Karen Axelrad Archives - TheAppWhisperer

Mobile Photography & Art – Flickr/Instagram Group Showcase – 19 May 2019

19/05/201919/05/2019 by Joanne Carter

“Few travelled in these days, for, thanks to the advance of science, the earth was exactly alike all over. Rapid intercourse, from which the previous civilization had hoped so much, had ended by defeating itself. What was the good of going to Peking when it was just like Shrewsbury? Why return to Shrewsbury when it would all be like Peking? Men seldom moved their bodies; all unrest was concentrated in the soul.” ―E.M. Forster, The Machine Stops and the first book that I immediately reread thrice, when I was thirteen. It was the first book that interrupted my thought processes enough to relieve me of outside pressures. It was transient, like a mediation. Today, several new books have been released along an albeit more modern but similar vein. I am thinking of Frankisstein by Jeanette Winterson, author of Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit. As well as Ian McEwan’s ‘Machines Like Me’ new release, set in 1982. This counterfactual novel sees Argentinian end the war abruptly with the Falklands becoming Las Malvinas. McEwan introduces an £86k male robot designed by Alan Turing, who in this book, has not been hounded to death for his homosexuality but instead, lauded for his technological breakthroughs. Of course it’s speculative fiction but the complexity is as disturbing as it is intelligent.

During an interview with Lisa Allardice for The Guardian, in a smart London restaurant last week, Winterson concedes, (in response to the Allardice’s statement that creating this novel (Frankisstein) would have taken her down some unlikely digital paths).“I did worry about that. Watching guys have sex with bots, female sex dolls start at around $2,000 for a really crap one”, she said, and it was no surprise to learn that they are “entirely fantasy. They’ve got huge tits and small waists and long legs, but of course what they haven’t got, and never will have, is a clitoris. They don’t have to worry about that!”

It’s interesting to me how the current crop of writing that is very much in vogue is AI based, much like mobile photography and art. Both arts mirror the trends. While the Machine Stops, represented a sci fi fantasy and immense treasured escape from my living reality, now at 50, Winterson and McEwan, along with the AI of smartphone visualisation represent, our new reality, and are the forces driving the process. Today, this mutual cultural presence is the next revolution, it is not just present within photography, it is reaching all arts. In 2015 Taylor Davidson, for Time magazine, described the camera of the future as an app, “a software rather than a device that compiles data from multiple sensors. The smartphone’s microphone, gyroscope, accelerometer, thermometer and other sensors all contribute data as needed by whatever app calls on it and combines it with the visual data”. Stephen Mayes, went on to contribute “and still that’s not the limit on what is already bundled with our digital imagery. Our instruments are connected to satellites that contribute GPS data while connecting us to the Internet that links our data to all the publicly available information of Wikipedia, Google and countless other resources that know where we are, who was there before us and the associated economic, social and political activity”.

This is the life we now live, we need to ensure we flesh out, some of the moral dilemmas within the drama of everyday life and remember what makes us human. We need no one to write us an algorithm for how to treat others and how to live well, although some humans, may be all the better for it.

Thank you to all the talented artists for submitting your works to our showcase this week. If you would like your work to be considered for entry in to our weekly Mobile Photography and Art Flickr Group, please submit it to our dedicated group, here. You can also submit images to our Instagram tag for this section #mobilephotographyandimagery.

Poetic Medium, Jun Yamaguchi, David DeNagel, Caren Drysdale, Deborah McMillion, Art Noonan, Lydia Cassatt, Laila, Karen Axelrad, Eduardo Llerandi, jilllian2 – Jill Lian, Chris Montcalmo, Vladislav Niko, Paul Toussaint, Nick Kenrick, Rita Colantonio, Vadim Demjianov, Allyson Marie, before.1st.light – Jane Schultz, borsbschulz2009, Kat McClelland, Susan Detroy, Amo Passicos, Kerry Mitchell, Will Reyes, Susan Rennie, Gianluca Ricoveri, Kate Zari Roberts, Debara Splendorio, Ralf Mauvog, Peter Wilkin, Rob Pearson-Wright, Clint Cline, TheiPhoneArtGirl – Meri Walker, Rita Colantonio, Catherine Caddigan, p.a.hamel, Jormain Cady.

Music this week is ‘As the Mist Clears’©Salt of the Sound

Mobile Photography & Art – Flickr/Instagram Group Showcase – 5 May 2019

05/05/201905/05/2019 by Joanne Carter

“Whenever the world throws rose petals at you, which thrill and seduce the ego, beware” Anne Lamott. I was told a similar thing, not quite so poetically, when I was promoted and became the technical editor of a print camera magazine, many years ago… it’s long gone. “Many congratulations Joanne, but keep those feet on the ground“, cautioned the main editor of the title. Sound advice, but doesn’t it get a little boring sometimes? For years now, I’ve noticed that I have become more and more sensible and it’s getting frustrating. I’m organised, at least in my mind, it might not show physically in my office. I keep my children’s diaries, as well as my own ticking over, day by day. I attend fabulous five star art events, around the world, I attend school meetings with senior teachers, I view the most breathtaking art – on a daily basis, I share my life with the richest most eloquent artists I’ve ever had the good fortune to befriend, I read and respond to specialist medical reports, I attend countless hospital appointments and physical examinations monthly and each time, return home, to remain forever sensible and organised. Even my car, is so understated that it only occurred to me recently, why it was that every single time I look into my rear view mirror on the motorway, that there seems to be a horizontal row of traffic a good 100 yards behind me, the reason being, the British public appear to believe this is an undercover police car and I’m about to turn on my hidden blue lights to anyone who overtakes me. It’s actually quite useful, I can get to destinations much quicker and my car remains untouched when unattended (unusual for around here).

To desire is as good as to possess and I think, I’ll just keep being judicious a little longer, at least until I can fully reveal what I’m working on, after that, I can assure you, my feet won’t touch the ground, yours won’t either and the only blue lights we’ll see, will be the ones at the celebratory party!

Oola Cristina, Chris Feichtner, Paul Yan, Jun Yamaguchi, Clint Cline, Lydia Cassatt, Robin Robertis, Allyson Marie, Karen Axelrad, Catherine Caddigan, Jennifer Bracewell, borisbschulz, Poetic Medium, jilllian2 – Jill Lian, Yasuo Furue, Tracey Grumbach, Rita Colantonio, Kristie Michele Art – Kristie Benoit, Joseph Cyr, Kat McClelland, Lawrence Lazare, Damian De Souza, before.1st.light – Jane Schultz, Susan Blase, jon jon, Kate Zari Roberts, Susan Rennie, Judy Wahlberg, Rob Pearson-Wright, TheiPhoneArtGirl – Meri Walker, p.a. hamel, Michael Brunsfeld, Lorenka Campos, Candice Railton, Gianluca Ricoveri.

Music this week is ‘Anchor’ ©Stephanie Schneiderman

Mobile Photography & Art – Flickr/Instagram Group Showcase – 21 April 2019

22/04/201921/04/2019 by Joanne Carter

Earlier this year, I attended the press view of ‘A Fortnight Of Tears’ by and with Tracey Emin, at The White Cube Gallery, London. What has interested me, particularly, since the exhibition are the wide ranging and diverse reviews and critiques of this show. Having spent time speaking with Emin, as well as sharing the exhibition and space with her, I felt closer to this artwork and to her psyche than I ever have before. Many of the reviews were critical, she is an artist who has always attracted harsh critics. Her most infamous work “My Bed” (1988), is in many ways, metaphorically, part of this exhibition. It’s re-inacted as fifty huge iPhone selfie images displayed on the gallery walls, taken as she awakes in bed, displaying plastic surgery scars, moods and various nightgown changes. In an interview, she describes to Griselda Murray Brown, Financial Times, how this exhibition relates, “the Bed for me, is the closest thing that I have to [these] works because I stained that bed, I cried in that bed, I shit in that bed, I fucked in that bed, probably vomited in that bed. Everything that that bed is, is in [these] paintings”. Her theme of art has been the same for sometime, over 30 years, and consists mainly of abuse, abortion, love, loss, death, so not for the fainthearted but to define this recurring theme in one word, I would choose ‘life’. She has relentlessly been criticised for yelling about rape, this was before the #MeToo era and her response to that was “Of course I’m screaming about rape. Why shouldn’t I be?” frankly, I couldn’t agree more, don’t you? “I kept trying to say [this] to people years ago”, Emin continued. “Suddenly I’m allowed to express myself and to have the language and the voice that I’ve had for years and years. Now we’re in a time where we can put things right, and this is what my work is about”. Critics continue to urge her to ‘move on’ but much of the true grit of life, is incessant.

Another recurring critical aspect of Emin’s art and again it’s one that is repeated throughout the art world, is ‘is it art?’. I wonder why we are still asking this question.

In 1988, Richard Woodward wrote a feature article in the New York Times discussing recent photographic work, entitled “It’s Art, But Is It Photography?’. He went on to say “It isn’t clear anymore how photography should be valued or looked at, where within our museums it should be exhibited-even what is or is not a photograph”. In the late 1800’s debates literally raged about the status of photography, ‘is it art or not?’ critics hollered. Amusingly, (or not, depending on your sense of humour), in the 1920’s even Edward Weston accused pictorial photographers of making ‘pseudo paintings, instead of photographs’. Of course the debate has shifted full circle. Since the 1960’s , the question of whether photography is art became irrelevant with the acceptance of photography into museum collections. But the question once again shifted in the late 1980s to ‘Is it photography?’. It could be said that the prestigious Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York was not accepting of the depiction, not of art but of photography and in turm, what could be concluded, as photography. Prior to the 1990s MOMA had not given an exhibition to David Hockney, Robert Mapplethorpe, Cindy Sherman among others. It seems the theory being the work of these artists might have been art, but not photography.

This is an extract of a larger piece of writing that I am working on and it is relevant today in our era of mobile photography and art. We have made huge strides to encompass what we know is the most formidable and time changling art today but we still have further to travel. This weeks mobile photography and showcase, highlights once again the pioneering artists pushing the boundaries, challenging the status quo. Colour and wild creativity flourish, each visionary coherently embracing dreaming, while awake. Enjoy!

Music this week – ‘Ghost’ ©Jacob Lee

Gianluca Ricoveri, Rita Colantonio, Tuba, Kathy Clay, Fleur Schim, Kate Zari Roberts, Jun Yamaguchi, Candice Railton, Erik Beck, Nick Kenrick, Joseph Cyr, Poetic Medium, Erik Viggh, Susan Blase, jon jon, AleDi Gangi, borisbschulz2009, Catherine Caddigan, Mark Swanson, Johann Veers, Deborah McMillion, Ivan_sl, Francesco Sambati, Cristina Rossi, Clint Cline, Sherrianne100, TheiPhoneArtGirl – Meri Walker, Rob Pearson-Wright, Susan Rennie, Amo Passicos, klimtt – M. Cecilia Sao Thiago, 123ems, Lorenka Campos, Karen Axelrad, Ian Clarke, Tricia Dewey, Ioannis Sidiropoulos, Heather McAlister, Jane Schultz – before.1st.light, p.a.hamel.

Mobile Photography & Art – Flickr/Instagram Group Showcase – 7 April 20019

07/04/201907/04/2019 by Joanne Carter

After scoring a hat trick, I am back! As some of you will have noticed, I was off last week. Not one to take life easy, I managed to cram it with, Mother’s Day, my 50th birthday and a serious lung infection. An accomplishment even by my own standards. The lung infection leading the way, I spent my days and continue to do so, (desperately trying to avoid another hospital admission), dosing up with antibiotics, sleeping sitting upright (it can be done, I’ve learnt, once complete exhaustion sets in) and reading a wide variety of books. I got it down to two books every two days, a record for me. This is all in sharp contrast to the preceding two weeks where I, at least felt like, flew around Amsterdam and swanned around Paris, with a scrum of journalists in close contact throughout, trying, initially politely, to avoid some persistent esoteric amorous advances. No doubt, the grounds I picked up the lung infection but that’s a little unjust; I feel quite hip these days, sharing a serious autoimmune disease with a raft of celebrities. ‘Lady AppWhisperer‘, has a bit of a ring to it, don’t you think? The main treatment for serious autoimmune diseases (for the uninitiated) are strong immunosuppressant drugs. These are delivered to my home address every two weeks, straight from a refrigerated van, handed to me in person and placed immediately into my own fridge (middle shelf, with nothing touching the contents, ‘not too close to the back, front or sides‘, my nurse voiced, as she inspected my placement). Then every two weeks, I inject myself, the fun part is I get to select the location, will it be my left or right thigh this week? Or perhaps and I’m still striving to gain confidence, will it by my abdomen, just along from my tummy button, hmm – the mental battle continues for that one. The result is that in order to reduce the immune system attacking itself, my immune system is reduced to next to nothing, therefore, any bugs floating around, once caught, take quite a bit of shifting and this lung infection is still lingering and I foresee, will continue in a similar vein for the next week or so. It’s proving to be the hardest secondary illness I’ve had, since original diagnosis to eliminate…

Speaking of books, one was bought for me this week by my eldest son, Jake, ‘Do No Harm’ by Henry Marsh. It’s a book by a neurosurgeon (Henry Marsh) of forty years and once picked up, hard to put down. Perfect when you’re confined to bed. Reading the accounts and surgeries of his poor patients, certainly helped to keep my own predicament in perspective. One quote from this book stays with me “Anxiety might be contagious, but confidence is also contagious” and of course, that’s what we strive so hard, to build here at TheAppWhisperer for the community of talented mobile photographers and artists that share their work with us. This weeks mobile photography & Art Showcase is a bumper one (I missed last week, see above), as it plays out, you’ll view, what is sure to be called, a ‘superbly original and exquisite spellbinding twenty first love story’, asserted by many of the major mobile photographers and artists operating in our world today. It’s pure poetry, mysterious and yet glittering, enjoy!

Music this week – ‘You’re Still With Me (alternative ending) ©Ali Handal

Rita Colantonio, Deborah McMillion, Kristie Benoit, aka Tman, Jon Arne Foss, Paul Toussaint, Lorenka Campos, Isabel Afonso, borisbschulz2009, Paul Yan, Tomaso Belloni, Candice Railton, Susan Maxwell Schmidt, Susan Detroy, Kat McClelland, Jun Yamaguchi, zeeyan, Eduardo Llerandi, Ian Clarke, zeeyan, Eduardo Llerandi, Ian Clarke, Linda Hollier, Clint Cline, Catherine Caddigan, Laila, Oola Cristina, Gianluca Ricoveri, Vako Darispanashvili, Kate Zari Roberts, Judy Wahlberg, Susan Blase, Michael Beresin, Hanni K, TheiPhoneArtGirl – Meri Walker, Montse Abad, Karen Axelrad, Yasuo Furue, Basak Aytek, Poetic Medium, Catherine Caddigan, M. Cecilia Sao Thiago, Susan Rennie, Tuba Korhan, Fleur Schim, before.1st.light – Jane Schultz, Paula Broom.

Mobile Photography & Art – Tickle Your Fancy #62

23/03/2019 by Joanne Carter

Welcome back to our sixty second post in our Tickle Your Fancy section. ‘Tickle Your Fancy’ includes a round-up of between seven to eight links to articles from around TheAppWhisperer over the past few week, that you may by chance have missed. Please note, I’ve been a little unwell this week, so have not published as much as I wanted to.

Just to explain the title for this section Tickle Your Fancy is an English idiom and essentially means that something appeals to you and perhaps stimulates your imagination in an enthusiastic way, we felt it would make a great title for this new section of the site.

Artists cited include Amy Ecenbarger, Rita Colantonio, Valeria Cammareri, Deborah McMillion, Jenny Pieters, Feliz Ak, Kerry Mitchell, Fleur Schim, Diane Neubauer, Peter Wilkin, Lorenka Campos, Paul Yan, Paul Toussaint, Isabel Afonso, Catherine Caddigan, Ile Mont, p.a hamel, David DeNagel, Barbara Nebel, Karen Axelrad, Vadim Demjianov, Rob Pearson-Wright, Deborah McMillion, Linda Hollier, Rita C, Allyson, Tomaso Belloni, Yasuo Furue, 1968selin, Jun Yamaguchi, Clint Cline, Kat McClelland, Candice Railton, Gina Costa, Fleur Schim, before.1st.light – Jane Schultz, Gianluca Ricoveri, Kate Zari Roberts, Hanni K, Kate Zari Roberts, Barbara Braman.

Mobile Photography & Art – Flickr/Instagram Group Showcase – 17 March 2019

17/03/2019 by Joanne Carter

‘Thank you for sleeping with us’, read the headline on my bill as I checked out of a hotel in Amsterdam this week. It amused me ‘thank you for sleeping with us’, why would they use that expression? Was it a nod to the infamous red light district around the corner? Being thanked for sleeping with someone, is a little patronising, don’t you think? I’ve not been thanked for sleeping with anyone before, neither have I returned the sentiment. If I was, I’d feel as if I had just completed a service, as opposed to sharing a vivaciously intimate moment. Or were they implying, how important it is to sleep well and to be ‘well slept individuals’? The bed and pillows were delightfully comfortable, more so than most and had I had the time to achieve the recommended eight hours, this would have been the place to do it. We’re under pressure from so many areas as the world unravels on so many levels and we are under increasing pressure to achieve eight solid hours sleep but surely this must be ideology at its purest? We have to make time to sleep but what if our time is not our own, as was the case in Amsterdam, it was a press trip. However, I did manage to etch out a few awoke solitary moments, in between meetings and they were divine. This was an adventure, I told myself, an intriguing quest, and one that I would regret not seeing through at least a little further along the way. I walked into the hotel restaurant, found a seat backing against a wall (my preferred seating placement), I could see all who approached me, as I ordered North Sea Chowder with a glass of Prosecco, from the attentive waiter, what could be more ambrosial? I delighted in the process, as the waiter asked if I was dining alone and I replied with glee, ‘yes’, he removed the opposing cutlery as the chilled Prosecco slipped slowly down my throat. It’s possible to carve out special moments, just for yourself, you just need to be disciplined enough. Self care is a radical act, let’s all to try to have a #selfcaresunday. The feminist poet Audre Lorde says: “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it’s self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” Wishing you all a beautiful Sunday.

Many congratulations to the following artists for being featured this week: Peter Wilkin, Lorenka Campos, Paul Yan, Paul Toussaint, Isabel Afonso, Catherine Caddigan, Ile Mont, p.a hamel, David DeNagel, Barbara Nebel, Karen Axelrad, Vadim Demjianov, Rob Pearson-Wright, Deborah McMillion, Linda Hollier, Rita C, Allyson, Tomaso Belloni, Yasuo Furue, 1968selin, Jun Yamaguchi, Clint Cline, Kat McClelland, Candice Railton, Gina Costa, Fleur Schim, before.1st.light – Jane Schultz, Gianluca Ricoveri, Kate Zari Roberts, Hanni K, Kate Zari Roberts, Barbara Braman.

Music this week is ‘If Only For A Moment’ ©The Weak Need

Mobile Photography & Art – Flickr/Instagram Group Showcase – 10 March 2019

10/03/2019 by Joanne Carter

Why does anything exist at all? I’m an optimistic, don’t worry, but it’s a question which we all spend our lives trying, increasingly strenuously to avoid. Human life, is always held up against the massive fact of nature, impervious and indifferent to man. If we knew our exact end of life date, would we live our lives differently? When humans have brushed up close to death, they do live differently. I know that I do. I was lucky to survive at 24 years old with very serious liver tumours and luck really did play the main part in my survival. Consequently, I have felt on borrowed time ever since, I may live to be 101 like Dorothea Tanning, however it’s most unlikely, I have a short shelf life. But the great virtue of living to that age, is that you get lots of bites of the cherry, you can keep readjusting your career, keep coming back, keep reinventing yourself. This weeks mobile photography & art showcase is a colossal Kubrickian symphony of images, I am an evangelist for it, enjoy! I’m off to Amsterdam this week for a few days, I’ll fill you in on that, post NDA, have a wonderful week everyone, keep creating, live everyday as your last, as I do.

Many congratulations to the following artists for being featured this week:

Peter Wilkin, David DeNagel, nini_nini, Barbara Nebel, Catherine Caddigan, Ioannis Sidiropoulos, Cristina Rossi, Clare Pickett, Ritacall, Paul Yan, Allyson Marie, Candice Railton, Albion Harrison-Naish, Karen Axelrad, Gianluca Ricoveri, Kate Zari Roberts, p.a. hamel, borisbschulz2009, Gina Costa, Susan Rennie, Jun Yamaguchi, Clint Cline, Sheldon Serkin, woltarise, Arko Rayhan, Deborah McMillion, Ade Santora, Vadim Demjianov, Lydia Cassatt, Fleur Schim, Lorenka Campos, Linda Hollier, Tricia Dewey.

Music this week is ‘Everytime I go’ by Sarah Sample

Mobile Photography & Art – Flickr/Instagram Group Showcase – 3 March 2019

03/03/2019 by Joanne Carter

Enthralling, unexpected, beautifully assembled this weeks Mobile Photography & Art Showcase will please all; for it upholds our passionate belief in the continuities of mobile art. Nothing comes from nothing: In the truest sense, these works are a sign of the times, each one, committed realism. This is a showcase bursting at its seams with astute pieces exposing meaningful disruption. Enjoy!

Many congratulations to the following artists for being featured this week:

Oola Cristina, Scott Simpson, jon jon, Robin Robertis, Amo Passicos, Eduardo Llerandi, Deborah McMillion, Clare Pickett, Anastasia Potekhina, Jon Arne Foss, Y F, Karen Axelrad, TheiPhoneArtGirl – Meri Walker, Jun Yamaguchi, Enio Godoy, Rob Pearson-Wright, Debara Splendorio, Tricia Dewey, Lindy Ginn, before.1st.light – Jane Schultz, Gianluca Ricoveri, Clint Cline, Hanni K, Tracey Grumbach, Liliana Schwitter, Kate Zari Roberts, Susan Rennie, jilllian2 – Jill Lian, Barbara Nebel, Susan Maxwell Schmidt, Salwa Afef, Candice Railton, Victor Reynolds, p.a.hamel, Poetic Medium, Rita Colantinio.

Mobile Photography & Art – Flickr/Instagram Group Showcase – 24 February 2019

25/02/201924/02/2019 by Joanne Carter

“Love is or it ain’t. Thin love ain’t love at all.” ― Toni Morrison, Beloved. I read a lot as a child and I still read a good deal as a adult. Beloved, by Toni Morrison is one book that I read as a teenager, that really stayed with me. My great friend Rachel and I were hungry for literature, we read the same books, at the same times and then studied and reviewed them together. Rachel went on to teach A level literature at a grammar school. Beloved is not an easy read, compared I suppose with something like To Kill a Mocking Bird and by saying that, I do not mean to portray the latter as ‘easy to read’, but it is an incredibly rewarding read and it’s one that never gets tired. “Beloved is one of the few American novels that take every natural element of the novel form and exploit it thoroughly, but in balance with all the other elements. The result is that it is dense but not long, dramatic but not melodramatic, particular and universal, shocking but reassuring, new but at the same time closely connected to the tradition of the novel, and likely to mould or change a reader’s sense of the world”, Jane Smiley. Morrison has just published a new book, spanning five decades its said ‘underscores her rage and linguistic brilliance‘. The title is ‘Mouth full of blood’ and I hope to read it soon.

Literature is on a par with photography and art, they’re not dissimilar, each image tells its own story and that story is interpreted by the reader based on their own life experiences. Each image has been created with the upmost intelligence and hope. It is about the relationship between the artist and the viewer, it is important to become literate in both art forms. “writing with photographs constitutes not a minor subset of literary practice, but [is] rather a founda- tional aspect of the modern reading experience” (Beckman and Weissberg xiii). I am planning on expanding on these thoughts in our forthcoming book ‘Away with Words’ and would love it if you would contribute. To find out more about that, please go here.

Many congratulations to the following artists for being featured this week:

Laila, Robi Gallardo, Deborah McMillion, Jean Hutter, Kerry Mitchell, Robin Robertis, Sergiy Beliayev, Peter Klein, Oola Cristina, Karen Axelrad, Susan Blase, Deborah Field, Susan Maxwell Schmidt, Qingxian Guo, Chet K, Candice Railton, Kat McClelland, Vadim Demjianov, Kate Zari Roberts, Luc Borell, Jun Yamaguchi, Lydia Cassatt, Deborah Field, Catherine Caddigan, Gianluca Ricoveri, jilllian2 – Jill Lian, Juta Jazz, Barbara Braman, Susan Rennie, before.1st.light – Jane Schultz, Borisbschulz2009, ritacall, Fleur Schim, Clint Cline, Eduardo Llerandi.

Mobile Photography & Art – Flickr/Instagram Group Showcase – 17 February 2019

17/02/201917/02/2019 by Joanne Carter

When my eldest son was at boarding school, there was the most incredible sensory garden for all the children to enjoy, it was an empowering experience and helped many of the children to blossom. A sensory garden has the ability in many ways to become a sensory room. If you’re not familiar with the umbrella term ‘sensory room’ they are essentially rooms, with special lighting, music and objects, a therapeutic place, one of safety in which to deescalate experiences and promote self care, resilience and recovery. When we view art, it’s important to use all five senses too, as much as possible, to not just look and move on but to really try to understand the image, to get into the picture, literally.

Mobile art is as much about presence as the senses, about the awareness of what it is to move through it. Whether the artist themselves has fully utilised all of their senses when creating the art, we can heighten our own experience by not only cascading into the picture but by creating circumstances in which that might happen. When we participate in life with all our senses, whether we are in a sensory garden, a sensory room, viewing art, or making love, it is a far more rewarding form of participation and one that you will feel all the better for by throwing yourself into.

In keeping with my New Year Resolutions, this week you’ll find me at the Intercontinental Park Lane Hotel, as I start preliminary judging the Pink Lady Food Awards.

Many congratulations to the following artists for being featured this week:

Clint Cline, Sergiy Beliayev, Susan Blase, sculptorli, TheiPhoneArtGirl – Meri Walker, Oola Cristina, Paul Yan, Eduardo Llerandi, Laila, Kat McClelland, Susan Maxwell Schmidt, Deborah McMillion, Scott Simpson, Jean Hutter, Lorenka Campos, Shel Serkin, Jose Matos, Catherine Caddigan, Ade Santora, Rita Cal….., Jun Yamaguchi, Anastasia Potekhina, Hanni K, Enio Godoy, Candice Railton, Gianluca Ricoveri, Arko Rayhan, Juta Jazz, Sherrianne100, Rob Pearson-Wright, Kate Zari Roberts, Maarten Oorwijn, Qingxian Guo, before.1st.light – Jane Schultz, Barbara Nebel, jilllian2 – Jill Lian, Karen Axelrad, ArrrRT eDUarD, Debara Splendorio, p.a. hamel, Maurizio Zanetti.