Perfect Imperfection

This piece leads on from an earlier blog focusing on the beauty of imperfection, and explores our opinion as a race that any blemish is unpleasant and displeasing, and spoils a perfect surface, especially true in context with the human body.

The base is manufactured from molten iron, complete with inclusions, impurities and gas holes. The “imperfection” itself is a smooth shiny stainless steel ball bearing.

I have aimed to portray that both the base of the piece and the focal point of the piece to be the exact opposite of what we would normally expect them to be – the “skin” is old, corroded and damaged, the “blemish” conversely is perfect.

This latest sculpture is one I have been aiming to create for some time, but until recently, the raw material has proved somewhat elusive, despite many beach combing excursions and trawls through scrap yards. However, found quite by accident on a hill side in North Wales the base is a piece of melted cast iron – according to the local land owner, it is the residue of a significant fire some 50 years ago.

Art becomes art

Here is an advert by ArmaLite Inc (a hand gun manufacturer from the USA) that has been doing the rounds, creating mostly fury as it does so.
It pictures a AR50A1 bolt action long range rifle on a museum wall, sandwiched between the American Gothic and the Mona Lisa.
The gun is advertised as 

"..Designed to be an economical answer for the challenges of long range shooting.."

...so killing people from far away very cheaply - clearly what the world needs.

And yet there it sits, in the presence of arguably two of the greatest pieces of art.

The advert has sparked criticism, especially from Italian culture minister, Dario Franceschini - whether rightly or wrongly (being opinionated on a public blog such as this is perhaps ill advised, so I shall refrain from commenting on the taste or otherwise of the advert)

 

What fascinates me though is the advert itself. Take away the text for the moment, and look just at the image and there are some very clever touches....which bring with them some intriguing questions...for example, why is the gun pointed at the Mona Lisa's head? (why that way around and not the other way around?) why is the viewer studying the piece a businessman (and not a militia) - it reminds me of the "the stereotypical faceless businessman" (The Son of Man by Rene Magritte portrayed in The Thomas Crown Affair) what expression is the man wearing - a smile? are there tears? contemplation? relief?

Being hung next to such masterpieces, one would assume then that the gun is in fact not for sale?...which perhaps is the most intriguing of them all, as it then belies the need for the advert in first place.

Engineering for engineerings' sake..

There seems to be a pre-determined generalism of the idiosyncrasies of many nations around the world, aided perhaps by history (it is the victors who write history after all) the movie industry and perhaps the exaggerations of the press over the years.
However, if you look, there are little wonderful details that only add to the myths regarding each nation, and add a wry humour to reputations...

Here we have a British 2nd World War paratrooper helmet, note the simple screw on the side to attach the liner and adjust the chin strap...

Here is the German equivalent...

Note the screw in the side....a normal screw? Far from it - for apparently no reason at all it is a special screw, that needs a special tool....beautifully engineered and packaged of course...

 

The bolt in my own Nut and Bolt sculpture is from a German Mauser, I had a choice of that one or one from a .303 Lee Enfield, but somehow the Mauser was more attractively engineered.
So perhaps the myth has some truth, Germans do like to excel at their engineering (clearly contrary to the myth they have a dry sense of humour too, what do you do if you lose the tool?)

I love it so much I've bought a tool (and I don't even own a helmet)....in this modern world of throw away plastic, there is something very comforting about engineering just for the sake of it, let's hope someone somewhere keeps doing it...

Photos courtesy of War Hats

I'm an artist - get me out of here!

The first piece of 2014 has been in the offing for some time.

I have created a sculpture that for me at least demonstrates the frustrations an artist can encounter when one's head is full of ideas, yet these ideas just will not manifest themselves with the clarity needed to create the art that lives within...

...An artist will feed on the internal creativity that the soul creates, but also expands these ideas from other sources; healthy conversation, observations, media, humour, loss and most importantly, company. As these external elements ebb and flow in lifes' twisted path, so the art is consequently influenced.
Inspiration often comes from within, but the realisation, the clarity required to create the work, often relies on others....when they are gone, there is no purpose.....and it is they that hold the key.

Because you're worth it...?

A while ago, I noticed the wording on a TV advert for cosmetics. It said the product was designed “to correct nature’s imperfections”. Once hooked by what I at least considered to be quite an insidious tag line, I got to listening to more adverts for similar products, and most are of the same vain.

I touched on the power of television earlier in this blog (see January) and here we have a perfect example. The lady advertising the product(s) has “flawless” skin – this in itself then insinuates what perfect actually is – the target audience are no longer in a position to make the decision as to the condition of their own body as the TV advert has subliminally forced the image onto the world – what is worse, this image creates a “right” and a “wrong” – so if your skin has a dent, a lump, a discolouring or whatever, you are “imperfect”.

Additionally, your confidence is then tested as you go out into the world in which everyone else has succumbed to the same advertising premise, and inevitably you buy the product advertised, if nothing else then to conform.

The whole process is so manipulative and self sustaining surely it must be questionable.

It’s clear to see the effects, as we only look at ourselves in this way, which clearly shows which opinions have been influenced and which haven’t. Take these for example, all trees with lumps, bumps, growths…

…all stunningly beautiful, and yet if this was someone’s skin, it would be seen in some sense of pity, perhaps even distasteful. Does nature suffer a lack of confidence to display such anomalies? No, of course not…then why do we? We are after all part of nature….perhaps as a species we have forgotten, or perhaps the TV has made us forget.

Caravans, the British, and a wry sense of humour

As followers will already know, the foibles of the English language are a constant source of inspiration and entertainment to me, so during today’s journey home, I was wondering why on earth you can have “lashings of ice cream” (and why does lashings of ice cream somehow sound so much more delicious than just “lots of ice cream”?) and you can also get “lashings” in regard to ropes on a boat…someone must know why.

...point of note, the daily grind of the commute can be made so much more entertaining with an overactive brain :) 

Anyway, it was while mulling these thoughts that I came behind a caravan called a “Tornado”.

Not only does a Tornado exist, but apparently you can (or could) buy a “Whirlwind”, a “Storm” and somewhat dramatically, a “Superstorm” (all rather nice vans from Elddis)

Now you’d think a caravaner would be on an endless quest for holiday weather, sun, blue skies, that kind of thing – I’ve “vanned” myself (in an “Ace” no less, which is hardly an imaginative name, but at least sends a positive message) – you have to have a sense of adventure sure, but these people are not mad, so why the names synonymous with getting awfully wet and cold?. I wonder if anyone made a caravan called a "Drizzle"......which by the way is both light rain and a method of adding topping on to a cake......

drizzle

ˈdrɪz(ə)l/

noun

noun: drizzle

1. 1.

   light rain falling in very fine drops.

   "Scotland will be cloudy with patchy drizzle"

   synonyms:

   fine rain, Scotch mist, sprinkle of rain, light shower, spray; More mizzle "they shivered in the cold drizzle"

2. 2.

   Cookery

   a thin stream of a liquid ingredient trickled over something.

   "top with a drizzle of sour cream"

   synonyms:

   trickle, dribble, drip, drop, droplet, stream, rivulet, runnel;

....how anyone from overseas learns our language is a mystery!

I reckon us vanners are all just equipped with a twisted sense of humour, as once in your caravan, you can settle down for the evening with a lovely cuppa…..“BlackThunder Caravan Coffee” anyone? (I kid thee not!)

Simple smiles

.....taken earlier this year, I've been meaning to post it for a while....

............it made me smile.