Finding the Queen of Hearts

...experimenting with the artificial creation of different layers.

Zeche Zollverein

The Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex (German: "Zeche Zollverein") is a large former industrial site in the German city of Essen and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The first coal mine on the premises was founded in 1847, and mining activities took place from 1851 until 1986. For decades, starting in the late 1950s, parts of the site ranked among the largest of their kinds in Europe.

Built in the "New Objectivity" style (German: "Neue Sachlichkeit"), it is an architectural and technical masterpiece, earning it a reputation as the "most beautiful coal mine in the world".

(Source: Wikipedia).

The early bird catches the picture

Even though it' s Saturday, I started my day very early today. Not that there was a reason for me to do so - on the contrary! I had been looking forward all week to the possibility of staying in bed for as long as I wanted. 

But here I was: having just woken up, lying in silence until the neighbour' s wall clock started chiming "gonnnnng... gonnnnng... gonnnnng..." I expected it to do so six times, in correlation with the hour at which my body usually wakes up even without an alarm.  

 I heard only four chimes. At first I thought that I had simply missed two and checked my cell phone.

"04:01"

Realising that there was no way I was going to fall asleep again, I got up, quickly checked the news and then started a chat with Nina (who, in a different time zone, was just about to have an early night). After some exchange during which we both wondered what on earth had caused me to wake up so early, I did a 3o minutes workout, took an extended shower, slowly and carefully brushed my teeth, took my time to pick the clothes to wear, chose tramway over subway to go to the city.

In "Cafe Westend" I had a lengthy breakfast during which I read an eye-opening article about the role that red lipstick and Elizabeth Arden played in the history of the emancipation of women (if you want to know more: this article is very similar to what I read in the magazine). 

I paid, stepped out of the cafe and onto Mariahilfer Strasse and checked the time: 8:40AM only! Still 50 minutes before the shops I needed would open. For a moment I regretted not having stayed longer in the "Westend". After all, I could have had another espresso and leaf through more magazines.

But then I remembered that I had my 3D camera in my rucksack - because the other day I had resolved to take this device with me wherever I go.  And now was the first opportunity for that resolution to bear fruits.

What caught my attention in the 50 minutes which followed that realisation can be seen below.

Abstract Still Life With Mirror

Abstract Still Life With Mirror #1

 Abstract Still Life With Mirror #2

Glimpses of Zürich

Nina and I only had a few hours to spend in this super-rich, super-expensive but also super-pittoresque city in the North of Switzerland. 

As you may expect from someone who' s just got a new toy to play with, I used the little time we had on our hands (with my new 3D camera in my hand) to look out for motifs that could make for interesting stereo photos, while aimlessly walking around. 

The initial results were quite satisfying but also boring somehow. I found that these 3D photos would be much more fun to look at (at least for me!) if the colours were just a "bit" stronger. And there you have it...

Is this art?

If these coloured waste bins were to be found in an art museum I would not be able to tell whether they are exhibits (“readymades”) or just "real" waste bins.

What is a work of art?
What is the role of art?
Does art have to be "beautiful" or "meaningful"?
Who gets to decide?

Us and our shadows

Like the wallpaper sticks to the wall

Like the seashore clings to the sea

like you'll never get rid of your shadow

No you'll never get rid of me

(The words for this blog post were borrowed from the lyrics of the song "me and my shadow" by Al Jolson, Billy Rose, and Dave Dreyer)

Behold! The Portara

The "Portara" (or the "Great Door") is the most famous landmark of Greece's Naxos island.

The huge marble gate is the entrance to an unfinished temple. The rectangular gate is around 6 m high and 3.5 m wide. It is made of four blocks of marble, each weighing 20 tons. 

The temple was begun about 530 BC by the tyrant Lygdamis, who said he would make Naxos's buildings the highest and most magnificent in Greece.

Lygdamis was overthrown in 506 BC and the temple never completed.

The "Portara" is connected to Naxos Town ("Chora") by a paved footpath.

If you would like to know more about this impressive landmark I can warmly recommend my sources: Sacred Destinations, Greeka and the website of Naxos.

Are we living in a simulation?

My left hand (which, believe it or not, has its own diary!) and its reflection, the latter partly distorted by squares on a mirror in a room with tiny square tiles.

This stereo photograph made me think of the movie "the Matrix" and how some people really think that the film' s claims might be valid. 

If you believe that it' s "uneducated" people who seriously think that our reality may not be real then you might be interested in reading this recent article in the "Business Insider". Bottom line: according to some philosophers, the idea that we're living in a simulation is totally plausible!

...speaking of coffee

 Even though it' s much more time consuming than pushing a button on a machine, I love the (morning) ceremony of preparing coffee: grinding the beans, inhaling the smell when they are freshly ground...

...and hearing the "bubbling" sound the "macchinetta" (or "cafetiera") makes when the coffee is ready.

For some obscure reason, after more than 20 years of drinking coffee with milk and without sugar, I lately "inverted" my preferences: these days I'm enjoying this stimulating hot beverage without milk and with sugar. I wonder what this says about me...

I must confess though that I love the smell of coffee even more than its taste. How's about you?

Funky Cactus

Of course I am not the first to combine the words "funky" and "cactus"; it simply was the very first title for this post that came to my head. I liked it, so I kept it. 

Out of curiosity I searched the web for those two words and was quite amazed by the wonderful things I discovered. 

The majority of "funky cactus" to be found on the internet are designs for t-shirts, mugs, towels etc and (sometimes quite hilarious) images on photography platforms.

However, as a lover of various styles of music (including funk) my favorite discovery has to be the San Francisco based label  "Funky Cactus Recordings" run by DJ Greg J and Toronto based producer Myagi ;-)