22.12.07
9.12.07
Missing in action
yeah, I know, I haven't put anything up for a while, sorry, been busy, lazy, not in the mood.
It happens.
Probably also because I sometimes feel like I have run into one of these
which I better get around as I already have three shows to do next year and they all have to be new work.........
It happens.
Probably also because I sometimes feel like I have run into one of these
which I better get around as I already have three shows to do next year and they all have to be new work.........
24.10.07
The copy, kind of.......
Over at another blog someone has been posting lots of pictures of trees and things. Sometimes from his own (small, but bigger than ours) back yard.
So, not to be outdone, but not from my backyard, as I don't have one, a couple of trees.
So, not to be outdone, but not from my backyard, as I don't have one, a couple of trees.
12.10.07
11.10.07
Clue
OK, a clue for the earlier post. That building on the right?
and this one is a 1930's hotel. Come on, guesses please.
its the Russian Embassy.
and this one is a 1930's hotel. Come on, guesses please.
Water
An occasionally re occurring thread in my work is water. I like being on and around it. It also scares me and has done its best to kill me a couple of times. That or I haven't given it enough respect....
So, anyway, fish are a big thing here. From what I know about the Chinese language, fish is a hominid for wealth. Nice.
Anyway, it's a kind of pretty picture,and sometimes that's all that is required.
So, anyway, fish are a big thing here. From what I know about the Chinese language, fish is a hominid for wealth. Nice.
Anyway, it's a kind of pretty picture,and sometimes that's all that is required.
I went travelling ...
OK, so I like a little competition. Not that I ever win them.
A couple of shots from a recent trip, (as in the last year), guess where and you get a prize.
Great, traditional features.
Harmonious aesthetics.
Sensitive balance between use and restoration. So, no, it's not Hong Kong.
The prize is a nice cup of coffee or tea to the first person who tells me where these are. Which is probably not that great a prize until you add the value of my company.
I will post some more later. Promise. Including one of a great public sculpture. It's really good.
Ah,what the hell,here it is.
I read about these guys. One had an interesting (and influential) theory on history.
A couple of shots from a recent trip, (as in the last year), guess where and you get a prize.
Great, traditional features.
Harmonious aesthetics.
Sensitive balance between use and restoration. So, no, it's not Hong Kong.The prize is a nice cup of coffee or tea to the first person who tells me where these are. Which is probably not that great a prize until you add the value of my company.
I will post some more later. Promise. Including one of a great public sculpture. It's really good.
Ah,what the hell,here it is.
I read about these guys. One had an interesting (and influential) theory on history.17.9.07
I'm tired .....
.... been busy with a big shoot, lots of portraits, and the associated photoshoping and retouching that goes with it. So, for sanity, a wall, again.
24.8.07
Politics
This might just look like any other street scene. People rushing about, doing stuff. Stopping to buy fruit and veg, going home, or to work. Who knows.
But this is more than that. A little history. Possession Street, where this diptych was taken is on what used to be, before massive reclamation works started, Possession Point. The spot the British landed at and "took possession" of Hong Kong. Possession Street is in Sheung Wan, a very "Chinese" and working class part of Hong Kong Island, though this is changing with developers shifting into the area.
Anyway, this image was in a show that honoured the 10th anniversary of, depending on your background, the "Hand Over" or the "Establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region". It's subtle, but look at it for long enough but the politics come out. Two road signs, one says Possession, the other, Ends.
But this is more than that. A little history. Possession Street, where this diptych was taken is on what used to be, before massive reclamation works started, Possession Point. The spot the British landed at and "took possession" of Hong Kong. Possession Street is in Sheung Wan, a very "Chinese" and working class part of Hong Kong Island, though this is changing with developers shifting into the area.
Anyway, this image was in a show that honoured the 10th anniversary of, depending on your background, the "Hand Over" or the "Establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region". It's subtle, but look at it for long enough but the politics come out. Two road signs, one says Possession, the other, Ends.
22.8.07
Beach
Two different beaches, two different parts of the world.
Both are very constructed environments, one obviously, the other, somewhat more subtle.
Both are very constructed environments, one obviously, the other, somewhat more subtle.
21.8.07
new old work
It's good, sometimes, to go back over older work. You can find things that you didn't see earlier. Maybe you where looking for something else, or you had a concept so firmly entrenched that you really had creative tunnel vision. Anyway, I like this, as both singular images, and as a pair.
15.8.07
Fan
It's typhoon season here, so what better to celebrate (if that's the right word) than a picture of a fan.....
On another, unrelated note, today, while leaving the MTR at Admiralty Station to have coffee with a friend (where we talked for two hours about, among other things, procrastination, when we should have both been in our respective "studios" working), I saw a street hawker with a barrow selling knock off Anya Hindmarch “I’m Not A Plastic Bag” bags. Sheesh, what next, knocking off the (truly wonderful) "I'm not a smug twat" version that's doing the rounds in England?
On another, unrelated note, today, while leaving the MTR at Admiralty Station to have coffee with a friend (where we talked for two hours about, among other things, procrastination, when we should have both been in our respective "studios" working), I saw a street hawker with a barrow selling knock off Anya Hindmarch “I’m Not A Plastic Bag” bags. Sheesh, what next, knocking off the (truly wonderful) "I'm not a smug twat" version that's doing the rounds in England?
8.8.07
7.8.07
2.8.07
Goodbye Bergman and Antonioni
Yesterday two great film makers died. Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni. Both made great films that challenged and rewarded the viewer. The world is diminished by the loss of these two artists.
1.8.07
Shek Kip Mei
Another heritage site disappears in Hong Kong. The last of the post WWII resettlement housing estates in Shek Kip Mei will be gone soon (if not already). In honour of the heritage policy of Hong Kongs Government, a photo of a fence.
30.7.07
Flickr
OK, I have set up an account at Flickr. This is mainly a way to display work to people in a more coherent way than I can on my blog. I have a few things up, and will, as time allows, get more up over the next few weeks.
You can find it here. I might even get a website done soon. Teaching myself how to do it.
You can find it here. I might even get a website done soon. Teaching myself how to do it.
22.7.07
No!
I always feel so naughty when I take these
I also like the health warnings about fast food and smoking. The no raising your hand one is good to.
I also like the health warnings about fast food and smoking. The no raising your hand one is good to.
Cliché revisited
OK, so I think there might be some mileage in this idea.
So, these are two modernist cliché shots, obviously I hope.
So, these are two modernist cliché shots, obviously I hope.
Photographic exhibition
For those of you in Hong Kong there is a very good show of street photography on at the moment at Shanghai Street Art Space, 404 Shanghai Street, Yaumatei.
The show is called Safe Distance and is by my friend EC. Go see it, it is very good. Really.
The show is called Safe Distance and is by my friend EC. Go see it, it is very good. Really.
21.7.07
20.7.07
18.7.07
Timeless Public Art
As you may well know, I was in New York recently. That trip included a visit to friends in Washington DC.
We had a great time (thanks Diana and Sam).
DC is am interesting place (and if you visit from NY, do yourself a favour, take the train, it's a great trip) that I hope to return to again one day. A weekend was not enough. Especially a weekend when I got sick......
Part of my desire to visit DC, along with seeing friends I haven't seen in a long time, was to see a set of paintings at the National Gallery of Art. Barnett Newmans' Stations of the Cross
I was not disappointed when Rachel walked up to me and said "there is something you have to see" and lead me into the room. These are great works. Up there with the best of the Fra Angeleco and Giotto.
Go there, see them, and walk down "The Mall" and see the guy above afterwards.
We had a great time (thanks Diana and Sam).
DC is am interesting place (and if you visit from NY, do yourself a favour, take the train, it's a great trip) that I hope to return to again one day. A weekend was not enough. Especially a weekend when I got sick......
Part of my desire to visit DC, along with seeing friends I haven't seen in a long time, was to see a set of paintings at the National Gallery of Art. Barnett Newmans' Stations of the Cross
I was not disappointed when Rachel walked up to me and said "there is something you have to see" and lead me into the room. These are great works. Up there with the best of the Fra Angeleco and Giotto.
Go there, see them, and walk down "The Mall" and see the guy above afterwards.
Cliché series
Here's an idea ....
.... a series of photographic clichés...... both modernist and post modernist.
More to follow, if I don't get bored with the idea in the next 15 minutes.
.... a series of photographic clichés...... both modernist and post modernist.
More to follow, if I don't get bored with the idea in the next 15 minutes.
People
I don't often take photographs of people
Or more to the point, I am not often happy with the ones I take.
But sometimes I am.
Or more to the point, I am not often happy with the ones I take.
But sometimes I am.
13.7.07
Something for the weekend sir?
OK, the title is very obscure, and really has nothing to do with the image, but then again it does.
A partner to an earlier post, so to speak.
9.7.07
Random
Recently I was in New York blowing my travel budget for the year.
I saw some great art, some OK art, and a lot of real crap.
Highlights? Apart from catching up with people (Hi Mike, Anne-Marie, Jane, Brian, Anne) there was Richard Serra at MoMA, Zoe Strauss at Silverstein Photography, Stephen Shore at the ICP, finding, by chance, one of Lawrence Weiner's manhole covers and New York Pizza.
And yes, China is the "BIG THING". All the dealers seemed to have Chinese artists on the books, lots of artist folders with recognisable (well, to me,) names. Some spaces I visited, I could have been back at 798....
Anyway, continuing an occasional series, people resting in galleries, I give you the Metropolitan Museum's roof garden.
I saw some great art, some OK art, and a lot of real crap.
Highlights? Apart from catching up with people (Hi Mike, Anne-Marie, Jane, Brian, Anne) there was Richard Serra at MoMA, Zoe Strauss at Silverstein Photography, Stephen Shore at the ICP, finding, by chance, one of Lawrence Weiner's manhole covers and New York Pizza.
And yes, China is the "BIG THING". All the dealers seemed to have Chinese artists on the books, lots of artist folders with recognisable (well, to me,) names. Some spaces I visited, I could have been back at 798....
Anyway, continuing an occasional series, people resting in galleries, I give you the Metropolitan Museum's roof garden.
28.6.07
29.5.07
Festival time
Along with most of Hong Kong, or so it seems, we went to Cheung Chau on Thursday for part of Tai Chiu, a four day festival honouring Pak Tai, the "Supreme Emperor of the Dark Heaven" who is a protector of, among other things, fisherfolk. Cheung Chau is still an active fishing village as well as a dormitory suburb for Hong Kong Other gods honoured during the festival include Tin Hau (another important god for fisherfolk) and Hung Shing.
It was hot.
And these guys must have been sweating it.
There are bands, both Chinese and European, and "floating children" like these.
We got driven home early by the heat (people collapsed apparently) and missed the highlight, the race to climb the bun towers. Maybe next time
It was hot.
And these guys must have been sweating it.
There are bands, both Chinese and European, and "floating children" like these.
We got driven home early by the heat (people collapsed apparently) and missed the highlight, the race to climb the bun towers. Maybe next time
13.5.07
798 ....
..... is the name of an old factory complex in Beijing.
It is, in many ways, a great example of modernist, Bauhaus design. It is now an "art district" and has studios, galleries and cafe's along with some areas of manufacturing that don't fit the "art district" idea. I liked the way the original use still came through in places
and the way that things seemed to just work as aesthetic arrangements.
There was a lot to see. It's a big area, and you can be excused for wanting a snooze.
and some times things conspire to have a new meaning. Creative flashpoint?
and there was some very interesting art, and some very boring, run of the mill, lazy and derivative shit, errr, stuff as well.
It is, in many ways, a great example of modernist, Bauhaus design. It is now an "art district" and has studios, galleries and cafe's along with some areas of manufacturing that don't fit the "art district" idea. I liked the way the original use still came through in places
and the way that things seemed to just work as aesthetic arrangements.
There was a lot to see. It's a big area, and you can be excused for wanting a snooze.
and some times things conspire to have a new meaning. Creative flashpoint?
and there was some very interesting art, and some very boring, run of the mill, lazy and derivative shit, errr, stuff as well.
Hi, it's been a while hasn't it .........
I've been busy, and away, and lazy.
Anyway, spent eight days in Beijing recently. Here are some crappy tourist shots.
Hey, I had to take it. This was on the day that we and 129,998 other people visited the Forbidden City. Amazing place. Next time you are in Beijing, go. But avoid "Golden Week"... the week all China is on holiday.
All you have seen in books is there, and yes, red is an auspicious colour in China. Walls and doors are painted in it along with a lot of architectural features. And they look great too.
My favourite, of the traditional tourist spots, was the Temple of Heaven. Amazing place.
and let's not mention the, well I won't then, or the cult of, well, let's just think of them as nice objects without historical and socio-cultural baggage. "Hey honey, wont one of these look so cool on the coffee table"...
Go there, be amazed by a changing city. Oh, and the food is great, from restaurant to street vendor. You name it, you can find it, from Kosher/Halal to provincial French via all the regional Chinese varieties.
That and the parks. Great parks. Trees, Lakes, Follies. And people being people in them. Eating, making music, 70 year olds playing the local version of hacky sack. Liked it, apart from the pollution and great distances to cover. Kind of like Christchurch really.
Anyway, spent eight days in Beijing recently. Here are some crappy tourist shots.
Hey, I had to take it. This was on the day that we and 129,998 other people visited the Forbidden City. Amazing place. Next time you are in Beijing, go. But avoid "Golden Week"... the week all China is on holiday.
All you have seen in books is there, and yes, red is an auspicious colour in China. Walls and doors are painted in it along with a lot of architectural features. And they look great too.
My favourite, of the traditional tourist spots, was the Temple of Heaven. Amazing place.
and let's not mention the, well I won't then, or the cult of, well, let's just think of them as nice objects without historical and socio-cultural baggage. "Hey honey, wont one of these look so cool on the coffee table"...
Go there, be amazed by a changing city. Oh, and the food is great, from restaurant to street vendor. You name it, you can find it, from Kosher/Halal to provincial French via all the regional Chinese varieties.
That and the parks. Great parks. Trees, Lakes, Follies. And people being people in them. Eating, making music, 70 year olds playing the local version of hacky sack. Liked it, apart from the pollution and great distances to cover. Kind of like Christchurch really.
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