art - what is it good for?

A couple of days ago, while trying to ignore proper work, l read the comments below in the letters section in The Northern Echo. Since then, there has been no response, so here's mine.
I'm all for councils trying to save money, and the article made it out as though there are many funds that should be utilised because they are not used. A good argument.
On the other hand, speaking as a a supporter of the downtrodden, poorly educated  mass who, in the future, may wish to gaze upon awe inspiring works, makes me ponder the thought....what will happen to the artworks if they are sold? I'll tell, you what. Locked away in private collections so none of the proletariat can view them. A short term gain for the councils that makes the rich happy, and the poor even more disenfranchised.
Art is for the people brothers and sisters, it's one of the rare opportunities to be close to a work of greatness, and imagine infinite possibilities, and an age of wonder.
Then again, we could flog them off to rich bastards, and spend our times looking at each other, wondering where it all went wrong (There was no revolution).
I know where l stand.

toodle pip

the new beatles statue in liverpool - plus more

                                                   
                                                        Photos by Paul Dean, from here

A new Beatles statue by Andrew Edwards has been unveiled on Liverpool's Pier Head by John Lennon's sister, Julia Baird, and the deputy mayor of Liverpool.
It is looking towards Ireland and the United States, and at least it looks like them, unlike some earlier efforts.

                                                           The one at Mathew Street

                                                       John Lennon outside The Cavern Pub

                                                                        Cavern Walks

     Ringo Starr outside the 'Hard Day's Night' hotel (and George Harrison, below, also outside said hotel)

And there's more!

                                                                   Altmaty, Kazakhstan

                                                                            Houston

                                                                          Mongolia

And last, but not least ....... the waxworks at Madam Tussauds

My favourite one is probably the John Lennon one in Cuba, which you can sit next to. One day, l intend to do so.

 toodle pip

holly woodlawn is dead

As a fan of pretty much all things Lou Reed wise (discounting Metal Machine Music), and a lot of the Andy Warhol stuff, the death of Holly Woodlawn on Sunday was another addition to that great art collective in the sky.
Don't know who she is? Only the 'Holly came from Miami FLA' in Lou Reed's 'Walk on the Wild Side', one of the greatest singles of all time, which reached the giddy heights of #10 in the UK charts back in 1972. 'Little Joe' is still alive, but he's the last one of those mentioned in the song that is still alive now.
Luckily, there's still John Cale, Moe Tucker and Doug Yule left from The Velvet Underground.
Enjoy them while you can.
More about Holly here.



toodle pip

the reaction to terrorism

These pretty much sums up how l feel about the current terrorist activities, and the gung ho reactions to them.
Never mind folks, we'll soon be bombing Syria.

From here

And here

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nikolai tolstyh photographs / papercuttings

This is a simple idea, and has no doubt been done many times in the past, but l'm impressed by these papercuttings / photographs by Nikolai Tolstyh, which have cut out animals, coloured in by being held over colourful backgrounds, mainly from nature.
Simple yet very effective. Check out his instagram page, where there are plenty more to be seen.

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strange chinese poster and text - bums and cocks

I have absolutely no idea what this picture and text is meant to represent, but it amuses me anyway.
Found on this blog.

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lee griggs' portrait modeling experiment

Go on - admit it.  These look pretty damn good, and there's more where these came from.
Check out Lee Griggs' site to see more abstract goodies, of various shapes and sizes.

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jungle book lobby cards

More stuff that l would collect if l had unlimited funds - lobby cards from my favourite films.
Here's some from one of them - The Jungle Book (the original).
Don't get me started on the sacrilege that was Jungle Book 2).

And here's an early sketch of Baloo the bear, looking like a fatter version of Mr Parrot.

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some cool statues from around the world

To save me having to type too much, and encourage you to check out the site l got these pictures from, go here for information about them, plus you can see some other cool statues from around the world.
I'm a bit unsure about the top one though. It's certainly good, but also very unnerving.

toodle pip