Sleepy Eyes
rainy skies
sleepy eyes
watching
over you
and me
(c) Imke Rust
I took this photograph on a rainy day just a few days before the great floods in Meissen, Germany. The Elbe, the river running through Meissen was already filling up more and more at that time… Now large parts of the old city center are under water.
So I am posting this thinking of all the people who are affected by the great floods in Germany at the moment.
Blogging makes you meet all kinds of interesting artists and fellow bloggers – at least virtually. Recently I have read about an initiative by the artist collective Theo: Tauschrausch (German for something like barter buzz) and decided to participate.
I love the idea of exchanging artworks instead of selling them. Exchanging my artworks for services or goods produced by somebody else, or alternative for artworks from fellow artists is such a cool idea, although not always that easy.
Theo has a offered a collection of their handmade cards and I decided to present them with the postcards of my recent land art works.
The deal was done and I received the most beautifully packaged edition of postcards:
Beautifully packaged postcards by Theo
Postcards by Theo – old fashioned black & white collage style – very cool
Thank you very much Theo! One cannot find a more beautiful excuse to take up a fountain pen, write an art postcard and send it of into the world…. (or on second thoughts maybe just to just keep them all to myself 😉 )
Have a look at more of Theo’s work here and find out who they are.
I could never really afford luxury things, such as dying my hair. So when my hairdresser told me that she just loves my artwork, but cannot afford to buy it, we quickly decided that we can fix two problems in one go with exchanging art for beautiful cuts and amazing colours. Following is one of several works, which I have exchanged with my wonderful and very talented hair dresser (Heidi from Heidi’s Hair Studio) in Windhoek.
Yin & Yang from the ‘wo-man’ series (Ink on rice paper, 70 x 70cm by Imke Rust) © Imke Rust
Stunning colours and cuts by my favourite hairdresser in return
I received this 2-piece artwork by Bremen artist Edeltraut Rath in return for one of my dog images from the Power & Politics Series in 2006:
Untitled by Edeltraut Rath from Bremen
The two painted wooden blogs are just beautiful and can be hung or displayed standing in a variety of ways. I just love the warm and sunny colours. (unfortunately the photograph is not the best)
It would be great if we could exchange real things and services with each other more often, instead of using money as a form of payment!
Tell me – have you exchanged or bartered things before or could you imagine doing it? And what was exchanged for what? Did you experience any problems or wonderful surprises? I would love to know more stories about this.
Wishing you a great week!
If you can’t beat them, join them…
I guess that applies to the weather too. If you cannot beat the cold – play along.
So that is what I did for Easter. As I already mentioned in my previous Easter post, I am not really into the whole Easter thing and much to some people’s despair I only ever follow rituals or parts of them, which seem like real fun to me, when I am in the mood for it or if they make some other kind of sense to me (and that does not always need to be the rational kind of sense 😉 ) .
Since we were invited for an Easter dinner and I recently read something about freezing water in balloons, I decided to create some frozen Easter eggs, suitable as an ephemeral gift for the host’s garden and the icy cold weather.
I filled water into balloons and hung them in the freezer. After the water was frozen, I peeled off the balloon.
Now I boiled some beetroot peels (the rest of the root was turned into a yummy raw salad) to get a natural and environmentally friendly colour for the red egg. Only at this stage I remembered to take photographs of the process. I used commercial food colouring for the other two eggs as I ran out of time for being more creative in making my own colours.
Boiled beetroot peels create a lovely red colour…
…which I used to paint the frozen ice/egg
The eggs were stored in the freezer and then transported in a padded cool-box to our dinner hosts.
Easter eggs stored safely in the freezer
Then the Easter bunny (i.e. me) could not decide, where to place the eggs, to get the best visibility – these eggs were not made for hiding after all. After trying the pretty white snow blanket of the back yard, I decided it is best to place them right in view of the front door, even if there was not an ‘all white’ dense snow covering as I had wished for.But they would be in plain view of everybody leaving or entering the house.
The Easter eggs in their full glory
Easter Eggs viewed from the top
Much to my joy, they were well received…. 🙂 And we were treated to a delicious meal and lovely evening.
The bunny left some frozen Easter eggs at the front door…
And if they have not melted, they might still be there today…
Wishing you a great remainder of the week!
Its video time!!!
For the first time I will share one of my art videos on my blog. I still must get around to update my webpage with pics and info about my latest solo exhibition for you, but till I get to do that, I thought of sharing the video “An infinite scream passing through the Namib” with you. The 4min video is a short documentation of an art action which I have done in Swakopmund in April 2012. It was publicly shown for the first time at my exhibition in December 2012 in Swakopmund. Guests of the exhibition loved this fun video so much, that I decided to share it with everybody on my blog too.
Me re-enacting the Scream by Edvard Munch on the Swakopmund Jetty.
In order to raise the local and global awareness about the dangers of the exploitation and destruction of the Namib desert and coastal area through mining and other proposed industrial developments, I initiated this public art action based on Munch’s painting “The Scream”. During the hour before sunset I asked passersby to re-enact the scene of the original painting to show their concern for our Namibian environment and have photographed their ‘screams’, while the whole action has been captured on film by Steffen Holzkamp of Onexa A+V.
In 2011 I have painted my own version of the Scream (you can see it here). Munch’s “Scream” painting has always reminded me of the jetty in Swakopmund where I grew up, and slowly the idea developed for this art action. The title came from what Munch has said about his inspiration for the painting.
“I was walking along a path with two friends—the sun was setting — suddenly the sky turned blood red — I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence —there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city — my friends walked on,and I stood there trembling with anxiety — and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.”
Edvard Munch (1863-1944) about his work “The Scream (of Nature)
"An infinite scream passing through the Namib" Video, 3:57min, © Imke Rust An Art Action by Imke Rust documented in video and photographs @ The Jetty, Swakopmund, Namibia. 17h00-18h00, 2 April 2012 Based on the artwork "The Scream" by Edvard Munch. Concept & Photographs: Imke Rust Filming & Video: Onexa A+V With special thanks to Martha, Makafa, Erson, Isabel, Brad, Britta, Lena, Luisa, Stefan, Jasoni, Helia, Elina, Burkart, Steffen, Armand, Logan, Ros, George, Jan-Daniel and Janelle for your "screams" and Onexa A+V and the National Arts Council of Namibia for supporting this project
Also have a look at Part II to see some of the photographs taken during this action!
Did you like the video? Did it put a smile on your face? Or a new thought into your head? Does it inspire you to think of what you can do for the environment?
Then please share this post with your friends via Facebook, YouTube, Twitter or by email. And please show your support by leaving a comment or “Like” either here or on YouTube. Thank you!
Two of my older works about the human-canine relationship as a metaphor for power relations on a personal, social and political level, have been sold as part of an auction to raise money for the local SPCA and Cat Protection Society.
I am excited to be able to help in a small way and support the great work these organizations are doing. And we are working on another idea of selling some more of my works depicting dogs and cats via Facebook. So soon you could hopefully become the owner of one of my works and at the same time doing something good for all the homeless pets out in Windhoek. I will keep you posted.
Till then you can see the two works which were sold already:
My Best Friend ©Imke Rust
Digital Print on Paper, A2, Edition of 5
Lonely Dog in Blue ©Imke Rust
Acrylic and digital print on paper
60x60cm
2002
Wishing you and your best friend a happy day!
Sometimes real life is more fascinating than art…
I have been visiting two of the five Berlin Biennale 2012 venues so far (and hope to see the rest in the next few days). From what I read about it, it sounded interesting with a big hype around its political agenda etc. . Honestly, I do hope the rest of the show is more exiting than what I have seen up to now (please note, that is just my very personal impression, based on my likes and preferences).
When searching for the Biennale display in the Akademie der Künste we got a bit lost and ended up on the wrong level. Not realising this, I got really excited when I peeked around one corner and saw, what I thought was the most brilliant political statement art installation at the Biennale so far:
Sleeping MP © Imke Rust (Berlin Biennale 2012 / Akademie der Künste)
When I walked closer to get a full view, I realized that it was NOT an art installation, but a very tired Military Police guy… and his artful statement made the visit worth our while.
My Kitchen. Photograph by Jutta Dobler, artwork (Stencil on aluminium) by ImkeRust)
I don’t jog…
Ok, the secret is out. See. Now you know it. And also the reason why…
And if you are curious to get some more visual insights into my artist’s life read on and make sure you get to see the rest of the photos.
After being presented the “Liebster Blog” award by fellow blogger Jutta Dobler from the amazing “Organized Living Solutions” blog we decided to meet up again for a coffee (and some of the birthday cake my mom baked me. Honestly, she makes the most delicious Quark Stollen – a German Christmas cake – and because I love it so much, she bakes me an extra big one for my birthday every year, too…) Jutta, who is a photographer by profession, brought along her camera and snapped away in and around my house, which is also from where I work, when I am in Windhoek.
Last year I have shared with you an incredible 360degree view of my Berlin Studio, done by Reinhard Schubert of King Panorama, and now you can see some amazing photographs of selected details of my Windhoek studio and home by Jutta Dobler on her blog. You might also just want to browse around the rest of her blog, as it is a beautiful, lighthearted and fun blog, filled with easy DIY creative ideas, delicious recipes and beautiful photographs.
Welcome to my world. Go ahead and take a look. Just click here.
Photograph by Jutta Dobler, artwork 'Feet' (Etching) by Imke Rust
I have just exchanged this view
For this one
And the winter for the summer.
The European continent for the African.
One home for another.
Berlin for Windhoek.
A studio in the fifth floor for a ground-level studio spilling over onto the stoep (Namibian word for verandah) and garden.
And so much more….
A strange feeling. Returning home, from another home.
I am looking forward to the time here in Namibia and am excited to catch up with my friends, family and my cat. Planing on a creative, adventurous and inspirational time and hopefully getting back into a more regular blogging routine.
My apologies for letting you wait so long, but the good news is, that the less I write blogs the more time I am spending creating new art… AND this time I have a very special treat for you, read on to find out what it is.
I have been working a lot, but also had some (more social) fun, when I finally held a studio-warming party last weekend – just in time, before the colder winter days are creeping up on me. Many of my new and old friends from Berlin came and were treated to some good food, wine and beer and a selection of my old and new work. And I was so happy that so many of you came to share this with me!
I was especially excited, because one of my absolute favorite artist, Max Neumann and his lovely partner Sonja Kopp, also braved the distance into the deepest Pankow to join the small party. Wow, his art inspires me so much, so I felt honored that my humble studio already has been visited by such a great artist.
The evening was relaxed and so much fun, that I unfortunately totally forgot to take pictures to share with you. But, our good friend Reinhard Schubert (King Panorama), has kindly created an amazing 360º Cubic Panorama of my studio and has shared this with us on the net. So you can take a leisurely, virtual stroll through my little studio, with some old, some new and some unfinished works, the buffet still almost untouched and before it got too crowded. Use your mouse or the arrows to turn left or right, and zoom in or out. Thank you, Reinhard!
Welcome to my studio! Click here to step inside…
A still view of my Berlin studio (c) Reinhard Schubert
Everyday waiting for the bus or the S-Bahn I witness one of the most intriguing phenomena: the careless-flipping-away-of-cigarette-buds.
In most smokers minds’ cigarette buds do not seem to be classified as litter. No, I do not hate smokers, I just do not understand this part of their actions (and yes, I do feel a bit offended by it). Has it ever occurred to you that cigarette buds are litter and belong into a bin or ashtray and not on the public floor?
It is not as if the person looks around for a rubbish bin, then cannot find one or thinks it’s too far to walk to, and then decides to rather drop it on the floor. It seems to be a totally unconscious act. Maybe somebody can explain this to me? It is a mystery to me. I assume, you do not just drop the buds on your floor at home – or do you?
I salute the few smokers who carry a portable ashtray and use it to store their ash and buds or those who are conscious enough to make use of public rubbish bins.
As I found this so intriguing, I thought I have a bit of my own fun:
Smoke Victims
Drawing
Smoke Victims (close up)
Imke Rust 