Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Theme Day: Curiosities


The first of the month is theme day for City Daily Photo Bloggers and this month the theme is "curiosities".  I chose a rather intriguing art work at the Phoenix Art Museum.  It's called "Mass (Colder, Darker Matter)" by Cornelia Parker of London England.  The piece is composed of the charred wood of a church in Texas that was struck by lightening and burned.  Ms. Parker has suspended the pieces of wood from the ceiling in the shape of a cube with the pieces more dense in the center and thinner at the edges.


The piece was featured in the 1997 Turner Prize Exhibition at the Tate Gallery in London.  Here is what a the description at the museum says:
"The title in part, refers to the scientific term 'cold, dark matter,' used to describe the unquantifiable in the universe. 'Mass' suggests not only the spiritual gathering, but also the solids and voids that are basic elements of sculpture. The artist also thinks of this work as a charcoal drawing, or an abstract painting against a white background."

I think it fits the "curiosities" theme perfectly.  To see how other city daily photo bloggers have depicted the theme, click here.


21 comments:

Stefan Jansson said...

Dark Matter works well for the theme day.

Anonymous said...

It's very 'extensive'!

EG CameraGirl said...

Definitely a curiosity. :)

Julie said...

I would be curious to know how long it took to dangle all the pieces of cold, dark matter from the ceiling!

Kate said...

Aart is always a good choice because half the time modern art is a curiosity and makes me wonder.

Karl said...

A curious artwork indeed !

Birdman said...

This is what artists do. They make us curious on so many levels.

PerthDailyPhoto said...

It's perfect for today Sharon, the patience and creativity of artists never ceases to amaze me.

VP said...

I will be always curious about the mind of these 'artists', so this is perfect for this theme day!

William Kendall said...

Wow! Just right for the theme, Sharon!

Lowell said...

Curious, it is! For several reasons. I'm trying to conceive of a mind that would conceive of putting something like this together! :)

RedPat said...

Very curious indeed, Sharon! ;-)))

Thérèse said...

If I had not seen this piece on you blog I think I would have forgotten it but it clicked, I do remember it even if I have a hard time with this kind of works.

Halcyon said...

Very curious indeed! Thank you for the explanation. I'd like to see this in person.

Judy said...

Uh....yeah, that works.

cieldequimper said...

Brilliant! I love it!

Catalyst said...

I photographed and posted that piece once awhile back when we had visited the museum. It's startling and thought provoking.

Lois said...

Definitely a good choice for the theme!

Randy said...

Excellent theme day shot.

LOLfromPasa said...

It is a fascinating piece of artwork. I've got a million questions about it, so that certainly ticks the curiosity box :).

Jack said...

How unusual!