modifying opinions and facts (although the latter are always filtered by mental constructs).
We often feel bad for some emotions we experience, or some thoughts we entertain. You might feel shame, or guilt. These are usually the consequence of secondary thoughts which we formulate about our own emotions.
Fact is, our mental construct were mostly there before we even noticed them. We are not to be held responsible for their creation (nor are our parents). Most importantly, we can put them in perspective and even experiment with alternative ones.
We can react to our own mental constructs, and work on building more useful ones.
An useful mental construct is to see them as something we were endowed with during our growth, but which are passible of change, and improvement.
4)In every situation, know a mental construct is in action
We often get stuck in life and feel there is no way out of situation when we forget that we are employing a mental construct to interpret it.
We see reality and our emotions so tied that we deduce they must be one.
The knowledge of mental constructs lets you now that the key to your wellbeing is really inside of you, not in some deep way but simply in your possibility to choose the mental construct which you live by.
Often facts need to change to make us finally well-off, but cannot influence facts until we come to see them as passible of being acted upon, and that comes through a change of mental construct.
Change comes after we decide we can change, or something makes us realize that we can do it.
The way you see and approach a situation determines the elements you’ll pay attention to, and the action you will take.
By knowing this and reminding yourself of it, you will hopefully feel more empowered and less victim to circumstances.
To conclude
Mental constructs are at work continuously in our lived. There is no escape from them.
While this might seem a prison, and we might never come to see reality as it is, it actually is the source of great power. The power to, literally, choose the form of the world we live in.
Self Improvement
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The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.
Albert Einstein
REFORD GARDENS | LES JARDINS DE METIS
Spectacular view associated with wind gusts.
Visit : www.refordgardens.com/
VERTICAL LINE GARDEN 2018
Julia Jamrozik, Coryn Kempster
Buffalo, United States.
Visit: www.ck-jj.com
From the plaque:
Drawing on the formal language of historical garden design, and the contemporary means of mass-produced safety and construction material, the project is a strong graphic intervention that aims to produce an abstract field.
Defining a geometric zone out of tightly spaced parallel lines of stretched commercial barrier tape , the installation introduces ordered man-made elements into the cultivated natural environment of the Reford Gardens. Through this juxtaposition, a dialogue between the two spheres is created based on the shared theme of protection and necessary safe-guarding while questioning the definition of what is truly natural.
As one approaches and then walks around and through the installation the changing viewpoint will allow the shifting of the tape lines in space and thus varied views of the overall composition. Further the movement of the lines with the changing of the climate, the wind and the sun will ensure a dynamic optical and auditory engagement for the audience. As visitors enter and inhabit the space by occupying the provided loungers, the fluctuating appearance of the installation is further enhanced.
In the 2015 version of the garden, we have decided to alter the colours of the field and provide and to provide canpy elements which will not only provide shade but also give a different experiential perspective of the banner tape.
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Texte de la plaque:
S'appuyant sur le langage formel de la conception du jardin historique, sur des moyens modernes de sécutité et sur des matériaux de construction produits en massa, le projet se veut une intervention graphique cherchant à créer un champs abstrait.
Des lignes parallèles de rubans de sécurité étroitement espacés définissent une zone géométrique. Cette installation d’éléments ordonnés prend place dans un milieu d’aspect naturel. Par cette juxtaposition, un dialogue entre les deux se crée basé sur le thème commun de la protection et de la sauvegarde , tout en s’interrogeant sur la définition de ce qui est vraiment naturel.
En s’approchant, en marchant autour et au travers le jardin, le point de vue change, ce qui permet le déplacement des lignes dans l’espace pour offrir de nouvelles perspectives sur la composition globale. Outre le mouvement des lignes, les changements de climat, le vent et le soleil procurent aux visiteurs des expériences visuelles et auditives dynamiques. Lorsque les visiteurs entrent et habitent l’espace en s’assoyant sur les chaises, l’aspect fluctuant de l’installation est renforcé.
Dans la version 2015 du jardin, les couleurs des rubans sont différentes et trois canopées ont été ajoutés. Ce qui va non seulement fournir de l’ombre mais aussi offrir une perspective expérientielle différente sur les rubans de sécurité.
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Visit : www.refordgardens.com
From Wikipedia:
Elsie Stephen Meighen - born January 22, 1872, Perth, Ontario - and Robert Wilson Reford - born in 1867, Montreal - got married on June 12, 1894.
Elsie Reford was a pioneer of Canadian horticulture, creating one of the largest private gardens in Canada on her estate, Estevan Lodge in eastern Québec. Located in Grand-Métis on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, her gardens have been open to the public since 1962 and operate under the name Les Jardins de Métis and Reford Gardens.
Born January 22, 1872 at Perth, Ontario, Elsie Reford was the eldest of three children born to Robert Meighen and Elsie Stephen. Coming from modest backgrounds themselves, Elsie’s parents ensured that their children received a good education. After being educated in Montreal, she was sent to finishing school in Dresden and Paris, returning to Montreal fluent in both German and French, and ready to take her place in society.
She married Robert Wilson Reford on June 12, 1894. She gave birth to two sons, Bruce in 1895 and Eric in 1900. Robert and Elsie Reford were, by many accounts, an ideal couple. In 1902, they built a house on Drummond Street in Montreal. They both loved the outdoors and they spend several weeks a year in a log cabin they built at Lac Caribou, south of Rimouski. In the autumn they hunted for caribou, deer, and ducks. They returned in winter to ski and snowshoe. Elsie Reford also liked to ride. She had learned as a girl and spent many hours riding on the slopes of Mount Royal. And of course, there was salmon-fishing – a sport at which she excelled.
In her day, she was known for her civic, social, and political activism. She was engaged in philanthropic activities, particularly for the Montreal Maternity Hospital and she was also the moving force behind the creation of the Women’s Canadian Club of Montreal, the first women club in Canada. She believed it important that the women become involved in debates over the great issues of the day, « something beyond the local gossip of the hour ». Her acquaintance with Lord Grey, the Governor-General of Canada from 1904 to 1911, led to her involvement in organizing, in 1908, Québec City’s tercentennial celebrations. The event was one of many to which she devoted herself in building bridges with French-Canadian community.
During the First World War, she joined her two sons in England and did volunteer work at the War Office, translating documents from German into English. After the war, she was active in the Victorian Order of Nurses, the Montreal Council of Social Agencies, and the National Association of Conservative Women.
In 1925 at the age of 53 years, Elsie Reford was operated for appendicitis and during her convalescence, her doctor counselled against fishing, fearing that she did not have the strength to return to the river.”Why not take up gardening?” he said, thinking this a more suitable pastime for a convalescent woman of a certain age. That is why she began laying out the gardens and supervising their construction. The gardens would take ten years to build, and would extend over more than twenty acres.
Elsie Reford had to overcome many difficulties in bringing her garden to life. First among them were the allergies that sometimes left her bedridden for days on end. The second obstacle was the property itself. Estevan was first and foremost a fishing lodge. The site was chosen because of its proximity to a salmon river and its dramatic views – not for the quality of the soil.
To counter-act nature’s deficiencies, she created soil for each of the plants she had selected, bringing peat and sand from nearby farms. This exchange was fortuitous to the local farmers, suffering through the Great Depression. Then, as now, the gardens provided much-needed work to an area with high unemployment. Elsie Reford’s genius as a gardener was born of the knowledge she developed of the needs of plants. Over the course of her long life, she became an expert plantsman. By the end of her life, Elsie Reford was able to counsel other gardeners, writing in the journals of the Royal Horticultural Society and the North American Lily Society. Elsie Reford was not a landscape architect and had no training of any kind as a garden designer. While she collected and appreciated art, she claimed no talents as an artist.
Elsie Stephen Reford died at her Drummond Street home on November 8, 1967 in her ninety-sixth year.
In 1995, the Reford Gardens ("Jardins de Métis") in Grand-Métis were designated a National Historic Site of Canada, as being an excellent Canadian example of the English-inspired garden.(Wikipedia)
Visit : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsie_Reford
Visit : www.refordgardens.com/english/
LES JARDINS DE MÉTIS
Créés par Elsie Reford de 1926 à 1958, ces jardins témoignent de façon remarquable de l’art paysager à l’anglaise. Disposés dans un cadre naturel, un ensemble de jardins exhibent fleurs vivaces, arbres et arbustes. Le jardin des pommetiers, les rocailles et l’Allée royale évoquent l’œuvre de cette dame passionnée d’horticulture. Agrémenté d’un ruisseau et de sentiers sinueux, ce site jouit d’un microclimat favorable à la croissance d’espèces uniques au Canada. Les pavots bleus et les lis, privilégiés par Mme Reford, y fleurissent toujours et contribuent , avec d’autres plantes exotiques et indigènes, à l’harmonie de ces lieux.
Created by Elsie Reford between 1926 and 1958, these gardens are an inspired example of the English art of the garden. Woven into a natural setting, a series of gardens display perennials, trees and shrubs. A crab-apple orchard, a rock garden, and the Long Walk are also the legacy of this dedicated horticulturist. A microclimate favours the growth of species found nowhere else in Canada, while the stream and winding paths add to the charm. Elsie Reford’s beloved blue poppies and lilies still bloom and contribute, with other exotic and indigenous plants, to the harmony of the site.
Commission des lieux et monuments historiques du Canada
Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.
Gouvernement du Canada – Government of Canada
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Yet another locomotive that has me questioning if I belong in the museum with it. I did photograph this one in service hauling coal in Minneapolis for BN. Looking good after 50 years, 20 in service for BN and 30 here at IRM. I've also spent years photographing and occasionally riding in the U30Cs of the Lake Superior & Ishpeming. LS&I kept the cascade green, even repainting some to look this fresh for a time albeit with an LS&I logo on the cab. Its assignment for the afternoon were the short trips for folks who had paid to try their hand at running a locomotive. The sights, sounds, and chugs brought back a lot of pleasant memories. August 10, 2024.
i stopped talking
i stopped thinking
and analyzing and questioning and seeking
answers
i sat alone.
i sat empty.
and I felt.
I ached.
and i try to listen to the things i told you
so matter of factly
and they stopped making sense.
i understand why my words meandered around your deaf ears.
i spoke through you.
i don't know who that was talking
i don't know where I went.
i’m only just beginning to feel what i've done.
and wish it undone.
I learned something new about Della today. She is not thrilled about coming up behind me and standing between my legs. Seems funny for a dog who is never far from my side!
I had done an imitation shot with Tug for 12 months for dogs and liked the way it came out so I thought I would try the same photo with Della. I never imagined she would be uncomfortable doing this shot. However, you can tell from her expression that she just can't seem to understand what we are doing. Maybe she thought she was going to trip me or something. You don't need a leash when you walk this girl, she always keeps track of where I am. She was happy to be done with the photo shoot and to have me kick the ball around for her.
Now Tug, you can just tell by looking at his goofy face (as seen on my photo stream) that he wasn't bothered at all with standing between my legs.
Oh yes, the shot I was imitating was Dave's photos of Bruno and Eva when he has them between his legs during each season of the year.
...
Alright here's the deal ---
It's Sunday, and the three misfits all know
that by 6:AM we should be in the m/c field.
And guess what, we are not in the m/c field.
Ms Pumpkin Pie has gone into Ms Drama Queen
mode questioning me as to why that has not
happened ! Now the drama all started
about 11-13 minutes ago. At this
point I had gotten up and
retrieved a camera
as you can see.
Pumpkin has lost her mind as her deep voice
will not stop as she explains to me that it is up
to me to solve this, and any other problem ;-0
As she is verbally abusing me she also physically
abuses me by using her big soft muzzle to poke
me with... It was way big scary, even way more
big than that ! I feared for my life so I shot her.
And of course Mr Monkey, AKA, Mr MoJo
came racing in to voice his displeasure too.
I was poked and prodded licked then licked
some-more. Another terrifying experience ;-(
Mr Boney Baloney continued to sleep but
due to all the racket he got up from his
soft, warm nest and commandeered
Mamas soft, warm nest and went
back to taking a long nap ;-)
Now I know your next question will be why
didn't we go over to the mud cobra field ?
Good question and here's your answer.
Because it has been raining cats and dogs.
Monsoon rains have continued to make life
in the tropics a bit of a challenge as of late !
At 4:AM, then again at 5:32AM I was up
checking on the weather. It continued
to rain letting up slightly by dawn.
By then everything is soaked.
Which means it's a no go.
And I also know you are wondering what
happened to Ms Drama Queen. Well, she
fell down on her side and continued all the
drama until Mr. MoJo jumped on her head !
Then both of them raced outside 2 be silly.
See what I have to deal with here as
the only k9mansevant available ;-0
I told no# 1 wife that I might have-to
move out soon and hide in the jungle.
She said, "don't forget your toothbrush."
So there ya go, another
small slice of our life ;-)
Jon&Crew
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***** Selected for sale in the GETTY IMAGES COLLECTION on April 30th 2015
CREATIVE RF gty.im/552123677 MOMENT OPEN COLLECTION**
This photograph became my 590th image to be selected for inclusion and sale in the Getty Images 'Moment' collection, and I am very grateful to them for such an amazing opportunity.
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COFFEE TASTING KISSES
Caffè Artigiano, Hornby Street, just off of Robson. Early in the AM and I'm in need of my caffeine fix. I'm here for a reason, not simply by chance or else any corporate coffee house offering overpriced grinds and yesterdays cake would suffice.
The joint is relatively quiet right now, just a handful of early birds revelling in the delicious aromas of freshly ground coffee beans or grabbing a bite to eat to start the day before the rush sets in. Commuter zone in the big city, bored faces, blank expressions, dashed aspirations crushed on the rocks of a world of tedium and conformity.
Damn this modern day life and the frenetic pace that we lead like sheep, following the pack, never questioning why we do what we do, never stopping to smell the roses and take some time out to enjoy what we actually have. Not the commercialism nor Rolex around our wrists, but the purity of life, the wonder of our existence, the simple things that fall prey to the darkness all around us, victim of our need and greed.
I clear the table of all debris and distractions, every trace of the people who sat here before me. I like clean lines, a lack of clutter, room to think and move, nothing invading my personal space as I brush aside some sugar granules and a cellophane wrapper to an oatmeal cookie that offends my eyes as it covets the beautiful antique styled wooden table at which I sit.
My left hand rises slowly to reveal the Omega chrome bezel of my wrist watch flashing beneath the overhead strip lighting which tells me that it's just turned eight. The coffee parked up in front of me, teasing my senses is a work of art, I ask you, how can a simple coffee look so God damned appealing for a couple of measly bucks?
That old Omega reminds me of my own mortality. A parting gift from the only woman I ever truly loved and the only person to get close enough to me to scare me witless at the very prospect of giving up the only life that I have known ever since I was a rebellious and wayward kid. The soldier within me still yearns for leadership, like a scruffy mutt I await my orders before I commit to action.
Times change, people bend the truth, lips lie but memories stay as true and fresh as the day that they formed in your pathetic little mind. I'm the same man yet different from the one back then. Older and wiser, more resigned and bitter at life's misfortunes and twists of fate, I believe in always looking to the future, though a nod to the past sometimes keeps us from insanity.
The rich dark roasted beans seduce my taste buds as I take a sip, carefully placing lips to porcelain, cautious not to burn my flesh and take layers off the roof of my mouth in the process. But I needn't worry. Corporate poppycock, health and safety gone mad, rules and regulations regarding the safe operating temperatures of tea urns and coffee machines to safeguard against customer claims of injury and the subsequent backlash of claims and counter claims in the Canadian court rooms.
It's civilisation gone mad as newspapers daily tell us of fat heads playing the system and winning millions in damages for the grape that they slipped over on in Walmart whilst browsing for some breakfast fruit, the burns received from the hot apple pies that are served in MacDonald's or the Winnebago that crashed on cruise control when the driver left the drivers seat to go to the porta-loo thinking that the vehicle would just follow the road on it's own volition.
There is a dumbing down of society, a wiseing up to the intricacies of playing the system, screwing your fellow man and taking them for everything you can get. I could weep. Still, the Java tastes good as I completely destroy the delicate and ornate patterning that now swirls around like a tsunami in my neatly monikered cup, eyes subtly surveying the room as the people sit in their own little worlds.
To my right at a two seater table sits Miss Prissy knickers, Librarian looks, mousy hair that could do with a little TLC, glasses that could kill a man's passion at twenty yards and eyes glued to the pages of this weeks new Stephen King best selling paperback. She's a speed reader, well practised in the art of darting through those written words at a rate of knots, taking in the impactive detail, digesting the characterisation without a hint of emotion in her face. Not a twitch nor flicker of the eyebrows, not a muscle moved in the mouth, jeez, she'd make the perfect assassin with that poker face.
She's blissfully unaware of anything around her, devoted to the storyline, immersed. No hint of a wedding ring on her fingers, she's married to her job, resolutely single and has probably never had a decent lay in her entire life.
A guy passes by her table, emerging from the tight and compact dimensions of the wash-room at the rear of the coffee-house, discreetly placed and merging into the décor with an elegant simplicity. His hands are still slightly wet, beads of water tumbling from his flesh to the ground like jumpers from a blazing sky scraper.
He walks to the table and gathers up his belongings, checking his inner jacket pocket for his cell phone which he flicks open and checks, eyes registering a degree of disdain at not receiving whatever message he had hoped. A lovers words, a secret rendezvous, work details and directions, whatever, he's none too pleased as he pulls a set of car keys from his pocket, I catch a brief glimpse of yet another manufacturers corporate logo as he winks at the pretty young thing behind the bar who served him as she has each morning this week at the same time, same beverage, same price. People and habits, you just gotta love 'em.
" Have a good one Ray ", she says as he reaches the door and throws a smile back her way. I drain my cup of it's final liquid droplets and rise to my feet, pushing the wooden chair back a way before turning and making my exit through the door. The sunlight is bright and brilliant, piercing my retinas as I place my Ray bans on walk down the road about thirty five paces behind Ray. An unremarkable man of five feet ten inches in height, thirty six years old, married with two children. Samantha aged fourteen and David aged twelve. A picture of bliss with a neat condo on Beacon Avenue near the waterfront in Sidney, BC, two cars, a dog and two cats. The details from his file are fresh in my mind as I increase my pace to within twelve paces of the mark as he winds his way unwittingly towards the end of his life.
A gambling man by any standards, neatly attired, respectable and clean, though up to his neck in debt thanks to a dead cert bet that he obtained through a friend of a friend who just happened to hear a couple of guys in the know talking daydreams near the race track. I hate gamblers more than any other form of low life scum. The thin veneer of honesty and integrity whilst all the while they would sell their own grandma down the line if they thought it would fund their next certainty.
I learned long ago in life that there is no such thing as a certainty, other than the the ones of birth and death, and any fool who lives with that lie and hope deserves what's coming to him. In Ray's case it's a head full of nine millimetre full metal jacket for defaulting on his twenty five thousand dollar stake money that he borrowed form some very unsavoury dudes.
These are the sort of guys that would kill your family right out in front of you just to prove a point, not that that ever crossed Rays stupid head when the moment came to place the bet that he could never honour should the worse scenario play out, which it surely did.
He is striding casually, oblivious to my presence, unaware that he is now about a minute from his own death and that his wife and two children have already been taken care of by the men who shall remain nameless. You see, in this game, nothing is sacrosanct, not the solemn vows of marriage nor the bonds of love from a husband to a wife, a mother to her daughter, a father to his son.
You take the risk, you make the bet, you borrow the money and if you fail to deliver what's owed on time, well then let's just say that all hell breaks loose until the beneficiaries, who in this sad situation in fact benefited from a big fast zero in monetary gain terms, deem that the punishment has indeed been made to fit the crime.
My eyes are surveying the scene, looking ahead, my brain calculating angles and degrees, seconds and minutes of escapes routes from the scene of the crime before it has been committed. Lucky for me, Ray turns Eastwards and moves into a skinny alley between two buildings, like a set from a motion picture as I hone in on his footsteps and reach inside my coat pocket for the cold steel of the weapon. In a way I'm helping the hapless fool out, he has no idea that his family home is now a bloodbath resembling a shoot out scene from a Quentin Tarantino flick, everything he loved wiped out in an instant.
Well, I say everything, but of course that is not counting the blonde floozy twenty two year old from work that he has been enjoying after hours horizontal naked dancing with in the week that I have tailed and watched his every move. Me, I'm methodical if nothing else. I like to study the mark, learn their traits and characteristics, those little things that define who they are, daily details lost amidst the city lights and hubbub of noise and people. And what a sweet little thing his mistress is. I can almost hear her tears and see the droplets flood from the beautiful eyes when she discovers the awful truth that will hit the newspaper stands by the morning.
My hand emerges wit the silenced gun, the metal texture glistening under the sunlight as I come to a standstill right next to Ray who has stopped by the wall to pull a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. We exchange a glance as he suddenly sees the weapon and realizes that for him, there is no hiding now, no turning back the clocks.
" Please, whatever they are paying you, I can match it, double it.... name your price "
Quite understandably, the man is shaking with fear as he drops the unlit cigarette from his hand, those eyes begging my approval and acceptance like a scolded child looking to his fathers face. I'm just not the forgiving type sadly for Raymond Jacobs as I raise the silencer to within just a few inches from his right temple and reply.
" Really Ray. See, from where I am standing, you have little more than the pants you're now peeing and debts from the money you lost at the race track. Oh and by the way, Mr Stokes and Mr Reynolds both send you their warmest regards, and wish you to know that your wife and two children will be waiting for you somewhere in the afterlife. Hey, what's it to be, head or heart? "
Ray looks momentarily bemused as tears form in his eyes, " What? ", he says, stalling for time, an effort wasted on a cold hearted son of a bitch such as I. And after the silence comes the pain and as he begins to beg like an animal for his life, a mouth off all at a tangent spouting all manner of gibberish that is beyond my comprehension. Now me, I'm a tolerant man, I can suck it in with the very best of them, I can stand most anything in life except maybe the sight of a man crying like a baby. I hate it when a mark does that, I mean, come on fella, at least face your plight like a grown man and die with a little semblance of dignity would ya!
" Okey-dokey, head it is then my friend ", I calmly announce as I pump a single round round straight into his skull. A spurt of blood splatters across the cement wall behind, leaving a pattern like a map of Africa as the bullet pushes out with a mixture of bone fragment and brain matter. The shell embeds itself in the wall as the casing hits the floor with a glorious ping of metal on pavement. His body rocks upwards and back, falling to the ground like a sack of the proverbial, eyes registering the shock and pain of that moment of impact before I pump two further rounds into his heart. His ribcage rises one last time, the expellation of air from his lungs is loud and forced, followed by silence as the life bleeds out of his eyes. I holster my gun, checking the vicinity for unwelcome attention, though mercifully the coast is clear. I retrieve the shell casing from the ground, placing it into my pocket, and also the slug from the wall which comes out with a couple of prods of my bony fingers.
I hate clutter, I don't like debris and remnants left at the scene, it's just plain sloppy work.
The job is done, my work is finished, and my bank balance will be swollen by twenty large ones no sooner than I have contacted my keeper with confirmation of the kill. Time to vacate the scene before the cops come tumbling down upon me. The coffee is still on my mind and lips, staining my teeth and overwhelming my senses with the delirium of that Java buzz as I make good my exit. Coffee kisses from the bosses, Ray. At least you are reunited with your family now
As I begin walking along the corridor between the two buildings, ears prick up to the sound of coughing. Dust allergy perhaps, muted tone, stifled by a closed hand across the convulsing lips. Eyes hone in on the doorway slightly ajar to my immediate left where I stand. Dusty layers formed like a blanket through non use, finger prints and a palm fresh and staring me right in the face. I place my right hand onto the wooden textures of the old lock less door, perhaps once a storage room to one of the nearby shops, and press firmly as it creaks under protest and leaves a shadow across the floor that dances a tango of delight to the woman cowering in the shadows. Eyes meet for the first time and form a deep and abiding dislike for one another.
She darts past me like a frightened mouse and heads towards the network of quaint shops with faux period façades and cobbled stones. I cannot allow her to escape.
The hunt is on.......
.
Written June 8th 2011
Photograph taken at 08:25am inside the Caffe Artigiano coffee house in Hornby Street, just off Robson Street in down town Vancouver, Canada on April 5th 2010.
Nikon D90 15mm 1/60s f/4.0 iso450
Tamron 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di LC II. UV filter
There's no questioning who that shed roof belongs to.
A particularly fine looking cat that I photographed while out on a walk.
This shot of a Snowy Egret was taken at W. Ninth Street, Santa Rosa, CA
Have a fabulous weekend everyone!
The theme for Macro Mondays is Old/New, and it couldn't have come at a better time for me because I've been questioning whether I'm going to continue with the relatively new Nook or revert back to the old fashioned, page-turning paper book. There are certainly advantages to the Nook reader that I've been using for the past year: compact, convenient, push a button and download a book in seconds, economical ~ all are valid reasons to stick with it. But, it just doesn't feel the same. I love electronic gadgetry, and if I'd been born in the 1980s instead of the '30s, I'm sure I'd be an insufferable geek, but when it comes to reading, something I do a lot of, somehow turning on an electronic reader just isn't the same as opening a book. It helps that I have two large book stores less than two miles from our home, and browsing online just can't hold a candle to browsing through a book store, something I've missed doing lately. Another problem is I'm now reading a book I know my wife Sammy would love to read (Fall of Giants by Ken Follet), but I can't just hand it over to her when I'm finished; she'd never read a book on an electronic reader, if it were the last book on earth. So, I'm going to buy her a "real" copy, thus paying double for one book. I'm sure I won't be tossing out the Nook, but I do intend to get back to the book store, and, if my browsing turns up something I'd like to read, instead of pushing a button, I'm going to reach for my wallet and buy it.
The full issue is available online at questioning.org/Feb2021/wondering.html
In this article I suggest thinking and planning strategies schools should be teaching students so they can wrestle with the challenges posed by horrible events like the pandemic.
The photo above shows one of my daughters and her two children heading toward a light house on one of the San Juan Islands, shot a dozen years back. It also appears on the cover of my book, "The Great Report" at fno.org/GreatReport/greatreport.html
Stack of two 4 minute images.Strobe with blue and magenta gel,flashlight with red gel and bare flashlight,sodium lights and full moon.View large for mister X!!