Frannie's Blog

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Vankleek Hill, Ontario, Canada
I look for beauty and truth in everything. It's not always there of course but I try to find it or make it happen. I love people who make me laugh.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

And Now For Something Completely Different!


In CONCEPTUAL ART it's the IDEA of a thing which takes precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. H-m-m-m...so Marcel Duchamps apparently decided to exhibit a urinal and title it FONTAINE. And sign it R. Mutt. Well, he certainly got noticed back there in 1917 or thereabouts, and so began a new art movement. Sometimes labeled DADA or INSTALLATION art, this unorthodox style continues to stir controversy. Think Yoko Ono or Christo of the wrapped islands and buildings and you get the picture. Or not. The answer is..."HUH?"
 
Here's Damian Hirst standing next to THE GOLDEN CALF, which is a real dead calf with 18 carat gold horns and hooves, standing in a tank of formaldehyde. I'm not sure what the concept is but someone paid 10.3 million pounds for it. The more outrageous the more bucks it brings.
So I've been casting about for more examples of potential conceptual art in my own neighbourhood.
 
 
And look at what I found! This installation was created by our neighbour weeks AFTER the annual pick-up of cast-offs so I think it qualifies. The concept was, " what would happen if I place this box (wooden) on top of this desk (steel) and leave them at the roadside?" The answer is: someone took it the next day.
I call this ROADSIDE OFFERING.


This is more an example of PERFORMANCE ART. My husband's feet are sporting cabbage leaves. The concept here is that cabbage leaves are supposed to decrease swelling to parts of the body, in this case, feet. And it doesn't matter what kind of cabbage.

Green cabbage will do just as well. 
 

Now this is my Hirst-inspired example of nauseating art. The concept here is, "This is what can happen when you leave a bottle of wine uncapped in your basement and there is a mouse trying to escape a couple of cats, like Sam and Bridget.
 
It's amazing how little space a mouse needs to get in.
I call this CHATEAU SOURIS.
 
 
Yum!
And no, we didn't drink it.

I'm off to Bella Coola for the next few weeks and promise to be back with more traditional, less avant-garde paintings. But one never knows, do one?

15 comments:

Lynne said...

Hahahahaha-ha! I love this. The poor wee mousie, though. I choose to think it had a wonderful time before succumbing. A bit macabre...but still, you've turned it into Art.

Ronna said...

This is a fabulous post Fran. I think you should try to sell the mouse in a bottle. If Damien H. made a few million with his, how about a few thousand for the mousie?

frannie said...

Sorry to report, mousie and wine now poured out beneath the pine trees next to the pond. Mousie came out very easily, before wine glugs. I'd thought it would get stuck like a cork, but no.
Ronna, it's not about the money, is it? har, har!

Unknown said...

This is a fabulous post Fran. I think you should try to sell the mouse in a bottle. Translation Agency

Evlyn said...

This post was so wonderfully mind-stretching (as good conceptual art is supposed to be) that I think I will go out and look for some cabbage leaves to put on my head.

frannie said...

Evlyn, maybe we could do a performance art number with cabbage heads and cabbage feet! Do you think the Pioneer Museum is ready?

Barbara Strobel Lardon said...

I too enjoyed this post. I definitely want to start photographing roadside offerings, of which I see a lot!

The calf was a bit much and I do wonder how that will hold up over time and interest?????

The mouse.....all I know is those two cats look guilty of something so they had to be involved!!!!

Have a good time.

frannie said...

Barbara, I feel a new theme coming to your quilting art. You can make anything look good!

Melanie Statnick said...

Hi there Fran ,I have never been to your part of ont before,and i was born and raised there..The leaf idea is something I shall have to try. In the heat of the south my feet swell fast.

frannie said...

Melanie, where in Ontario did you live? Hope the cabbage leaves help your feet too!

Anonymous said...

What a lovely blog you have! I've heard about the therapeutic qualities of cabbage before, but never tried it...not sure how good a mouse-flavoured wine is though. Poor wee mousie.

Knatolee said...

This post is so cool, Fran!! The mouse in the bottle... eeeeyuw!! But very very cool! Love the cabbage-leaf slippers.

C.L. Smith said...

So interesting! The mouse in the wine bottle was the best...

Unknown said...

Now Frannie this was really interesting especially the cow. I guess there is something for everyone and money may not be that important. Never knew about the cabbage leaf remedy either. You live and learn. Thanks for all the special art.

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