. Even though not formally from the Gulf region, I decided to post the above and below images on this blog nevetheless. The pictures were taken a few years back of the various statues outside Imperial College's Royal School of Mines entrance in London's Kensington (a neighborhood very much frequented by individuals from the Gulf). There's is something subtly abstracting about these stains that suggests camouflage (or even Arab wedding make-up).?! The stains both mask and reveal, that which, whilst hiding various facial or corporeal features, also simultaneously catalyses ones curiosity and encourages one to study and observe those same features even further... Thus these stains become a form of 'anti-camouflage' which, instead of blending the figures into their background (which a stone sculpture in front of a stone facade might do) the asymmetrical blotches across their figures make them stand out from their backdrops to announce and emphasize their humanoid presence...
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Not long after these pictures were taken the statues were cleaned up, returning them to their original stony, and slightly melancholy, vapidity...
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3 comments:
i have to say these photos are gorgeous. now that's out of the way...
i prefer them with the stains, although i'm sure whatever it is that's stained them would one day eat through the statues. but i love the natural course of things. if these were MY statues on MY estate I would have at least left one stained, both for the pleasantly creepy factor, and my interest in how nature deals with manmade objects (especially art).
i was going to chose a favorite but i don't have one. they're all pleasantly creepy.
txxqz
Wouldn't it be interesting to reverse the process of sorts - i.e. design a sculpture, painting or even a piece of architecture with the sole intention of it being 'stained' - here the stains would be the protagonist(s) rather than an annoyance. The aim would be to predict/ guesstimate, but not dictate, how the stains would evolve...
i was actually thinking of doing a painting like that. possibly black and white and testing the effects of the sun on it. the only thing is, i wouldn't want to count dust and it would be the antagonist i'm afraid. it would be interesting (and i'm not sure this exists) to use paint with iron in it and watch it rust!
porkend (ew!)
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