PhammerHead Chronicles

Today I will have experienced my first day in Venice, a city I never really heard of before … Absolutely crazy to see from first hand with the water being everywhere and the city that was apparently built as if were an island to showcase the many things that I would eventually see (like water taxis and gondola rides). After a long mission to get to this point (somewhere around 5 hours just to travel to this place) did a little walking and got to see the many beautiful things that this city would offer (i.e. a variety of non-Italian food restaurants, crazy/beautiful Venetian masks, and special glass only made in Venice that is demanded from around the world). However, Venice isn’t all amazing and beautiful as I found that the place was overly expensive and that the city had it’s moments when it didn’t necessarily smell so great. Also, I have been hearing tons of comments about how the city is apparently a romantic city but with no disrespect, I just didn’t see anything special about the place that would make me lose my mind for how romantic this city is “supposedly” suppose to be.

What I did love about this city is that it played host to the Venice Biennale and before (when I didn’t really know anything about art) I never really knew what a place like this could offer but when coming to this event I had my mind blown away by some of the most amazing art I have ever laid my eyes on (you can see some pictures that I have posted, but unfortunately the pictures just don’t give it justice as it does in seeing it in real life). What was really cool about the event was it had given exhibitions (pavilions) for each country to offer it’s very own artists to represent their country and display the amazing talents that they could offer.

At the Canada pavilion (which a woman by the name of Shary Boyle got to represent), I made sure that my roommates and I (including the professor) would take a picture outside the exhibition, being that we’re all Canadian that happened to be outside the building, in Venice, Italy !! I don’t know about you, but to me this picture has to be one of the best pictures taken in my time since being here.

In the pleasure of introducing to you an artist by the name of Damián Ortega, in this blog I’m going to share with you an assignment  for a class I had to write where I had to look for an artist that will be participating at this year’s Venice Biennale (the Biennale is sort of like the Superbowl of the art world only in Venice). In searching for an artist, I believed I had found one of the best artist that the Venice Biennale would have to offer.

Okay, before I get into this, I must first address a brief overview of the history of this artist.

• Born in 1967, Mexico City, Ortega gained influence from Gabriel Orozco (a sculpture and photographer), to which Ortega studied and established well into the late 80’s. There, he absorbed that acute attention to subsequently refine his own visual and conceptual abilities to emerge through that focus on the points of intersection between architecture, sculpture, and spatial analysis.
• He is currently found living and working in Berlin, Germany, or Mexico City.

Now how is he the best artist you ask ??

Well in Ortega’s work, objects are never allowed to rest—they are simply pulled apart, suspended, or even rearranged, to call attention to everything around us and finding that hidden poetry in the everyday world. As you can see with his art work, he likes to take simple objects such as the Volkswagen beetle and blasts them into the tiny atoms that make them apart of what they truly are or like a life-size model making kit. It is through these manipulations, where even such everyday products of coca cola bottles and caps can be transformed into imaginary ways. Also in his work, there are hidden messages where Ortega uses an example of a tortilla whereby cutting slots into the edges that fit together and act like a scale model of a modern apartment. But like everything in this world, nothing lasts forever and the work will eventually diminish, with time, and it displays that strong but playful tension between fragility and longevity.

In movement to what he’s doing at the Biennale

Which is actually being displayed on outside, in the Encyclopedic Palace. Central exhibition. He attempts to create a communicative system where he identifies the form but transforms the space as it as if it were a fabric that can be physical but hidden and develops a subsurface through which you can talk, breathe, or communicate with the outside world. Basically what he wanted to do was convert a space in a sensitive system as if it were alive, like a body with an idea that would also establish a communication between a person and another. To simplify it further, it’s like the game of cups we used when we were kids to pretend we were talking on the phone with each other. 

Critiques

Some critiques in general, is that I found that a lot of people basically find that he has no boundaries and that he explores all venues with his own style of wit and a sense of discovery with a search of truth within each of the subjects he chooses to work on.

 Okay so in this blog, I will explain the lovely city of Siena which is well known for being one of the first city to build it’s buildings with the use of bricks and clay (as most of the other cities would use sand-stone or other types of earlier forms of rocks to form structures. This city also has an unusual piazza (the first photo) which is shaped with a large dip that curves downwards and also has a large ring that encompasses around it. The purpose of this ring that circles the piazza is that the city would host (and still to this day) an event once a year, where the city held a race with 17 “contrade of Siena” (each is named after an animal or symbol and each with its own long history and complicated set of heraldic and semi-mythological associations) to win the challenge and represent for it’s neighborhood.

These districts (seen in photos 2 and 3) were set up in the Middle Ages in order to supply troops to the many military companies that were hired to defend Siena as it fought to defend its independence from Florence and other nearby city states. As time has gone by, the contrada have lost their administrative and military functions and have instead become simply areas of localized patriotism, held together by the emotions and sense of civic pride of the residents. Their roles have broadened so that every important event – baptisms, deaths, marriages, church holidays, victories at the piazza, even wine or food festivals – is celebrated only within one’s own contrada.

The city also has many beautiful churches and galleries which detail some pretty amazing art work. In the fourth photo, you can see one of the massive churches in the city and when you go inside it is absolutely amazing how (and I kid you not) every single piece of the space used in the building (as can be seen with the floor and the ceiling) has some form of art designed within it.

Furthermore, as can be seen with the last two pictures, we got the opportunity to see where the church was originally supposed to be (as they started to build part of the wall) but realized they wanted to move the church to the other side of the street. Now they use it as a observation deck where, as can be seen with the very last photo, takes a viewing of the whole city (which I got to go up on top of).

As a non-art student, I used to think art was a complete joke. I was that athlete in high school who only thought sports was the way to go or only the serious programs could get you a job in life. Like originally, too me, I considered art as more of a hobby than some real legitimate profession. But as I slowly began to realize here in Volterra, along with the surrounding of my fellow roommates (who are all art students), I started to understand that the opposite holds true. With immersion into the Volterra lifestyle, I learned that the city is largely known for its craft in working with alabaster rock and having magnificent pieces of historical art work.

It is with this type of rock that the city not only has a huge portion of its economy thriving upon, but also as a form of art (which is demanded from all places in the world) that the civilians take pride in. In the beginning, I initially thought of the sculpturing as an easy ability, but quickly took notice (as working work the rock) that it was harder than it actually looks. In my time here in Volterra and taking a class in carving my own piece of alabaster sculpture (as can be seen with my Coca-cola sculpture), I went from a disbeliever to having my eyes opened in the amazing qualities and harmonies that the craft has to offer. Now every time I walk along the city or see pieces of alabaster in stores or on display, I marvel in the greatness it took for somebody who had created such a beautiful piece of art work.

P.s. in the last two photos, you will see the before and after pictures of the alabaster sculpture I have been working on all semester. Looking back I think it absolutely blows my mind that I would be capable of turning a piece of rock into a replica of something I love most dearly. Crazy the things we can do in Volterra, Italy !!!

In this blog, I will be displaying a series of images that will display a unique quality of a chosen location of mine which was an assignment given to me by the learning by living class. In this assignment we were to choose 12 photos of a place in Volterra that conveyed a sense of place where we would reflect upon the mood or feeling of the place in which we were covering.

What is this location you ask ??

Well, as known as the Bar Da Paolino, it is a local café, that houses some of the finest Italian cappuccino grande’s known to man … and as you can see with the first picture, it is just able to capture that very essence of what this café and what it is about (i.e. the tables, the umbrellas, just that good feel vibe that seemingly welcomes you.

In this next photo: it is important to understand what sense of place is and from my experience I believe it to be a geographical concept of space that encompasses the relevant interaction between either the people, the environment, or both … Thus, with this photo right here, you can see the ppl interacting with the worker behind the counter, which details to me a sense of warmth, a sense of life, a sense of place.

In the next photo, you can see the worker (known as Alessia) in action, which expresses how the ppl in the scene seemingly affect the environment … which can automactically assume the role of this worker and how she affects it. Thus from this photo, I feel like I was able to capture a reflection of what one would gain from her role in the workplace.

In the two photos after, you can now see the craftsmanship of Alessia’s work and from what I take from these photos is a feeling of VERYY GOOD FOOD or in italian terms (Molto Buono) … i.e. such as the beauty of the panini’s or the exquisiteness of the cappuccino grande (which I pretty much invented there ahaha) but you see the greatness/appreciation for the condition of how they take pride in making their customers happy.

In the next photo, I thought this was a great capture of the lighting and feeling from the ceiling of the café, like there’s just that glow that any person could (if caring) the sense of a homey environment with the texture of the painting, light fixtures, and that smolder of acceptance.

In the following photo, I thought it was pretty cool how they had a nice little setup with the wine and roses to show that as although anyone is welcome in the café, that it stays true to the Italian culture and I feel like any visitor would automatically sense that the same amount of feeling. Like I don’t even really have to explain this but for the purposes of being graded, I’m going to say that instantly from this photo that the roses and wine just make me feel like I’m in a that kind of place where I’m welcomed to the fullest but at the same time having the ability to be included in a rich Italian environment.

In the next photo: it displays that sense that although this place is a café, you can have a chance to either win some good money (or  lose some good money) but also ultimately a little competitiveness is introduced to the environment and that sense of place then transfers from having a homey environment to that gamer effect where I feel like (at least from what I gather from this photo) a sense of place where I want to challenge the environment and be like … you know what, I can win this (even though I’ve already tried and lost right away ahaha) …

In movement to the next photo, obvs with the inclusion of a beer, a drink of pop, or even having a ice cream, I feel like it fuels that desire to instantly want one (which I obvs bought recently) and from this photo I take in a feeling of a Canadian effect where options are limitless at a variety store but at the same time an Italian aspect where I don’t really treat this place the same as I would in Canada and treat it as an appreciation that the café is willing to extend to other sources rather than just a regular coffee shop like Starbucks or Tim Hortons.

In the photo after, I can instantly gather the ability to recognize that although this place is a coffee shop, food place, or gamer environment that this café extends beyond its ability to just serve the customers but also welcomes the use of a clean bathroom setting (i.e as you can see with the nice flower picture, toilette seating, etc.) that this café actually cares for it’s public restrooms (as most places really don’t offer) and it’s nice that a place senses a care for it’s visitors.

In the next photo, I had to take a pic of the coffee machine that I and a lot of the other ppl order from and it’s at this point I feel like this photo displays just that beauty it takes to make a cappachino or latte macchiato.

In the last photo, you can see how the “Phammer” effects takes in and where I instantly become included in the environment and I just feel like this picture displays how ppl (including the visitors) and the environment can instantly become intertwined and dispel that Wendell Barny quote where, “If you don’t know where you are, you don’t know who you are” and from here I know who/where I am and making sure at the same I include the workers (such as Alessia) in who/where we are, regardless of what race we are all from !!

In this blog I will address something I believed that I thought I would never do here in Italy and where my roommates and I would instill a little piece of Canadian culture into the Italian experience, here in Volterra. Not only did we address the beauty of thanksgiving (something Italians don’t celebrate) and the playing of CANADIAN FOOTBALL !!! (a sport that Italians don’t even know about) but also in celebrating Halloween (which they don’t take really seriously here) as well .

Thanksgiving, as you can see in the first picture required everyone’s work (with the buying of the groceries, cooking of the food, or even the cleaning up after) developing into the beautiful table set with all the food and preparations. The second picture happens to show the meal that I ate, which was unfortunately both a combination of ABSOLUTELY amazing mixed with extreme “itis” (which is sort of like a food coma), sending me to the couch for like 2 hours.

In the third and fourth photo, you will see me and my roommates playing the lovely game of Canadian football in Italy !! It was actually quite hilarious how the roommates didn’t originally want to play this game at all but me of course being the generous pusher that I am (or rather being an absolute fan of the game lol) managed to the persuade the others to join in a game and even the professor (Michelle, the woman I am taunting as I’m running for a touchdown ahaha) as well. Needless to say, everyone enjoyed playing the game (as you can see with the excited expressions on their face as they run for the ball) and this moment was certainly one of my favourite times in Volterra, Italy.

Lastly, to the final photo is a picture of all of us dressed in Halloween costumes (me being the handsome and devilishly charming Zorro of course ahaha) where we would travel to the bars and show the locals how Canadians represent when dealing with Halloween. Italians aren’t really big on dressing up as they view it more as a thing for the children to do (although there were some), however were quick to change their minds as we found all of them loving our courage and excitement while donning our costumes (ps. I must’ve gotten stabbed with my own sword about 100 times that night lol).

Firenze being the first major trip for the group and also as field trip for professor Michelle’s course, had us on a tour of one of the most wonderful cities in Italy. Not only was the city absolutely beautiful and a well-established place for fine leathers but also remained as a host to one of the most historical museums in the world. How so you ask ? well Florence holds the Uffizi Gallery (or in Italian, Galleria degli Uffizi) which is one of the oldest and most famous art museums of the Western world. Today, the Uffizi is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Florence and when in demand, waiting times can be up to five hours !! (luckily, we went at a time when it wasn’t so busy and reserved our tickets in advanced). Also, Firenze takes host to one of the most famous statues in the world with the statue of David, which is a Renaissance sculpture created between 1501 and 1504, by an Italian artist by the name of Michelangleo (as can be seen in the third picture). It was crazy to see how different a statue looks in real life as opposed to viewing it from pictures. Like for instant not only could you see the impressive curvings made from the stone but also the actual marks on the back of the statue from when Michelangleo wanted to destroy it, thinking it wasn’t good enough and the people had to stop him (which I thought was really cool).

As you can see with the fourth picture, the museum hosts some very amazing and historical art work (unfortunately there was very enforced rule about taking photos in the museum, but I just thought this painting was so amazing that I obviously had to take a quick catch). What impressed me most about this painting was it was by a woman by the name of Artemisia Gentileschi where she was the first known woman painter in the renaissance (which was extremely rare) but unfortunately had been more known for being raped and treated horribly, which you can just feel and grasp in the efforts of her amazing painting.

Also, in the last photo, you will see a picture of us at the Hard rock cafe (which I have never been before) and with the family about to enjoy a really amazing dinner (where I had this absolutely scrumptious burger that filled me up for days lol).

So in this blog, I will be detailing about my schools first big Italian culture project where we would be invited among other artists to participate in decorating a big piece of metal, shaped in the form of a black sheep. The purpose of this assignment was to display to the community what we viewed of the “black sheep” (which is a common reference in Italy for a sheep, person, or thing that sticks out from the others/common norm).

What we decided, was to wrap the metal black sheep in bandage wraps as if the sheep is naturally white and we engulfed the bandages in a fire burning substance so that when we were to light the sheep it would begin to be covered in flames and transform into what would become the black sheep.

The purpose in which we believed is that the black sheep is a representation of all of us, laying dormant inside us waiting to burst out. Ideally, the black sheep is the one sheep unwilling to conform with the others and ultimately ascend past the common normality and stay true to it’s original self. Not going to lie, I thought this was a pretty cool project and as you can see with some of the pictures, many other artists did some pretty cool things with their attempt at the black sheep (but obvs ours was the coolest as everyone gathered around for the lighting of the flames muahah).

Ps. In this event we were also treated to a great Italian dinner and as you can see in the final picture, the “house family” is enjoying a nice Italian rich dinner served fresh with some very fine wine 😉 .