Saturday, August 28, 2010

Focus and nitty gritty

There is an Outsider Art museum in Randers callex Gaia and this is one of the artists showing behind closed dark curtains, offering people enlargement glasses before they duck behind the dark veil regardless of their age and eye status.


Pradeep Kumar lives in India and was thought to be mentally challenged. His problem however was 75% deafness which was not discovered until he was 9 years old.
This is what he started doing to challenge himself, carving sculptures out of matches and painting them with markers.
He is now a grown man holding down a top job at a financial institution.



This is the perfect kind of art to travel the world with, trust me, by now I know!


Pia
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Red Light At Night

An evening stroll in Randers and the night is illuminated by beauty - I forgot to ask for the name of the artist who came up with this idea for a night fountain, but I have to say I quite enjoyed his/her work!


And an inside look as well:



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Friday, August 27, 2010

The beauty and strength of a rowing practise in Randers Harbour.

Let's start out with a photo of the opposing team .... This for practical reasons since I had no intension or willingness to be the last one aboard our boat, risking a jump from the wharf to a boat leaving without me! So I took a photo of the easier option, the other team already on their way out.


Then I secured my butt in my designated spot at the bow of the boat watching everyone get the vessel ready for takeoff.


There were ten rowing strong ladies in front of me, rather eleven, since AneMarie was the coxwing(???) and not at an oar.


I had wondered how she could possibly stay warm, since I knew that I was wearing her long johns. After a while I realized that keeping the beat for the rowers and using your voice and mental power is quite adequate to keep the inner furnace warm and glowing.


....................................Beauty close by! ......................


Strong backs and continuous strain and motion for a while while the length of the track is being tried out and the athletic effort of the ladies is being tested.


.................................Art in the harbour.................



The little lady with her umbrella waiting for the fountain to start showering her with water again.


And arriving back to the wharf as the sun was going down and the moon was rising behind us, a lovely evening indeed!


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A surprise excursion through unexpected Manufactured Landscapes!

Although I am boarding Sorlandet in Bremerhaven in a few days with my husband to sail to Kristiansand in Norway I have to say that I am a weaver and shepardess more, much more than a sailoress!
However when we arrived to visit family in Randers two days ago and our host AneMarie invited me to join her for a couple of hours of wind and fresh air I decided to accept and have a go at my waterlegs.


She was heading out to practise with her rowing crew in Randers Harbour, they have a friendly neighbourhood competition which they are planning to win tomorrow afternoon.
I borrowed long johns and found my warm hat in the suitcase, a sweater and a windbreaker, I was you see not manning an oar, only using the strength of one finger on my right hand to press the button on the camera.


Unexpectedly I entered into my own little part of equally horrendous and somehow still amazingly beautiful human made landscapes.


My eyes and my brain relaxed into complete observation mode after the first chock and recognition. What we were moving through was also a manufactured human landscape like the one I had watched in the two hour movie Manufactured Landscapes directed by Jennifer Baichwal.


It is not that I don't know about these things, it is just ....... I hadn't counted on the juxtaposed experiences of a pleasant evening sail (expecting green lush natural beauty) and discovering that a harbour is not only a natural entry into a lively trading community it is also a busily working commercial part of said community.


And one can choose to put on the glasses which fits one's personality, humour or political views.


When we got back to the dock I was as blue and as cold as I haven't been in quite a while, but also an amazing experience richer and full of new/other thoughts, kind of taken a bit out of my comfortable everyday life.


.....................................Bio-fuels!.....................

Till next time, Pia

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Egtvedpigens reproduced clothing at Lejre Forsoegscenter.

And then I travelled back in time with my nieces and one of the wonderful nephews.
We had a few hours to spare before going to lunch at my brother's house and since he and his family live not too far from Lejre where one of my favorite open air museums are situated the four of us went there for a few hours of fresh air and exploration.


We enjoyed a cygnet and his/her mom preening themselves by a little pond on the way to the ........ Textile house, yes, I was in heaven, I knew there was a house where looms and fibres were to be found and ideas around all of this is always welcomed and talks can go deep and long on this very enticing subject.


.........................Reproduction of Egtvedpigens clothing ...
She lived approx. 3.500 years ago. And her grave was found 1921 by a farmer in Egtved, Denmark. Using the tree rings, her oak coffin was dated back to the summer of appr.1370 BC.


Her top is woven from fairly heavy spun singles woven into cloth and then sewn into clothing. The edge of the top is strengthened with a neat row of stitches. Her skirt were twisted wool 'fringes' attached to a tablet woven ribbon - I do believe I have to look closer at this next time I go in to talk to the ladies.


A much finer piece of fabric sewn into another piece of clothing, delicious to touch, strenuous to contentemplate just how many ends per inch they often used, in spite of their primitive spindles and rough looms. I think this piece was perhaps somewhere around 20-30 ends, it was nice and fine and had beautiful drape.


Loom weights made and used for an experiment on the upright loom which was traditionally used by the old norse/icelanders and the vikings. I was given a loom of that kind 10 years ago when I turned forty and have never taken the time to explore this piece of equipment, however, perhaps I will feel inspired one of these days since the woman I spoke to at the textile house absolutely loves to weave on this loom and praised it highly. Now that I am calmer and more 'mature' perhaps my patience will have grown to a point where I can also embrace this experience without hesitation.
Pia
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Tuesday, August 24, 2010

GMO Fountain in Copenhagen

Last Saturday I went for a brisk walk with my sister in the sunny warm August weather. She took me to parts known to me as a kid. However, there were parts of the known which were also unknown to me at this point in time. No place really stands still just because someone moves away. The universe is always in perpetual motion, forward, changing, developing.


A modern Mermaid sculptured from granite - the old mermaid is in ... China for the moment, had hoped she would have made it home for my visit. However, here is one of her younger cousins.


... Another very modern mermaid, this time of the gene manipulated kind ...
The walk took us to Langelinie, a part of the Copenhagen harbour much visited by my family when we were kids for Sundays walks and energy outlet.


Since then though large appartment buildings full of condominiums have been built and some of the older buildings have been renovated for similar usage. This means that art installations have also been added to the very stark and square surroundings, one of these being a fountain by Bjoern Noergaard, inspired by ...gene-manipulation... the titel:
......................................The Gene Manipulated Paradise.


These sculptures at first glance struck me as being not exactly my cup of tea but in hindsight I am quite sure I will make it for another walk down to sit and contemplate them sometime before I make it back to Canada in October.


.....................................Madonna.............................................



...................................The Pregnant Man ................................

As I am writing this I am on a train, we have just crossed over Lillebaeltsbroen and are now headed north in Jutland to our stop today in Randers. Two seconds ago as I looked out magnificent windmills were gracing the horizon pleasing my eyes at the same time as they were producing clean energy to an unknown number of electricity consumers.

And now I will enjoy the view of green trees, harvested grain fields, cosy villages and somewhat larger centres. This is a magnificent journey into the past and into the future all at the same time.
Pia


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