Month: July 2017

J. R. R. Tolkien: “In Water There Lies Yet the Echo of the Music”

Photographer Unknown, (Sailing in Blue Water)

“It is said by the Eldar that in water there lives yet the echo of the Music of the Ainur more than in any substance that is in this Earth; and many of the Children of Ilúvatar hearken still unsated to the voices of the Sea, and yet know not for what they listen.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion 

 

Kodo, “O-Daiko”

Kodo, “O-Daiko”

Kodō is a professional taiko drumming troupe. Based on Sado Island, Japan, they have had a role in popularizing taiko drumming, both in Japan and abroad. They regularly tour Japan, Europe, and the United States.

Although the main focus of the performance is taiko drumming, other traditional Japanese musical instruments such as fue and shamisen make an appearance on stage as do traditional dance and vocal performance. Kodo’s performance include pieces based on the traditional rhythms of regional Japan, pieces composed for Kodo by contemporary songwriters, and pieces written by Kodo members themselves. The numbers that Kodo perform can change from concert to concert. Kodo’s performance normally lasts for about one hour and forty minutes.

In Japanese the word “Kodo” conveys two meanings: “heartbeat” the primal source of all rhythm and, read in a different way, the word can mean “children of the drum,” a reflection of Kodo’s desire to play their drums simply, with the heart of a child.

One of the most memorable drums of many taiko ensembles is the ōdaiko (大太鼓). For many, the ōdaiko solo is the embodiment of power due to the size of the drum, the volume, and the endurance it takes to perform. The ōdaiko is the largest drum of all taiko, if not the entire world. The largest ōdaiko are too big to move and permanently reside inside a temple or shrine.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Maneki Neko

Maneki Neko, Edo Period, Japan, 8.3 Inches High x 6.3  Wide x 4.3

Maneki Neko beckoned guests and customers into inns and shops. Most were humble creatures and very few early examples exist. Instead of raising a paw to call money like his brethren, this cat tips a right ear, curling it forward in welcome.

This okimono is in the form of a cat with its paw resting on a Shinto shrine bell, the bell articulated to open sideways revealing a compass. The cat is made of cast, cold-chiseled and gilt bronze with inlaid glass eyes; the compass is made of cast, cold-chiseled and gilt bronze with a glass cover. The reverse has holes for pin attachments for a now missing base. This was crafted in the Edo period, 1700 to 1830.

It may be that this feline sculpture beckoned for a dealer in scientific instruments, compasses, telescopes and microscopes. If so, only the metropolis of Edo (now modern Tokyo) would have supported such a specialist shop. Such a merchant would travel to visit feudal daimyo clients, almost the only people with the means to purchase his wares and afford the medium of gilt bronze. They loved surprises and fashionable karakuri or mechanical toys.

Joel Rea

Paintings by Joel Rea

Joel Rea was born in 1983 and graduated from the Queensland College of Art with a Bachelor of Fine Art in 2003. He has exhibited his paintings through out Australia for the last 13 years featuring also in notable overseas exhibitions in the United States, Europe and Asia. Rea has been acclaimed for his oil paintings in many prestigious art awards held across Australia including most recently the Fleurieu Landscape Prize, The Mosman Art Award, The Sulman Prize and the 2016 Moran Prize for Portraiture.

Janko Konstantinov

 

 

Janko Konstantinov, Telecommunication Office Building, PTT Telecommunications Center, Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia

In 1965, the United Nations held a limited competition for the re-development of the city of Skopje, which at that time was a city of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The town, a beautiful example of an old-style European city, had been very heavily destroyed by an earthquake in 1963, leaving 100,000 residents homeless. Sixty per cent of the prize was awarded to Japanese architect Kenzo Tange; the other forty per cent was awarded to the Yugoslavian team which included Janko Konstantinov.

Janko Konstantinov, a Macedonian architect, was a student of the legendary Finnish architect Avar Aalto. The Telecommunictaion Office Building, an example of the Social-Modernist style, was built of reinforced concrete between 1972 and 1974. Konstantinov also designed the Central Post Office building, the Nikola Karev Hight School and the Medical University.

Reblogged with many thanks to : https://doctordee.tumblr.com

Bronze Rabbit Okimono

Artist Unknown, Bronze Rabbit Okimono

Okimono in the form of an alarmed plump rabbit, made of cast and cold chiseled bronze with touches of gilt. This okimono is unsigned. It was probably cast in the late Edo period of Japan (early 19th century).

The bronze and gilding have taken on a warm softness with age. The rabbit is five inches high by four and a half inches long and three inches wide.

Kelly Moore

Kelly Moore, “Dead Cowboy Retablo”

Kelly Moore is a self-taught artist who has no formal training or education in art. His original and expressionist work has been referred to as Outsider Art, Art Brut, Raw Art and Visionary Art. His intuitive style and technique reflects a raw, primitive quality that is frequently juxtaposed with a startling innocence. He is currently living and working in New Mexico.