PROGRESS...(working towards the roofing party!!)

Stages of building are a layered and non-linear process; don't let anyone tell you different.  

There is a lot that takes place between the lines of time and this week I was reminded of that by an artist from the "hood".  Arriving on the site, as I do daily,   I discovered an awesome surprise gift by Byron the Cameraman.  Check this out.

Cameraman has captured a moment in time ( the image dates the moment to 2014) so now the past and the present (like the project) are being reflected on a daily basis.  The moment captured from 2014 has been mounted onto a piece of wood, holes drilled in and zap strapped to the fence.  I love that he took the time to add a layer to the project, and it's such a beautiful image as well.  The date on the moment captured by Cameraman is also the year the house was bought!  Loving the random acts of artist's interest that cause another human being to be moved!! Much thanks to you Byron Cameraman.

Continuing in the vein of old and new in moments of progress, let's look at the rosettes saved from the  1890's original house.  Marianne, has a vision to integrate them into a space in the Big House, where the Grand Dame will shine with special moments  throughout.  Here are some of those original pieces.

Don't you just love how that paint from years ago still clings to the wood leaving layered reference to the amazing colors of the pas?  It reminds me of that wild washed out green retaining wall Cameraman so beautifully captured in his image now on the fence.

I get so excited when I see things coming together and am full of desire to see it all completed.  That's when moments like Cameraman's contribution or the paint on the side of the rosettes remind me to take pause and enjoy these moments before they're gone, integrated, evolved, changed...

In our culture, speaking of the Croatian side now, we traditionally take pause when building to celebrate a roof over our heads.  It's a roofing party for the workers; I imagine it too has layered meaning, a roof as protection from the elements, a roof over the family's head as a symbol of security, a practical purpose of a dry environment for the guys slogging away everyday,  marking of a point in the process and time where things move faster and smoothly forward...  Well that time is here on Friday!  Really looking forward to celebrating with all those handsome and beautiful people on site making this all a reality!!  Taking the moment to just let the feet dangle and hang out!

ART -- where does it get produced?

Ready to post about "studio space", places where those creative birds make magic happen. The last ART post, compared the hydro/telephone pole to an art exhibition which has been as layered, involving  as many people and has similar controversy and irony.  This week it's a poke at the landing pad where  birds of a feather flocking together.

A recent conversation with an artist friend, nicknamed WildCard, got me thinking about some of the artists that live and produce here in the neighbourhood.  Wild Card and I were discussing  artist studio spaces that have been lost and the threat coming for more to be gone.  Here are a few of the City of Vancouver's development/planning areas that effect the work places of artists, crafts people and designers (creative studio/production spaces):  

NOTE: when you hit on the link, go to the tab titled "Details"; this should give you a visual of a map outlining the exact geographical area

 False Creek Flats, Chinatown revitalization, Downtown Eastside (for some reason this link doesn't go straight to the map like the others when you follow the same search pattern -- guess those people don't deserve a map????), Northeast False Creek area plan,   Hastings/Kiwassa  (this one is interesting as it's a development within a development???)   and Grandview Woodlands.   It's a bit time consuming but you'll get the idea of geography and mapping/cartography.

Please don't despair!! This has been an exercise in cartography, more precisely an excellent example of non-cohesive cartography, particularly if one is looking for a lens that applies to work place for the arts community .  Ptolemy's soul must be spinning in his grave (or the stars).

WildCard and I scurried down the creative wormhole playing with ideas of creative critical thinking as it pertains to the art community.  We  laughed at creative ways to help protect these spaces and the type of solutions other artists would devise. Thinking about all those creative birds  living and working in those areas led to more discussion with an emphasis on the value of art in a city .  We know creative contribution to the City of Vancouver goes beyond the  economic benefits , to say nothing of it's culture, it speaks to the soul of society.  Just a quick fyi, there are more than 12 artists who live in the area of project 851; either on the block of 851 Union or on the block directly across the street or on the block directly behind (the alley block).  I think that's a pretty impressive part of the soul!!! 

Here are a few images of things you'll find in that one block radius:

1-4  1)Artists to the south;  the Big House getting a new roof facing south  2) Artists to the north; The Octopus  (purely coincidental that we have the Takashi Murakami exhibition on at the VAG now called "the Octopus Eats its Own Leg"; those octopodes can really get around; 3) Not artists to the east; rather a moment captured  of a different kind of the soul  4) Art in the hood;  I love how art influences others like non-artist  neighbours, who fit in with a Banksy reference which is charming! -- you go Balloon Girl.

"Poor non-cohesive mapping of artist studio spaces", Ptolemy could be saying.  How would you cohesively show where the decisions from those 6 development plans effected artist studio spaces Ptolemy?  Wild Card liked my response (for Ptolemy)  "Well if we define "effected" in it's true sense, here being an example; The dictatorial regime quickly effected changes to the constitution that restricted the freedom of the people.  We may prefer to consider the "affect" on the artistic community working in those studio spaces, since "affected" means made an impact on... and to easily show what area is affected let's look to some well done (but could be improved) cartography that already exists.  This is what I would build on if I, Ptolemy, or any cartographer worth his/her salt,  were you."

Sure hope those birds at planning and development pull "THIS" landing pad together so Ptolemy's soul can stop spinning.

PEOPLE, PLACES, THINGS... it's all in a nickname

There really is a lot of "MADNESS" going on in the area, city, and country to say nothing of the World.  So, figured it's time to celebrate the joys we have going on to help me stay grounded -- come on along and let's all keep our feet planted.

Sometimes the crazy madness of the life makes me want to just fly away, like it would be better somewhere else (hahaha) I don't know why Tahiti always comes to mind.  I'm sure I''m not the only one who has this fantasy "go to" place.  Rather than escape, abandoning things and others who depend on me I think of things to be thankful for.  In this hood there are a lot.

For instance, this week great news came my way hearing  an amazing neighbour was nominated for "Woman of Distinction"!  Yeah!!-- I am grateful for this friend and that I could write a letter of support for the nomination.  There are such happy  supporters of project 851 (from the beginning stages) and I'm so grateful for that when I'm approached me and can genuinely tell they are interested in how things are going.  I especially love it when I feel this positive energy coming from people who  have lived here a long time.  How lucky am I to know they like the way it looks, the time and energy going into ,  building a quality build to our community and not a "developer project ready for flipping".  It's true, as I plan on living and dying in the Big House and want to be surrounded by like minded people.

It's important to keep these people in mind and not get sucked into the vortex of the day to day stresses of costs, budgets, decisions, changes etc... The generosity of others helps keep things light and... speaking of light I find it's always more fun to play around with the game of nicknames.  So here are a few of my favourites, hmmmm, wonder if they'll recognize themselves: 

Thank you to Mrs. Kravitz, Mr. Fixit, Mrs. Activist, The Nudi Neighbour Club, Caneman, Diego Rivera of Vancouver, The unofficial Mayor of Strathcona (actually there's a few people who get that nickname hahaha self-labelled), Mr. and Mrs. Burns (Simpsons),  The Coffee Seducer, Jerry Seinfeld, Will and Grace, The Queen of Strathcona,  The One who Prays for me,  Grace (from Grace and Frankie),  Walter White, Go ask Saul, Pinkman, Sooooo Eastern European Dude,  The Quiet Pickpocket, Down to the Detail, Mr. Chill, Baby Brain, Parents of the Feral, Little Miss Curious, Community Man, Sam Malone (from Cheers), The Banksy's, Motown and the cast of characters grows daily.

..There are so many wonderful amazing people,  that are appreciated but, please keep repeating your names, because as I get older everyone becomes sweetie dahlin!!(easier to remember).  Most grateful to all the sweetie dahlin's in my life as I try to keep my feet on the ground.

COMMUNITY -- bring on a roof!

Ok, so maybe it's not a roof, but the Octopus has an amazing geometry that's come together and is under cover.  Let's take a look, starting with this short video. (credit for video Reece Terris of Terris Lightfoot Contracting ltd.)

Here are some photo's leading up to what you've just seen in the video -- learning all about parallel trusses.  The lines of this weeks post are so sexy and exciting; you may think to say that my life must be pretty boring right? hahaha actually it's not.  

But wait, there's more!  Maynard comes to explore the site and take a look at (moi, the concrete hag stair appreciation) a few different angles leading up to the shot of lines coming together! Omg, these lines are sooooo beautiful!

So how many guys on the ground does it take to pull this off?  They are not all in the photos but if you look closely you'll see at least 4 and don't forget to count the guy who actually went up on the Octopus to take the video and roof lines coming together.  Going to the site everyday is pretty cool as I watch things take form there's a part of me that would love to be the dude with the tools.  I can only imagine what that result would look like, Octopus goes surreal alien.

Having a dream is energizing and no one knows that better than a surrealist,  and speaking of surrealism I'v recently been reminded that pushing a surreal envelop can result in something very real.

My neighbour Ewan, the awesome guy who's let me set up the time lapse camera at his place told me about "Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable".   OMG what a great  "really? really?" experience in the adventure through art.  I've never been a fan of Damien Hirst, the artist who is behind this film.  Now however, I do have to admit this work of  Damien Hirst has caused me to reconsider him as a pretty brilliant artist.

 If you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend you add it to your list. It's a mockumentary that chronicles the fictional story behind Damien Hirst’s two-venue exhibition in Venice last year.  It took a community to make that art happen and unlike the historic reference to Cif Amotan II (an anagram, it turns out, for “I am fiction”) Project 851 is real and too takes a community/team to make it happen.

It's the cheekiness of Hirst's work,  that I appreciate and also the lengths he goes to to make that exhibition become a reality; a brilliantly layered work of art.  Often I find myself  feeling it takes a lot of chutzpah to make a dream become reality when building in Vancouver;  "treasures from the wreck of the unbelievable" makes me chuckle.  God knows anyone taking on a project like this needs those chuckles.