Newcastle - detail

I couldn’t take a photo in the gallery... so an architectural detail in Newcastle… Please see the picture of the sculpture in a guide of Exhibition “Love”

Marc Quinn (born 1964)
Kiss
Love Laing Art Gallery

An angel and a scull…

I found that angel when I was going from a train station to a hotel in Venice. It is an extraordinary welcome, isn’t it? An angel and a scull… probably it refers to traditional warnings placed on electric devices. There was the first surprising thing in that day. Second happened to me in the hotel. W took a shower, after I had came there. At one point I found a bottle of shampoo on the bottom of shower cubicle. It had been left by the previous occupant of that room. A chambermaid didn’t notice that because it was possible only from inside of the cubicle. I used soap form the bottle. It was for me like a wink to that person – like saying hello.

Rose made out of crêpe paper

In the Polish Peoples Republic for Labour Day there were prepared flowers made out of crêpe paper. After collapsing of the Polish Peoples Republic the tradition celebrating the Labour Day vanished. I was thinking that with the Labour Day also disappeared the tradition of making flowers made out of crêpe paper, so I was really surprised when I saw a crêpe paper rose. It was in Bieszczady mountains in an art gallery. To be honest that was not only one rose… there was a lot of such roses in different colors. They are smaller and more precise then those from behind the time. What more, they are registered as a local product. An artist, someone who can make beautiful things from nothing, saved this technique in such a beautiful way.

fish

In the Museum of Modern Art in Newcastle I so a book about graffiti. In the book there were only pictures, not any analysis of the art. I was disappointed… I have also a lot of graffiti in my collection…but even for me it is not enough only to make pictures.
In the picture: Fish somewhere in Aarhus.

owl and ruins

The Alnwick Castle was very surprising for me. It is unbelievable mix of styles and artistic forms. There was something beautiful and interesting in every chamber but generally I felt like being in some big lumber room. For example in old beautiful library besides many shelves of books there was big plasma TV and two prepared dogs. In this unbelievable mess, as the most interesting thing, I found very small mascot of owl which was hidden behind a leaf of acanthi.
It was put there in order to attract children visiting the Castle. In every room there was such mascot somewhere. Children have to find it, and thanks to that game they pay more attention to the exhibition.
In the photo: I didn’t like inhabited castle, probably because I generally like much more mysterious places. That’s why I preferred the Holly Island with its monastery in ruins.

museum was closed

No favorites showpiece… “Pokemons” (Yoshitomo Nara) - could be interesting I think… but come to late to The Baltic Centre for Contemprorary Art in Newcastle...

Angels from Łopienka

Dog in Caryńskie

For the first walking tour this year we chose the path to the students shelter in Caryńskie. It is only about an hour and a half of walk by forest road. In the shelter, we were resting under an apple tree and we were observing a local dog. It was a young, black German Shehard.
When the dog noticed us, he approached us and showed that, in his opinion, not to pet him would be a gaffe. We petted him immediately. After that, he brought a twig and started to bit it. A few times he barked at some imaginable animals for us and probably very real for him. His owner, who was repairing a dilapidated car, gave him some chances for running by throwing the twig. The dog was running after the twig, then he was looking for it and running back. He was very disappointed when the owner would stopped being in the game anymore. It was very hard for him but when he accepted it, he would start to bitting his twig again.
In the photo: a picture in the orthodox church in Łopienka.

the cros and the cros

In Edinborough, I of course found some time for searching for my favorite showpiece. This time I chose a bronze figure of Christ from a 13th Century crucifix. In that time, it was probably attached to a wooden cross. Today, the medieval very simplified sculpture, looked very modern on a white, plastic replacement. It remained me a figure from one of Cracovian museums. It was made later, probably at the end of the 15th century. It is much more naturalistic. Every detail was made very precisely. Even the back side, directed at the cross (when the cross had existed). So many faces of art… I like it.

...snails

Going to work I usually a pass small public garden next to the Academy of Mining and Metallurgy. Lately some modern sculptures appeared in the garden. Generally, I would say that they are terrible. They look like crazy erotic imagination of snails. They are tasteless to be honest. One of them is named "Transformation". This title meant for me nothing till the moment when some vandal damaged the sculpture a bit. In the part of this abstract snail, where the head appeared that it should be a head, the vandal painted a schematic nose, eyes and a smile. Thanks to that, the snail transformed to hearty character of a funny fairy tale.