The tallest chimney in the world is the one at the Ekibastuz power station in Kazakhstan. It reaches 1377 feet, or 420 metres and tapers from 144 feet (47 metres) at its base, up to 47 feet, or 14 metres at the top. This is the world’s largest coal-fired plant which came into operation in 1991.

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Second in the list of the world’s tallest chimneys is the one at the International Nickel Company, Cooper Hill, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. The Inco superstack at the Inco copper cliff smelter is 1250 feet (381 metres) tall.

Next is Homer City Generating Station Unit 3, at Minersville, Pennsylvania, USA. This is a coal-burning power station owned by Edison International and the largest of its chimneys reaches a height of 1216 feet (371 metres).

Kennecott Copper Corporation, Magna, Utah, USA, is part of the Rio Tinto group. It operates the largest open mining copper mines in the world and was formed in 1898. The name Kennecott was first used in 1936. The tallest chimney reaches 1215 feet (370 metres).

The Mitchell Power Plant at Moundsville, West Virginia, USA comes in as the fifth tallest chimney stack in the world. This power plant was built in 1971 and at that time the smokestack was the highest in the world but that claim to fame has now been superceded and although it is 1206 feet (368 feet) high, it is now the fifth tallest in the world.

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At number six comes the Zasavje power station at Trbovlje, Slovenia which was built in 1974. It reaches 1181 feet (360 metres) and close behind in the list is the Endesa Termic at La Coruna, Spain which reaches a height of 1169 feet (356 metres) and is the second tallest chimney in Europe.

Number eight is at the Syrdaya Power Plant in Uzbekistan. The chimney at unit five is 1148 feet (350 metres) tall. It was built in 1975 and has four other chimneys almost as tall.

Next is the Turuel Power Plant in Spain. This is a lignite fired power plant a series of chimneys. The tallest of which is 1125 feet (343 feet). It has three ovens and 350 megawatt capacity.

At number ten is the Plomin Power Plant in Croatia which reaches a height of 1115 feet (340 metres). This coal fired power station is coal fired and has two boilers which can generate 330 megawatts of electricity, which is 13% of Croatia’s requirements.

Body painting is very common and big difference between this and many other forms of body art is that the paint is only temporary. The intricate designs often take many hours to apply and are washed off in two minutes in a shower.  Body paintings range from face painting to all over decoration.

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Taking this a step further we get to tattooing, piercing of various kinds, and the more extreme branding, scalpelling and scarification.

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Most people are familiar with tattooing in all its forms whether it be full body, or small discreet patterns on normally unseen areas.  Tattooing is actually becoming more and more popular in many parts of the western world, although it did originate in tribal cultures in Polynesia and Africa. The art itself has come a long way from the days when it used to be done with pigment and a sharp stick.   Extreme body piercing can be seen here.

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 Piercing is also accepted even though it can in itself be quite extreme, but things like branding, scalpelling and scarification are not seen as often.

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Scarification is literally cutting patterns into the skin to cause scarring and the raised scar tissue forms the design.  Scarification is explained here.

Scalpelling is similar to piercing except that instead of using a piercing needle to make a small hole, a scalpel blade is used to cut a much wider hole in the ear lobe, lip or wherever required.

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Branding is another form of scarification in which the design is burned into the skin instead of being cut into it. Strike branding is done by heating metal hot enough to sear the skin and stamping a design on with it. It is just like the method used to brand cattle.  The very latest way of branding skin for decorative purposes is by using a laser which allows very intricate designs.  Tattooing ink is often rubbed into the burned tissue.

Scarification has been used in many cultures as a rite of passage and as a means of marking various emotional events and states. It is very common in Aboriginal tribes and among the Sepik River tribes of New Guinea.

Historically, burning and branding were used to mark slaves and criminals and the Maori tribes of New Zealand use a form of facial scarification rubbed with ink to produce tattoos. Scarification is also common among women in West Africa and New Guinea.

This shows that the use of scarification as body art is not a new phenomena. It has its origins in historical belief and legend.

So, why do people in this modern age opt for scarification to decorate their bodies?

There may be many reasons why people turn to this painful and somewhat barbaric form of body art .Firstly, among dark skinned people, scarification is more visible than tattoos and therefore preferable to many. The endorphins produced by the body during the scarification process are also thought to produce a real ‘buzz’, or a type of euphoria.

How is scarification done?

There are many different methods of achieving body art of this type and results depend very much on skin type, the depth of the cuts and how the wound is healed during healing. All these things affect the end result. It is the human body that creates the scarring, not the artist, so results can vary. . Scars tend to spread during the healing process so the actual design of scarring tends to be very simple. Complex designs can get swallowed up during the healing process of the skin. Marks may be made by branding, cutting and abrasion and in Africa cuts are sometimes packed with clay to stop them closing up too much during healing.

The Dangers Of This Art Form

Scarification deliberately causes harm to the skin and this can lead to infection. Artists who do this kind of work need to know about anatomy so that they can make sure that cutting tools don’t go too deep. This is not an easy art and it is much more difficult to find experts in this kind of body art than it is to find tattooists.

The Defiant Ones lobby card set image courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries

Producer-director Stanley Kramer and United Artists brought The Defiant Ones to movie theaters in 1958. Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier play the shackled cons on the lam, with Theodore Bikel and Charles McGraw as their dogged pursuers.

Stanley Kramer’s The Defiant Ones

Nedrick Young (a blacklisted writer/actor using the pseudonym “Nathan E. Douglas”) and Harold Jacob Smith wrote the screenplay for Tony Curtis’ Curtleigh Productions and Stanley Kramer’s Lomitas Productions. Stanley Kramer (On the Beach, Judgment at Nuremberg, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner) produced and directed. Ernest Gold created the offbeat music score, all of which emanates from radios.  

Tony Curtis (Johnny “Joker” Jackson) and Sidney Poitier (Noah Cullen) head the small cast. Other players include Theodore Bikel (Sheriff Max Muller), Charles McGraw (Captain Frank Gibbons), Lon Chaney Jr. (Big Sam), King Donovan (Solly), Claude Akins (Mac), Lawrence Dobkin (Editor), Whit Bissell (Lou Gans), Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer (Angus), Kevin Coughlin (Billy), Cara Williams (The Woman), Harold Jacob Smith (Prison Truck Driver) and Nedrick Young (Prison Guard).

Elvis Presley and Sammy Davis Jr. were reportedly the original choices for the convict roles. In his 1993 autobiography, Tony Curtis wrote that Marlon Brando had been Stanley Kramer’s first choice for the role of John Jackson, but was unavailable.  

The Defiant Ones Filmed in California

Budgeted at $1 million, The Defiant Ones was filmed from February to April 1958, primarily at Malibu Creek State Park in Calabasas, California. The memorable freight train sequence at movie’s end was shot on the Southern Pacific Railroad between Piru and Fillmore in Ventura County.

The Defiant Ones proved to be a physically exhausting picture. One of the most difficult scenes to shoot was the famous clay pit scene, in which Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier try to free themselves. No stunt doubles were used; it was just Curtis and Poitier down there in the water and muck, trying to claw their way out.

Another tough scene was the water rapids sequence, in which the two convicts cross the river. Most of the work was performed by the actors themselves, but stuntman Bobby Hoy did double for Tony Curtis in some of the more physically demanding scenes.

The Defiant Ones: Escaped Convicts in Black and White  

The Defiant Ones opens in a driving rainstorm, with two prison guards transporting a truckload of convicts. After being sideswiped by another vehicle, the prison truck veers off the road and plunges into a culvert. Escaping from the overturned truck are two convicts, the white John “Joker” Jackson and the black Noah Cullen, who are chained together.

A massive manhunt is now underway, led by the laconic Sheriff Max Muller and the zealous Captain Frank Gibbons of the state police. Brought in to track the escaped cons is a local named Solly, who uses his beloved bloodhounds and muzzled Dobermans for the task.

The fleeing convicts are soon at each other’s throats, trading racist insults as they make their way through the dangerous countryside. In order to avoid detection by a passing wagon, the two are forced to dive into an open clay pit, eventually making their way to the top through grueling teamwork.

The two cons happen on a company town, where they break into the general store and waylay a man while trying to escape.  An angry mob quickly forms, with their leader, a man named Mac, proposing that they lynch the pair. But ex-con Big Sam is having none of it, as he knocks Mac unconscious and later sets Jackson and Cullen free.

Sheriff Muller and his posse eventually close in on the escaped cons. A freight train is approaching, and Joker and Cullen are running to catch it as the bloodhounds can be heard yelping in the distance.

The Defiant Ones Opens in New York City

The Defiant Ones opened at New York City’s Victoria Theater on September 24, 1958.

“A remarkably apt and dramatic visualization of a social idea – the idea of men of different races brought together to face misfortune in a bond of brotherhood – is achieved by producer Stanley Kramer in his new film, The Defiant Ones,” reported Bosley Crowther of The New York Times (9/25/58).

“One of the best motion pictures to hit the screen in many a year…” crowed Variety (8/6/58).

“A film that Stanley Kramer, the motion picture industry, and every American citizen can be proud of…” opined Arthur Knight in Saturday Review (7/26/58).

The Defiant Ones Academy Award Nominations, Trivia, DVD

• The Defiant Ones earned nine Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Director,  Best Actor (Curtis, Poitier), Best Supporting Actor (Bikel), Best Supporting Actress (Cara Williams), Best Story and Screenplay (won), Best Film Editing (Frederic Knudtson), Best B/W Cinematography (Sam Leavitt, won).
• Sidney Poitier’s reaction after reading the script: “It was an explosive piece of work that left me in a state of sweaty-palmed excitement.”
• Tony Curtis insisted that Sidney Poitier receive co-star billing.
• The movie’s theme song: “Long Gone,” adapted from “Long Gone (From Bowlin’ Green),” with music by W.C. Handy and words by Chris Smith.
• Theodore Bikel excels as the southern sheriff with a conscience. His best line, spoken to Solly who worries constantly about his animals: “I sure hope you treat your grandmother the way you treat those dogs.”
• Sheriff Muller’s annual salary: $6,800.
• Sentences for the two cons: John Jackson, 5-10 years for armed robbery and attacking a guard; Noah Cullen, 10-20 years for assault and battery and attempted murder.
• Cara Williams’ offer to Tony Curtis to forget Cullen and run away with her: $400 in insurance money.
• Because of the racial climate at the time, The Defiant Ones did not do well in southern states.
• The Defiant Ones marked the last film appearance of Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer of Our Gang fame. On January 21, 1959, the 31-year-old Switzer was shot to death during a drunken dispute involving a $50 debt. The incident was ruled justifiable homicide. “You, douse that radio,” Charles McGraw barks at Switzer’s music-loving character.
• TV-movie remake: The Defiant Ones (1986), starring Robert Urich and Carl Weathers.
• On DVD: The Defiant Ones (MGM/UA, 2001).

“Cullen, we gave ‘em a hell of a run for it, didn’t we?” Tony Curtis tells Sidney Poitier.

Bowlin’ Green…sewin’ machine.

The featured German collection, having been amassed by Karin and Gerhard Dammann, does have strong work of arts to show to its credit. Exceptional pieces illustrated in the book include a 19th century bed frame showing hand-carved faces exuding pure nightmarish horrors; some heraldry dating from the 18th century done with expert knowledge of the craft and paranoid fantasy; and several madonna (as in church service, no as in pop singer) statues showing a creepiness that is capable of reducing children to tears according to Karin Dammann.

Leaving the picture part of the catalogue leaves you wondering what induces people to collect art like this. It is therefore logical that this theme should be taken up in the essays section of the catalogue, but it doesn’t answer this question directly, but rather generally for any kind of collector.

Some of the essays nicely turn the tables on the usual art story line with collectors rather than artists being treated to psychoanalytic treatment. One explaines that the extreme of collector is a Narcissus  who descends from fleeing personal relationships into accumulation, addiction and finally total isolation. But milder instances of the habit find a voice as well. One conclusion offered is that collecting helps the collector enhance/define/construct his identity in progressive order. At the same time, the author makes a case for those collectors willing to incorporate outsider work into their identities as setting a positive example. The inclusion of outsider art values art and artists that have been characterized by a long history of rejection and devaluation.

One essay explores the early part of that history reaching back to what is known of the early 1800s, while also documenting the history on art-related activities of the time before the Prinzhorn collection was started. The Prinzhorn collection (which signs as publisher for the catalogue) was accumulated at the Heidelberg Clinic by Dr. Prinzhorn as its Principal. She makes a clear case that the relation between psychiatric and aesthetic appreciation of work by asylum dwellers was fraught with tension from the beginning.

Further essays deal with collecting art out of psychiatric institutions for the sake of their aesthetic values. The label of ‘art brut’ was created to de-demonize the pedigree of art being valued on its own terms rather than in its connotation to psychiatric treatment. The label became a weapon in the war over the reorganisation of psychiatric treatment to modern standards. The negative aspect of this ‘war’ is also shown referring to conflicts over terminology that hampered the development of art brut being accepted as art at all.

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A fact widely unknown is that the first windmills actually were mounted on top of a single pivoting base, so that the entire building was moving around in order to ensure that the windmill blades were properly aligned with the wind. Windmills, where only the top section was used to turn the blades in the direction of the wind, were only invented in Europe in the 15. century. There were different types of windmills in use. The first models went back to the Persian idea (which probably built the oldest windmills at all, but no proof of how the complete design looked are left today) are of using a vertical shaft with blades or sails attached. Although this type of mill was easy to construct, it had one major disadvantage. With vertical windmills, a big part of it has to be shielded, so that the wind can catch properly (aerodynamic drag force). That means on the other hand, that a large part of the available power is actually lost.

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The design of windmills using the horizontal axis was geared up to the water mill or water wheel design. The power of the rotating blades was transferred from the horizontal to the vertical axis by using cog wheels from wood or stone, and the power of vertical rotation was directly used to move grind stones, which were milling the grains. Apart from grain mills, the second most important application was water transport driven by wind energy. Today, you can still find some of these small-scale wind mills used for pumping water into garden and field irrigation systems on the island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea.

Starting in 1390, the Dutch set out to enhance the windmill design by using a tower as the main building, to which a horizontal axis windmill with four blades was attached to the top section. They also incorporated floors in the building, so that different sections were created for grinding, for storing raw and ground grain, and in order to accommodate the people who worked there; in most cases this was the miller and his family.

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These windmills were improved over a period of about 500 years. Aerodynamic lift was added and the shapes of the rotor blades were improved in order to get the most out of wind power and to ensure a stable running. Improvements to the leading edge and to the gravitational centre were also made and finally lead to ever increasing efficiency. 

These mills were the driving force of economic development before the industrial revolution. The range of applications became as versatile as it gets. In the saw mill, for instance the entire sawing process was driven by the mill. Other examples were complete processing lines for tobacco and spices.

There was only one important application missing until the 20th century. This was the century in which wind was put to the generation of electric power.

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With the declining reserves of fossil fuels worldwide came the challenge of finding alternative sources of energy and of putting them to use in economically reasonable ways. The conversion of solar energy was one of the easiest options, since solar cells were already widely developed in the eighties and nineties, and only had to be optimised and incorporated into bigger but manageable systems. With other forms of energy, like with wind energy, there were issues in terms of efficiency right from the beginning, and a single wind mill for energy generation put out there in the landscape would at most have caused a smile on most peoples faces.

 But the wind generator principle was known and an intensive process of optimisation and trials followed. The materials for the blades were refined and the size of components was reduced, until the wind mill as we know it today was finally ready for the market. The idea of wind farms hugely improved efficiency of wind generating systems, since costs were reduced. A multitude of wind mills lined up in certain patterns can optimise the impact of wind, and thus the energy produced from it, where strong and mostly steady wind is present, the building and development costs for the site per generator were minimised, and the cable routing became more a task that could be handled like any other cable routing project – systematically.

Wakamatsu wind farm in Kitakyushu, Japan – image credit

 Despite all euphoria, a few problems remain: In some areas people strongly oppose the erection of wind farms because they seem to dwarf famous buildings or ruin the views in otherwise beautiful landscapes. There is also the issue of noise generated from the blades turning in the wind, which is why they need to be placed in some distance to urban areas. Because of their height, they are also not suited near airports and low altitude flight paths. But all in all, wind farms become more and more wide spread and will help human society to progress in the process of substituting fossil with renewable energy sources.

This sunset is from high on top of a Mountain. The sun is set half way in the sky, shinning down on a vast sea of clouds, creating and effect of ocean waves constantly breaking at the surface.

The sun in this photo is in it’s last moments before setting, blacking out the foreground and causing an Erie yellow and orange reflection on the waters of this canal.

The sky reflects on the surface of a clear blue lake in Yellowstone National park as the sun sets in the background. As the sun sets the temperature drops causing, water vapor to form on the top of the lake and rise into the sky.

The day is coming to and end over this beautiful lake, as the water ripples the bright orange sun sits a top the tree line in the background.

A beautiful hawaiian sunset from the island of Maui. The sunset glistens on the surface of the water and creates and orange glow as the peaks the horizon.

This ocean inlet doesn’t look like much in the full light of day. But as the sunsets it creates a surreal landscape of glowing rivers, that are bright orange in color as the sun reflects of the calm ocean water.

A thick bed of water plants cover the surface of this swampy pond. As the water mists into the sky, forming fog as it rises from the surface of water, the sun beats down turning the fog into a burning cloud.

Small waves break on the beach. As the day turns into night, the sky is lite up in a bright reddish orange. Sailors take heed this beautiful omen is a sign of a big storm brewing.

This extraordinary scene is set on a wooden dock with amazing mountains in the background, just before dusk. The sun is setting and a brilliant reflection of oranges, yellows and blues unfold on the surface of the lake.

The sun perfectly aligns it’s self on the end of the beach. Almost as if it was a beacon, warning ships as they sail by.

This wonderfully shaped bonsai tree hangs over the sea, as a brilliant orange sun, sets in the west.

A desert and mountain landscape with tall prickly cactus, with the bright orange sun just about ready to hide it self, behind a vast mountain landscape.

High tide has just gone out as the rays of the setting sun, shines on the black sands of this rocky beach.

The sun plays with sky creating rich hues of color with in every cloud. As a lonely tree stands tall among the beautiful scene unfolding in the sky.

Fog rises from this marsh land, creating a thick and flowing cloud, that creeps low to the ground and as the sunsets it’s brilliant color reflects off the many ponds.

Beautiful grass filled plains seam to run right into the ocean as they cut through the sand dunes. The sun is setting and the blue, cloud filled sky is starting to turn a brilliant yellow.

It’s almost dusk and the dark night is starting to take over the rainbow colored sky as the sunsets in the distance.

The sun is setting on this tropical landscape, as the clouds hide the sun, it creates and amazingly colorful effect on the nights sky.

A beautiful sunset on a not so good looking glacier. As the thick and icey glacier has melted, it revealed a giant stunning mountain. That used to only have a small portion of the mountains peak showing.

A rocky beach sets the foreground, as the sun is just starting to break the surface of this clear blue lake. The sky is set a blaze and the blue is replaced by a stunning yellow, that expands across the horizon.

Born in 1852, Edward Prior studied under Richard Norman Shaw and the experience fostered a lifelong respect for building processes and craftsmanship.  He established his own practice in 1880 and although the buildings he produced over the next thirty years were few, the majority are highly accomplished and marked by his rigorous intellect.  In common with William Morris and his followers, Prior aimed to unify the arts and the crafts and free architecture from stylistic revivalism.  These ideals are enshrined at St. Andrew’s, a building widely known as the ‘Cathedral of the Arts and Crafts Movement.’ 

The building is pervaded by a restless interlocking of forms.  The body is cruciform, but the robust transepts shrug off perfect symmetry.  Unusually, the massive tower is not placed above the crossing, but sits astride the chancel, which nevertheless punches through the tower and obtrudes at the east, where its gable is surmounted by a gaunt cross.  Such bold massing is typical of Prior’s work, and would later earn him the epithet of ‘rogue-architect’.  Surprisingly, however, there is no spectacular entrance, only two humble porches with lean-to roofs that confer a certain modesty on all who enter. 

In the nave windows, sinuous Gothic tracery is replaced with brutally angular forms.  The deliberately raw and stark quality of the church speaks eloquently about the nature of its materials: the local magnesian limestone is crystalline but porous, making it unsuitable for decorative treatment.  By extolling these properties, the forms of the church seem to have evolved almost organically from the materials.  A central tenet of Prior’s thinking was the concept of texture.  To Prior, the myriad textures of materials expressed the generative and also degenerative forces of nature.  The large nave windows are filled with clear glass arranged in minute, irregular panes.  This means that the nave is transfused with scintillating light that plays across the stonework and emphasizes its coarse texture to startlingly tactile effect. 

In accordance with Arts and Crafts notions of honest construction, vestigial buttresses on the exterior indicate that the heavy walls and roof are, in fact, supported from within.  Inside, the nave arches double as internal buttresses, emerging immensely thick and heavy from the walls but tapering inwards to form vast transverse arches which vault across the entire space, creating a cavernous interior.  The arches are abruptly cut off at head-height and come to rest upon short hexagonal piers, which create tunnel-like passages beneath.  The coupled columns beneath the arches are based on those of the Saxon church of St. Peter nearby, which Prior studied when he visited the site.  In his 1922 publication, Eight Chapters on English Medieval Art, Prior wrote that English culture acquired its distinctive character in the rudimentary stonework of Saxon churches and he clearly viewed Monkwearmouth in terms of its pre-Norman past. 

Beneath the rugged stonework, the church conceals an innovative structure of reinforced concrete.  Iron stanchions are embedded in the base of the walls and four iron rods run up through the arches.  Exposed concrete purlins run laterally along the ceiling.  This skeletal framework allowed Prior to supersede the nave-and-side-aisle plan of most churches, achieving the unimpeded flow of space that is crucial to how the church functions.   The underlying structural frame brings us to an apparent contradiction at the heart of St. Andrew’s.  The use of iron and concrete seems incompatible with the Arts and Crafts ideal of craftsmanship that candidly expresses its construction, but it was typical of Prior to arrive at an individualistic interpretation of current principles.  To his mind, reinforced concrete was ‘only the simple straight forward elementary science of building,’ and he asked, ‘Is this not an ideal for a great church to aim at, that it shall be the best building of its time?’

Embodying an ideal of collective labour, St. Andrew’s houses work by many of the leading members of the Arts and Crafts Movement.  Ernest Gimson (1864-1919) designed the ebony lectern inlaid with mother-of-pearl and silver.  In the chancel, the wrought iron crosses and candlesticks were executed by Gimson’s blacksmith, Alfred Bucknell.  These are lacquered to prevent rusting, but the surfaces are pitted with the marks of the maker’s tools.  Dedication panels were created by Eric Gill (1882-1940), who went on to found the Guild of St. Joseph and St. Dominic in 1921. 

Together, the church and its fittings express a theme of redemption through work.  This of course is a central tenet of the Church, but one which is thoroughly compatible with Arts and Crafts precepts.  The rough stonework and stark, angular tracery speak of the ‘hard labour of quarrying and cutting stone.’  In selecting the stone, Prior avoided the mechanised quarry nearby at Fulwell in favour of a more distant quarry at Marsden, because this was still ‘worked by quarrymen with their usual tool – the scutcher, a broad bladed pickaxe.’ Similarly, the glass was made by hand to Prior’s own recipe and streaks in the surface of each pane show that it bears ‘the impress of the loving hand’ of the craftsman.  St. Andrew’s is a paean to the virtues of simple craftsmanship. 

The nave and chancel are connected in typically forceful manner: arches spring diagonally from the base of the tower and fuse it with the transepts, creating cave-like recesses that house the organ and Lady Chapel.  The high chancel is hollowed out of the base of the tower.  After the starkness and severity observed elsewhere, the chancel bursts with colour in the form of a lavish mural painted on the walls and ceiling.  This is a pictorial retelling of Genesis and the forms radiate from a central globe of alabaster, representing the sun.  The mural was executed in egg tempera by Macdonald Gill – brother of Eric Gill – to a design by Prior, although a number of assistants were employed. 

The foreshortened chancel has the almost magical effect of bringing the altar deceptively close to the congregation.  A typically somnolent tapestry by Edward Burne-Jones serves as a reredos.  Based on the artist’s Star of Bethlehem (1897), this was executed in Morris’s workshop at Merton Abbey.  The wood panelling in the chancel is much more precise and refined than that in the nave and here the bare stone floor is robed with William Morris’s lavish carpet, coloured with vegetable dyes instead of the harsh chemical tones common at the time.  Overall, the rough-hewn, laboriously-executed nave is transcended by the splendour of the chancel: the implication is that heavy labour is rewarded in Heaven.  Stained-glass windows by Henry Payne depict this theme in allegorical terms: a workman is shown having his burden lightened as he gazes upon Christ, and the window of the Lady Chapel bears the inscription, ‘Come unto Me all ye that labour and I will give you rest.’

St. Andrew’s anticipates many ideas that became axioms of the Modern Movement.  Structural virtuosity, the valuing of form over applied decoration, and the aversion to stylistic revivalism are characteristic, while the concern for truth-to-materials and structural honesty are the principal lessons that Modernists learned from their Arts and Crafts forebears.  Reflecting on his technical innovations, Prior predicted that ‘the application of cement fortified by iron to structure is, in my opinion, going to be a revolution . . . an entirely new range of expression may be opened up.’  There is a tendency to regard Arts and Crafts as a regressive movement, grounded in moribund traditions, and Modernism as a revolution without historical precedent.  By highlighting the inherent rationalism of Arts and Crafts, and its little-known engagement with modern technologies, St. Andrew’s reveals that the movement was in many respects a dynamic and progressive force, yet one that retained its faith in nature, individual creativity and spirituality.

By: mzacha

I don’t know about you, but for me most museum doors open some sort of portal into a parallel reality where time slows to a snail’s pace, and the air and light wash over my brain like some sort of fuzzy, dull hangover. From inside looking out I see the world whizzing by, like the last scene of every Benny Hill Show when Benny was chasing (and then being chased by) a gaggle of scantily clad blond nurses through the park of some London suburb. Good times, good times.

You see, just thinking about it sets me to daydreaming. Back inside, all the other patrons seem to just float there before the artwork, completely motionless or drifting ever so slowly from room to room, turning to view each piece like the hot dogs on those rolling cookers at the 7-Eleven. To them, I must be Benny Hill, quick-stepping through the museum in a jerky blur (only without all the hot chicks in close pursuit.

None of this is ever a problem when I’m alone (although I can’t remember the last time I went to a museum solo), but when I’m with my wife or other serious museum goers, I find it’s virtually impossible to slow myself down enough to stay with them. I don’t want to be rude, but if we don’t pick up the pace a bit my head is going to explode, and that wouldn’t be something that the perfect-husband would do, correct? So I’ve come up with some advice to help us take our time and enjoy the museum.

By: MacTabbie

First off, the main obstacle to your appreciation of art is probably just ignorance. Imagine if you knew nothing about the nuance and lore of baseball. It would probably be a pretty boring game to watch. But once you know all the background, it becomes an intriguing drama. Go to the museum’s website and read about the exhibits they currently have on display. Learning about the art and the artists will make your visit much more interesting. Just as knowing Pedro Martinez’s lifetime stats can make an otherwise mundane game interesting, knowing a bit about Velazquez and his times will suddenly bring an otherwise nondescript royal portrait to life.

Next, realize that despite the Benny Hill hallucinations, time is moving at the same pace inside the museum as it is outside. Rather than letting time run away from you, try to gather it up and appreciate it while you’re there. Use some of the relaxation techniques discussed earlier to focus less on the passage of time and to cultivate an inner calmness .

By: kconnors

If you can get yourself in the proper state of mind, you may find that you are suddenly more open to appreciating the art itself. And that doesn’t necessarily mean liking it. Rather than reading every description of every piece and forcing yourself to find out what you think the art is supposed to be about, just clear your mind and look at it. Try to feel how the art affects you. Does it remind you of anything, or make you feel a certain way? Is it just a pretty picture? The point is, it really doesn’t matter how art affects you, or if it doesn’t affect you at all. Your opinion and interpretation is really the only one that matters. With this in mind, you may find yourself taking more time before each picture, just enjoying the view.

By: pedrojperez

If all else fails, heed that old George Carlin saying that the best laughter is the forbidden kind, that repressed half-laugh that forces its way out at the most inappropriate moments. Museums contain limitless comic possibilities, both from the artwork and the other patrons. I remember when I was once at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York with my Uncle Bud and Aunt Eileen. We were standing in front of a very dark and dramatic painting of a martyred, naked woman. “What a shame,” Bud said very seriously under his breath. “What?” I whispered, assuming he’d share the story of the subject’s tragic demise or the artist’s miserable life. Without turning away from the painting or changing the tone of his voice, he said: “Those were some great breasts.” A blaring, resonant snort escaped my nasal cavity, echoed all the way over to the Islamic Art gallery, and sent a huge flock of pigeons careering past the hot dog vendors on Fifth Avenue. Now that’s what I call art appreciation.

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

Ideas can be carved out of table tops and in fact there was an installation of such a table wood blocked phrases in a drawer, not to mention a speaker’s voice emanating from another. A few messages were literally draped on the natural pine surface as though to say the best thoughts come from milieus where the table is the center piece. But that might seem cliched Suffice it o say the artist was looking for an interactive medium to get the connoisseur aware of an artistic message.

I would walk through a maze of rooms where sometimes the demarcation line between one artist and the next was less pronounced. Jason showed off some serigraph prints combining the look of older publicity shots of air hostesses and tramway stations all mounted on or around fear inducing elements. Hence the octopus’s tentacles about to engulf an early tram station aptly referred to as the end of the world. His quarters adjoined that of a female colleague who did some realistic looking self portraits. The black framed glasses made me think of a resemblance to a young Nana Maskouris.

Another did micro-photography getting his inspiration from coined cameos that were very much enlarged and mounted on a black background. That was enough to see the scratches on their surface and wonder about the history of the wear on the face. There were cases where layering of images was done be it on a computer screen to mount an interactive music CD site with titles on a chain saw surface, while its circular part was the metaphoric compact disc.

An art teacher and  artist just mounted one photo on the next, being inspired by some Christmas lights and a perspective of a stream to get the final image of a river with strange balls of lights reflecting from its surface. The sky’s reflection into the water was touched up to give the feel of an ambiguous day or night scene. Someone else down the hall was concerned about plotting maps by putting  dots and spots on wall spaces on prints and mounted on jagged pieces of paper as if the were pieces of continents waiting to collide behind the glass covering of their mountings.

The artists are concerned about keeping their space where they learn from one another and get to share their medium with art appreciative people. They are getting together to voice their need to keep their space from speculators who would turn lofts into condos and such is the way of art spaces that go in and out of existence.Rental leases originally for five year periods are now down to two. One never knows how long these spaces will be available in a city where the cost of property is always going up.