This large bronze statue in the garden at Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts is based on an illustration Beatrice created in 1917—“an insolent, high-stepping stick figure thumbing its nose at the world”—for the cover of the Dadaist magazine, The Blind Man. It was also used on the advertising poster for the Blindman’s Ball that same year. I haven’t been able to find the name of the sculptor; he or she is referred to in several places as “a different artist.”
Playing tourist in my (temporary) town.
My flight home was cancelled and re-booked for 36 hours later, so I suddenly have some bonus time in Sydney.
I found myself in Hyde Park, the oldest public parkland in Australia. After re-visiting the Anzac Memorial—I have childhood memories of this place—I discovered another war memorial nearby. Erected in 2015, YININMADYEMI – Thou didst let fall pays tribute to the courage and sacrifice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women who served their country.
The artwork, created by Sydney-based Aboriginal Girramay artist Tony Albert, draws inspiration from his grandfather, Private Eddie Albert, who served during the Second World War.
In April 1941, Private Albert was captured following a German armored assault in Libya, where he was serving with the 2/15th Battalion. He was among the many prisoners sent to Benghazi before being transferred to a prisoner-of-war camp in Italy. After two years in captivity, Albert escaped in 1943 and joined the local partisans.
In April 1944, his group was recaptured by Italian Fascists. Three of the seven Allied soldiers were executed, while Albert and the remaining captives were handed over to the Germans. He remained in captivity until the war’s end.
The sculpture features four upright bullets, symbolising those who survived, and three fallen shells, representing those who were executed.
It’s coming up on six years since the Woolsey fire ravaged Malibu and the surrounding mountains. This oak tree fountain at a local shopping centre commemorates the event. I didn’t realise, while sketching it, that it’s made of copper; I presumed bronze. It has developed a dark patina that makes it feel very coast-live-oaky, and the rocks at the base are bright with algae or moss. I like it.
We have a fairly new, almost empty, shopping centre in town (like we needed another one!). I had a bit of a wander through, and noticed this public art out front. It’s comprised of columns of burnt burls of wood. Between some of the lumps are ceramic collars stamped with words like ‘fire’, ‘ash’ and ‘transform’. There’s no plaque, but I’m guessing it’s meant as a reminder of the Woolsey Fire which wreaked such devastation on our area nearly six years ago.
Rhea sent me a kookaburra audio clip, which reminded me of the time during lockdown that Dr Farvardin Daliri built a huge kookaburra statue complete with soundtrack, and towed it around Brisbane to make people smile. Sound on!
Foggy morning at the park, with the pale coyote statue howling into the mist.
I’ve always found Ed Benavente’s Big Red to be an odd choice for public art beside a children’s playground. Ominously towering over the swings and slides, the repressed violence in its stance seems out of place in swanky Malibu Country Mart. This month its legs are swathed in cornstalks … does this make it seem friendlier, or scarier?
I sketched this coyote a few weeks ago from a different angle. There are eight mosaic sculptures in Malibu’s Legacy Park by the artist Robin Indar. Maybe I’ll eventually get around to sketching them all.
I’m thinking someone’s been feeding the birds at Legacy Park, because these two Canada Geese waddled right on over to check me out. When it was clear I had nothing edible to offer, they lost interest and toddled off.
hashiworks 