Xabis

It was the Ghost Ship (left): a remarkable piece of art - a shipwreck made from dinosaur bones, or so it looked to me. I loved it. It carried such power.

So it came as no surprise when I noticed the name of the artist on the multi unit outdoor sculpture at the Provincial Court House in London: Walter Redinger. But Xabis, a work completed decades prior to Ghost Ship is not bones but flesh, or at least, for me, it was.

Xabis, done 1974, is a direct descendent of Redinger's Caucasian Totems series. But since being completed and installed, it has been restored, refurbished and redone. I believe Xabis is a work done in fiberglass and as such it does require periodic maintenance.

But like so often happens in London, when repaired it was a new sculpture with a new outlook. The colour of the work originally recalled the soft, deep folds of the flesh of heavy nudes. It used to take me back to my art school days in Detroit, Michigan.

Now, the work is more of a stone grey and the forms seems less organically right for the piece. The look is now one of a form imposed rather than a shape occurring naturally as the material is tugged downward by gravity.

Walter Redinger began his art training in London at the Beal Technical School and then he continued his art education at was then known as the Ontario College of Art. From there he moved to the Miensinger School of Art in Detroit.

I believe he is still and an active sculptor with a studio south west of London. A well respected artist, he represented Canada a the 1972 Venice Biennale. Redinger exhibits internationally in the United States, Italy and France to name a few. His works can be found in many museums and private collections.

It would be interesting to get in touch with Redinger and ask him about the shift in colour of Xabis.

Fountain Times Three

Marcel Duchamp would be envious: three fountains.

One for papa bear, one for baby bear and one for? Can't be mama bear.

There seems to be a problem with my story.

Whatever, the Covent Garden Market in downtown London, Ontario, has a men's room well equipped with a urinal to suit every height.

I made a colour print but somehow this photo just looked so much better black and white. I think black and white can be distancing and this picture benefits from being given a little extra distance.

For more on ready-made art see: Move over Marcel


Cheers,
Rockinon

"A wilful act of vandalism"

More than two decade ago the well respected art critic Clement Greenberg had the art world in a turmoil over his treatment of a few David Smith sculptures.

During his life Smith had respected Greenberg and when the artist died Greenberg gained control of some of Smith's last sculptures. Smith had experimented with mixing painting and sculpture. Greenberg did not approve and had the works under his control, which Smith had given a coat of primer, placed outside to weather.

This was not the first time a sculpture painted by Smith had been altered. When a coat of red painted had been stripped from one of his works in the '60s, Smith had angrily denounced the action as, "a wilful act of vandalism."

Many of the buildings that were once part of the war veterans village have been left to rot. Others have been renovated to the point that they no longer have their original cottage look. There was an indoor swimming pool and a bowling alley among other amenities in the village. It was a remarkable little place sitting on rolling land on the southern edges of the city.

So here's the question: who are the vandals? The folk who paint graffiti over the walls and even roofs of the dilapidated structures or the folk who left the buildings to weather, to be stripped of their paint, to rot?

If you'd like to know more about the village, reporter Kate Dubinski and photographer Sue Reeve of The London Free Press have posted an article with photos on the paper's Website. See: 'Hidden gem' nears end.

Flock at The Forks

Tuesday is set aside for telling you where the graffiti shot posted recently was taken, I promise, but today and Monday I am running this picture of ducks at the Forks of the Thames; They are competing for food thrown by some children. I told their parents about the picture and if they and their children come looking for "their birds" I don't want to disappoint them.

Those of you who returned to find out where the graffiti shot was taken — uh, I guess you I can disappoint. Sorry.

Cheers,
Rockinon

Where is it? Tune in tomorrow.

Graffiti is everywhere. When my wife and I visited Italy a few years ago were appalled at the graffiti defacing old Roman structures. Graffiti artists: artists with no class, no respect, no appreciation of the art of others. Graffiti artist equals selfish artist. This graffiti is in London and marks an area that may soon be gone. At least, the graffiti will go along with the buildings. I have mixed feelings at the loss. Tune in tomorrow to see where this graffiti was found.

Cheers,
Rockinon

A sign of winter

It wasn't the first frost; that was in October. But this morning we had the heaviest frost. It's time to get out the windshield scrapers.

I'm not going to dwell on this because I like winter. I like the bite of the cold, the crunch of the snow underfoot. I get really tired of the constant whining of some folk about winter.

Buy some skies, get a toboggan, make sure you have snow tires, get a toque — note the order that these things come to mind. (The best thing to get is a kid, one about three or four-years-old and together make a small snowman. I refuse to call Frosty a snowperson.)

Cheers,
Rockinon

Like I said, I appreciate our farmland . . .

Beautiful, isn't it? This is just a short walk south of my home. To the south of here, homes. To the north, as you know, more homes. And soon, very soon, there will homes to the east and to the west. Finally, this will be homes.

There has to be a better way.