Tag Archives: art

Cinderella’s shoe of beads

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Cinderella's shoe of beads
It's probably not that comfortable, but it is kinda pretty, don't you think?

I marvel at people ingenuity - being able to picture a shoe, or a bird, or a lizard in their mind's eye, and then being able to make it appear into existence using only beads and wires.

Handprints and real irony

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Handprints on a black wall
I found these handprints on the wall of the Wellness Foundation, an organisation that supports people struggling with HIV/AIDS.

I would have written a little more about what they do, but ironically, Google lists the site with a note "This site may harm your computer." I dug a little deeper and found that Google found that the site is infected with malware that automatically downloads to your computer, potentially infecting it with a virus.

Now Alanis, that's irony.

Neoliberalism = Colonialism, really?

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Neoliberalism = Colonialism, really?
I can't say that I see the rational in this equation. I suppose it's a communistic (or perhaps rather socialistic) viewpoint, which in their ideals has merit, but from what I can tell tend to be counterproductive in their implementation.

Man with a heavy hand

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Man with a heavy hand
Kerry-Anne first made the heavy-hand comment on the photo she took. She was kidding of course. :)

This sculpture is a work by Dylan Lewis (see more of his work here). The inscription below the work is a poem by Ian McCallum. It reads:

"Whose permission are we waiting for to enter that 'uncertain ground'
where the voice of our wild history can be heard?
How long is it going to take to acknowledge that there is indeed a menagerie
within each of us... a wolf, a hyena, a lion... a wild man and a wild woman?"
Ian McCallum

A boney’s skull

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A boney's skull
If you don't catch the reference in this post's title, it's probably because you never saw the amusing and somewhat-different zombie movie, Warm Bodies.

I know, I know, Kerry-Anne at first rolled her eyes at "zombie movie" too. Nevertheless, just as she was, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. The movie deserved it's IMDB 7.0 rating, you should watch it. :)

A differential creature

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A differential creature
As mentioned before, Kerry-Anne and I are away in Hermanus for the weekend, and so I'm writing this from our comfy room at Les Baleines guest house.

While I doubt this piece of art (made from a car's differential) would fit with most people's decor, still it is pretty cool, don't you think?

Metalhead

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Metalhead
Kerry-Anne and I are away in the coastal town of Hermanus for the weekend - I'll share a few photos from our little get-away in days to come, but for now here's another photo from the art exhibition at The Woodstock Foundry. :)

World War Steampunk guy?

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World War Steampunk guy
This is one of the artworks on display at the The Woodstock Foundry, 160 Albert Road, Woodstock. Pretty awesome, don't you think? This statue in some way reminded me of James Bigglesworth - remember that guy? :)

Anyway, I'm not sure, but given that the sculpture looks to me like it's made from bronze, I'm assuming that it was made by an artist working for (or at least affiliated with) BronzeAge at The Woodstock Foundry. Visit their site, they have a few fantastic pieces in their gallery.

A mural, of sorts

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A mural, of sorts
I found this mural below the Cape Town Civic Centre buildings in Cape Town. If you click the photo to see the large version you'll barely be able to make out a small sign with red text to the lower left of the mural that reads "Emergency Exit - Keep Clear". It's pretty cool that the door was included into the mural - it's barely visible when walking past. :)

Before I die I want to…

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Before I die
We found this chalk board street art on Kloof Street in Cape Town. The first "Before I die I want to..." wall was created in February last year by a New Orleans artist, Candy Chang. It attracted so much attention that she created a toolkit to allow people all over the world to create similar walls.

Visit her website to see dozens of far-more-awesome photos of the original as well as similar walls in Brooklyn, Johannesburg, Mexico and Kazakhstan.

DAL’s Deer Park mural

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Deer Park mural
DAL, a public space artist, was born in China and started with his first public works in 2004. Since then he's graced Cape Town with a few murals, including this one at Deer Park - just below Deer Park Café. Click on the pics below to see larger versions, and click through to DAL's own site to browse through his other works - they're extraordinary!

Sculptures at Saronsberg

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Sculptures at Saronsberg
I find there's something terrifying about this statue - don't you? We discovered this sculpture (which I recall stood taller than I!), the sculptures below, and many more in the wine-tasting room at the Saronsberg estate. Kerry-Anne and I took quite some time to browse the various works of art, which (I have to admit) was due to my obsession to photograph every sculpture from almost every angle possible. :)

The estate is certainly worth a visit, even if only to visit the exhibition. Take care though, even though the estate known as Saronsberg, it's on the opposite side of the Winterhoek mountain range to the small town of Saron. Browse Saronsberg's website, they have a map that shows exactly where the estate is located.

African statue art

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African statue art
We found these babies outside a shop in a side street (perhaps close to Shortmarket Street) in Cape Town. Stupidly I forgot to check the address, so I'm afraid you'll have to tour around the city center looking for the statues - that's if you'd like to find the store.

I wasn't sure if the grim-looking proprietor was happy for us to take photos so I moved our party along leaving him to assume that we were foreign tourists. :)

Five strange horses of the Sea Point Promenade

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Five strange horses
Earlier this year the City unveiled Kevin Brand's White Horse sculpture at the Sea Point Promenade.

Each of the five horses has a trumpet-like piece of aluminum protruding from their mouths and from beneath their tails (see the pics below). What the photos don't show is that the five horses are interconnected by underground tubes that help convey sound. The idea is for pairs of people to work out which trumpet is linked to which other trumpet by speaking and listening.

These strange horses reminded me of another strange horse whom you may like to follow on Twitter.

The Civic Center’s knot of red tube art

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The Civic Center's knot of red tube art
I could find little information about this piece of art located near the Civic Centre in Cape Town. The piece has no inscription and there's little information on the Web.

What I could find out is that the work was commissioned from the renowned South African artist, Edoardo Villa, in 1981. What's interesting is that in 1981 the National Party won a majority of the seats in government, 131 of the 165 seats. I wonder if the work was commissioned to commemorate this event?

Malawian art at Camps Bay

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Malawian art
I tend to be taken for a tourist when walking around Camps Bay beach (with my bulky camera) and immediately attract the attention of a gentle stream of informal traders selling their arts and crafts.

Jake, the Malawian artist in the photo, commented in me taking photos and then quickly proceeded with his sales routine. I wasn't in the market for paintings - but since I wasn't in a particular rush to get anywhere I didn't mind listening to his story.

Jake and his brother are from Malawi and came to Cape Town (like many other foreign nationals) to seek a better life. I don't know if he's found the better life, but he spends his days near the sea selling paintings and at night goes home to work on more stock - which doesn't sound too bad, right?

Unfortunately, often these guys can't afford good accommodation, so they often don't live in the very nice conditions. Given this, and given the wealth of Camps Bay that they face each day, I find it extremely admirable to see how jovial they seem; on the outside at least.

For reference, before negotiating Jake will offer you a painting at R180 (which isn't a bad price for art, actually). If you don't have the money on you, he's fully prepared to negotiate the price - but don't be too stingy now. Ok? ;)