Art Scene 13: Night of Artists, Mornings in Sweatpants and Art in Between

Cirque Du NOA poster from Night of Artists website here.

Art Scene 13: Night of Artists, Mornings in Sweatpants and Art in Between

1. The Bleeding Heart is forming a team to walk for the homeless on Feb 21 as part of The Coldest Night of the Year. The walk supports Hope Mission and is part of a nationwide event. I’m looking for my creative friends to ‘represent’. We need both donors and walkers to take part. You in?
2. The Creative Practices Institute (CPI) is a new(er) artist run centre in Oliver. Meet the people behind the centre and the community that has become a part of it at their second Open Studio evening - Saturday February 7 from 4 to 8 PM. CPI also offers professional development workshops for artists. The next workshop, on Feb 17, is on bookkeeping for artists. But I’m sure you have no problems with that, right? Just in case, here is the link.
3. From the local to the international, Sufjan Stevens has a new album coming this March. Carrie and Lowell is being called ‘the return of Sufjan’ - as in, the return of Sufjan with a guitar in his hands and folk in his heart. Not that I minded Sufjan’s experimentations, but so far I like what I hear. 
4. A musician just slightly closer to home has just put out his new record. Aaron Strumpel, who co-wrote the song we featured in last week’s Storm the Perfict Podcast, has just released Bright Star. A video from that album, for Coming After You, is featured at Relevant TV.
5. If you are reading this, you are into discovering great art and artists exploring faith, hope and love. And if you are into that, you’ll be into Image Journal. And there’s not time like the present to get into Image Journal, with 60% off a new subscription.
6. Future Station, the massive 2015 Alberta Biennial of Alberta Art, is open at the Art Gallery of Alberta and sprawls across 3 other venues. Be sure to visit and feel the pulse of contemporary Alberta art. Oh, and watch this video to find out about the real ‘ghost' LRT station that inspired the show’s curator.  
7. Night of Artists is bringing us Cirque Du NOA on March 6-8 at St.Albert’s Enjoy Centre. Experience "Three days of astounding visual art from all over Alberta on display and for sale by some of the finest artists in the province.
   Not to mention galas and daytime festivities full of stunning costumes, choirs, opera, gypsy jazz, country, folk, blues etc."
8. Want to know exactly how to feel miserable as an artist? Keri Smith has 10 ways right here, and the list will inspire you.
9. If you like lists, you should also check out this one from Maria Papova of Brain Pickings - Seven Life Learnings from Seven Years of Reading, Writing and Living.
10. If you are into the bright and the bold, look at this work from Winnipeg artist Yisa Akinbolaji, shared on the Imago blog. Imago describes this as " work that captures a celebratory note as though it is an expression of thanksgiving, an overflow of joy."
11. "I don't know about you, but when I'm in a hurry, I "don't have time" to stop and pick up all the good fruit around me.” - read this whole article on slowing down from The Grove Centre.
12. If you have an hour this week, listen to Austin Kleon, author of Steal Like an Artist and Show Your Work, being interviewed on the Unmistakable Creative podcast. It’s packed full of good advice for creatives.
13. If you have only a few moments, perhaps you could attempt to meditate in your sweatpants, like poet Stephen T. Berg.

#ArtScene13: New Podcast, Festival City and More

Karla Adolphe is featured this week in our new podcast, Storm the Perfict

It’s time again for #ArtScene13, a curated collection of resources on art, faith, hope, with a focus on Edmonton’s explosive local creativity. 

1. The brand new episode of the Storm The Perfict podcast is out today. I don’t know about you, but there is something so encouraging about hearing how other artists struggle with the same things I struggle with. Little things, like trying to please everybody, all of the time. Singer/songwriter Karla Adolphe shares her struggles, and a song, this week on Storm the Perfict. You can subscribe on iTunes here or listen on our website here.
2. Are you great at design but not sure how to teach those basic skills to those around you? Bring your coworkers up to speed, or lead a design class or workshop with free lesson plans and tools from the Canva Design School!
3. Here’s a silly question. Have you ever been afraid your art will fail? Or afraid you won’t be able to fund your next project? Joey O’Connor has some words of encouragement in his new video.
4. Sometimes bringing your project into being is such hard work that you just need to laugh. When you do, it’s hard to beat Bad Lip Reading’s new take on the NFL.
5. Local artist and good friend of the Bleeding Heart, Jared Robinson, has made the top 10 on Sonic’s album design contest. I know I’m biased, but I think Jared’s design is pretty awesome (it involves a sloth). Vote for your favourite design here by midnight tonight.

6. "May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view." 
   

   Edward Abbey (via Goodreads Quote of the Day)

7. Will you be heading to the Winter Shake Up today? Tons of festivities including the city’s first outdoor winter market. Get details one their website at http://www.wintercitiesconference.com/shake-up-festival-and-market/
8. Who says festival season slows in winter? The Exposure photography festival is coming our in February via the inFocusYEG photography show. The Harcourt House show is curated by Alexis Marie Chute, a long time Bleeding Heart friend and award-winning artist in her own right. More details at infocusyeg.com
9. Speaking of photography, Death To The Stock Photo sends out some AWESOME free stock photos every month. Premium (paid) members can access past archives and exclusives, but now those members also fund creative projects for others. Pretty great, huh?
10. Edmonton musicians rejoice! You’ll soon be able to submit your music to Capital City Records, a project of the Edmonton Public Library to make local music available to Edmontonians. Free downloads for members. Free streaming for non-members. All this, and the musicians get paid a flat fee of $100-200 for listing their work. Our library is so, SO awesome. Read all about it from the Edmonton Journal here.
11. If you are up for some experimental theatre, check out Canoe Festival 2015 at Workshop West in the ArtsBarns - there are still shome shows left.
12. How about some dance? The FEATS Festival of Dance showcases Albertan artists, and is seeking pieces from profession and youth (aged 13-21) dance and movement artists. Applications can be made on the website by April 30 on the Feats Festival website.
13. If all this makes you feel a bit tired, why not fall asleep to the sound of Jeff Bridges lulling baritone?
    
    And a bunch of crazy ambient soundscapes?
    
    Squarespace (those who host this here website) has teamed up with Jeff Bridges for Sleeping Tapes - a collection of sonic wonder to dream by. "100% of the retail price from each album sold goes directly to No Kid Hungry, excluding shipping and service fees. So you’ll get a good night’s rest knowing that when you download the album, or pick up the LP or cassette, you're helping end childhood hunger in America.”
     
    http://www.dreamingwithjeff.com/

What’d we miss? Don’t forget you can share your events with the hashtag #ArtScene13, or send me an email before next Thursday to make it on the list.

Art Show on the Radio: The CBC Interview

It's late last week when I see the CBC logo in my email inbox. The message is from CBC's Isabelle Gallant. She produces the afternoon show, Radio Active. I'm not expecting this email, but it is just what I've been hoping for. Someone in the media has caught wind of Blue Christmas, and thinks it will make a unique Christmas story. 

I agree, but I'm more than a little biased.

We exchange emails and set a time to meet. Tuesday afternoon I light the fireplace, start the music and tidy up for company. I open the door for the first radio interview in our new space. I give Isabelle a quick tour and then we sit down for a chat. As is the custom for this show, we've both removed our shoes.

Isabelle asks me to describe the space for those who will be listening. I'm reminded that this is radio and there are no visuals to accompany the story. Giving a description takes more effort—and time—than planned. But as I'll find out later, there is a great deal of magic in the editing room.

A couple of days later, Isabelle interviews Chynna Howard, the first participant in our Blue Christmas show. Chynna Howard with the snowman story. Chynna will share her story as part of Yule Ave tonight at 7 at the Alberta Avenue Community League. 

I don't hear Chynna's part of the piece until you do—live on air. The kids and I are making our way home. We've just bought a little bookshelf for the space. I've just dropped the key off for our volunteer gallery attendants. I get in the car as the segment begins. I listen and choke back some tears. I'm moved by Chynna Howard's story. I'm also incredibly proud.

Proud of this segment. Proud of Blue Christmas and the team that has brought it to life. Proud of the Bleeding Heart Art Space. Proud that we are here, already, doing what we hoped we'd do. Making connections. Having conversations. Spreading art, faith, hope and love. 

Art speaks, and for 6 and a half minutes on Thursday afternoon, Edmontonians stopped to listen.

Here is what we heard. 

A Video and Photos From our Blue Christmas Opening

Saturday, December 6 was a historic Bleeding Heart day. We opened our new space at 9132 118th ave. Our first show, Blue Christmas, welcomed guests to take in blown glass by Keith Walker, landscapes by Dawn Saunders Dahl and participation by ... you.

This video lays out exactly what Blue Christmas is all about, and why you should most definitely pay us a visit this month.

And here are 13 photos from the opening.

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Were you there? Do you plan on attending? Please share any feedback or questions below.

13 Finds for a Blue Christmas

Tomorrow morning BLUE CHRISTMAS, our first art installation in our new gallery space, opens to the public. To you. For you. In celebration, or perhaps 'in contemplation' is more fitting here, I've compiled a list of 13 finds to get you in the Blue Christmas spirit.

Curl up with a hot apple cider, grab a box of kleenex, then read it and weep.

Find 1: Our Video

Our new video tells a BLUE CHRISTMAS story in just 1 minute. Because it is quick, we think it's very sharable. So please watch, and then please share.

Find 2: Over The Rhine

Our video features a song by Over The Rhine called Let It Fall. I'm so grateful for their permission to use this song for our show and video this year. They've put out a free-or-by-donation Christmas sampler called 'Even The Snow Turns Blue'. Could there be a more perfect soundtrack to BLUE CHRISTMAS? Get it now.

Click the player or visit this link. 

You should also check out the entire new Christmas album from Over The Rhine, Blood Oranges in the Snow. 

Find 3: Karla Adolphe

While we're on great Blue Christmas music, you should also pick up the new EP from Karla Adolphe, Lingering. It's haunting. It's beautiful. It's right here.

Find 4: Terrible, Terrible Christmas Tunes 

If you're more into Christmas music that is just straight-up depressing, and sometimes laughably so, you need to check out this truly terrible Songza playlist – 'For Shame: The Worst Christmas Songs of All Time'.

Find 5: Advent-ures

If you are looking to follow the Advent story this Christmas, might I suggest the Advent Gospel readings from the Revised Common Lectionary? 

Find 6: Alternate Time

Speaking of Advent, The Christian Year just began. This alternate timeline focusses on major events of the Gospel story, and lays out major feast days of the Church. If you are interested in following 'Christian time' throughout the year, you really can't beat the Salt Of The Earth Calendar and international art collection. 

Find 7: CS Lewis Weighty Grief 

But let's get back to here and now. BLUE CHRISTMAS is all about grief, and for my money no one has written more eloquently on grief than CS Lewis, after losing his wife Joy quickly to cancer. You can read his journey out of the dark in A Grief Observed.

Find 8: Sadness, Circles and Spirals 

“For in grief nothing "stays put." One keeps on emerging from a phase, but it always recurs. Round and round. Everything repeats. Am I going in circles, or dare I hope I am on a spiral?

But if a spiral, am I going up or down it?

How often -- will it be for always? -- how often will the vast emptiness astonish me like a complete novelty and make me say, "I never realized my loss till this moment"? The same leg is cut off time after time.” 
― C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

Find 9: The Ultimate Blue Christmas

Let's lighten the mood a little, shall we? You just can't beat Blue Christmas in a black leather suit.

Find 10: Blue Christmas Decor

How about a Blue Jean Christmas?

Find 11: Keith Walker

Back on track, our BLUE CHRISTMAS show features original glasswork from glassblower Keith Walker. You can find more of Keith's excellent work here, and even sign up for a glass blowing workshop (the person Blue Christmas gift to yourself).

Find 12: Dawn Saunders Dahl 

Our BLUE CHRISTMAS show will also feature a couple of paintings from Edmonton artist Dawn Saunders Dahl.  

Find 13: All I Want for Blue Christmas is Local Art

And last but certainly not least, speaking of Edmonton artists, you can't beat the Royal Bison Art + Craft Fair for original, local art and craft for Christmas gifts. The Fair's second Christmas weekend is this very weekend at 8426 Gateway Blvd. Put the smile of surprise on a loved one's face, support local makers, and make this Christmas a little less blue.

13 Seconds Making a Glass Teardrop (VIDEO)

"Oh no!" mutters Keith Walker. Or maybe he exclaims something a bit more colourful.

The molten glass is dripping too fast. The weight of the teardrop pulls downward, stretching the droplet too long too soon. It could stop, frozen solid, any second. But it doesn't. It falls into its cradle and breaks. The piece is ruined. 

We've been blowing glass teardrops all day for the upcoming installation, Blue Christmas. Despite the repetition of forging 60-some nearly indistinguishable teardrops, every piece is a challenge. Unpredictable. Uncontrollable. 

If art is a struggle, glass is a medium that fights back.

Less than ten minutes later we are back at that critical moment. Another chance to get it right. The heavy bottom of the teardrop sinks fast. I'm tense. I blow on the bottom of the drop with a 'sofietta' to cool it down. Keith torches the stem to melt it faster. He knows when to blow the torch and when to lay back. His mastery shows. We dance with the molten glass until it harden back to its solid state. This teardrop is perfect. Or as close to perfect as we can hope to get. 

Tension. Timing. Knowing when to push forward and when to pull back. When to give and when to demand more. This process is packed with metaphors. 

Blue Christmas, our first show in our new home, opens December 6. The installation will create a space for grief in a time declared joyful. Grieving needs space and time. Sorrow bears weight. Like a forming teardop, it can be heavy. In its intensity–its immediate heat–that heaviness can pull us down too hard and fast. It can break us.

But we can learn to dance with sorrow. To give it space and time. To know when to close the book and move forward. We can even draw beauty from it. 

In grief we all become fragile. For a time brittle. Once passed through fire, stronger. Like this glass teardrop we have made. 

I'm still processing much of what I learned in Keith Walker's glass studio yesterday.

For now, let me show you how a glass teardrop is made, through the magic of editing, in just 13 compressed seconds.

Art, Beauty, Truth and Good Living in 13 Quotes

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.”

Melody Beattie

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To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time.

Leonard Bernstein (via 99u)

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Good books tell the truth, even when they're about things that never have been and never will be. They're truthful in a different way 

Stanisław Lem

'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,' - that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

John Keats

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Tell me, what is it you plan to do 
with your one wild and precious life? 

Mary Oliver

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So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
go throw your TV set away,
and in its place you can install,
a lovely bookshelf on the wall. 

Roald Dahl

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If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin.

Ivan Turgenev

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And when people cease to believe that there is good and evil 
Only beauty will call to them and save them 
So that they still know how to say: this is true and that is false.

Czeslaw Milosz, One more day from New and Collected Poems, 1931-2001 (via Edward Van Vliet)

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If the word of God were proclaimed in the modern world no one would hear it; there is too much noise.

Therefore create silence.

Soren Kierkagaard

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What is the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable? 

John Green

You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul.

George Bernard Shaw, Back to Methuselah

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... the one thing you can do right now is keep going. And when you keep going, eventually, you will be able to look at a piece of your work, step back and say,

“That’s beautiful.”  

Ian Harber, writing for Socality

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The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.

Marcel Proust

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13 European Art Experiences I'll Never Forget

This fall’s trip to Europe was full of inspiration. Last week I took you to the Tempelhof Airport Garden in 13 photos. This week I have 13 more moments to share, this time spread across Munich, Berlin and Paris. 

Looking back on those days filled with art and culture, these are 13 scenes that will stay with me a very long time. 13 moments when I felt lucky to be alive, in that place, at that time. 

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so let’s get on with those pictures. 

1. Iceland Air In-Flight Media

The inspiration actually begins in the cabin of our Iceland Air plane to Europe. Iceland Air is working hard to convey Iceland as little island with a big culture. They succeed, and I hope to return there for more than a 45 minute layover sometime soon.

It doesn’t take long to see there is something creative and beautiful about Icelandic people. It is clear right from the in-flight safety video. These are usually forgettable, but this whimsical piece includes animation and a clever juxtaposition of Icelandic adventures with the various safety instructions. 

See for yourself.  

While we wait for takeoff Icelandic music pumps through the speakers, and it is great. They even sell CD’s, one of which you can stream online at http://www.icelandicmusic.com/MusicNews/1122/hot_spring_stream_the_album_for_free/.

2. Gilching Square Sculpture 

From the serenity of our Iceland Air flight, we are plunged into the confusion of the large and foreign Munich airport. Thankfully, it is midday and we had plenty of time to get to our Air BnB accommodations. 

Our basement suite is tucked into a lovely little suburb on the outskirts of Munich, called Gilching. We get off the S-Bahn (train) and walk a kilometer or so. Nearing the house, unsure of ourselves, our host calls to my wife from across the street. ‘Are you Christie?’ We sigh with relief. What a miracle, to be found by a stranger across the world. Such a warm welcome!

Settled in, we head for a walk and dinner in a quiet public square. This kind of square stands out in Canada, but can be found all over Europe. In its centre stands the first of many impressive pieces of public art we’ll see over the next two weeks. A massive globe, made of wood-grained panels with bright coloured squares strewn throughout. The globe is split down the middle. 

Closer inspection reveals the two halves connected by a series of life-size bronze arms, linking hands. It is a beautiful piece thanks speaks to connection and unity. That same connection we felt when our host yelled hello across the German street. The same connection we will feel many times on our trip.

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3. Classical Violinist Busker

Walking through downtown Munich days later, we are in a crowded shopping district filled with pedestrian-only cobblestone streets. We pass under an archway, and there in the shadows is a familiar sight. A busker. What is unfamiliar is the busker’s music. He plays a violin and plays it well. Exquisite classical music fills the stone archway. In Edmonton this would be a Neil Young cover on a detuned pawnshop guitar.

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On the bottom right you can see the archway. He was somewhere in there.

Definitely not the violinist, but another fine specimen of Munich Street Performer I will refer to as the Munich Munchkin.

4. Paper Crane Church Installation

Just down the road, we enter an open church. I try and stop into any churches that look open, if only for a moment, to take in the breathtaking architecture. These old buildings are so ornate – so full of care and attention to detail – that they would be major tourist attractions in young Canada. Here in old Europe, they are commonplace. But not this church. This church houses an art installation.

Looking up, we see hundreds of origami cranes hung by wire from the ceiling, flying in formation toward the altar. The light from the an open window sets the white paper aglow. Dozens of us are looking but no one speaks. Thinking back now, I’m reminded of Dayton Casteleman’s windmills, but as striking as his piece is, he had no space so beautiful to set it within. Ancient and modern form a chord of resonant awe here. I try and capture it.

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5. Bavarian Cuckoo Clocks

Ducking into a tourist shop, we discover a room full of cuckoo clocks. Clocks like I’ve never seen, made from intricately carved wooden pieces and costing thousands of dollars. They are set differently so that one goes off every few moments. We watch wooden couples dance round and round. We hear the classic cuckoo chime. Not sure this is my taste, but you can’t help but marvel at such care and craftsmanship.

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6. Berlin Street Art

Care and craftsmanship are not words I would use when describing Berlin. Except for the food. Berlin is brazen with youth and defiance. She is punk rock to Munich’s classical. And she is sexy.

Everywhere you go in Berlin–aside from the sterilized tourist core–surfaces are covered in graffiti. Some of it is incredible. Some of it is just graffiti. But even that, taken together en masse, is an inspiring kaleidoscope of shape and colour.

If creativity was a genie, his bottle shattered in Berlin, and you’re not getting him back in there.

A large section of the Berlin Wall remains as the Eastside Gallery.

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'Berlin is Poor, But Sexy'. This is not actually their city slogan, but it could be.

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This place is just so broke-down-beautiful.

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Sections of the Berlin Wall, preserved as canvases. 'Every Wall is a Challenge'.

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Just a wall like so many others.

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So .... this is a Berlin playground. 

7. Tempelhof Garden

I won’t speak much of the garden at Berlin’s abandoned Tempelhof Airport, because I wrote an entire piece on it last week. But I will tell you one story. 

I am filming a short video clip to try an capture this place, and just before I hit STOP I am interrupted by a roving poet. He looks wild. A little mad perhaps. Homeless, maybe. He offers me beauty for a mere 0.50 Euro. How can I say no?

I pay him and he recites a poem, first in German and then, sensing I do not understand, translated to English. I’ll never know if something has been lost in translation, but the poem doesn’t make a lot of sense. He then writes it down and gives me this paper. 

It feels like a sacred moment with some fairy in the forest. Before I leave he makes sure I hear his final advice. 

‘Always loud! The instrument will function well.’

I take so many pictures here that my camera battery finally dies, and so I will hand photographic duties over to my wife’s camera from here on out.

8. Urban Spree Gallery

We spend most of our Berlin days in Friedrichshain, a neighbourhood like Whyte Ave on a good drug trip. Not that I’d know. 

Specifically, I’m drawn to a derelict train yard, housing at least one nightclub, a skatepark, a climbing wall, a restaurant or two and a vintage furniture store. 

It’s in that furniture store, housed in old work-camp trailers, I learn we are just a block from the Urban Spree Gallery. This free art gallery is an altar to Street Art, complete with great outdoor couches to relax in the gritty sunshine with a biere.

We’ve made it for Dubl Trubl, a collaborative Street Art show. This is the street art version of a rap battle – the pieces attributed as ‘artist X vs. artist Y’. It’s totally awesome.

You just have to check out their website and their photos of this show at http://urbanspree.com/blog/gallery/. 

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They actually seem to repaint the building to match the show.

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Here is that furniture store. Those containers can grow and shrink to meet the need. This parking lot is a park. Sort of.

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Climb this!

9. Quay Along the Seine

After checking into our apartment in Paris (and with no small amount of trouble but that’s another story), we decide to take a nap, then head for an exploratory walk. 

Our wandering will eventually lead us to the Eiffel Tower, but we get there via the Seine River. 

Along the Seine Quay there are food stalls, giant board games, hopscotch, a play structure for kids, sculptures and so much more. A woman guides kids through a string art workshop. The pieces look so cool but we’re too old to take part. 

Walking along the Seine we stumble upon a disco under a bridge. A mirrorball spins between mirrored walls and a wooden DJ booth structure. We get to be the DJs! I read a sign and discover that I can control the music from my mobile device via Bluetooth. I pull out my iPod Touch and cue up the perfect song. Afterlife, by Arade Fire, from their latest album, Reflektor. It’s a song we’ve heard played in stores here, so I know people know it. Arcade Fire is from Montreal, about as close to Paris as some good Can-Con can get. And it’s got a beat you can dance to.

In a moment of spontaneous romance I cue up Glen Hansard and invite my wife to dance with me. A few steps in the music cuts out. Our time is up. 

Thankfully, there is still plenty to inspire along the recently revitalized Quay.

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This is how they do street art in Paris.

10. Madeline Church Concert

In a moment of intention-keeping I am very proud of, we make it to the gorgeous Madeline Church in time for a free choral concert. Or, in time enough.

The music is beautiful, more modern than I expect and performed by what looks like a choir of teens and young adults. The melodies reverberate throughout the massive hall like magic. I don’t think there are any microphones.

For the first time, but not the last, I am enthralled by music I cannot understand, forced to dig beneath the lyrics for deeper treasures. 

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I have no photo of the Madeline, but Notre Dame should do in a pinch.

11. Espace Dali

A few days into Paris we visit Monmarte–the oldest part and the highest point atop a hill. Here is where the great artists lived. Here is where they philosophized at the Cafè de Flore. Here is where you find Espace Dali.

This gallery, dedicated to the work of Salvador Dali, is small but full of wonders. It focusses mainly on Dali’s sculptures, but has many paintings, too. I never knew Dali made sculptures, but there are many. Some are bronze versions of his most famous images. Bronze clocks melt. Bronze drawers sit open from the torso of a bronze woman. 

It seems we’ve lucked out again, as the current show places street artists inspired by Dali among his own works. In one cathedral-like space there are religious images from Dali. A bronze version of his floating Crucifixion. A Christ face painted from a splatter caused by Dali’s ‘bulletism’ technique. Among these, a punching bag with Christ’s face on it. It is a striking work created by a contemporary artist that plays nicely off of Dali’s own religious iconography. 

I learn here just how talented, and how wild, Dali was. I also learn the magnetic pull that Christian faith had on him. His fascination and dedication toward the Biblical story. 

I leave with much to think about, and an incredible desire to grow a moustache.

12. Centre Pompidou 

Where Espace Dali is small and focussed, the Centre Pompidou is sprawling and comprehensive. Among other things, Centre Pompidou houses France’s National Museum of Modern Art. I race through my three hours here, taking in what I can and trying to pay homage to the greats. Picasso. Miro. Bacon. Duchamp. Frank Gehry. 

There is so much to see in a building that is, itself, so much to see. We ascend clear tubes like hamsters, trying to find the open exhibits without wasting time walking. I get a brief glimpse of the Paris rooftops from the top floor. It is one of the best views anywhere.

Unfortunately, I did not have a camera along. I relied only on my wits and my wristwatch. But you can find out all about the Centre Pompidou on their website.

And maybe I can make it up to you with a view from another high spot in Paris - the Eiffel Tower?

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No Pompidou pics, so how about this one from another famous platform - Eiffel Tower?

13. Au Lapine Agile

Nearing our final evening in Paris, we’ve made reservations at the mysterious and fabled Au Lapine Agile. The nimble rabbit is shown on a painted sign, jumping from a cooking pan. Inside, nightly, a Parisian Cabaret takes place, and has for decades. Toulouse Lautrec still haunts this dark little room. Picasso Painted. Steve Martin wrote a play about it. 

It was too dark to get a good photo, but a picture could never convey the hobbit-hole warmth, deep lamplit reds or trunk-like wooden tables that fill every precious inch of this tiny space.

We wait outside in the rain until precisely 9 when, as promised, the doors open. We are ushered in by people who speak apparently little English, into a room we know nothing about. Cabaret can mean many things. Here is what it means at Au Lapine Agile.

We sit around the edges of the room, leaving an open table in the centre. A man plays a piano against the rear wall. There is no stage. A small curtain opens and 8 or so men and women, each in their own way looking very French indeed, sit around a table and get jovial in a language I don’t understand. They launch into rousing song. Without fanfare, our four hour evening has begun.

Song after song enthrals with the mystique of an ancient sea shanty, which I am told some of these are. A server brings us the house drink - some brandy with cherries inside. It is good but small and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to order anything else for the rest of the night. My wife, always prepared, has brought a bottle of water.

In a few spots we are helped to sing along and it is magic. ‘Oui, oui, oui!’ I sing. The voices of strangers join together just like those linked arms back in Munich. The pure beauty of music unites us, beyond language and distance, for a night. 

Some performers leave and each takes their turn in solo or pair to entertain us. In the end, past midnight, four of us remain while a lone singer croons over a strummed guitar. As intimate as it gets, this is simply like no other night I’ve ever had, and the perfect cork on an already beautiful European adventure. 

Jesus at the Cabaret.

Beauty in Our Backyard

I’m back home now, still on the lookout for beauty, and still finding plenty of it. Just a day or so after returning I was sent this video. You’ve likely seen it already, but its worth another watch. We don’t need to visit the places I’ve mentioned to open our eyes in wonder. Just go for a brisk fall walk with your heart wide open.

13 Moments From the Tempelhof Airport Garden

I've been back from Europe nearly a week and I'm just now getting settled. I return refreshed, with a full memory, and a fuller memory card. I am seeking ways to unpack it all.

There was champagne at the Eifel Tower. The massive treasure chest of modern art that is the Pompidou Centre. The Salvador Dali Gallery. The old rail yards of Berlin. The midnight bike-ride through a pitch dark drug park. The beer steins and lederhosen of Munich. There was just so much. 

When I feel this sort of overwhelm, I know I need to focus–to zoom in on just one moment. So let me take you to Berlin's abandoned Tempelhof Airport.

I am wandering, jaw dropped and wide-eyed, through the most wild and beautiful garden I've ever seen. The Tempelhof Airport is an abandoned city-centre airport, like our own. It was slated for redevelopment, like our own. Unlike Edmonton's Municipal Airport, Tempelhof is a war hero. It was here that the US would drop off supplies and aid. This patch of grass and concrete and asphalt has worked its way into Berlin's heart. They love it here.

Tempelhof is now many things to many people. It is a sprawling runway for bicycles and skateboards, rollerblades and scooters. It is a place for children to race on foot, with start and finish lines painted out. It is hopscotch and chalk drawing. It is a place to picnic by the little old airplane. A spot to play baseball. A place to watch and learn about birds. A dance school. A bike-repair training centre. A refreshing hand-in-hand walk. A community garden.

In middle of this public park, now reclaimed by Berlin's citizens (I am told they will never develop it now), there is a community garden.

And I am wandering through this garden, taking photos. The first visit I just gawked and wondered aloud how this could happen. There are, seemingly, no rules at the Tempelhof garden. Respect your neighbours, of course, but build what you wish with whatever you wish. A pile of trash waits just at the edge to be transformed into the waking dreams of gardeners. I am back today to capture this–to feed my lens a kaleidoscope of imagination. To try and bring some of Tempelhof back, for you.

I need to try, because this remains my favourite memory of Europe. There is something about such ragged beauty–it's absolute freedom granted to the human spirit–that is a pure joy. This place, so far from perfect, is just perfict. 

Here. Let me show you as best I can in thirteen images.

Be sure to click each image for a description, my thoughts, and a larger version.

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A Friday 13 Sendoff So We Can All Take a Trip

Okay, I don't want to rub it in, but I'm headed to Europe tonight, and won't be back until after Thanksgiving. That means it's going to get a little thin around this blog for a couple of weeks. But I've made you a care package.

Here are thirteen fresh links to wander through. So now we can all take a trip. And hey, if you click just one of these a day, I'll be back with you in no time. Until then ...

1. Distance can be difficult, and that personal touch can make all the difference. Handwritten notes mean a lot - even if they are written by robots.
2. My visit to the Louvre in a couple of weeks will include a peek at the Mona Lisa - but lucky for me, it will also include a gander at this contemporary neon lightning bolt, shot straight through the Pyramid by Claude Lévêque.
3. I'll be unplugging from social networks while away, including this new one called Mix, which is all about building on the creations of others. Very cool. Here's a 'mix' with relevance to The Bleeding Heart, for instance. What could go in that bubble?
4. I'll even unplug from promising new social networks like the always-ad-free Ello. Really, they won't sell our data. It's right in their manifesto.
5. Manifestos are pretty awesome. That's why we wrote one.
6. Of course, we were inspired by some other great manifesto's, like this one from Holstee.
7. When I unplug, I'll be keeping notes and drawing by hand. I hear that's good for the brain.
8. Perhaps I'll stumble across some great public art. Did you read my recent piece on Murals and Morale in the Inner City?
9. It has a great illustration by the best-named-Zine-in-history - WeAreNotAtTheMall.
10. Speaking of local arts publications, are you reading Prairie Seen Notes?
11. Back on the international scene, how about following an artist's hilarious imaginary adventures with his dog?
12. And while we're on the subject of imaginary - how about an art museum where all of the art is imaginary? Not convinced? What if James Franco were involved?
13. OK, I have to admit. That last one does sound a bit like a joke. Or, perhaps, exactly like a joke. Love the opening line of this story - 'Let's face it. Art is not really meant to be understood by most people.'

Your Turn Now

So I'm off folks. Want to add to the collective art consciousness while I'm away? Add you own links and recommendations to the comments below (one link per comment, please).