art | 4otomo

When I saw the prompt for the Weekly Photo Challenge this week, Life imitates Art, it reminded me of instances when I encounter building art, street art or graffiti while I am walking around with my camera. Perhaps, its just me, but I try and look for a composition that includes something or someone that would complement that piece of Artwork in a way that it could be portrayed within it… 🙂 Hope that description makes sense 🙂 :-). Either way, its all subjective, and everyone’s perception is different. Have a look, maybe you’ll see what I saw 🙂

My response to this week’s prompt are a few of those images taken on my recent trip to Portugal.

………. the journey continues………….

Life Imitates Art
when life imitates art-2
when life imitates art-4

The Promenade along the coastline in Cape Town has been home to 18 sculptures for the last year. People from all walks of life venture along the scenic route at different times of the day getting on with whatever activity brought them to the place. As mentioned in a previous blog, these tend to be as diverse as walkers, and joggers getting in some daily exercise, parents with kids on bicycles making sure the little ones get rid of some adrenilin :-), lovers strolling hand in hand contemplating life with one another, families getting together to celebrate a birthday or just having a picnic on large open lawns, elderly people being pushed along in wheelchairs taking in some sunshine and sea air, ice cream and food vendors on bicycles or on foot making sure everyone is fed and refreshed, policeman and security people making sure nobody gets out of hand, together with a myriad of support people that ensure that all the Public facilities along the route are clean and tidy.

So these 18 sculptures have seamlessly integrated themselves into this environment, as though they had always been there, all 18 of them, fully integrated, providing amongst many other things, a welcome perch for seagulls to perch on and observe the surroundings, markers where people agree to meet before heading off on a planned activity, probably a forum for discussion amongst art students and observers, a photo opportunity for tourists, as well as information on metal plaques for those locals who see them for the first time.

The sculptures depict the story of a little girl who wishes she could fly, and her encounters with a dragonfly. They have been done by Artist Marieke Prinsloo – Rowe as a live experiment following on from a thesis focusing on Public Art. More information about the experiment and the story behind the sculptures can be found on the website http://walkingtheroad.com

Sadly though I read that these were only temporary and are scheduled to be removed shortly. I am sure they will be missed by the many people that frequent the Promenade, perhaps they should comfort themselves with the fact that maybe the little girls dream of flying had been realised…………..the journey continues……………

So here are some images that give you my perspective of how integral these statues have become on the Promenade and its surroundings…..my little tribute to them before they take their newly found wings and fly away…………………………………………………………….. All of these images have been taken in the late evening, hand held, which required very high ISO, so the images are a bit “noisy”