Strange but familiar

In October 2013, shiftazine ran an article entitled ‘When is an icon, an icon?’. 

In the article the notion of, and definition for, an icon/symbol was discussed. 

To recap: Icons are symbols that represent an object in a literal sense.
 

Over the past several decades, due to the rising fascination with the notion of celebrity, the word ‘Icon’ has come to represent or 

encapsulate qualities of a person whose talent or persona is charismatic to the masses. 

We can look to the most recent ‘Madonna’ to get a handle on the contemporary usage of this semiotic term.

Examples of ‘iconic’ images are found in second hand markets and venues such as ‘tat’ stores around the world.  

The example above was sited just the other day at Mitchell Road Antiques in Burke Street, Alexandria, Sydney.

These images otherwise referred to as ‘holy pictures’ are strange in that they are not secular objects, and represent a philosophical belief, 

and yet there they sit, in very secular situations waiting to be bought by some person who 

sees their beauty other than a religious one.  

Is there a need for a sense of ‘mystery’ in people’s lives?
Why are people open to these old school images? Who buys them?

Under the Overpass_April's Wallism

Under the freeway overpass, near the GOMA in Brisbane, huge murals have been lovingly, passionately painted.
These works are grand in scale and effort.
They demand your attention both from an aesthetic point of view, as well as from a place of symbolism.

They are beautiful.

Issue No.15:C.O.L.O.U.R Observations

It's a pink kinda day

It is almost impossible for me to describe how I feel about the colour PINK. It is beautiful but sometimes its tacky. It holds a universe of meaning in its presence.

I will leave it to others to eloquently articulate in words what I feel about this hue.

I am oaring now 

In a pink river 

In a pink canoe

 with a pink feeling


On a pink Saturday!
Framarz Bagheri

Pink Trees

 – give seasons a severance

 – give growth a grace

 – give spring a scene


Pink Trees

 – give nature a nourishment

 – give trees a taste

 – give feeling a fervor


Pink Trees

 – give earth an element 

– give thoughts a thrill

 – give leaves a liveliness


Pink Trees...
give my vision a vibrant vibe 
&
 my heart a heavy hunger
Christian Hudak

Pink flowers; 
Pink pens;
 What about a pink life

; Pink stars
; Pink trees; 
What a pink life that would be; 



Pink shoes; 
Pink dresses; 
That is the pink fashion life for me!
Claudia Wilson

I have never see a pink cloud rain before. 
I have only seen a magenta bolt of lightening try to strike my heart,

 and
 Aqua tears trickling from my dazzled misty eyes, down my
 Flushed and lonesome cheek, though 
I have never see a pink cloud rain before.



I have never seen a pink cloud rain before.

I have seen spotted purple snakes crawling up my bedroom walls, and
 Transparent bubbles filled with dreams

 floating before my very eyes, though, 


I have never seen a pink cloud rain before.



I have never seen a pink cloud rain before, though 
I have seen a reddish sun cast shadows down upon a tortuous, rippling river; 


I have seen tears cascading down a sloping hill, and 
Gulls flapping their gentle, feathered wings atop some cragged cliffs, 

although 
I have never seen a pink cloud rain before.



I have never seen a pink cloud rain before, although 
I have heard eerie and commanding thoughts and voices 
That no one else could hear. 


I have had disturbing, stabbing thoughts that have injured me inside, 

though 
I have never seen a pink cloud rain before. 



I have never seen a pink cloud rain before, although 
I have slid down an icy mountainside on a very sunny night.


I have wept a sea of deep blue and purple tears, though 
I have never seen a pink cloud rain before.



I have never heard thunder clap behind a rosy cloud, or seen
Tears fall from heaven or have heard angels singing. 


I have had morbid thoughts of loss, death and suicide, 
While thunder clapped, and
 

These pink clouds could not rain.

 

Perhaps someday I shall see a pink cloud rain upon a 
Magnificent world, which I have created for myself,

 
Where tall green and golden reeds are surrounded by swirling water pools, and 


A hallucinogenic sun sets behind high and mighty mountains.


And there, people would be trustworthy and true to heart.

 No, I have never seen a pink cloud rain before,

 although, 
I have seen almost everything there is to see -
 Some good sights and some bad-


I have heard some screaming voices echo in my mind, although, 
Some quiet ones as well. 
I

 have seen some orange and, pinkish sunsets, and mirages in
 The fortress of my own mind, however-



I have never seen a pink cloud rain before, and 
I have never seen a pink cloud weep before….




Claudia Krizay

UglyBeautiful = Dilemma

Sometimes a thing is both ugly and attractive at the same time.  Sometimes you simply do not know whether you love a thing or hate it.  

The strange feeling of contradiction settles on all of us from time to time.

Op shops, second hand stores, antique markets are often where these feelings of confusion mostly arise.  

Do you love this odd object enough to pay good money it, even though you do not really like it, and yet you can not stop thinking about it.  

I bet you can recall one of those moments right now.

What we have here is an UGLY BEAUTIFUL dilemma.

Case in point is this tea set based on sea mollusks, both odd and charming, with a personality all of its own. 

The bright side of life

These images are from separate exhibitions staged this year in Australia. 

One was a part of the fabulous Future Fashion held at GOMA, Brisbane, Queensland, the other was from the Chuck Close Show held at the MCA, here in Sydney.  

Both were extraordinary shows. Both were must see experiences.

The cohesive theme between these two very different images is colour…the every present element that drives our psyches, and feeds our souls.  
Colour  is a encoded language that we are all capable of decoding, although many people are not aware of the knowledge they have buried deep inside. 
They just react and respond to colour from an intuitive place, never really consciously unpacking what any particular colour is saying to them.  

I guess it doesn’t matter as long as colour continues to trigger the emotions within us all.

Green is the future

Green glass was a big thing in the 1950s, but no one seems to want it anymore.

You cannot go to a local market or a church fete or a second hand store without being confronted with a vast selection of green glass objects for the home.  

Now you can walk past it…or you can start a collecting it.  

I fell in love with green glass when I first discovered Trisha Guild a long time ago.  

She designed a bedroom, which was all green, soft green, and all the tables and benches were full of green glass vases, bowls, objects of all shapes and sizes.  

It made me think of the sea and grass and nature in general. Since then every bedroom I have had has been a soft green, full of green glass.