Tag Archives: sculpture

Tarotcast

Tarotcast for Week of Janaury 27, 2019

This week’s artist is Bordalo II.  He started off as a graffiti artist in Lisbon, where street art is popular and legal.  He re-uses trash, specifically ones harmful to wildlife like plastic, to create his graffiti-sculptures. He chooses animal images to highlight the dangers of pollution in our world.   I create, recreate, assemble and develop ideas with end-of-life material and try to relate it to sustainability, ecological and social awareness.

Plastic is so much a part of our everyday lives and important for many areas (especially medical and automotive), but we need to curb our reliance on it.  Look around your home and you will find an average of 70% of your life has a plastic part.  Around 60% of clothing has plastic in it (all synthetic fibers are plastic: polyester, acrylic, nylon). The first thing all of us can do is stop using single use plastics (even if you use them more than once).  And then just being conscious when you buy plastic toys, your clothes, or even organizing with plastic bins, try to find more biodegradable alternatives or at the very least with less plastic or recycled plastic in them.

Boradalo’s work is imaginative, deep and a needed reminder. I love to see that he also did one of a human (see Aries below)) for we are not only the cause of pollution but also a victim.  We are a species of Earth just as the pelican, elephant, snake or spider.  Once we start seeing that we are part of the larger ecosystem maybe we will stop harming our home.

P.S.  Remember signs with an * it a big week for you.  If you do an beginning of a year Astrological Reading.

Aries

Ten of Swords – Every week has the potential to be good or bad, but when the Ten of Swords shows up it leans toward the negative.  This week, your environment will show the prickly side of the human experience.  There are a couple of ways to deal with this card – hide or if you must show up, avoid.  Listening to your intuition will help you navigate this week.  Heed your inner voice/gut.

Taurus

King of Cups – This is your second King in a row so let’s dive deeper into the Kings.  When Kings show up, they are wanting you to master or manifest specific areas of your life.  Last week the King of Pentacles had you working on your material plane.  This week the Cups are about manifesting your emotions.   This King is not afraid to cry so all emotions are OK.  The work is having them, accepting them, learning their lessons, and then letting them go.
Continue reading Tarotcast for Week of Janaury 27, 2019 →

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Tarotcast for Week Of November 25, 2018

Ron Mueck Hyperrealism

Hyperrealism is the genre of painting or sculptures that resemble or portray real life and offshoot of photorealism.  Photorealism is a painting, drawings or other graphic medium in which an artist tries to replica a photograph.  These movements were born with Pop Art in the 60’s and 70’s.    Ron Mueck creates hyperrealism sculptures, and what sets him apart is his use of scale.

He grew up around dolls and puppets in his parents business, and became a model maker and puppeteer for children’s television, films such as Labyrinth and worked in Jim Henson’s Muppet Workshop.  Then in 1996 he started creating fine art sculptures. Mueck uses resin, fiberglass, silicone, and many other materials, constructing hyperrealistic likenesses of mostly human beings, while playing with scale. When asked why Mueck plays with size he said:  Life-size figures … never seemed to be interesting. We meet life-size people every day. Altering the scale makes you take notice in a way that you wouldn’t do with something that’s just normal.

It is interesting that this concept of scale with the human form resonates in our human psyche.  Take for instance, the TV show Land of the Giants or the stories Thumbelina, The Little Peach Boy, Gulliver’s Travels, Alice in Wonderland or as far back The Odyssey.  All of these stories have the theme of large and small.  Is it our biological fear of being prey that has us pondering size especially in contrast to us? When we play with scale particularly with our human form we end up observing things that are commonplace in a new way.  This is the beauty, awe and sometimes horror and disgust of looking through a magnifying glass, microscope or telescope.  Playing with scale not only has us observing the ordinary and everyday closer, but it also has us questioning our place in the Universe. And that is a great exercise with this kind of art.

P.S. Remember signs with an * it’s a big week for you.  And please share.

 

*Aries – Death

Ron Mueck Hyperrealism The Death card is an appropriate as you head into the winter months.  This week has that feel of slow natural change that happens each season.  This card asks you questions like: What cycles are you starting up again? What ideas or projects do you want to store and work on next year?  What do you want to let die or finish before spring?  This week start mulling these questions in your head, so by winter Solstice you will have a good strategy and platform for 2019.

 

*Taurus – Strength

Ron Mueck Hyperrealism You are going to need your strength this week.  Not because the outside world is trying your patience, but this week is more about your internal struggle to get things done. This card wants you to assess how you hold yourself back.  Do you think you are not strong enough? Or are your opinions and expectations too strong?  Does your will power not let you rest or does it drag you down into inertia?  The Strength card shows up right before one needs to gather their strength to create momentum with the material goals in life. While the rest of us are hibernating, winter will be the perfect time for you all to kick ass, so use this time to garner your strength.
Continue reading Tarotcast for Week Of November 25, 2018 →

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Tarot-cast for Week of May 20, 2018

rock garden of chandigarh

The Rock Garden of Chandigarh is a sculpture garden in Chandigarh, India.  It was started in secret by Nek Chand, a government official in 1957. He worked in his spare time, may times at night, bicycling his materials into the forest, an kept it secret until 1976.  since it was on public land the authorities wanted to tear it down, however, locals fought for his creations. He won and was hired by the government to continue his work with a crew of 50 workers. Today it is spread over an area of 40 acres. The entire project was built from industrial and home waste and thrown-away items.

I just love this story and its creation.  It started from a man who saw all this destruction and waste and he decided to create something magical.  This is an amazing trait of humans and to create beauty out of what others consider trash. A trait that is useful in building up our resilience but also creates a bit of magic in our lives.

P.S. Please share.

Aries- Six of Cups

rock garden of chandigarhLast week the Tower challenged you to let go of needing to control change and to subtly navigate it by shifting your stance.  This week the Six of Cups continues the theme by having you look back in to your history for clues on how to deal with this change.

Taurus– Nine of Swords

rock garden of chandigarhThe Nine of Swords is the card of worry.   Worry can be helpful when you use it to prepare for the future or to re-think about your past.  However, the challenge with this card is to know when worry becomes nothing but thoughts that have no objective or conceives a useful action.  This week be aware where your worries take you. Continue reading Tarot-cast for Week of May 20, 2018 →

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Tarotcast Week of August 6, 2017

The Talking Skull, above, and the sculptures below are by the artist Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller. Fuller is considered to be a forerunner of the Harlem Renaissance. After art school in Philadelphia she moved to Paris and became a protégé of Auguste Rodin. In Paris, her artistic ability was nurtured and exalted.  However, on her return to the US her art was considered “domestic,” and she was shunned by the Philadelphia art scene. ( I am not exactly sure what “domestic” means but a polite way of being racist and sexist in the early 1900’s in the Northeast.)

Fuller’s work was not limited to the reflection of the African American experience. For instance, she made a religious sculpture annually, but many of her pieces were political in nature and some did express the African American experience at the turn of the 1900 century.  I see that sculpture above as not only a way Meta spoke to the world about a certain people’s history but also how she understood and beautiful articulated the complexity of emotions of a human questioning death.

P.S. Remember, signs with * it’s a big week for you.

 

*Aries – High Priest –  Last week, The Star card advised you to slow down and do some much needed healing and breathing. This week the High Priest is challenging you to continue the intentions of last week, but to do so you will need to create boundaries and structure in your life. Remember the big rule in air flight: put your oxygen mask on yourself before putting it on others.

 


Taurus – Three of Wands – You know last week when the Queen of Swords asked you how to make you your deepest desire happen? Well, you get another week to work on that. Last week you tried to get what you wanted done, and you found that you didn’t have the resources, including time. The Three of Wands is giving you another week to set up the circumstances to get those deepest desires to sail into port with more ease.
Continue reading Tarotcast Week of August 6, 2017 →

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Tarotcast for week of April 23, 2017

Minneapolis is home to the Minneapolis Sculpture garden where the above Spoonbridge and Cherry is the center piece. In my research I found  a website of the Smithsonian American Art Museum called Save Outdoor Sculpture! –SOS! ,and I found that Minneapolis has a lot more  hidden sculptures.  This volunteer-based program’s mission is to preserve and celebrate America’s outdoor sculptures. Nearly 7,000 volunteers are collecting information about the history and condition of their communities public sculptures, and they have found many of them to be at risk. SOS! works with individuals and groups to document, restore and educate people about these free public artworks.

Not only does this site encourage us to document public sculptures and help find resources to conserve your communities’ sculptures, but it has an amazing data base of really cool sculptures all over the world to discover. I suggest to you this spring go discover or rediscover the public art in your community.

P.S. I have attached some of the sculptures of Minneapolis to your tarotcast. Remember, signs with * it’s a big week for you.

Aries – Ace of Swords – The Ace of Swords is challenging you to change your mind. This could be accomplished by learning something new, changing an old thought, or changing your stance on something. With any of these choices you will gain a new perspective on how you think.

Taurus – Seven of Swords – The Seven of Swords’ lesson is around regrouping. This continues the theme from last week  to recognize what you have accomplished in the past three months. Last week it was time to celebrate and continue your work. This week is all about stepping back to tally and restock your resources.
Continue reading Tarotcast for week of April 23, 2017 →