"Verity" - 65 Foot Bronze Pregnant Woman Sculpture

 "Verity" in Progress - for description and photos of the creation of this monumental sculpture, visit:   http://www.damienhirst.com/news/october/verit

Here's an incredible sculpture by Damien Hirst being erected in Devon, U.K. (Thanks again to Robert Moore for kindly sharing this). "Verity" is 65 feet tall, bronze, and stands with a raised sword, pregnant, with foetus, tissue, and bones "beneath the skin" revealed on one side of the sculpture's body. It is causing a lot of controversy of course, some locals apparently even worrying it will encourage teenage pregnancy, which I don't get at all. 

What a brave, monumental sculpture! "Verity" means "Truth", and the raised sword is a gesture of power, like the sword of Kali, that cuts away what must go to reveal the truth, and to create justice. She is very pregnant, pregnant with those who are still to come. They need, especially now, protection, justice, and truth if they are going to have a future at all.

 I don't understand why the artist chose to"remove the skin" on one side of the sculpture, although I think of the work of Alex and Allyson Grey, the Sacred Mirrors, in which Grey, who is an anatomical illustrator, removed the "skins" on his figures to gradually reveal the different dimensions of life, from the physical to the spiritual and esoteric bodies.

By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 08:55 EST, 8 October 2012 | UPDATED: 17:26 EST, 8 October 2012 
 
Some call it the Angel of the West; others deride it as the Belly of the South.
But, whether they like it or loathe it, the people of Ilfracombe are now the custodians of this giant Damien Hirst sculpture – and they’ll be looking at it for the next two decades.  The 25-ton bronze statue of a heavily pregnant woman holding a sword, arrived in the Devon seaside resort yesterday on a flatbed trailer.

Dropping in: Damien Hirst's bronze statue of a pregnant woman, called Verity, has arrived in Ilfracombe, Devon

Huge: The statue is to be placed on the harbour front and stands at 65ft and weighs over 25 tonnes

Hundreds of residents came out to catch their first glimpse of the work, which will take more than a week to assemble and install. Fans call it a ‘modern allegory of truth and justice’, but many townsfolk say it is ‘obscene and disgusting’.

On one side the woman’s skin is peeled back, revealing her skull, muscles and foetus – bringing accusations that the work is grotesque.

Complaints: Some local residents are upset about Verity, calling her obscene and claiming she could encourage teenage pregnancy

Hirst’s 65ft statue, called Verity, has been loaned to the local authority by the artist for 20 years and will stand by the town’s pier. 



Dozens  wrote to the council to object, with one saying it would ‘encourage teenage pregnancies’.Another said it was ‘demeaning to women’ while a third claimed it was ‘eccentricity posturing as art’.  Verity’s frame is a single piece of stainless steel.
The bronze exterior was cast in more than 40 pieces  while the sword and upper arm are made from a single piece of glass fibre reinforced polymer.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2214616/The-Belly-South-Bumpy-reception-seaside-town-Hirsts-disgusting-65ft-pregnant-woman.html#ixzz28oI1kin0

A Farm Bill Only Monsanto Could Love

Farmer spraying his crops. (photo: AP)

I felt this article was important to share.More proof that lobbying really does work, and if they have their way we'll not only eat "Frankenstein" foods, but we'll not be free to demand that they be labeled so we at least know what we're putting on the plate.(Thanks to Janie Rezner for this article). 

A Farm Bill Only Monsanto Could Love

By Corey Hill, Yes! Magazine

05 October 12

Three provisions in the bill would make it more difficult to regulate the safety of genetically modified crops. Consumers fight back with a flurry of organizing.

idden among the cluttered news cycle of this election season is a crucial debate about genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

September 30 marked the expiration of the 2007 Farm Bill, and the 2012 replacement is now sitting in the House of Representatives. It is unlikely that Congress will vote on the bill until after the elections, so food-safety advocates are ramping up their outreach efforts around this issue in advance of any decision.

What's the big deal with the new bill? Most importantly, the House version of the 2012 Farm Bill contains three industry-friendly provisions, numbered 10011, 10013, and 10014. Collectively, they have come to be known as the "Monsanto Rider," and the name is entirely appropriate. If passed, this bill would make it more difficult to stem the tide of GMO foods hitting store shelves.

These three provisions in the 2012 Farm Bill would grant regulatory powers solely to the United States Department of Agriculture, preventing other federal agencies from reviewing GMO applications and preventing the USDA from accepting outside money for further study. The bill would also shorten the deadline for approval to one year, with an optional 180-day extension.

And here's the kicker: the approval time bomb. If the USDA misses the truncated review deadline, the GMO in question is granted automatic approval.

Though the average time for approval of GMO applications is now three years, the USDA has never denied a single one. Environmental activists currently have the ability to delay introduction of an iffy crop by keeping approval held up for months at a time pending further review. If the 2012 Farm Bill is approved with the Monsanto Rider, this tool is removed from the arsenal.

Food-safety advocates like the Organic Consumer Association point to polling that shows nine out of ten American consumers want GMO labeling, and to the strength of the organizing in favor of GMO labeling through California's Proposition 37 ballot initiative. The Organic Consumers Association and allied organizations like the Center for Food Safety are calling upon their membership base to let their elected officials know where they stand on this issue, through phone calls, letter writing, and protest.

"People understand that the GMO foods entering our food supply have not been safety tested," said Alexis Baden-Mayer, Political Director at the Organic Consumers Association. "There isn't enough science backing them, and people want to know when food is genetically engineered. That opinion is very strong, and hopefully members of congress will be paying attention to the widespread opposition, and they'll connect with voters. Hopefully, they'll understand that [voters] matter more than the campaign donors."

ArcheDream Masked Theatre

Here's a feast for the eyes and imagination!   Archedream for Humankind is a black light mask dance  theater company that seeks to evoke “archetypes”.  The Philadelphia-based group has performed in internationally, although I was fortunate to see them perform at Starwood Festival in New York in 2008.

The troupe was founded by South African native Alan Bell. Growing up in the age of apartheid, he resolved to find an art form that would unify the racially divided audience. In the 70's he fled to Amsterdam where he discovered the power of the tradition of mask theater to convey universal truths in a dreamlike way.

"By combining the bold subtleties of mask theatre with the medium of black light, Alan has discovered a method to bridge his African roots and inherited European and American culture to create archetypal theatre that transforms by relieving audiences of suppressed feelings that is at the root of our alienation from one another."








In 2000, Alan and Glenn Weikert, a  multimedia artist, founded ArcheDream For Humankind  in Philadelphia.  UV light accentuates the supernatural aspect of its performance.




"ArcheDream uses archetypal characters that perform allegories, or dreams, to personify vital issues pertaining to our lives. Psychologically speaking, an archetype is a primordial mental image inherited by all. For example, personifications of Anger, Death, Love,War and Peace all play their part in our visions of life. 
 

Day

Night

ArcheDream’s costumes are illuminated with ultra-violet light, which accentuates the supernatural aspect and reveals the dream scape as the action unfolds."

THE GODDESS REMEMBERED - Film by Donna Read

 
THE GODDESS REMEMBERED is a beautifully crafted documentary directed by Donna Read and produced by the Canadian Film Board, an in-depth look at Goddess religions in prehistory, the evolution of contemporary Goddess spirituality, and "The  Burning Times", the witch-hunt hysteria that swept through Europe during the Inquisition. Goddess Remembered features Merlin Stone, Carol Christ, Luisah Teish, Starhawk, Charlene Spretnak, and Jean Bolen, who link the loss of goddess-centred societies with today's environmental crisis. They propose a return to the belief in an interconnected life system, with respect for the earth and the female, as fundamental to our survival. Goddess Remembered is the first part of a three part series which includes The Burning Times and Full Circle.  1989.


This excerpt is from "The Burning Times", and talks about the massive torture and burnings that were the ultimate in misogyny and sexual repression represented by the Catholic Church.  If one wonders where the "war on women" going on in Congress right now comes from, here's one of the precedents.   It is estimated that as many as 10 million people, all most all of them  women,  were murdered in this time, ironically, the same period when the Renaissance was flowering in Italy.  As early as 1450, and before,  witch hunts took place in Europe. In some villages virtually all the females, from grandmothers to small girls, were exteminated - an example is the village of  Lagendorf, Germany,  in 1492 (when America was being "discovered") all but two women were accused of witchcraft and destroyed.  Just  imagine that:  an entire village with all of its mothers, daughters, grandmothers, and event female infants destroyed. 

Jesse the Jack Russell

Ok, I can't help myself.  I'm in a UTube kind of full moon mood.

There's a big difference between the intelligent  existentialism of a cat like, say, Henri, and dogs.  I'm a cat person, but I have to admit, this Jack Russell Terrier would come in handy.  



Jesse has the life of a domestic slave.   Henri, on the other hand, is considering running for office:

A Thousand Hands of Quan Yin - Stunning Performance by Deaf & Blind Performers

Thousand Hand Guan Yin-"Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is an astonishing performance in celebration of the Goddess of Compassion, Quan Yin.  It is even more astonishing when one learns that this Chinese production was performed by deaf  and blind performers.  Quan Yin, like Tara, is the embodiment of infinite mercy and assistance to all who call on her.  She is "She who hears the cries of the world".   Avalokitesvara means  "Lord/Lady who looks down", a  Bodhisattva who embodies compassion. Kuan Yin has a thousand arms with which to scatter blessings, a thousand arms with which to bring help to those in need. What an amazing invocation these performers make!

 http://youtu.be/xgHmSdpjEIk



http://youtu.be/Ov_iJQGq6DI

The Martian Chronicles

 Rock Hudson:  "How should we live?"

Martian:  "Anyone with eyes can see the way to live."

Rock Hudson:  "How?"

Martian:  "By watching life, observing nature, and cooperating with it.  By living life for itself, don't your see?  Deriving pleasure from the gift of pure being.  Life is its own answer.  Accept it and enjoy it day by day.  Live as well as possible.  Expect no more.  Destroy nothing, humble nothing, look for fault in nothing, leave unsullied and untouched all that is beautiful.  Hold that which lives in all reverence, for life is given by the sovereign of our universe, given to be savored, to be respected. But that’s no secret." 

From THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES, 1979.

 I miss Ray Bradbury.  I miss when aliens were wise beings more evolved than us.  I've always loved this quote from the movie.