Wheeling

Tags

nature, photography, surrealism, urban

There came a day that the car needed a new wheel and we walked in the neigbourhood. The camera was in the backpack not for long.

in need of repair

This was a typical area of trade and operations, and in between there was a small area of bushes and trees.

invite for a moment of rest

Small spots of green (nature?) amids urban environment, easily brings surreal experiences.

co-existence

Buildings and trees share a relation with height.

aside

These are trees, the Dutch call ‘Acacia’, but wikipedia says Robinia pseudoacacia, or ‘false acacia’

nature looks at apartments in high buildings (8 stocks)

And looking one direction, an endless green nature expands for about 60 meter.

survival

While the other way, preparations to build new quarter are under way…

Wirixstraat

And, the destructive nature of humankind is visible in this trolley

victim number 22

It is not good enough, to steal and leave such lorrey, no, it must be smashed…

urban trees

Can trees survive without buildings?

wheeling

The walk brought the aim of our trip, in a different format.

red, light, windows, reflections and bicycle

The last minutes of the time we had to wait, withing the dealer’s compound.

A different tale

Tags

blur, elementary, haze, historic, inconspicious, inside, photography

The day of December two thousand and twenty, started with haze and drizzle, that kept some sort of lock over the day.

Still, face covered with mask in the train, we went to the city of Amsterdam, to visit the museum of photography ‘Foam’. Rarely do I make photos of photos. But there are other elements. My photos taken in the museum are given below, together with a few from the journey back home.

stubborn element (detail)

stubborn element (whole)

Now more than in earlier times, there is the need for refreshment of air within buildings.

grate for air vent (one)

Grate for air vent (two)

The artist Jan Schoonhoven might have found inspiration.

Grate for air vent (detail of one, B&W)

Somewhat hidden, there is a call for connectivity, dating from more than half a century ago.

electric wire and plugs

A crack in the window captures the focus.

crack in the window, museum Foam

Outside is different, but the view is still influenced. And strong light placed near historic facades of homes deviates the focus.

two lights near historic facade

While looking outside through the train windows, images are mirrors of movement.

speeds blurs the view outside (one)

There was no storm, just a train passing.

speed blurs the view outside (two)

• abstract
• archeology
• art
• Art competition
• assemblage
• creation
• Dada
• death
• Decay
• defense
• demography
• destruction
• development
• Figurative art
• France
• graphics
• Greece
• History
• inconspicious
• inside
• installation
• internet
• kunst
• landscape
• Le Pays
• mental health
• mushrooms
• nature
• natuur
• outdoor
• painting
• philosophy
• photography
• poem
• poetry
• poezie
• retirement
• rocks
• society
• street photography
• structure
• Uncategorized
• Urban nature

Growth and decay / Groei en verval

Tags

bos, forest, fotografie, groei, growth, mushrooms, nature, natuur, paddestoelen, photography

In autumn, of all seasons, the co-existence of growth and decay is most palpable.

In de herfst, van alle seizoenen, is het naast elkaar bestaan van groei en verval het meest tastbaar.

A mycelium of mushrooms feeds and decomposes plant material into organic matter vital for growth of other life.

Het mycelium van paddenstoelen groeit op en verteert plantaardig materiaal in organische materie, die vitaal is voor ander leven.

The form can be delicate and tiny (1)

De vorm kan delicaat en klein zijn (1)

The form can be delicate and tiny (2)

De vorm kan delicaat en klein zijn (2)

The form can be delicate and tiny (3)

De vorm kan delicaat en klein zijn (3)

Sometimes shape is complex and huge

Soms is de vorm complex en reusachtig

Growing in a row

Groei op rij

The color grey

De kleur grijs

The color yellow

De kleur geel

The color red (and white)

De kleur rood (en wit)

Suillellus luridus. Easily mistaken for Boletus Satanus or Devil’s bolete (Rubroboletus satanas), the latter being poisonous.

Suillellus luridus. Kan verwisseld worden met Boletus Satanus or Devil’s bolete (Rubroboletus satanas), waarbij de laatste giftig is.

Growth started and even before a mature form was reached, decay started. A fixed condition becomes fluid.

Groei begon en zelfs voordat een volwassen vorm werd bereikt, startte het verval. Een solide vorm wordt vloeibaar.

Variation in matter

Verschil in materie

Up to the next story

Verder naar het volgende verhaal

Snow in the High Moors / Hautes Fagnes / Hohes Fenn

Tags

Belgie, Belgique, fotografie, Hautes-Fagnes, Heuvels, Hills, Hohes Fenn, landscape, photography, poetry, Snow, Winter, woods

A return to the country visited as a kid led to Hautes Fagnes / Hohes Fenn or the High Moors, in Belgium.

In the eastern, German-speaking part, close to Eupen, presence and memories mingled

Thursday February 27^th, winter arrived, a rare guest this year

The snow creates silence, when it falls

Most sounds in the landscape are absorbed, and trees bear heavy white loads, branches bent

A shed is a hide-out for memories

And only when the snow is melting, returns the sound of water

Nearby, dripping from branches or roofs, at distance, the sound of the rivulet running down-hill

the stream soon retarded and widening into a bassin

Then leaving around the corner

Text and images (c) Drager Meurtant, February 2020

Bahnbetriebswerk Bayerischer Bahnhof

Tags

abandoned, Bahnhof, Bayerischer, fotografie, Grafitti, History, photography, railway, urban

With railways becoming the most important means of transport over land in the 19th century, repair units also had to be established.

Already in 1842, a repair unit for trains was established south of Leipzig (Germany) as the “Bahnbetriebswerk Bayerischer Bahnhof”.
Build in a half-circle, the repair unit allowed several locks to be examined and repaired.
During the second world-war, heavy damage was suffered, with some units repaired after the war, untill around 2000 it was no longer was kept functioning.

Now, kids can play with skates, and grafitti artists take the opportunity to decorate the abandoned place.

Turning circle allowing trains to enter different sections of the repair unit.

 

“Hush, perfection has no name”.

 

The inner state

 

Broken windows (the cat’s view)

 

The circle and the pitts

 

A laugh at a time brings mircacles

 

The crane to lift

 

Heating

 

Transport of paint tubes

 

At the turning point

 

“Hola”

 

Unit to steer currents

Feathers and cones / Veren en appels

Tags

black & white, cones, feathers, Greece, philosophy, photography, poem gedicht

Feathers and cones

What drives the wheel

to move around

to the image

to be seen,

the words

to appear in ink.

Just three feathers

amidst the cones of

cupressus sempervirens.

 

 

Veren en appels

Wat doet het wiel

rondgaan

naar het beeld dat

te zien valt

de woorden die

in inkt zichtbaar worden.

Slechts drie veren

temidden van de appels van

cupressus sempervirens.

 

(photo in Edessa, Hellas, May 2019, poem January 2020, (c) Drager Meurtant)

Beds and Fences

Tags

bed spiral, fence, fotografie, gate, landscape, las hurdes, philosophy, photography, rural, Spain

People often buy a bed, when entering adulthood. A bigger bed, when living (and sleeping) together.

When getting old, the number of hours in bed often increases, even when sleep is more disturbed and irregular.

Then comes the time, that those who used the bed, will pass away.

In some regions, people tend to use the bed spiral base, that is left alone, for other purposes. Preferred is their use as part of a fence or gate.

Walking in Las Hurdes (Spain) in 2018, we encountered several such transformations.

Bed spiral turned into a fence (1)

 

Bed spiral turned into a fence (2)

 

Bed spiral turned into a fence (3)

 

Bed spiral turned into a fence (4)

One must not be surprised by the fact, that in the same environment, the number of abandoned houses is high.

House abandoned in Las Hurdes (Spain)

It need more research, to establish whether the transformation of (usable?) bed spirals inherited from parents or grandparents, is caused by unwillingness to sleep on such elements earlier used by people that have passed away, or by the wish to have better quality. Yet, the transformation into fences or gates has significance as signal of the border of states of existence.

 

“Curiosity and strangers / are good partners” (Las Hurdes, Spain, photos and text Drager Meurtant, 2018-2019)

Ancient Stones

Tags

archeology, fotografie, Greece, History, landscape, Macedonia, Petres, philosophy, photography

In countries like Greece, the visitor must rely on stones to get a grasp of history and important developments of culture.

During a short journey in May 2019, In the department of Pella, Macedonia, Greece, we followed signs indicating “Ancient Archeological Site of Petres”.

When arriving there, and having parked the rented car and after walking about 400 m, the most surprising elements to us, were ancient big jars, present in many houses, that had been installed to store water (photo 1).

Looking at the plan of the small city, with rectangular houses, one starts to imagine people walking here, more than two thousand years ago. Discussing family affairs, the harvest, trade, threats… (photo 2).

The firm conclusion was: use talk, or writing, as social medium.

Information about the history of Ancient Petres:

“The ancient city occupies a natural mound to the NW of the village of Petres, in the region of Florina. Its total area reached 15-20 hectares and was protected by a fortification wall built of poros stone. The enclosed area included houses, and public buildings erected in a free layout, separated by streets, 2.5 m. wide. The city was founded in the 3rd century B.C. by Antigonos Gonatas, it flourished in the 2nd century B.C. and it ceased to exist in the 1st century B.C. It was again inhabited in the Roman period, but it moved to a different site.

The archaeological evidence leads to the conclusion that the city owed its development to its strategic position on the Egnatia Road and to its commercial exchanges with other Greek cities. The excavations of the site revealed useful information on the types of the private houses, which were continuously used in north-west Macedonia as late as the 19th century.

Excavations on the site were begun in 1982 and are still in progress, along with restoration and consolidation work of the ancient remains.

Wikimapia, with use of infomation of: http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/eh352.jsp?obj_id=2653,

 

Judges Report Final Round Figurative Art in Three Dimensions

Tags

3-D, abstract, Dada, decision, fotografie, installation, instruction, jury, kunst, nothingness, photography, ready-made, report, Spain, subversive, three-dimensional, wall

XXth Competion at Art Center VIMOMUX, year 2019

After thorough deliberation, trying to reach consensus and equal imput of the members of the jury, a final decision was reached on the three submitted art-peaces created by Drager Meurtant (NL, 1951)

During the process, the five members from the jury weighed the pros and cons of artistic protuberances, by applying the elementary principles prescribed for separation of figurative versus abstract (Instruction Report #A12B-567, 1983).

“Sorry Jean”

Art-peace One: “Sorry Jean” (2018)

Comments: the raw, primitive nature of the semi-figurative concrete relief, associates firmly with the wall and hence, the placement creates an actuality in addressing contemporary trauma. The integrative character expressed by the circumstantial placement on pre-existing background, makes the art an holistic event. The wholeness further enhances the pertinent relation with contemporary queries into the genesis of soul as sole force feeding eternality.

Decision: accept.

“Solitary Traveller”

Art-peace Two: “Solitary Traveller” (2018)

Comments: this ready-made, sculptural figuration really transpires the solitude, as the title implicates. By referring to the multiple miniature quadrants, the depth of research is enhanced, for the validity of use of objects – that in their history served a different role – in art practice, as this was first employed by Marcel Duchamp (Bicycle Wheel, 1913) or even earlier by the DaDa artist Elsa, the Baroness of Freytag-Loringhoven, with her Enduring Ornament (1913).

The blackish color reflects the loss of relevance of this art-medium for many art-historians. The use of one-sided lighting anguishes the perception by the viewer, in it’s ineluctable blow of the flow of time towards the end, without escape. In this way, the figure announces death, as already can be derived from the two title words.

Decision: accept.

“The Triangle”

Art-peace three: “The triangle” (2019)

Comments: the narrow margin lifting this work from two- into three dimensions serves a function as to elude from fixed barriers, frames and borders. The material applied, and the colors that follow at (superb) lighting are enchanting the spectator. With experience, however, the true meaning comes into vision: a play with prejudice, superstition and ordinary judgement. The host – when placed oppositive this well-crafted work, becomes a graft not able to suppress the primary reaction of being placed in a hostile environment. This conflict deepens the experience, since doubt opens the mind.

Decision: accept (special honor).

Members of the Jury:

Jacques de Santo Torres (chair)

Anna Viltan Navon (secretary)

Karl Hütting Wltack (member)

Vladimir Brosvokic (member)

Faith Runungongo (member)

The directorate of dreams

Tags

abstract, assemblage, dreams, dromen, gedicht, grafiek, graphics, kunst, lino-cut, monoprint, philosophy, photography, poem, poetry, street-view

When dreams arrive, the content is not indicated on the envelope

(Jacques de Santo Torres (1888-1972)

A first dream:

Sitting in the backseat of a car, with increasing speed going down a steep slope and then, the gradual discovery that the driver is asleep, or dead?

Next, a second dream:

Walking through corridors that resemble my former school, realizing that preparations for exams at the end of this year have been poor, that time and perseverance is lacking, always being too late for class and ill-focused…

Then, a third dream :

People are waiting for me, to take charge. To deal and treat conditions of defect, of suffering. Yet, I don’t know the password and I’m not dressed to the occasion. I’m simply not instrumental…

These are dreams that threaten with defeat, that reflect one’s inner perception to be doomed to failure. I do not have a subscription to such dreams. But, once in a while, ill-managed delivery makes these land on my doorstep.

« – »

Can a dream be a memory?

Dreaming Cubistic, Drager Meurtant, August 17, 2017

Can a dream

be a memory

and if so

depends the format

on the shape of the display?

« – »

From dreams I turn to the real world. That is, if the creation of art is part of the real world, and not (more so) placed at the border of the dream-world and the dreadful daily circumstances of life. Some time ago I recited a poem standing opposite of a statue which I had made, and surrounded by spectators and listeners. That time I chose the position of the creator, and the statue was obliged to listen.

« – »

Poem for a statue

Rudimentary, Drager Meurtant (2016)

Statue, you look at me

with your fool’s eyes,

that are no eyes.

Statue, your mouth swears

my imperfection

to tell the truth.

You suck me empty

you drown my power

you feed yourself

with my imagination

and leave me hollow.

« – »

Streaks on the window

Streaks on the window (Drager Meurtant, December 4, 2017)

The streaks on the windows

don’t say nothing,

such as “when do

I see you again?”

at the exit

of the supermarket.

« – »

Bridges are encountered in several forms of dreams. As stated by an expert in dreams: “The bridge often has the significance of crossing or moving from one phase of life, activity or emphasis to another” (reference: Tony Crisp, http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/bridge-2/).

What if a bridge?

What if a bridge?, Drager Meurtant, lino-cut, 2017 (ed. 1/3)

What if

a bridge exists

only in your dream?

And the abyss

before you

is real?

« – »

Passage

Untitled (Pyrenean landscape 1983, monoprint, Drager Meurtant, 2017

The other night

I ran down a gentle slope

my feet not touching ground

just kicking air

holding my breath from expiring

to continue this state of floating

as long as could be…