Monday, December 4, 2023

Howdy Partner


Such a rich red. And all these sign to look at. A painting of an Indigenous man from the neck up, his eye on the door. Who's behind this invitation to "partner up"? 

Sunday, December 3, 2023

Demystify Chinatown


Banners are usually there to promote tourism, or a sense of place. These are different. As citizens we are asked to participate in the relaxation of what we think we know. Chinatown is not what we think it is. But what is it? And what does it want to be?


Saturday, December 2, 2023

Pour Lore


Time is slippery. The best measure of time is the optical lattice clock, a faceless monstrosity that is useless to anyone who doesn't know how to use it. An archive is another kind of clock, though less precise, given that microseconds aren't important in the overall scheme of things.

Up top is a grab from when I Googled "glue pour." Note the disparity in the date of Robert Smithson's Glue Pour. Marian Goodman, one of the world's leading modern/contemporary art gallerists, lists the Glue Pour performance (document) as 1970, when the person who took the picture (Christos Dikeakos) says it happened in 1969. Who do we believe? Ah, it's the 21st century, so they're both right.

Friday, December 1, 2023

Pandora's Locks


Pandora's Locks feels like where New West's British store was located. If so, it's hard to imagine a locked room adventure in its place.

The British store was small and narrow. Seems these locked room games require a succession of spaces? I can't imagine it otherwise. Just thinking about it is giving me claustrophobia. 

Thursday, November 30, 2023

"... the exploitation of the elegiac ..."


"One of the most interesting things about Edith Sitwell's art is the way in which all aspects of it seem to be present at every stage of her development, while at each stage one particular aspect becomes dominant. At the next stage, in the The Sleeping Beauty (1924), she turned away from satirical inventions of Façade, and devoted herself to the exploitation of the elegiac, romantic vein which she had already begun to work in Bucolic Comedies. The contrast at first sight between the world of Don Pasquito and Mr Belaker, 'the allegro, negro cocktail-shaker,' and The Soldan's Song, with its Elizabethan and Keatsian echoes, could scarcely be sharper ..." (19)

Wednesday, November 29, 2023

Tipperary Park


Yesterday's trip to New Westminster. Fog only added to Columbia Street's ghost town vibe.

I climbed 4th Street, stopping at Tipperary Park because of the care taken to design it. The picture I am posting here is a "better" one of the same setting I posted on the Instagram account.


Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Sunnyside Park


I'm never sure if this is an ash or an elm. Maybe it's neither, but I'd like to know one way or the other. 

Tomorrow I'll write a letter to the City, asking that a legend be posted, with info on these trees. There are so many different kinds. It seems intentional. Let's carry intention to its logical conclusion.