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Resurfaced on Rustaveli
Resurfaced Curly Scripts
From a wall somewhere during my visit to the incredibly interesting city of Tbilisi, capital of Georgia. Despite looking somewhat similar to my eyes, it turns out that Georgia’s beautiful script with its curly curves is not in any way related to the Burmese script’s many circular characters. It’s purely coincidental. A friend told me that the youngest of the texts in this “resurfaced” piece is about an Aikido Federation announcement and is approximately a decade old. So my lofty idea of preserving public postings like these, however legible or layered they may be – and the more layered the better, I say – seems to have some validation.
Scene 29 Resurfaced
Though I do have a free account on Spotify that I rarely make use of, I am an Apple Music subscriber and frequent listener. Just a while ago, a song came up on the AI-generated AOR/Westcoast playlist that I’d never heard before. And it was only when the tune’s solo started playing that I realized it was likely legendary record producer and guitar virtuoso Jay Graydon picking the strings. The band’s name is JaR and the song is Cure Kit Scene 29
At the time I was working on a new resurfaced piece for uncle Paul’s latest poem. So naming felt intuitively easy.
Vanilla Flavored Coffee
Of all the coffees I’ve had over the years, all over the world, including places like Guatemala, Indonesia, Kenya and Italy, the one flavor that I keep returning to is the French Vanilla Flavored Ground Coffee made by of all companies, Dunkin’ Donuts. I recently ordered a vacupack from Amazon Deutschland and the flavor is consistent with what you get at any of the donut company’s shops. You can also order it from the American Food and Gift Store which I think is based in Sweden. I shot the coffee cup above during breakfast in Spain a while back. It’s pretty nifty way to get guests to replenish their caffeine depot.
Sunflower Friends
Here’s a small side project that I’ve been working on from time to time for a few days. I just can’t get enough of these shiny yellow flowers. Shot with just about every camera and lens I own (including my six-year-old iPhone 7 with macro glass) and during all kinds of weather conditions.
Resurfaced: Malmö
Another incredibly interesting wall that nobody but me would take notice of. I walked by it earlier in the week somewhere in Malmö and realizing that something about the wall had caught my attention, so I took a few steps back to check it out. Low and behold, it had all the right components: a wide color gamut, plenty of patina, and plenty of fragments from years of layered postings. Now it’s part of my collection of Resurfaced images.
BBC Global News Podcast
I’m still addicted to the bi-daily BBC Global News Podcast. Perhaps this sounds discriminatory, but I still haven’t found a Swedish equivalence when it comes to striking an intriguing balance of daily news. Most Swedish journalists, especially foreign correspondents, are stiff and only mildly talented. And in the US, nothing comes even close to the editorial quality the BBC provides regularly. Both cable and terrestrial news outlets in the US are way too polluted with politics and commercial interests. Even John Oliver’s show offers better coverage than any traditional American newsroom.
This team (including the elusive editor Karen Martin) should be awarded for their excellent hosting and aforemnetioned balancing act between war and conflict reporting, human interest stories, and humorous tidbits that lighten the mental load.
Here’s an interview with one other the podcast’s most frequent and excellent hosts, Jackie Leonard.
Some New Apples
Today’s Apple Day. Not the fruit, but the company with Newton’s fruit of knowledge symbol. I’ve been an Apple customer since 1990 and even if it’s been many years since the company lost it’s “friendly rebel“ status and became a corporate behemoth and uncurbed producer of all kinds of more or less significant consumer stuff, most of which is far, far from being the creative tools that I was originally mesmerized by, I can still get a little excited when a product I use is due to be refreshed.
So, later tonight, I’ll probably watch the product launch of the year’s crop of new iPhones and other gadgetry. My phone is 3 years old and still does what I need it to do without complaints. So I don’t think an update is necessary. I might anyway, though. The wide-angle lens and night photography features would be nice to have.
Circle of Life
Like a child, not yet privy to the circle of life, I felt a sudden sadness for the bird. I wondered how or why its life had ended on this beach in Vejbystrand. Did it die at sea and was washed ashore?
Did the bird’s existence end from old age or illness? Had it flown too far, or, as Icarus, too close to the sun, suddenly surprised by heat asthenia, its tired wings that would no longer carry the toilsome weight between them? Perhaps it then fell from the sky, landed in the shallows, and was then gently washed up onto the sand.
The bird’s flesh was gone and much of its thin bones had withered. What remained were feathers of which the wind would soon blow away. Leaving only a memory. And a photograph.
New Book: Sliperiet Gylsboda
Charlotte shot these images during my talk at the book release yesterday afternoon. My 18th book is about the people and their creative deeds at the art and culture center Sliperiet in scenic Gylsboda, Skåne, Sweden.
The book conveys in words and pictures part of the area’s rich cultural history, the artists’ activities and the importance of the diabase quarries for both the town and the region.
In addition to the diabase and many quarries that surround Gylsboda, the village is perhaps best known for the author Harry Martinson living there as a child and depicting his years in this rural part of Sweden in the novel “Flowering Nettle” (for which he received the Nobel Prize).
The new book is also a tribute to the driving individuals that have tirelessly transformed the for decades abandoned Sliperiet into a creative center for arts and crafts with studios, workshops, exhibition space and a café. The book’s texts are in Swedish and English and can be ordered on Sliperiet’s website: www.sliperietgylsboda.se
Sunflowers and Vincent van Gogh
Our sunflowers bloomed a couple of weeks later than usual this year, but are no less beautiful for it. On the contrary, 2021’s sunflowers have extra sturdy stems and unusually large flower crowns
Sunflowers are said to lift the soul, symbolize adoration, loyalty and longevity. I have long been enchanted by their colorful look and impressive height. When I lived in the Johanneberg district in Gothenburg, I grew sunflowers every spring on my tiny balcony and they would reach for the sky! But it was probably during my training as a visual artist at Gotland Art School in the early 1990s that my love for “Helianthus” really took off.
Like many of my fellow students, I also adopted the Impressionist Vincent van Gogh as a kind of patron saint for us bourgeoning artists. His sunflowers vibrated with life and reflected a joy that was so difficult for him to capture beyond the canvas. Like many creative people, it was almost only during the process of creation that Vincent experienced weightless happiness. As a “poor” student, it was not difficult to recognize the frustration and anguish that van Gogh fought against. He made the suffering for the sake of art feel noble, somehow. No pain, no gain.
All in all, Vincent is said to have painted a total of 11 paintings with sunflower motifs; four in Paris and seven in Arles. I have on a couple of occasions been to the fields in Provence where it’s believed that he created some of the most beautiful images.
As I stood there looking out over the bright yellow sea of rhythmically swaying sunflowers, I was mesmerized by the view and could appreciate that Vincent van Gogh might have felt euphorically happy as he stood there with his field easel, paints, and canvases, ready with unwieldy gestures and great frenzy to interpret the amazing view in front of him.
I also feel joy in our garden here in Stora Hult today when looking at our gently swaying sunflowers. They stand guard, tightly next to each other in front of the shed’s long side, ready to spread joy as we pass.
Mail
I can’t remember when I last received a handwritten letter from a friend or anyone for that matter. On the other hand, I really can’t remember when I wrote one myself. I am dubious about my ability to sit down and write a letter today. Would I use a cursive or a printed style? When did I last hold a pen?
Just remembered that I have a pretty thick binder full of old letters from old friends. One day I’ll get around to re-reading them.
Door Knocker
Before video doorbells, before electric doorbells, there were door knockers. Well, there have also been other kind of ways to get the attention of someone behind a door, including manual bells and pushbutton ringers.
But old-school door knockers are arguably still the coolest and best way to announce an arrival. This one is from somewhere in Málaga, Spain.
Finding Resurfaced Walls
So eventually the images in my resurfaced series will end up in a book. That’s the plan, anyway. I’ve exhibited a few, last year during Malmö’s Gallery Night, but I felt they were way too small to do the project justice.
The piece above is from Poland, from a wall in Krakow’s Old Town, I believe. I can literally spend hours and many km walking around a city to find new walls that entice me. Which is just fine as my expeditions also provide an abundance of exercise. I’ll often walk by a section of a wall or utility box and then stop and take a step or two back to see if there is something worth pulling out my camera for. It’s an artistic, investigative discovery mission, of sorts. People that take note of what I am photographing must think I’m a bit whacko. Which is also fine.
Plant Art
It’s a cliché, but nonetheless true: the most spectacularly beautiful art, the most organic, natural creativity is and will always be found in our planet’s biosphere. I grew up surrounded by this kind of agave plant and every time I see one, I feel drawn to it. They make me happy, somehow.
Charlie & The Rolling Stones
Sad to hear that Mick Jagger will never again have reason to say “Charlie’s good tonight, ain’t he?”. But what a run Mr. Watts had during his 80-year life! I’d argue that he was by far the most talented musician in the band – but boring beyond belief to look at. Which I guess was part of his schtick.
I’ve seen the Stones live. It was back in 1982 at Ullevi Stadium in Göteborg during their Tattoo You Tour. The concert I attended was June 19 and even if I never had been much of a fan, I preferred the Beatles’ polished sound, catchier melodies, and sense of humor, I knew that not attending at least one of the two Stones concerts would be a huge cultural mistake that I would probably always regret.
A bunch of us gathered at buddy Lars’s house the night before the show to warm up, and, well, let’s just say things got a little out of hand with the partying. Let’s also just say that I didn’t fully recuperate until a few minutes before Mick and his bandmates entered the gigantic stage. Let’s say that I have never since filled a glass with dentist high proof alcohol mixed with Fanta. Let’s finally say that I’ve since the occasion never washed my pants in someone’s fish tank.
Anyway, here’s the setlist to The Rolling Stones concert.
Serendipity
Serendipity. How I love that word. It’s the opposite of preordained or predestined. I embrace serendipity. That’s how I came across this bag of cobblestones laying on a sidewalk somewhere. It was as if someone had bought the stones at an IKEA warehouse and then tried to carry them home. At some point, the burden must have gotten too heavy. So they gave up, leaving the abandoned stones in the yellow and blue bag, and just walked away only for me to come across it serendipitously. Truth be told, I added the logos after the fact. Couldn’t resist.
Artifactuals
How could I not be compelled to capture this wonderfully bright yellow door framed by a wall of red tiles? Should I instead have forsaken the opportunity because of its obvious allure?
My need to document, eternalize and archive almost any given subject matter is thankfully evolving. I’d argue that the image above is an exception, that I am markedly more focused on exploring and discovering fragments of artifacts of art, hence my Resurfaced series. Still, I continue to be drawn to repetitive patterns, to both complementary and analogous colors and compositions that at least pose a bit of a challenge. I am constantly framing my environment, always on the lookout for balance.
I’m aware of this being autonomous, the result of working as a commercial and editorial photographer for so many years; finding the “right” angle, figuring out how to get the best light, determining focal field and exposure. So, with this in mind, I often have to stop myself from capturing the obvious. The valley of “très très triste” is safe, familiar, and easy. And art should never be too safe, familiar, and easy.
Yearning for Tokyo
I saw this sign somewhere outside of Japan. I find that I periodically feel a curiously strong yearning for Tokyo. Just pronouncing the name out loud gets me a little travel excited. And when I think of some of the places there that I’ve discovered but only scratched the surface of, well, it gets my hopes up that one day I’ll be able to return and experience the intensity, the insane politeness, and endless idiosyncrasies that I think define Tokyo as one of the world’s most alluring metropolises.
Hanging Around
Two resurfaced pieces combined.