Armory Spat Roils Committee — Future of Imaginary Giant Colossal Statues in Limbo
Duluth MN: Lake Superior Aquaman has resigned from the Committee for Building Giant Colossal Statues of Bob Dylan in the wake of criticism from the Duluth Armory.
Location: The horizon, in the shipping lanes. Material: Reinforced treated concrete with steel superstructure. Height (above the waterline): 300 feet. Ships will have to navigate around this stunning monument.
The Committee for Building Giant Colossal Statues of Bob Dylan (formerly the Committee for Building a Giant Colossal Statue of Bob Dylan) is pleased to announce its 12 finalists! Thanks to a generous anonymous donation, ALL of the statues in this post will be built in the next five years. Thank you to our state regulators who approved this project, and congratulations, Duluth!
The Duluth Fiber Guild‘s 50th anniversary installation, Janet Meaney and 50 Years of Fiber Art, is on display at the Tweed Museum of Art through May 21.
My comic strip “The Guys Who Never Stop Fighting” originally appeared a few times in the Ripsaw News in my “Crackbrained Comix” series. I revived the GWNSF for the Transistor where it ran for several years. Both publications are now defunct. Here is a gallery of ten highlights.
An animated projection project called Friends of the Light centers around visual art created by Emily Koch and Tara Austin. Their brush strokes were recorded, animated and enhanced by Daniel Benoit to be displayed at Bayfront Festival Park’s ice rink. The projection display, which skaters can view as they access the warming shelter for free, was organized with the support of the Duluth Public Arts Commission, and Duluth’s City Parks and Recreation Department. Below is an interview with Benoit, as well as photos of the process and first night of the event.
Austin McConnell delves into the backstory of Grace, the official state photograph of Minnesota. Photographer Eric Enstrom shot the image in 1918 at his home in Bovey, about 60 miles northwest of Duluth.
I told artist Moira Villard that she was my retirement plan, as I pressed six pennies at the Duluth Public Library on Saturday. Someday, when she’s even more famous, these pennies will be worth more than a cent!
Mana Bear Bolton‘s “Primordial Rapture” opened in the Tweed Museum’s elevator on Aug. 30. Read all about it at findmana.com.
Contents
-Introduction
-The Key to Dada
-Hennings on Language
-Hennings and Expressionism
-Hennings as a Burroughsian Beat
-Technology in Branded
-Fashion/Style Notes from 1908-1910
-The Branded Playlist
Introduction
Just last year I pointedly wondered why the books of founding Dadaist Emmy Hennings remain untranslated into English after more than 100 years. I threatened to translate them myself even though I don’t know German. Thankfully, I caught wind of a forthcoming English edition of Hennings’ autobiographical novel, Branded (edited and translated by Katharine Rout). Since I demanded translations and one appeared, now I demand this book become a film. It is Hennings’ origin story, the often hilarious tale of a proto-Dadaist navigating contradiction, absurdity, and lies.
Harry Welty lit up his latest snow sculpture on Wednesday, an homage to Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal’s image of U.S. Marines raising the American flag on Iwo Jima on Feb. 23, 1945. You can read more about the famed photograph at pulitzer.org. If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say the artistic statement being made is that America has been through a difficult time, yet the country, its people and flag endure.
The sculpture is clearly visible driving up 21st Avenue East, at 2101 E. Fourth St. Welty spoke with Perfect Duluth Day in 2016 and KDLH-TV the next winter about his ephemeral artwork.
AI illustrator Stable Diffusion from the prompt “Aerial Lift Bridge in Duluth, MN”
Clare Cooley is a multi-disciplinary artist and teacher whose career has spanned decades and coasts. Cooley emphasizes the healing nature of artistic and creative endeavors, whether that be teaching expressive dance classes, transforming a home into a sanctuary piece by piece, or sharing stories through written or visual art.
Previously I posted some AI generated images that could plausibly be of Duluth but it was difficult to create images that were distinctly Duluth. The absurd specificity of Jim Richardson’s interactions with ChatGPT inspired me to try again but with a different process.
