Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Triq id-Dejqa... jew ahna dojoq?









Can't help blogging about this yet again, seeing as some silly nitwit who was first protesting against the release of the film Da Vinci Code in Malta is now protesting against the random association of V words. Not that these narrow-minded people have any idea why V words were chosen mind you but they necessitate some petty issue or other in their life about which to nag and bitch... why don't we start objecting to and protesting about the real things that matter in life? Isn't God omnipresent anyway? Aren't there some fanatics who have crucifixes and little shrines in public conveniences anyways... but we have to object to a sticker bearing the name of the Virgin Mary. Why doesn't this Vince Marshall go protest about having to pay to enter a cathedral to go say a prayer? Let's stick to real life issues... pettiness is just for petty people.

Monday, April 26, 2010

'Cause violence is always in fashion



Oh come on! The Strait Street Saga continues

"The organiser of a petition against the Strait Street toilet is claiming to have got 150 signatures, and is planning to present it to the authorities on May 1.

The newly-opened public toilet in Valletta has a glass wall inscribed with words that start with the letter “V” – and alongside the words vagina and viagra is the name Virgin Mary, which the objectors find offensive.

“We do not even agree that such words should be written in a public place, but our plea is for the name of the Virgin Mary to be removed from the glass panel as soon as possible. If they wanted words starting with V, they could have stuck to virgin and not specified Virgin Mary,” the petition says.

Another of the words on the panel is Vatican, which they also feel has no place alongside the “vulgar” words.

Those wishing to sign the petition should send their details and ID card number to xandarop@yahoo.com"

Published yesterday on di-ve.com; titled: Petition against Strait Street toilet



Please go have a look at the ridiculous comments below the article... which, by the way doesn't even include the name of the "organiser" of this petition. Even the info is wrong: The glass wall if anything, is INSIDE not outside... what one finds outside is a window pane. But can these people tell the difference, of course not. Have the petitioners even been to the public convenience because from what can be read here above it certainly seems as though they haven't. And FYI the words are not INSCRIBED they are affixed/attached... they're just stickers. No part of Norbert's installation is permanent. Some people need to get a life and accept a good thing when it happens.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

A SERIOUSLY good opportunity

The Embassy of Malta in France would like to inform young Maltese designers of the fourth edition of the Talents de la Mode competition, organised by the Village des Créateurs.

This competition is open to fashion designers aged between 18 and 40, who speak either French or English, and who plan to either open their workshop in the course of 2010 or for those who have launched their label since January 2009.

The winning prize includes:

- A workshop set up at the Village des Créateurs in Lyon, France (23 months lease - rent of the first 12 months free of charge and the following 11 months at half price);
- During the first year the Village des Créateurs offers an economic development support for the development of the workshop of the winner and then finances up to 50% of the expenses during the following 11 months;
- A paid stand at the Prêt-à-Porter Paris fashion show;
- A cheque of 5000 Euro;

The winner is chosen by a panel of judges experts in the field, presided by Jérome L’Huillier.

Further details on this competition can be obtained on www.talentsdemode.com. Candidatures are to be submitted by no later than 17 May 2010 at 18.00 hours.

“Winning Talents de Mode has really enabled me to launch my brand. To benefit of a shop was the most important thing for me. My brand was already created before the contest but as I was living in the countryside, it was really difficult to have sufficient visibility in order to increase the sales. Of course, because of the marketing relay which the Village des Créateurs offers has always been and is still fundamental. Some programs on TF1, France 3 and M6 have been a nice surprise! Talents de Mode made a lot of advertising for me, I have acquired a good reputation in the fashion for dogs world and after the good press, came the orders: my designs are already sold in Lyon, Paris, Antibes, Cannes…”
Céline Boulud, equally placed winner of Talents de Mode 2009


http://www.talentsdemode.com

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Austin&Patrick

I never cease to be amazed at Maltese artists' stamina... well some of them at least... so many of them are busy with projects... locally and abroad. Some of these projects/competitions are really quite prestigious and it baffles me how artists manage to fund themselves and pack so much into their personal calendar year. We most definitely need some form of mobility policy which facilitates for those representing the Maltese Islands.

Patrick Fenech and Austin Camilleri are currently showing their works in the Museum of Tunis - held at the Palais Khereddine till May 8. Tomorrow's art article will delve deeper...

Here's a little taste of their works on show:





Above: Encounter with a Siren - Patrick Fenech; Gabriel's Gift - Austin Camilleri.

Installations @ St James









The above are Raphael Vella's works made specifically for Harba the first festival of children's literature showing at St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta till Sunday.

Monday, April 19, 2010

A must-see



Ħarba Festival of Children's Literature

April 21-25 St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta

Organised by Inizjamed and the St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, with the support of the Malta Arts Fund, Merlin Library, Literature Across Frontiers and the EU Culture programme, the Direcção-Geral do Livro e das Bibliotecas, the Portuguese Ministério da Cultura, Institut Ramon Llull, the British Council, the National Book Council of Malta, the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) and the Malta Foundation for Educational Services.

Participating artists and illustrators: Katya Borg (and the students from MCAST), Nicole Diacono, Pierre Portelli, Mark Scicluna, Darren Tanti, Raphael Vella.

www.inizjamed.org

Friday, April 16, 2010

Seen on the streets of Malta (for just a few hours)




These images were spotted (NOT by me unfortunately) between Wednesday night and Thursday morning. They were quickly painted over. I am told that the artist is not the same as the one who created Pedo-bear.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Once you pop you can't stop

Pop art. Or rather... pop the art. Because that is what everyone was doing last Friday at Karl Consiglio's Leisure Centre - popping art.

For those who haven't the foggiest what I'm on about, this Leisure Centre is not some new gym, fitness or newly-inaugurated children's “play” area. Rather, it is the title of a visual art installation by Karl Consiglio at Artitude Gallery in Sliema.

In a nutshell, this installation constitutes the enveloping or shrouding of a large part of the gallery's interior in a layer of bubble wrap. This malleable transparent plastic material was laid on the floor like a carpet and on the counter to mimic a table-cloth; it was wrapped around exhibition panels in a parcel-like fashion and imparted a general sense of privacy to the corner gallery by acting as a veil or curtain, somewhat shielding the world from the goings on within.



Despite this, I expected more. Knowing Mr Consiglio to be the kind of uninhibited, pushing-all-boundaries, experiment and unconvention-embracing artist that he is, I had pictured myself having to burrow my way through the gallery's interior. This was one case in point however, where Mr Consiglio felt that less is more, where he decided to opt for a more subtle approach.

But selfish me wanted absolutely everything to be bubble wrapped. I wanted to hear popping sounds whenever I inhaled or exhaled. And really, multiple layers of bubble wrap could have easily been added onto everything - especially the floor, which I felt needed to be taped down properly.

Gauging by the three rolls of “extra” bubble wrap acting as tables during opening night, there was plenty more material which could have been utilised. Happily, the “rolls” didn't remain upright very long, and became haystack-looking bouncy seats, much to the enjoyment of yours truly.


The extra stretches of material could have also been made available for patrons to cut lengths and affix their “patch” onto the artist's layer of bubble wrap. In fact, Pierre Portelli's 1999 work titled Ism, worked in a similar fashion although the goal of this work was alteration through the public's direct interaction and manipulation. Had Mr Consiglio utilised such a “scheme” it could have only intensified the overall sense of interactivity.

This said, all those present at the opening had a go at popping one, two or hundreds of bubbles, addictive personalities were most welcome and felt most at home. Some lunged into the boards, some did nifty dance moves, some used their nails and others furtively popped away when they thought no one was looking.

With this installation, Mr Consiglio proves that he is clearly not interested in the commercial side of art; actually I think this aspect is the farthest from his mind. He is out to represent the playfulness of art. Although, I am pretty sure that many would contest the classification of this show under the broad heading of art. But that is an entirely different debate, and one which is best left out of this discourse.

Wrapping “stuff” up is no novelty or oddity. In fact, the Bulgarian/Moroccan duo Christo and the late Jeanne-Claude dedicated their life and art to performing such grandiose interventions as was the empaquetages of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago (1968-69) or the Reichstag in Berlin (1971-95) for instance. Closer afield, Austin Camilleri exhibited a cellophane-wrapped baby titled Hello, as well as life-size religious statues at the beginning of the Noughties.

However, the wrapping of objects for art-sake was introduced much earlier than the late 1950s or early 1960s (the time when Christo and Jeanne-Claude hit the “scene”), with Dadaist/Surrealist artist Man Ray and his readymade/assemblage work titled Enigma Of Isidore Ducasse dating to 1920, in which he wrapped a sewing machine in cloth and cord.

Mr Consiglio's intervention is quite different nonetheless, in that the choice of material is a chiefly transparent veneer, which merely disguises slight imperfections at best rather than completely concealing an item from view. Bubble wrap is a safety cushion, it blurs, perhaps also giving a false impression of that which it is somewhat distorting. This premise is one which was already “under investigation” by Mr Consiglio back in his 2008 A Most Sensational Exhibition when he exhibited a series of blurred photographic works resembling abstracted paintings.


So it may seem that Mr Consiglio is taking this notion to a new level. However, he is not pushing it as far as he could have - and by that I mean far enough for this project to resonate, or create a ripple effect. And this is a real pity, because as a concept, his Leisure Centre is pure fun, which is, and has been immediately accessible, by all visitors young and old. In fact, the project, funded by the Malta Arts Fund in collaboration with the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, was also devised to be able to attract and target young audiences, including school children and allow them to experience alternate art forms first hand.

I do wonder whether this intervention is the first in a sequence.

The joys and possible uses of bubble wrap are indeed many, and a website (www.bubblewrapfun.com) dedicated solely to this stress reliever claims there are some 1001 options. I didn't go through the entire list, but Mr Consiglio has definitely demonstrated that “art” should make the cut.



Published in The Times of Malta, 15/4/2010, p 25. All photos by Chris Sant Fournier.