ANDY GOLDSWORTHY

Andy Goldsworthy has no equal.  We saw the film Rivers and Tides outlining his process a few years ago and were sold on his genius.  Goldsworthy creates and photographs site-specific sculptures, using nature as his material.  Precarious piles of stone, elegant trails of blood-red leaves, fragile stick arrangements are within his canon.  Working with snowballs since 1977, the artist has a history of placing the balls in unexpected places as well as embedding within them materials that reveal themselves as the snow melts.  On July 21st 2000, Goldsworthy launched the Midsummer Snowballs project, documented in this featured book.

"There's something very powerful about finding snow in summer.  It's as if the whole of winter has drained through that white hole -- a concentration of winter."

Goldsworthy made 13 huge snowballs during the last two winters of the 20th century, often in harsh conditions, then transported them to cold storage to await the first midsummer of the 21st century, when he placed them in London's financial district.  Over the days it took for them to melt, beautiful, powerful and often humorous photos were taken documenting the reaction of the public and the gradual disappearance of the balls.  The ephemeral quality of the snow contrasts with the surrounding architecture, yet buildings are not so different from snowballs in summer: several buildings that Goldworthy had chosen as locations disappeared just prior to installation.  Many of the materials concealed within the snow (wool, wheat, pinecones, barbed wire) referenced the industry surrounding them as well as evoking the rural landscape from which they were taken, creating a dialogue between the wild nature and the ordered urban experiences.  

 

PETRA CUSCHIERI

Even before graduating from George Brown's graphic design program, Petra Cuschieri was working on the Arts and Crafts Productions design team. Combining her passion for visuals and appreciation of music, Cuschieri worked on the Juno nominated Feist album Metals, as well as with artists including Jason Collett, Broken Social Scene and Dan Mangan.  Now on the other side of post secondary with laurels in tow from the AACE (Applied Arts Awards), and RGD (Registered Graphic Designers) for her thesis project, Cuschieri is working for Jackman as well A&C and heading her own projects, most recently the Christmas campaign for the Drake General Store.

Cuschieri has the incredible technical skills necessary for a computer-age designer, but she also is well versed in more traditional crafts, lending a depth and style to her design.  Petra knows how things are made in the material world, this somehow translates into her design work, making it seem more analogue and "real".  Her father is a tailor, from whom she learned the sewing and drafting skills necessary for constructing the line of handbags she produced out of high school and her current enjoyment in quilting.  We marvelled at the precision and beauty of her projects, reflected in the quilts (and sweater pictured above) of her beloved grandmother whose style and grace is present throughout Petra's home.

WITTENBERGPLATZ

But you see that line there moving through the station?  I told you, I was one of those...   LC

 

DANDELION

Dandelion is despised when it comes to achieving a lush, weed-free lawn. Many consider this plant to be invasive, waging war with chemical weed killers or spending hours digging and pulling.  However, this plant is tenacious. A single dandelion makes up to 15,000 seeds, each with the ability to survive up to six years in the soil.  Perhaps their brightness in colour, their stubbornness, resilience, deep roots and abundance are trying to tell us something.  

Amongst those wise in the ways of natural healing, dandelion is widely recognized as nourishing for the liver, our largest and most functionally diverse organ.  When the liver is not working properly it affects the whole body : skin, kidneys, heart, glandular, immune and digestive systems.  Dandelion root cleanses and eases inflammation of the liver and gallbladder, improves bile disorders and constipation, and helps to prevent gallstones and gravel.  It can assist in clearing up jaundice, hepatitis and muscular rheumatism.  Dandelion acts as a diuretic, contains potassium, and can support those recovering from drug or alcohol abuse, eating disorders and overextended use of antibiotics.  

Dandelion root in tincture or tea form can support those who suffer from menstrual difficulties such as cramping, water retention, pelvic congestion, fatigue, and emotional imbalance (extreme frustration, anger, depression).  For women the liver is significant as it is responsible for breaking down excess hormones such as estrogen and the corticosteroids.  When the liver is overstressed from high intake of fat, sugar, caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, and processed foods, it is less able to deal with peak levels of sex hormones creating a variety of symptoms between ovulation and the onset of menses, and for some, throughout their cycle.  

A variety of dandelion species are found around the world.  Most grocery stores carry dandelion leaves which can be eaten in salads, soups, or steamed as a side.  The flowers also add beautiful colour to the plate in spring.  The roots can be dug in summer, late fall, and early winter to be dried for tea or eaten fresh amongst other root vegetables.  Dried dandelion root is available at herbalists and most health food stores.  The taste is bitter, another reason it may be hard to view dandelion as our ally. 

For more information on plants that assist the liver, look into this excellent resource The Roots of Healing : A Woman's book of Herbs by Deb Soule (1995).  

"KOONS-LIKE" UNOFFICIAL MERCH

FROM THE CLOSET OF JULIANN WILDING : HARLEQUIN SPARKLE

Arlecchino - that impish servant; Hellequin, a black-masked emissary of the devil. Its many iterations dance their diamond patchwork limbs through Italian, French, Spanish, Sufi, and African cultures.   

My love of the harlequin runs deep ... the servant, the clown; the patchwork diamond result of a compulsive need to recreate one's own costume as one's antics wear it down. A garment of necessity still masterfully rendered. To find a harlequin diamond on a tri-tone vintage hand sequined silk T-shirt is a hurrah of sorts, a triumph; the imp has recast his garb in luxury, his nimble dance has turned to one of boasting his ascension from his master rather than groveling at his feet. Hellequin bling shining in black, silver and gold.

I should like to wear it with sheer black silk ankle-length bloomers... like the agile harlequin, I'll fashion them myself. 

-JW

 

A COUPLE OF NICE CHAIRS

A pair of Arne Jacobsen Gran Prix chairs from 1957 - 1958.  They are part of a set of six - the others are in various states of sad disrepair.  While restoring them I have come to marvel at the incredibly complex and graceful shaping of the teak bent plywood legs and the difficulty it must have originally been to produce them.  The moulded plywood shell under the upholstery is a further construction challenge, being formed with nine distinct bends to create a remarkably comfortable and resilient seat.  They began life with a royal purple upholstery that was at some point changed to kelly green and now the current ultramarine blue - a sure sign of a well loved piece of furniture.   

Guest contributor JT Hall

 

 

ERIN STUMP

I visited ESP this week for a chat with the eponymous director Erin Stump. When the gallery opened in April 2011 at Queen and Dovercourt, it quickly became a recognized institution, consistently presenting interesting, timely and well curated shows. Stump's first booth at Art Toronto this past fall was among the  few to be lauded by Jason Stopa in NY Art Magazine: "The most significant pieces were at ESP gallery, who had a thoughtful and serious display of abstraction. Erin Stump the gallery manager is young, ambitious and has her pulse on a NY aesthetic."

Erin is a BFA graduate from NASCAD and I wondered if she ever regretted turning her back on her own practice.  It seems that she knew even before the program was complete that she is "more excited about other people's work than my own."  In providing promotion and support, Erin allows the artists to focus more on their work, at the same time being involved in the genesis, development and realization of an exhibition, navigating with each artist how much assistance they require. Choosing her roster from artists she worked with alongside Katharine Mulherin in their project space Board of Directors, she also selected people that she has been following for years through group shows, studio visits, and word of mouth.  The predominance of women is not intentional, but rather a token of the fact that "there are so few female artists represented."  That other institutions have failed to snap up talented emerging and mid-career artists because of their gender is a quandary that we expounded on at length.  I'll leave the conclusions to the academics: Why are there so few? J, Piirto, 2000.

Berlin-based Canadian artist Emmy Skensved is currently on view at ESP.  Her spare paint collages bring to mind the sentiment of Hermes Trismegistus's words "As above, so below;"  the black and white planes float unfastened, leaving you unsure which is foremost.  The paint strokes have been remade into digital images, and remade again into painstaking and precise collages. With the material creating the subject matter you find yourself in an infinite loop of process and product. I certainly didn't gain all these insights on first glance. Stump is an excellent guide in the sometimes confusing landscape of abstract and contemporary artwork. With these skills she takes advantage of the storefront nature of her gallery and its ability to attract a walk-by crowd, bringing understanding and enthusiasm to people who otherwise may not have given the work a second glance.  It is this unexpected education that could in time create new collectors or at least new fans of contemporary art.

SOUTH FACING SITTING ROOM

Lucky guests have spent long evenings and lazy afternoons enjoying the sights and sounds of Tomaz Jardim's sunny front room.  Rich in heirloom furnishings and objects from his Portuguese and English/Caribbean lineage, the real treasure of the room is the meticulously organized collection of 78 rpm records (to be discussed in an upcoming post).  However, Jardim is not so bound to the past;  the vinyl collection is covetable and the ipod is up to date.  An evening in this room is perhaps the closest we've come to a soirée hosted by the likes of Anna Pavlovna.  The curated music is certainly of this century and the last, but the appreciation of it lends more to a time when accomplished hands on the pianoforte were the only means to enjoyment at home.