KrisMag Connecting Creative People #2 / December 2017
Of Art Is Artis/Peter Bakker FALD/Kris Fanø/Morten Deedone Jensen Iris pü Aros/Kris International Street Art/Kris Aquarelles/Hartvig Hansen
KrisMag Connecting Creative People # 2 December 2017 Idé / tekst / fotos / layout: Kris Søgaard Fotos og tekst ’Of Art Is Artis´: Peter Bakker Forsidefoto af Ni Ketut, Bali, der deltog i International Street Art
Forord /Preface Efter et å rs pause er KrisMag nu igen i luften! Denne gang med deltagelse af fire venner … og tak derfor.
After a break of one year KrisMag is back! This time with participation of four friends … Thanks!
That’s what friends are for … !
OF ART I
pictures of the earth from a
Peter B
In Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the local zoo is known as ARTIS. That is a strange name for a zoo, especially since the word has no meaning is Dutch. In fact, it is Latin for “of art”. The popular name of the zoo ARTIS is all based on a misunderstanding. The main gate of the zoo is namely divided into three parts: NATURA is written on the left, in the middle it says ARTIS, and on the right MAGISTRA. But when people enter, they only noticed the word ARTIS. So they thought that was the name. Together these three words mean: nature is the teacher of art. In other words, nature is so beautiful, that we do not need to paint it, to draw it, to sketch it. The beauty is already there in the eye of the viewer and, I guess, the beholder. Strangely enough, we humans understand the connection between nature and art differently than what is suggested in that slogan. When we see something that is beautiful, we call it “picturesque” – which means: as if we see it on a picture. Or malerisk in Danish: worth painting. But why should we paint it if we can turn the light of nature directly into photographs? We can see the beauty around and below us without the intervention of painters. If you take out A, R and T out of NATURE, what you have left is NUE, which is the French word for naked (feminine). It was already known that if you take art out of the earth, all you hear is EH. Nature is naked without art, and we just say “eh” about the earth without art, because we do not know what to do anymore. But luckily there is photography.
THE EARTH FROM ABOVE The French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand is world famous for his pictures of the earth from the air. For that purpose, he hires airplanes and helicopters, asks the pilots to guide him to interesting places, click, click, and he comes back with beautiful and colorful pictures.
IS ARTIS
above the ground in Brazil
Bakker
However, if you are too poor to pay for such trips, or concerned about the environment and kerosene pollution, you may want to avoid those machines. Also if you have fear of flying, such an enterprise is not recommended. But for all those poor people, there is hope. You and I, we can be Yann Arthus-Bertrand as well. The Arthus-Bertrand of the poor. Without fear of heights, and almost risk-free. And I will show how.
ONE METER HIGH Most people take pictures horizontally. Maybe because humans are used to see in front of them. They want to see where they walk or ride. They look other people in the eyes when they converse with them. Some may even spend many hours staring at a screen in front of them. Perhaps slightly tilted when it is their phone screen. And, let’s be honest: looking in a horizontal direction is somewhat unavoidable, as our eyes are located in the front of our body. We are not birds, spiders or flatfish. For taking original pictures, you have to think differently, and not look horizontally. Look out of the box, and out of our heads. But why not do like Yann Arthus-Bertrand, and take pictures vertically? The earth is just as beautiful from one meter high as from 200 meter high. If you cannot be air-lifted to take pictures, you can take pictures from small things just in front of you. Why take pictures of camels in the desert from the sky (ArthusBertrand), or pictures of deer or animals in nature or elephants in the zoo (you), if you can also take pictures of the details of the earth from one meter high or less? Like insects and other small animals? And enjoy that beauty.
â—?
Some people see the landscape and the earth only through the lens of their cameras.
BRAZIL In 2015 I visited Brazil. I took many pictures of people taking pictures of themselves , or of themselves and their partners/friends/relatives. Selfies. Some people took perhaps a hundred of them on one day. They promised me that they would throw out “at least a third” when they get home. Normally. I am not sure that they saw the beautiful landscape, let alone the beautiful earth right under their feet. I did. Sometimes I was asked to take pictures of people: can you call these pictures selfies? I am not sure. The photographers may not always be selfish, though: in exchange they offered to take pictures of me as well with my camera. That is how I obtained some pictures of myself during that trip. What I like to expose today are some pictures that I took vertically from around a meter height, in December 2015 in the interior of the province of Bahia, Brazil. In some cases you may be able to see what it is, but most of them can be seen as abstract paintings. Nature is the teacher. We don’t need paint brushes. I did not use any form of color manipulation. Pure nature. You can do it as well. Thou art art.
You can use the rings in trees to measure the age. That is impossible with rocks.
One can see much more wildlife if one searches for insects.
In some cases one can detect a human among the insects as well.
But sometimes the human is actually a reflection of himself.
Humans may leave tracks in the earth. Perhaps they never disappear. Rain will wash them away.
Most of our planet consists of water. And under water there is earth.
Sometimes there is earth under the water.
And above the earth, there is the sky. And below the rocks, there is water.
A horizontal view is sometimes more spectacular if viewed upside down.
Sometimes the shadows are eye-catching as well.
Giant Brazilian musicians should take care not to trod on humans.
PETER BAKKER Peter Bakker moved to Aarhus some eight years ago. He works professionally with words and grammars, and he is also fond of water and photography. He won his first prize in photography when he was 15 years old, with a picture of Jesus with sunrays glowing from behind Him, a photo that he took in Rom, Italy, when he saw Jesus and the Light. Despite that, he remained an atheist. The Italian Friendship Association gave him a picture booklet for this achievement. Since then, he is never further than four meters from his camera, except when he is swimming. As a photographer, he is most famous for his publications of pictures of the Roman God Janus, of Canadian indigenous people, and his series on the Homolulu gay wedding in Amsterdam and about Edam village in Canada.
Fald - Falling Kris Søgaard Efter en faldulykke i april 2017 lå jeg på hospitalet i en morfinrus. Kunne hverken bevæge arme eller ben. Forunderlige syner fløj forbi til min underholdning: Jeg tegnede dem med venstre hånd, som var den eneste brugbare. Fem måneder senere skrev jeg teksterne med den højre, da den begyndte at fungere. Jeg udgav derpå de 32 sider i en lille bog. Her er nogle af siderne … I had a fall accident in April 2017 and couldn’t move arms or legs. Strange visions paraded in front of me thanks to the morphine. I drew them with my left hand as the right one was lame. Later I wrote the texts with the right hand. The 32 pages I published in a small book. Here are some of the drawings …
FANØ
Fotos/Photos: Morten Deedone Jensen Min ven Morten kommer ofte på Fanø. Han bidrager her med stemningsbilleder derfra. Hvis du vil se mere, kan du følge linket: www.facebook.com/mongar4
Bunker / Byliv Skyer som bjerge Solnedgang Boretårne i Esbjerg dok
My friend Morten often visits Fanø - a small island at the North Sea. He contributes with photos reflecting the special mood there. If you want to see more ‌ follow the link here: www.facebook.com/mongar4
Bunker / Small town life Clouds as mountains Sunset Oil riggs in the dock
Min ven, Iris Bakker, var oktober måneds kunstner i atelieret på Aros. Hun har stort set tegnet hele livet og er et meget inkluderende menneske. Det var derfor helt naturligt for hende at inddrage publikum ikke kun som modeller, men også som medvirkende. Der blev tegnet og snakket på livet løs! Kustoderne sendte publikum ned på tredje niveau … og Iris fik sin sag for! Ifølge museet har der aldrig været så meget gang i det åbne atelier!! Her er nogle af mine indtryk fra måneden … nyd dem! Se mere til Iris’ arbejder her: http://www.irisbakker.dk
IR PA AR Tekst & fotos
My friend, Iris Bakker, was artist in residence in Aros Art Museum all October month. She has been drawing all her life and is a very including person. Therefor it was quite natural for her to have the audience not only as models, but also participating in the work. The museum guards sent the audience down to level 3 … and there has never been so much drawing and talking before. Iris had really a busy month!
RIS PA� ROS Kris Søgaard
Here some of my impressions from the month … enjoy! See more of Iris’ works here: http://www.irisbakker.dk
International Str
reet Art - Aarhus Aarhus Festuge bød også på international street art. Jeg fulgte mest min ven, Hans Krull … og mine nye balinesiske venner Kan Kulak, Gamang King og Ni Ketut. En uge med sol, fest og farver … nyd turen gennem Frederiks Allé! The annual Aarhus Festival had this year also participation by international street art. I followed most of the time my friend, Hans Krull, and my new Balinese friends Kan Kulak, Gamang King and Ni Ketut. A week filled with sun and good vibrations … enjoy the walk!
Hartvig Hansen Norskfødte Hartvig Hansen er billedkunstner og teater instruktør. Han bor i Aalborg og har boet i Danmark siden 2004. Hartvig tegner hver dag og poster på facebook og instagram. Han har postet noget nyt hver dag. en ny tegning eller maleri i over 600 dage. På det seneste har Harvig eksperimenteret med forskellige udtryk i akvarel. Han eksperimenterer meget for at holde interessen og rejsen interessant. Her er tegningene der blev postet dag 593, 594, 595, 596, 597, 598, 599. Du kan følge Hartvig på hans tegne- rejse her: Facebook Instagram