nevermind the bricolage

Pew

A large article in the Los Angeles Times today revealed that the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has finally released the results of a massive survey about spirituality in America. Some early results, released in February, showed that Americans were switching religious affiliations in record numbers and that many more were abandoning ties to organized religions altogether. The more specific results released yesterday have some interesting pointers about California. Firstly, it really is different from the rest of the country, particularly with regard to religious practice. Californians apparently, are less religious and much less certain about the existence of God than the rest of the nation. They don't pray as much, are less inclined to take scripture literally, and are much more pluralistic, embracing more than one way of interpreting religious teachings. Californians are also more accepting of homosexuality than the rest of the country

Calma

Stephan Doitschinoff, otherwise known as Calma, is a Brazilian artist who majors in emblematic and spiritual paintings. He has adorned churches, stores, and other buildings all over his hometown.

Sunshine

"Sun is shining, the weather is too hot..." It has been so unbelievably hot here in Los Angeles the past few days that the arrival of the summer solstice was met with much fanfare. We decided to celebrate the sun in our gathering tonight--Canticle of the Sun from St. Francis, references about the goodness of God and the sun--sun salutations, sun songs, sunny summer stories--sun, sun sun, it was a lot of fun, bloody hot, but fun nonetheless. Danny Boyle's movie Sunshine was the perfect movie for the weekend, if the sun dies, we die too...

Solstice

Well, Los Angeles is welcoming the summer with record temperatures!! It is so bloody hot, even up here in the Palisades where an ocean breeze is usually the guarantee of cooler climes. Today is the first day of summer and it's in the 100s in some parts of town.

ABC's of Life

I was at my godson's kindergarten grade end of year celebration early this morning. It was a mad half-hour of dressed-up kids surrounded by fawning parents, swooning grandparents and the odd godparent chucked in for good measure--brilliant stuff! The kids put on a presentation, 90 of them singing and signing their hearts out with occasional breakout performances--One kid came to the mic and declared, "Here at school we learn our ABC's, but mostly we learn, 'you be you and I'll be me." It struck me that the ramifications of a comment like that, if truly played out in the lives of these children, will only serve to make the world a better, more tolerant, more caring place. Their presentation was a celebration of diversity really, and I thought it was fab, if only we who are older...The teachers talked about the monthly values lessons that they offer the children--12 ways to becoming a richer human being--the kids made a huge collage together celebrating those ideas; tolerance, kindness, fairness, trustworthiness, all these simple ideas made central to the learning process--it's nothing mind-blowing or particularly 'revolutionary' but I found it both touching and challenging.I left feeling very wistful and somewhat hopeful that in their adult lives maybe prejudice won't be quite so prevalent--dreaming? Well, that's what kids do and that's what we adults forget to do.

If Charlie Parker Was A Gunslinger...

Aah, memories of youth! Tom Sutpen and his friends post an eclectic series of images everyday on the site, If Charlie Parker Was A Gunslinger There'd Be A Whole Of Dead Copycats! (tsutpen.blogspot.com). Where he and his friends gather all these images from is anybody's guess, but there are always interesting and diverse things to look at. Kudos for the blog name as well--up there with my favourite, the now sadly defunct, Blogging A Dead Horse!

Tuesday June 17th

Tom Judd creates intricate visual records of his daily life. I really like artists who take 'doodling'and sketching to whole new levels of depth and complexity. Tom Judd Everyday (tomjudd.co.uk/) offers a glimpse into one man's world at a very organic and base level.

The Biggest Drawing in the World

A GPS device, a briefcase, DHL shipping--what do you get? The biggest drawing in the world. A thesis project by Erik Nordenankar attempted to create a huge self-portrait by plotting co-ordinates on a map, the lines of the drawing created by the path the briefcase took around the world. Because of expense the project was only partially attempted, but the site (biggestdrawingintheworld.com) offers a glimpse of what it might look like were the project executed.

Warriors

In the 1970s Warrior shoes were the Chinese counterpart of Nike and the like. A Chinese Communist answer to the desire for Western fashion. They became a status symbol for certain Chinese youth, a way of setting themselves apart from the masses, giving evidence of their elite position in the system. As barriers broke down and more and more Western fashions made it into China, they fell out of favour and became classic working-class footwear, offering them a stylish alternative to their usual bland fashion opportunities. Well, retrolution has hit China as well and Warriors have made a comeback. There is a coffee table book about them called, Book of Warriors, which comes with a pair of the shoes(www.bookofwarriors.fi). The shoes themselves are still made, and are once again, a fashion must-have, you can check them out at www.warriorshoes.com.

Simply Breakfast...

One of the ongoing assignments my Art Center students have is to chronicle all the food they eat and drink over the term and present the data in some kind of visual format. The project was inspired by a number of things. Designer Paul Smith's inventory of all his belongings in his book, You Can Find Inspiration in Everything, a book chronicling a years worth of food intake called, Everything I Ate, and the general consumptive nature of 21st century life. One of my recent crop of students sent me a link to the site this header came from--simplybreakfast.blogspot.com--lovely, daily shots of breakfast food, makes one peckish.