Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Beginnings
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
You step through the door…
…and…
…the city blazes silver in the blinding noon.
You stand in the shade of an underpass but can feel the city, warm as glowing coals.
A monorail hushes by overhead, a little breeze in its wake.
The city sleeps by day, gathering energy, and you have nine hours until it wakes…
…or…
…you slide down the gravel bank and catch yourself just above the waterline.
The ice-covered lake booms.
To your left, the mills are sharp-edged shadows in the twilight. Their vast, hushed buzz has all the little hairs on your arms standing on end.
Under a charcoal evening sky, lights glint among the far dark hills and the farther mountains.
Skaters are approaching, a line of them, moving fast across the ice…
….or…
…you stand beneath painted cliffs, dry heat electric on the back of your neck. You turn to face the towers.
Looks like a busy day, with much coming and going between the aeries.
Standing with the petroglyphs, you feel abstract, an outsider looking out over the flow of lives from a distance that’s more than physical.
Out the corner of your eye, however, you see a path. Winding upward, it can take you among the towers, and the towers will bring you to the aeries…
…or…
…you realize you’re sinking into the earth, the heat all over you like a thousand sweaty palms.
You step onto the roots of a tree for better footing, and cheese-like smell rises from the mud.
Is that the splash of dragons, off among the reeds?
A butterfly gnaws on your leg. A flower buzzes in your ear. You wonder if this was the best destination.
But then the serpents begin to sing, and you forget the rest…
…or…
…you stand in the monkey’s palm, looking out over a plain of earthbound constellations. A sea of signs stretches to the horizon.
The flinty wind on your face. A sound of slow-dripping water.
From this low rise, you look out beyond the monkey, trying to make out the other designs. The chalk lines hold the light, glow amid the evening-faded world. You look out beyond the plain’s cairns and rock mounds, farther than its farthest pyramids.
Early stars stare back at you.
A door opens in the rocky hill to your right, a rectangle of butter-yellow light.
A silhouette beckons.
Apparently, you were expected…
New Vienna – A photographic history of the Western Riots
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
AUTHOR’S NOTE: The following consists of image descriptors copied from the Wembausch photographic archive in New Vienna
- Mayor Smyther entering Halifax hall the morning before the Western riots (Mellart, 1997)
- Graffiti slogans by street artist Elscape (Various, 1987 – 1997)
- Riese & Resist (sic. 1997)
- Ride or die (subway roof) (1995)
- You’re mom (sic.) (early work) (c. 1987)
- Remember the Shadows (1997)
- Street shiner with “See the light” sandwich board (Mellart, 1995)
- Mixeffellion theatre, northern facade (Shiner, 1963)
- Man fighting his own shadow (Anon., c. 1984-6)
- Man blinded through repeated shining of flashlight into own eyes (Dr. Oscar Lucrus, 1995)
- Tavern in the Hole (Anon., Date unkown)
- CURATORIAL NOTE: Double check authenticity. Reflections are off. Windows should reflect Straussberg plaza but neoclassical architecture clearly apparent. Possible misfiling? Cross check with photomontage. Possibly an early Mellart?
- “Street tomb” for Elscape 1979 – 1997 (Mellart 1998)
- Woman fighting her brother’s shadow (Anon., 1996)
- Straussberg plaza burning, Western Riot series (T. Lindeman, 1997)
- Mixeffellion theatre burning, Western Riot series (T. Lindeman, 1997)
- “Flashlights Sold Out,” Pennysaver (Aldark, 1997)
- Elscape wall mural, The Tear and the Shadows Beyond (Anon., 1996)
- Elscape, in full Street Shiner regalia, appearing in court accused of the murder of Mayor Smyther (Samuel Kennedy, 1998)
- Two men fighting shadow (Mellart. 1997)
- CURATORIAL NOTE: Really a Mellart? Misfiled? Cross check with photo-manipulation.
- Grave of Mayor Smyther after vandalism attack (Thomas Veer, 1999)
- “Batteries for flashlights sold here” Pennysaver (Aldark, 1997)
- Graffiti erroneously credited to Elscape (Various 1998 – 2000)
- “Shine on” – Rubberchin (Rubberchin, 1998)
- “Burning in the light” – Devi8 (T. Lindeman, 1999)
- “Never dark. Always aflame.” – Squealpiggy (Underwell, 1998)
- “Solar powered savior” – Animan (Oscard, 1999)
- “My light still shines” – Rubberchin (J. Hutch, 2000)
- State troopers defending power switching stations (Mellart, 1997)
- “Shadows burn away” graffiti, Western Riot series (T. Lindeman, 1997)
- Mayor Smyther re-election campain (Thomas Veer, 1994)
- CURATORIAL NOTE: Misfiled? Shadows are all over the place. Check photo-manipulation.
- “Was it good for you?” – Group of Street Shiners skateboarding in the ashes of Mixeffellion theatre, police officers gagged, bound and surrounded by celebrants in background, Western Riot series (T. Lindeman, 1997)