Life Is Better On Vacation: Works of Art

Showing posts with label Works of Art. Show all posts

Saturday 10 November 2018

Hammering Man (Frankfurt)

Location: Frankfurt, Germany
Address: 60327 Frankfurt am Main
Date: October 2018
Website: www.borofsky.com

As we walked through Frankfurt, a large silhouette appeared in the road. As we got closer we realized it was moving. One of its arms was going up and down. This was Hammering Man.

Hammering Man is the work of Jonathan Borofsky. It stands 21 meters tall and is made out of painted steel. He hammers all day long. He hammers all night long. He is a symbol for the worker in all of us.

Upon closer inspection we can tell that he is working with steel. He is wearing a protective visor/helmet and holding something in his gloved hand. He continues to hammer on.

From a side angle he is very thin and it is hard to tell exactly what these moving pieces of metal are.

There are several Hammering Men around the world. The one we visted in Frankfurt has been there since 1990. There are smaller indoor Hammering Men in many cities. There are larger outdoor sculptures in places such as Seattle, Washingtion and Seoul, South Korea. The one in Seoul is the largest and is one meter taller than the German Hammering Man.

The artist likes the fact that these men are all hammering around the world in unison. They represent how people work with their hands to build the world around them. We like that idea too. Keep up the good work!

Map of Our World

Hammering Man (Frankfurt)

Post # 232

Tuesday 30 October 2018

The Grave Of Mother Goose

Location: Bostan, Massachusetts, USA
Address: Tremont Street
Date: Sept 2013
Website: www.celebrateboston.com

Granary Burying Ground in Boston has been a graveyard since the late 1600s. Many of the graves have been worn thin through the years or had the writing on their faces worn down to where they are unreadable. Many famous people in Boston's history are buried here. We were looking for one grave in particular. The grave of Mother Goose.

Mother Goose is credited with many nursery rhymes. Some famous ones are "Three Blind Mice", "Humpty Dumpty" or Hickory Dickory Dock". After hunting around the cemetery we finally located her grave.

Mary Goose died in 1690. Her husband Issac remarried to a woman called Elizabeth. Thomas Fleet married her daughter also called Elizabeth. It is said that grandmother Goose sang songs and rhymes when Thomas and his wife had their first child. Thomas being a printer made a book of some of these rhymes called Mother Goose's Melodies For Children. This is said to be the first use of Mother Goose in America but Mother Goose had also been associated with rhymes in England long before even Mary Goose's death.

So it appears there is no true Mother Goose. At least not in a cemetery in Boston. Most people are familiar with some Mother Goose nursery rhymes even if much like the myth of Boston's Mother Goose, they have changed and been re-written through the years.

Just Put Your John Hancock Here. And Here. And Initial Here.

The Hancock Tower is the tallest tower in Boston. It is named afterJohn Hancock Insurance company which had offices there. The insurance company is named after John Hancock whose signature is on the Declaration of Independence. Johm Hancock's grave is also located in Granary Burying Ground.

The Midnight Ride Of Paul Revere's Statue.

Paul Revere's grave is also located in the Granary Burying Ground. Paul Revere is best known for riding through Massachusetts warning that the British were coming. We didn't see his grave, but did visit his statue in Boston's North End. Granary Burying Ground is filled with centuries of history and a little bit of mystery.

Map of Our World

Paul Revere Statue

Granary Burying Ground , John Hancock Tower

Post # 231

Saturday 20 October 2018

Flying Over Greenland

Location: Greenland
Date: Sept 2015
Website: visitgreenland.com

As we parked our rental car and prepared to depart from Iceland, we noticed a strange sculpture outside Keflavik Airport. It is called the Jet Nest and has a jet plane wing curled up and breaking out of an egg. Just like a newly hatched chick entering the world.

As we waited for our plane to arrive at our gate we noticed a quote from Icelandic singer Bjork was written on the window. It states, "I feel emotional landscapes they puzzle me".

As our flight flew over the Atlantic we started to notice large white objects in the water below.

We soon realized that these were giant icebergs floating off the coast of Greenland.

We had never seen Greenland before and we felt like a newly emerged hatchling flying over this "emotional landscape".

We were amazed by the never ending mountains and snow laid out before us. Not very green we were thinking. Over 80% of Greenland is covered by ice.

Erik Is Not Only A Murderer, He Is A Liar.

The story of how Greenland got its name starts with Erik The Red exiled from Iceland for murder. He set out in search of new land and reached what he called Greenland. It is believed that he did this to attract other people to also settle there. Only about 57,000 people live in Greenland.

Soon the snow gave way to mostly mountains. We could see how some of the mountains had been formed by volcanic activity.

It was not long before our plane left Greenland behind and we were flying over open ocean again. We had enjoyed the aerial view of this amazing place, but were glad to have viewed it from our window seat instead of the harsh reality below.

Map of Our World

Jet Nest

Greenland

Post # 230

Sunday 30 September 2018

Nuit Blanche 2008 Revisited

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: Liberty Village
Date: Oct 2008
Website: nbto.com

Nuit Blanche took over the streets of Toronto again this weekend. During the event it is hard to tell what is art and what is not. The "Open For Business" sign above could be art or just a clever sign that was discarded in the street. We thought we would go back and revisit some of the exhibits from ten years ago when the all night arts festival was still in its infancy. Here are a few highlights of what we experienced between dusk and dawn.

Euphemisms For The Intimate Enemy

This exhibit is made up of 55-gallon drums with letters painted on their bottoms. It was making some commentary on language that may become clear when the piece of art is explored more closely.

Future Perfect

In a haze of fog some storage containers sit in the dark. People gather around to see what is going on.

Then suddenly a glow of light emits from one of the containers and more smoke machine fog is released.

Imagine Peace

Yoko Ono started the Imagine Peace project based on her husband John Lennon's Imagine song.

The exhibit includes a tree where guests can tie one of their wishes. After the event the wishes were all said to be taken to the Imagine Peace tower in Iceland. Who knows how many will come true?

SMASH! Dropping Stuff

The next project was called SMASH! The whole purpose was to get some stuff and then drop that stuff and watch it smash. The pile of smashed stuff was growing as the night crept on. 3...2...1...Drop!

Smash!

Original Soundtrack

Now Where Did I Put The Universal Remote?

This project consisted of TVs all playing the menu screen of a different DVD. The sound was all mixed together and would evolve and change as the menus loop through the night. This exibit reminded us of a busy electronics department on a Saturday afternoon.

When we turned away from the television screens we liked the way the light was coming in through this window. We left the wall of sound behind and ventured outside to see what was causing this glow.

Over Flow

We Will Fix That Leaky Faucet Later Tonight Is Nuit Blanche

The glow appeared to be coming from this building which for tonight only included a waterfall coming out of an upper floor window. This seemed like something we wouldn't mind seeing permanently.

Untitled

This next piece was untitled and like most of the things listed here is open to interpretation. On any given day you may be surprised but what you see walking around the city. When Nuit Blanche is in town, surprise is always expected.

Map of Our World

Nuit Blanche Liberty Village

Post # 228

Friday 10 August 2018

Sharks Take Buffalo By Storm

Location: Buffalo, New York, USA
Address: 420 Main Street
Date: July 2018
Website: www.mainliberty.com

As we traveled around Buffalo, New York we noticed that they have really embraced their city's name. Everywhere we looked we saw American bison (aka buffalo). There was this colourful mural on Hertel Avenue called Magic Buffalo (above).

There was a buffalo sculpture outside of the Child & Family Services building near the airport.

We enjoyed a very nice lunch at The Terrace at Delaware Park. They had a well dressed buffalo painted on the wall inside. There was a wedding in the rose garden beside the Terrace as we arrived. This buffalo would have fit right in. On second thought, the giant, furry head and horns may have made him stand out.

There were buffalo in the artwork on the side of buildings.

And finally, there was an actual American Bison at the Buffalo Zoo. Of course.

Jocko Will Be Right Up To Help You With Your Bags.

The only place we didn't see buffalo was at our hotel, Reikart House. They had a little monkey bellhop called Jocko. He was on our menus, coasters, writing pads and even hidden in the wallpaper.

We were not looking for buffalo or monkeys. We were looking for sharks. We had heard there were some in Lafayette Square near the Soldiers & Sailors Monument. Anyone who has been reading this far and thought this blog post was going to be about sports, we are sorry. We do see how the title could have mislead you into thinking San Jose defeated the Sabres in a hockey game.

A Beautiful Day In Buffalo. Not A Shark In The Sky.

2014 was a bad year for sharks in Buffalo. Or a good year depending on how you look at it. Sharknado 2 : The Second One premiered on July 30, 2014. This was a made for TV movie based on the ridiculous premise of tornadoes pulling sharks out of the ocean and dropping them onto major cities. In the original Sharknado, Los Angeles was under attack. This time it is New York City. Once again Ian Ziering, best known as Steve from Beverly Hills 90210, must save the day.

When it came to filming the movie, a second crew traveled upstate and visited Buffalo to film a few scenes. The extras grabbed pitchforks or anything else they could find in the trunks of their cars as the sharks fell from the sky. You can see them running in the streets away from the Liberty Building (above). In the previous photo you can see the small Statue of Liberty that sits on the roof of the building.

Basically sharks rain down and it is either kill or be killed for these poor extras. During filming we imagine they had no idea what they were fighting as the computer generated sharks were added later.

Is That Sinbad's Brother Doubar Chucking Chainsaws?

An older, bearded man tosses three chainsaws up into the wind to fend off the sharks. Yet another warning needed on chainsaws. "Not to be thrown into a tornado."

Finally, a Zevon Brothers Fireworks truck explodes right outside the H & R Block above. The sharknado has been defeated for now. The Last Sharknado is set to air in August 2018 and will be the sixth movie for the series.

In August of 2014 a different kind of shark arrived in Buffalo. Shark Girl appeared down at Canalside. She came from Cleveland and was not flown in by the sharknado.

Shark Girl is the creation of artist Casey Riordan Millard and she sits waiting for someone to join her on her rock. We took a few photos with Shark Girl and she just sat quietly in her blue dress.