Believe it or not, I smell autumn ever so faintly in the early-morning air when I walk my dog Archie through the bleached and slightly dewy grasses and wild mauve asters in the Dallas Road meadows.
Down on the beach, almost motionless in the dark waters amongst the kelp beds, are people. They sit there, up to their necks in the frigid water, their little bundles of 颅towels and backpacks waiting on the cold black pebbles.
Is this art? Not the scene, but the act of cold-water dipping. Some artists feel it is, indeed, art, as is mushroom foraging, goat milking and apple-tree planting.
Before you say 鈥淧shaw!鈥� as I did, stop and ponder whether action is indeed an art form. Maybe we are heading for a new type of expression. Maybe how we see art, and therefore the world, is changing 鈥� maybe.
Outdoor School: Contemporary 颅Environmental Art, edited by Amish Morrell and Diane Borsato (2021, Douglas and 颅McIntyre Ltd.), provokes us to look at life and art differently, dismissing long-held ideas of what is normal and ordinary.
New ways of seeing can often be 颅wonderfully stimulating.
This book describes a variety of 颅activities within the natural world that 鈥渂lur the boundaries between art and life, nature and culture.鈥� Blur is the operative word. Many things are blurred and combined today 鈥� wine is blended, food is infused, dogs are of mixed breeds (ever heard of a puggle?), cars are hybrids, buildings have lawns on their roofs, and just look at trade and 颅globalization 鈥� a vast blur indeed.
鈥淭he Goat Milking,鈥� a performance piece 鈥渆xhibited鈥� in an art gallery in which a live goat is milked, is an artist鈥檚 attempt to 颅connect art institutions to animals.
Another artist camped in a Nova Scotia forest 颅surrounded by an electric fence and hung walkie-talkies on the surrounding trees, hoping to hear the nocturnal sounds of wild animals as she spoke to them 鈥� the project failed due to what she thinks was her loud voice (I know what you might be 颅thinking, especially if she was on a 颅government grant).
I was amused by several of the 颅endeavours in this eclectic collection of contemporary art (perhaps I鈥檓 just too traditional).
There is a performance piece titled 颅Coyote Walk in which a fellow traipses through urban areas in the middle of the night, hidden from humans, and another that involves an attempt at creating a boat from a giant pumpkin.
I chuckled many times, although I鈥檓 not sure if amusement was intended. The 颅opening photograph is of a lecture hall filled with a very serious-looking audience all dressed in what looks like a cross between beekeeper鈥檚 attire and a biohazard suit.
If this blurred contemporary notion of art is too much for you, check out Mary Fox: My Life As A Potter (2020, Harbour Publishing Co. Ltd.), reflections from the artist, who has a home and lovely gallery shop in the quaint and historic town of Ladysmith.
Mary鈥檚 art is exquisite and in the book, she combines her perceptions of beauty, pace and deep personal satisfaction with her honed skills (oh her glazes!) and love for her craft, with no blurred lines.
She has her breakfast in the bath. She takes walks, ponders life, and has two little dogs, Amy and Sasha. She shares her modesty, sensitivity and gratefulness for her life through her writing, as well as in her 颅stunning pieces, including her famous chalices, elegant and delicate, but strong, mounted in rock.
Why chalices? 鈥淢y chalices are designed to enhance and inspire everyday life with their beauty and to invite contemplation and reflection,鈥� she writes.
But she also creates functional tableware, 鈥渕ade with love for everyone out there who has a passion for cooking.鈥�
Mary has also established 鈥淭he Legacy Project鈥� for young, emerging ceramic artists to carry on after she passes away. Her book is so rich, I鈥檓 heading up to her shop this summer!
I have written about two very different books, but they are tied together by a simple notion: the desire to share.
I鈥檒l give Mary the last word: 鈥淏eauty is everywhere in our lives; we just need to see it. Even in our darkest times it is there holding out a branch to us.鈥�
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