Current mood: empty

I should feel relieved that my two-year judging  course is over, but I only feel annoyed that my last paper didn't turn out as good as I expected and terrified that I will be asked to write some additions to it. The only explanation I have is that I got some severe case of oversaturation when writing, thinking and most of all correcting  written texts takes enormous amount of energy. My paper was ready a week ago, but I couldn't bring myself to read it again till tonight. The only thing I want is to make stupid and kitschy Christmas presents and knit a couple of scarfs, the longer the better.
This weekend my daughter insisted that we have quality time together and made arrangements for  cinema, restaurant and museum, the programme that caters for all tastes. In the Fashion Museum there was a retrospective exhibition of the Fashion academy and the famous "Six" graduates. The inflatable costume from the exhibition reminded me of my current state

Stalkers/Сталкеры

If you are familiar with the "Roadside Piknic" a famous science-fiction novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky (all literate Russians of my generation are), then the word "Stalker" immediately brings you reminiscences of a Tarkovsky film and not the annoying psychopath intruding your personal life. In this film, "Stalker" is a guide to the mysterious Zone, a forbidden place which has intelligence of its own. The photographers I know remind me this character strongly. They penetrate all the forbidden zones, semi-derelict houses, and when they can discover an abandoned hospital or factory with signs of human existence still there, they keep the location in secret and only trusted friends can be guided to the shooting scene. I know a couple of Stalkers and gladly go with them when invited. Not because I am a good photographer, I am just curious and enthusiastic)). They make a lot of research before they start shooting and need a sympathetic listener to share the information. Last weekend it was an old petroleum refinery in the Harbour of Antwerp, covered with litter and stained with graffiti The place that will disappear without a trace, will be demolished soon - seems to be a perfect reason to take photographs. While taking photos I was thinking about Tarkovsky's film. I found out I didn't remember any scene, only a feeling that I had when I watched it last time many years ago. The same mixed feeling of danger and curiosity was swirling in this place. Precarious glass on the roof, rusty and shaky ladders to the attic spaces, surreal objects and rain, lots of rain.

MoMu Antwerp, Jacoba De Jonge Collection

I like everything about MOde Museum in Antwerp except for this habit of exhibition curators to give a high-speed spin to many of the exhibits. They rotate constantly and as a result the photo of a dress turns into a blurred cloud. There were two beautifully quilted petticoats, photo of one of them I can add to my collection, another is spinning at the background.



Of all the periods I love the 18th century most. Robes a la francaise





There was also a stunning collection of chintz costumes hidden in a dark room, accessoires and a traditional students exhibition.

Justitie Palais

I have already mentioned the new court house in Antwerp, the one that has resemblance with nostalgic newspaper cones. This package was used by french fries sellers, was made of newspapers and became a symbol of good old days in Flanders. I don't know if I like Justitie Palais or not, in any case I always feel a slight discrepancy between design and function. In our post-modernistic times 100 hundred year old rules about design that should follow function are not meticulously observed anymore. It looks more like an airport or an exhibition center to me. A friend of mine who saw photos taken yesterday night thought that it is a train station. Some photos are here (not mine). I haven't done anything with my photos yet, not good at it)so I place them as they are.


on the opposite side of the square

The last stop of the tram is under the staircase of the building. It is quite windy on the stairs leading to the palace. Funny thought : it's good that the judges don't wear wigs in Belgium.




Femida
Antwerp at night


My tripod wouldn't turn the camera for making a vertical shot but I couldn't pass these
beautiful Art-Nouveau facades without taking some photos

Under-the-bridge Pressionism

"Curator and collector Alain-Dominique Gallizia presented his personal collection of 500 works by mostly French graffiti artists on canvas to the public at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. This exhibition is an anthology of 40 years of “Pressionism,” divided into eight sections. The work on display featured US-style tag graffiti transposed to uniformly sized canvases that glow like DayGlo stained-glass windows. Gallizia coined the term “Pressionism” from the pressure exerted on the spray-can nozzle."
His Majesty Prince Albert honored the exhibition with his presence, something totally unthought of some decades ago. While modern cities struggle to cleanse and rinse vandalized walls and remove this pariah of art, graphic designers creatively borrow the fonts, styles and images of incognito artists. There is a little square in Antwerp where the blank walls are the permanently changing exposition of graffiti artists, where masterpieces do not last long, but the artists seem to be indifferent to the fact that their creations are over-painted by newcomers. French graffiti artists were lucky to have an admirer like Alain-Dominique Gallizia to safeguard the future of their paintings.
Even if (like in Antwerp) they have specially assigned "graffiti allowed"places, graffiti artists migrate from one concrete debris to another,"Blank walls are criminal!". I found these fine examples of Pressionism under one of the bridges in Antwerp.