NOT Your Grandmother's Origami

SHAKTI

Archangel Michael 

"For the exhibition Surface to Structure: Folded Forms, which will take place at New York's Cooper Union from June 19 to July 4, Nguyen has gathered more than 130 works from 88 artists around the world. Collectively the works demonstrate how origami artists are pushing the boundaries of technique and style. But today artists have moved beyond that, with many using software that helps them dream up and then fold their elaborate works."

Fabulous Ghana Coffins

 

 

"Kane Kwei’s grandmother died. She had never taken a plane, but often expressed her fascination for this revolutionary means of transport and was wishing, one day, to be able to do so.

Kane Kwei remembers then the coffin which had provoked the enthusiasm of crowds some months before. To honor his grand mother by giving her what she had not been able to accomplish of his living being, he constructs her a coffin in the form of a plane."

"The figurative palanquin connected with the totem of its owner is a special kind of litter used in the Greater Accra Region in Ghana. These palanquins called in the Ga language, okadi akpakai, belong to the royal insignias & were used only by the Ga kings or mantsemei and their sub-chiefs when they are carried in public at durburs and festivals like Homowo. With these figurative palanquins the Ga create ethnic differences between themselves and their Akan neighbors that only use simple boat or chair-shaped litters."

Tim's Vemeer

I was distracted by a recent disturbing event when I saw this movie, so in order to do it true justice, I may need to see it again. I don't think so though. My brain doesn't work this way. I felt like Jenison was being very right brained about the whole process & found myself becoming irritated by his attempt to paint the way the 17th century Flemish master Vermeer did by using the 'camera obscura' technique. Maybe if his finished product in any way conveyed the same response as a Veneer, I would have been a bit more bowled over.

When I look at 'Girl With the Pearl Earring', or any other work of art for that matter, I think about my emotional response & what the participants may have been thinking in a moment in time. The painting was created 300 years ago. Folks have had a lot of time to surmise who the girl was or how he painted her. Here's just a few of the comments made about the painting:

"The image is a tronie, the Dutch 17th-century description of a ‘head’ that was not meant to be a portrait. After the most recent restoration of the painting in 1994, the subtle color scheme and the intimacy of the girl’s gaze toward the viewer have been greatly enhanced."

"Each generation perceives and describes the impressions gained from Vermeer’s works based on the intellectual baggage and the reception they master..... His (Vermeer's) low output was rather caused by the need for a long mental process before he was satisfied with the image. He needed a long period of maturing his works in order to reach an acceptance of having reached the final and aesthetically pleasant accomplishment. As many authors in the past have observed, Vermeer in many paintings deleted earlier rendered elements from his interiors. In lectures, I have shown digital reconstructions of how crammed some of his paintings may have been at earlier stages in their making." Jørgen Wadum  (Head of 'Girl With Pearl Earring' Restoration project)

I Should Be So Lucky: Leslie Laskey

http://leslielaskeyfilm.com/

 

See that piece of metal in his hands that he pulled out of a burnt fire? It's an object that this 80+ man finds excitement in & transforms onto paper. Painter, Mixed Media, Printing, Collage Artist..... his living space a wonder of found & alive objects...... he's in heaven. So am I.