Month: August 2015

Nicholas R. Mann: “Druid Magic”

Photographer Unknown, (Druid Magic)

Through contact with animals, humans find the ability to be in the present moment. In the world of animals, we feel who we are. Animals are at one with the needs and the drives of their bodies. When an animal is tired, it sleeps; when it is hungry, it eats. Going after what it needs, an animal is what it feels – unlike humans, whose feelings are often controlled by conditioning. Animals also teach us how to use our inherent power to transform our situation. An animal can move in its entirety from one state of being to another. From this we learn to let go and move away from outmoded mental states and beliefs.

Because they are at one with their life force, animals provide humans with reality. Their way of being is made up of actual, tangible things and somatic experiences. Animals provide us with a means of knowing that certain experiences really do exist and are not merely ideas. There is no separation between the animal and the world, just as there is, in fact, no separation between us and the world.

-Nicholas R. Mann, Druid Magic: The Practice of Celtic Wisdom

Robert Rauschenberg

 

Robert Rauschenberg, “Wall Eyed Carp / ROCI JAPAN”, Acrylic and Fabric Collage on Canvas, 1987, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

“Wall-Eyed Carp” is a fine example of what the artist called a “Combine,” a painting that incorporates everyday objects, in this instance the addition ofa visually striking kite. The painting is more than 20 feet long and is signed below the fish’s tail.

Rauschenberg challenged preconceptions about the boundaries between art and life and profoundly altered the course of art after midcentury.

Mathematical Message

Artist Unknown, (Mathematical Message from Third Planet in the Gliese 832 System), Computer Graphics, Animation Gifs

Gliese 832 is a red dwarf of spectral type M2V in the southern constellation Grus. It is too faint to be seen with the naked eye. Located relatively close to our sun, at a distance of 16.2 light years, it has just under half the mass and radius of our sun. In 2014, Gliese 832 was announced to be hosting the closest potentiallly habitable Earth-mass-range exoplanet in the solar system.

José Ortega Y Gasset: “Were Art to Redeem Man. . .”

Photographer Unknown, “Garibai”

“Were art to redeem man, it could do so only by saving him from the seriousness of life and restoring him to an unexpected boyishness. The symbol of art is seen again in the magic flute of the Great God Pan which makes the young goats frisk at the edge of the grove. All modern art begins to appear comprehensible and in a way great when it is interpreted as an attempt to instill youthfulness into an ancient world.”

-José Ortega Y Gasset

James Doran-Webb

Dragons from the Woods: Sculptures by James Doran-Webb

James Doran-Webb, 46, is a Birmingham, England-based master craftsman. He has been all over the web for his breathtaking ‘galloping horse sculptures’ made from driftwood. James has been playing with wood since his childhood. However, it was since 2000s that he begun to explore various forms of nature. Now, he has appeared with two stunning dragon sculptures in his collection of life-size animal sculptures made from driftwood.

Perched on a dead tree sits ‘The Wyvern in the Baobabs’ – the first dragon. The ‘Wyvern’s Folly’ – the second dragon- is perched on a gazebo. The wings, nails, teeth, and gesture, everything is given extensive details. The gazebo is made from reclaimed steel and recycled water bottles.