Last night some words were added to 365wordgirl

I also spotted my project being featured on the CURATED website, which is pretty awesome indeed!

Needless to say I feel proud at the moment and am really looking forward to words coming in to the project from all corners of the globe!!

So if you are reading this spread the word! and send them here

It's been a while since I posted, I have been busy and there are a few draft posts lingering.....

Anyway..

After postponing my visit to the Olafur Eliasson exhibit at MCA, I finally got to check it out a few weeks ago. I have been to busy to blog about it, until now. The experience is still fresh in my mind and I wanna do it all over again. This is the kind of art I really love. There is no viewer or audience so to speak, every part of Eliasson's work is experienced and interacted with.

The main reason I wanted to see this exhibition was for the Lego. A huge long white table with access to 3 tonnes of pure white lego. It was bliss. There was no distraction from colour and as there were only basic blocks, my imagination ran riot given the limitations. Especially considering that I visited in the last week, so there was an extreme shortage of anything other than the 1 blocks. After fiddling around for a bit, I realised I could use this to my advantage and build something pretty cool regardless.

so here is what I built! (plus a few other shots, camera were not really welcomed that much in the exhibition unfortunately)

Just to let you know that the 365wordgirl project now has it's own home. I moved it to save confusion and to better promote it. The bonus is that is also looks the shizz-nizzle on the pure black background. So to celebrate the move, go leave a word...it will be so unbelievably worth it!!

My 365wordgirl photos have been included in the current issue of Blanket Magazine. Issue 21 is The Rock, Paper, Scissors Issue and there is some awesome art, illustration and design included. I'm pretty chuffed to have been selected as it's a pretty cool digital zine and can be purchased here for the measly amount of $2 USD...back issues are also available.

I like Red...no no, scratch that I LOVE RED! especially when it is with Black and White. And I have a feeling my 365wordgirl project will contain a lot of Scarlet, Crimson, Fire Engine Red, Vermilion and Cerise. I'm starting to be aware of it and would hate to change the flow of my project....so I guess I need to relax and let it happen, the way Mother Red intended.

If you need to know more about RED, there's a wiki just for red ;]

The symbolism of red is what interests me...it is loaded with strong messages of passion, blood, fire, sin, guilt and anger. It's a colour that can be happy and angry at the same time. It's not for the weakhearted or wishy-washy among us.

There is a distinct difference between a woman wearing red as opposed to a woman wearing pink. For me red shows that a woman is sexy and confident in her terms, while wearing pink demonstrates the need to be seen in a feminine light (maybe I just really detest pink).

Check out this awesome clip for Red, Black and White RADNESS!!

La France brûle ! from Marijane Miracle on Vimeo.

I adore the cartoon quality of this clip also...reminds me a little of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's films, speaking of which I scored free tickets to MICMACS on the weekend (thanks to the kind folk at Concrete Playground) Merci Beaucoup!

Vive la Rouge!

The hubbub became almost insurmountable during the meeting. They thought they had found a quiet nook within the chaos of Amsterdam's red light district. Clearly they were both snozzled early in the evening, and she was perhaps a little twitchy. Had she chosen the correct outfit or was her dress overtly diaphanous?

Week  5:

1. Amsterdam

2. Insurmountable

3. Snozzled

4. Hubbub

5.Twitchy

6.Diaphanous

7. Meeting

As Patton saluted he wanted closure, but he only managed to obfuscate the crowd. Ice-Hockey was a good game, but could he be assured of the synchronicity within the cellar – Was it fairdinkum?

Week 4:

1. Fairdinkum
2. Ice-hockey
3. Synchronicity
4. Patton
5. Closure
6. Obfuscate
7. Cellar

Like RTRD often says - "Don't you think Lego was better when it was more simple?" And I guess as a fellow designer his point is that imagination thrives on limitations. Give a child a bucket of basic Lego and they will build all kinds of amazing things. (Ok...it's true Starwars Lego is awesome and we love it more than basic pieces, but....)

Read the rest of this entry »

I thought it would be a great idea if I drew up a little schedule for the 365 wordgirl project. It will inevidably help me and my mammoth task of dreaming up these crazy themes and scenarios each week and possibly it will make it easier for you to see how it works. Read the rest of this entry »

I can't really say why I have never researched or looked further into one of my favourite paintings of The Art Gallery of NSW. I've stared countless times at "The Sons of Clovis II" a daunting painting by French painter Évariste Vital Luminais. Maybe the fact that I just enjoyed it for so long, was motivation to now take this further...take it to google.
I mean honestly during my teens, I can't even remember paying much attention to the information panel next to the painting...it didn't matter.

'Les enervés de Jumièges' or ' The sons of Clovis II' by Évariste Vital Luminais

Its sheer size (190.7 x 275.8cm) lends itself to be imposing on the viewer and we are transfixed on these two sons and the obviously miserable predictament they seem to be in. How could I have not been intrigued enough to find out more? I was studying art and I loved this painting. I can't remember it never being in the AGNSW.  Although it's puzzling, in hindsight, I guess it was meant to be! Right now as I 'Google' and discover facts about this work, I realise inspiration comes at the time it is supposed to. I guess the same can be said about people in your life and the connections you make. Some may say it's already written.

Regardless of why and when I delved deeper, the story behind the painting is interesting...even if it's not true.

Regent Sainte Bathilde, the wife of Clovis II was alarmed by her sons rebellion against their father (who had travelled to Jerusalem during the crusades), she had them hamstrung and sent adrift on a barged down the Seine. Legend has it that they ran aground at the abbey of Jumièges and all was reconciled with the sons and parents. So what is the purpose of this legend...I guess to show the almighty power of the King's reign and also the goodness of the church. It is my guess that this is then  the propaganda of it's time.

Apart from the story behind the painting, I was also curious as to how it came to be at AGNSW, so upon reading on the AGNSW website I have discovered it was purchased in Paris in 1886...6 years after it was painted.....the source is not known. Apparently this was not the original version which shocked onlookers in the Paris Salon in 1880.

It's difficult to imagine the shock value of a painting. We are borbarded with shocking imagery constantly. In art there is nothing that has not been done before, so can art no longer shock?? I highly doubt that a painting in this present day can shock at all. After all we have television and the internet. But pre-tv and computer age...well people believed what they sure, heard and read much more (I would like to think this is totally true, but alas there are some dumb people in the world).

So if this was not the original version,  the 'facts' on the AGNSW are a little hyped. In total there are 3 versions of this painting. Two of which reside in Rouen, France. Personally I prefer the detail in 'our' one and believe it speaks volumes ove rthe other two in terms of the gaunt appearance or the sons and also the wretched predicament they face. And regardless of it's claim on being the original or not...I'm proud to have such a painting in my city since 1886.

So although it took me more than 20 years to find out more about this painting, I am glad I did afterall. Not only was I informed of this legend, but I also discovered some pretty cool stuff on the AGNSW website and found this cool clip. Lyrics aside though...I found it a little inspiring to find this in this way as elements of it are not dissimilar  to some elements of 365wordgirl....and perhaps those elements are still in my mind. I guess we will see......

The Sons of Clovis from Jurgen on Vimeo.