Finding inspiration in the ordinary... I've touched on it here before. And then again. Sometimes all it takes to uplift your spirit is to look down at a wonderfully decrepit street, where the cracks have been there long enough for moss to grow and the city markings (gas lines? sewer?) look like tags from a minimalist graffiti artist. It's happenstance art and it's hidden in plain sight.
Well, that's how I see it, anyway.
8 comments:
Hmmm, I see.... cracks in the pavement and surveyor's marks of some kind. It's too early for the imagination to work.
If you want to see some fresh surveyor's graffiti, go to Hi-Life. They are getting ready to install a signal at the intersection and there are marks all over the street. Have a burger while enjoying street art.
The minute I saw this, the Shel Silverstein poem came to mind
Where the Sidewalk Ends
There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.
This reminded me of another artist inspired by pavement markings: http://v2finearts.blogspot.com/2008/02/urbis-uno.html
And my apologies for being too lame to insert hyperlinks in comments.
I like the top and bottom pictures on that page, Barbara. I love to see how artists are inspired.
If that were a book jacket, I'd pick it up.
I thought of the work of Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky, early 20th century artist, credited with painting rhe first abstract painting. He was later associated with the Bauhaus.
The Norton Simon owns many of his works.
-Shanna, the Art Historian
It does look a bit like Kandinsky. Kandinsky had an unusual condition called "synesthesia." This causes people to associate numbers, letters, days of the week, etc. with colors, or to hear musical notes as colors, or a host of similar things. Makes sense that someone experiencing this would be an abstract artist.
Burgers, Silverstein, Kandinsky and a fabulous new artist who loves pavement scribblings? I just love blogging and what it inspires! Thanks for the great comments -- and poetry and links and art history and cool facts and general all-around grooviness. I love you guys.
Until tomorrow...
Post a Comment