big bunny

large decoupaged bunny somewhere in korea
it's been a long while since i blogged like rabbits
they remain a joy, and it's funny once you start looking, you see them everywhere ...
1. beci orpin's bunny
2. "light" bunny

3. flying rabbit by felipe alonso, found here

building blocks

i just went to look at a new exhibition, kodama, return to me at eg et al - works by yuko fujita, melbourne-based jeweller/artist
the works are carefully carved and sculpted pieces of salvaged wooden objects, spoons, clogs, hangers, toys, more spoons
i thought some pieces looked like huge coloured pencils, rough hewn with the lead bevilled and levelled
the work certainly stimulated my thoughts
i've seen a few other examples of hewn wood and building blocks in the past week,
these (let's face it, probably vintage) blocks sighted in the design files' visit to the home of "felicity and david of yellow diva"
beautiful warm woody colours, and more than your ordinary shapes
i also saw a blurb for blocks made from furniture off-cuts, (aren't furniture designers canny spinning money from recylcing resources)
they are called "stackees" and are by thomas place

another set of wooden blocks made of wood remants, these are "pile ons"

i'm trying to think about other building blocks...
not necessarily "cells are the building blocks of life", but i suppose stepping stones ...
things we learn, putting it all together, not worrying if it falls down, just enjoying the puzzle and the surprise of what you come up with.
the pile ons look like stones, but maybe too wobbly to step on ...


addendum. very lovely blocks ... my favourites so far

addendum2
but these are good too! woodmouse made

another kind of collage

words and pictures often merge
but this is a different take on it
i've been told (via an essay by al alvarez) jean rhys used to write her intense, evocative novels in bits - sentences, phrases, fragments on small pieces of paper. she would put these together in a bag, and would carry this with her. and then she would arrange these pieces into her story. not a random assemblage, but a carefully pieced together mindmap
a wonderful way of working, an evocative construction of a creative mind
new words, new everything (essay)

trying to find this information, i searched "bits" "paper" "bag" and found this from a blog, smallest forest
Besides looking quirky on the wall, I can throw all those bits of paper that turn up during the month into the bag—where they’ll stay put until I can sort them out.

another interesting idea - i like it.

schadenFreud

people can be nasty

thinking "better you than me", and taking it one step further, the full schadenfreude experience

but what about taking your joy from your own miseries and disasters? another shade of schadenfreude or is this a whole new kettle of fish?

i found a site, spiritual pub (how could that be bad?) with a nice article about ways to quit the habit of complaining - all about accepting yourself, losing your ego and getting some serious empathy and compassion

da da da

for years now i've been sticking images in books

not so much collage as layout

while it gets my creative juices flowing, there's a bit of a disconnect with anything intellectual or visceral

i've seen some collage instances recently which have inspired me to stick outside my square

from happiness etc

preparatory images, horses galloping, by katherine bowman

revisiting dada photomontage,

revisiting dada photomontage,

revisiting dada photomontage,

revisiting dada photomontage,

revisiting dada photomontage

revisiting dada photomontage

revisiting dada photomontage

revisiting dada photomontage,

revisiting dada photomontage,

revisiting dada photomontage,

john heartfield, whoever reads, 1930

max ernst, crazily amusingly titled, The Gramineous Bicycle Garnished with Bells the Dappled Fire Damps and the Echinoderms Bending the Spine to Look for Caresses, 1921
oh max, you've done it again!

and finally, anarchic re-interpretation of collage, surely this counts???

i knew i liked sofia coppola!! (and her office)

soft target

last night, my mind wandered
i was thinking about exploring life's edges, and i imagined rolling a lolly, a humbug, a bulls-eye, around in my mouth
feeling its edges










from there i remembered the bull's eye slit in un chien andalou
a horrible scene i've never let myself watch
and so my thought went to bull's eyes, targets




















and i thought about the pop art work "soft target", a target falling dripping like one of dali's clocks
but i made it up
i'd conflated jasper johns (target) + claus oldenberg (toilet) to create something that never was











no soft targets!

spot on

John Baldessari
National City (w,1,2,3,4,5,6,B) Details - 2 and 3 (1996-2009)
Courtesy 2009 John Baldessari Studio © John Baldessari
Colour photographs with acrylic paint
46x46cm
it must be said, i'm no huge fan of baldessari
i'm fairly unmoved by his work (although i enjoyed a recent article in tate etc)
last week, something reminded me of his work. either i saw a picture (a donkey?) with something obscuring its face, or for some reason i imagined putting a coloured dot or balloon over a picture (probably a donkey) in a gesture to baldessari. who knows?

this is not the picture. it is merely an approximation of the picture (possibly a donkey)

a little quote from a frieze article about baldessari's No Face/Faces phase
There was a period when he blocked out the faces on the photographs he used as source material so that attention could be paid to other areas of the picture. This sounds similar to his procedure in life drawing class of draping fabric over the models’ heads so students would focus on other parts of the body. After a decade of blocking, faces were allowed back, but not entirely.

a huge balloon made up of baldessari like blobs of colour,
blocking out itself
how self-reflexive of the brain
bits missing, bits replaced
John Baldessari
Repair/Retouch Series: An Allegory About Wholeness (Plate and Man with Crutches) 1976
Courtesy 2009 John Baldessari Studio © John Baldessari
Four black-and-white photographs, mounted on board
38.1x61cm