Monday 28 February 2011

62 days: Blanket # 59: native universe




















Tsimshian Face Mask
Polychromed wood | 7.75" x 7" x 4.75" | Dundas Collection | © Southeby's | New York


Blanket # 59:
  • the Native universe
  • the objects have power
  • totem poles: three-dimensional family histories
  • journeys from distant places
  • marriages, births and deaths
  • transformations
  • heroic deeds
  • identity: tribal, clan, family, individual
  • the expression of: values, traditions, beliefs
  • the sacred: the connection between human world and spirit world
  • law, songs, dances, poems, stories, ceremonies, rituals
  • the sacred relationship with the land: the seen and unseen forces around
  • sacred places: mountains, oceans, rivers, lakes, valleys, plains
  • the earth: flesh, blood and bones
  • cemeteries: sacred ground
  • earth, sun, stars and moon
  • creativity: spirit, imagination, design
  • a dream trail: of circles: of languages, stories, medicine, arts and teachings

Sunday 27 February 2011

63 days: Blanket # 58: rest















THE ROCK
Fragment of a Ritual | Omaha


unmoved
from time without
end
you rest
there in the midst of the paths
in the midst of the winds
you rest
covered with the droppings of birds
grass growing from your feet
your head decked with the down of birds
you rest
in the midst of the winds
you wait
Aged one


Adapted from Alice C. Fletcher and Francis La Flesche, "The Omaha Tribe", in Twenty-seventh Annual BAE Report, Washington, D.C., 1911


Blanket # 58:
  • time
  • rocks
  • rest

Saturday 26 February 2011

64 days: Blanket # 57: planting




















today we planted the godot tree
it took a couple of hours



















it was never a prop a piece of the set but a tree













and we planted it
[we didn't send it back to the garden centre]













a cĂ´til in grouville because i have no garden













it was beautiful it is beautiful
the first tree i have planted in my life













a himalayan birch
 


















why have waited so long...


Blanket # 57:
  • planting trees
  • waiting
  • earth

Monday 21 February 2011

69 days: Blanket # 52: roots






















































A country road. A tree. Evening.


I bought the GODOT tree... but I have no garden...


Betula Utilis Door | Jacquemontii
THE HIMALAYAN BIRCH

Deciduous | elegant | the Audrey Hepburn of Trees | apparently | relation of the native Silver Birch | oval serrated mid-green leaves turn yellow in autumn | requires full sun and well drained soil | height: 12 metres


Blanket # 52:
  • a tree
  • roots
  • gardens

Sunday 20 February 2011

70 days: Blanket # 51: quartet















THE BERLINER PHILHARMONIKER
Queen Elizabeth Hall
The London Concerts 2011

Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle
Soprano: Anna Prohaska
Piano: Bishara Harouni


STRING QUARTET

Violin: Guy Braunstein
Violin: Christoph Streuli
Viola: Amihai Grosz
Cello: Ludwig Quandt


PROGRAMME

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
String Quartet in C minor, D. 703
(Quartettsatz) 9'

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)
String Quartet No.2, in F sharp minor, Op.10 (1907-8)
(with soprano) 30'

Gustav Mahler (1869-1911)
Quartet movement in A minor for piano and strings (1876) 11'

Arnold Schoendberg (1874-1951)
Chamber Symphony No.1 Op.9 (1906) 21'


Blanket # 51:
  • quartet
  • chamber
  • symphony
  • composition (Mahler)
  • haunting
  • nostalgic

Mahler | 28-bar sketch | Scherzo in G minor | Alfred Schnittke |1988

Saturday 19 February 2011