The art of living well, or... well, living the art.

A mid-week miracle happened the other day. It was sunny and beautiful outside at the very same time that I had a few hours on my hands. It was the middle of the day in the middle of the week, and I wasn't strictly compelled to be somewhere, doing something, so I went for a ride. Because I could. :)

Isn't it gorgeous? That's Brunswick Beach, the day's destination. I followed the Sea to Sky highway from Vancouver, headed north toward Squamish, which came in at number 32 on the New York Times'  52 places to go in 2015. It must be one of the most beautiful stretches of road anywhere on the planet, that bit, and I love that I can ride there in just over an hour.

photo from The Highway Bandits

That glorious view certainly makes the price of the Whistler Gran Fondo worth your while, especially since there are no cars on the road during the event. But on Wednesday I was happy enough to share the road with the motor vehicles, and delighted to bask in the sunshine for a few minutes on Brunswick Beach. And as I did, it occurred to me that two of my previous employers both live there. Needless to say, beautiful Brunswick Beach, a wee tiny suburb of the lovely village of  Lion's Bay, is one of the more exclusive neighbourhoods in the Lower Mainland. One of my past employers is on the spit, with one beach in the front of his house, and another in the back! Can you imagine? What a great way to live. And as I sat there in the sunshine, it occurred to me that both of them are people who are doing what they are passionate about. One of them is a geologist, and the chairman of a group of mining companies, and the other is an interior designer, and a good one at that. They inspire me because the two of them have both figured out how to make a good living doing what they love. What better life can there be for any of us?

I am certainly happy working with another great, inspired entrepreneur. I am part of a team which is taking the reality gaming world by storm. We just opened the first of three exciting, Immmersive and interactive adventure rooms, which are challenging the very nature of entertainment. No more going to the movies to see Indiana Jones. Now you can come to G.U.E.S.S. HQ and BE Indiana Jones. My current boss is another person achieving success by pursuing his passions, and that got me thinking...(don't worry, I didn't hurt myself this time round. Even small brains need exercise, you know.)

I have always admired artists, because they spend their time creating beauty for the rest of us, and better yet, the beauty that they create challenges people. Good art inevitably causes us to think, an to respond, and sometimes it even inspires us to change our ways.

The writing is on the wall.

I went to the Vancouver Art Gallery the other day, to see the Forbidden City artifacts, and though I did enjoy all of the beautiful and interesting relics from days gone by, I was enchanted with the more modern Unscrolled exhibit upstairs.

Bang at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Ai Weiwei always challenges the status quo.

Art is a noble pursuit, especially when its purpose is social change. Ai Weiwei has another installation here in Vancouver, a part of the new Bienalle exhibit scattered about town, and that one is definitely making a statement. It's called F-grass, and it looks just like a calligraphic F, too, because the Chinese word for grass sounds just like the F-bomb. He is telling the government censors to go fuck themselves, bless his heart. Sometimes art takes great courage.

But thank goodness for courageous souls like Ai Weiwei. It's really no wonder that tyrants are afraid of art, and beauty. Hitler hated the modernist movement, and no wonder. And Canada's very own tyrant has gagged scientists and burnt libraries, so it's up to us to fight back with beauty, and truth.

We went to the Belkin Gallery up at UBC a short while ago, to attend Tom Burrows' opening night. 

He has a long history of challenging the status quo, our Tom.  After the District of North Vancouver burned down his house on the mud flats east of the second narrows bridge, the UN commissioned him to examine squatters' communities around the world.  A few decades on, the Vancouver Art Gallery build a mock-up of that legendary community in front of the Shangri-la, the most expensive real estate in the city. 

From Shangri-La to Shangri-La

Given all of the perpetually empty properties owned by foreign nationals here in Vancouver, the idea of establishing another squatters community, this time in the heart of  waaaay more vacant than it appears Shaugnessy, is more than a little appealing.  After all, housing is a human right, and there are a lot of people sleeping on the streets in this town.  I love the way Tom solved his own housing needs. After he returned from his squatters inquiry, he bought a beautiful piece of south facing property on Hornby Island, and then he built - by hand! - a beautiful little house into the cliff, where he could happily settle in and create to his heart's content. Everywhere he has gone in life, Tom has left behind him a legacy of beauty and social change. I love that in a man.

He always has his finger on the pulse of culture itself, does Tom. He sees things few others are aware of, and he does it decades before it dawns on everybody else. He thinks so far outside the box that the box itself is irrelevant. He is one of those rare, beautiful individuals with a truly planetary consciousness, a man whose life is a kind of switch which serves to awaken the rest of us. A few years ago he held an exhibit of bicycles. Yes, bikes.  He strung them up throughout the gallery, a jungle canopy of two wheeled beauty, hung to inspire contemplation. And this is what he had to say about them.

I hope Tom's messages of sanity soak in soon enough that we see significant change over the next few years. It might still be possible to create a world where all life is honoured and respected, and where we live in harmony and dignity, instead of in absolute obeisance to profit, and the worship of this endless cycle of obscene consumption. Well, it isn't exactly endless now, is it? All lifestyles are created equal, but some are more equal than others.The writing really is on the wall. 

“At any given moment there is an orthodoxy, a body of ideas which it is assumed that all right-thinking people will accept without question.” 

― George Orwell, Animal Farm

Harmony. Symmetry. Balance. 

The irony is that there is so much joy to be found in a simple life. And function really does create form. So many people comment on my legs - daily, weekly, monthly... it happens all. The. Time. But though it looks as if I spend endless hours in a gym, I never, ever do. These crazy-assed gams are nothing more than the manifestation of many years of living in my happy zone, and of staying true to my convictions. You know. Four wheels bad, two wheels good. Better than that, though, my two wheeled place of joy keeps me sane when madness rules all around. Harmony, symmetry and balance are yours for the taking, too. Just park the car for a month and give your friendly neighbourhood bicycle a spin. You will be glad you did when all is said and done. Promise. xo

Where ART thou?!

Each and every year, the city of Vancouver hosts its annual culture crawl.  It's an opportunity for you to get out there to get to know your local artists and aritsans. The rest of the year, if you want creative genius, your best bet is to get out and about - go on. Go outdoors for a stint. It's good for you. In the best of all possible worlds, you can taste the sweet scent of the great outdoors while imbibing in the heady flavours of high art in an open air museum.  Vancouver is nothing if not the best of all places, so join me.  Let's see what the Biennale collection has on offer this year, shall we?

Beauty is truth, truth beauty.  Keats

Forget ArtWalk. Go for an ArtRide, a Tour de Biannale all your own.  In this town you'll find your trail blazed with art and sculpture easily enough.  It's simple. Just stick to the waterfront paths. Take the beautiful seaside journey, and you'll find all sorts of art out there, just begging for your appreciation.  C'mon.  Saddle up.  Let's see what we can find.

The reflecting pool is undergoing maintenance, so it's dry.

Today's guided tour starts in the heart of Kitsilano at the planetarium.  Do you ever feel crabby?  Ever get that nebulous feeling, you know, where you need to get far, far away from it all?

Grab a bike and follow me on an interplanetary adventure! Well, but maybe we'd better not get outta this world just yet.  For those extra-terrestrial adventures, we'll have to planet better.

Ahoy there!  What's this I sea?

Huh.  Well, what do you know?  It's a floating installation, an exhibit in Vancouver's third Biennale Open Air Museum. I wonder what Ai Weiwei is going to get up to...?  His contribution is still being kept secret, though it's sure to be provocative.  I can't wait to see it!  In the mean time,

you'll find all sorts of interesting sculptures along the waterfront.

What's that?  Feeling a bit rusty?  Never mind.  You'll fit right in.

Something weighing heavily on your shoulders?  

No problem! This bridge might not be built over troubled waters, but a ride across it is sure to ease your mind.  Art is always meant to be provocative, isn't it?  Its purpose is to engage its audience, to cause thought, reaction, and emotion, and in that sense, the Biennale collection certainly does its bit.

This installation is all about urban densification.  Can you tell? healthy cities have to grow taller.  Here in Vancouver, people always fight the development of high-rises along the light rail transit lines, but really, it's the healthiest choice. Urban sprawl is ugly, and counter-productive. And as Vancouver's west end so beautifully exemplifies, it is possible to create dense neighbourhoods which remain livable, tight-knit communities. This sculpture also reminds us that despite our many differences, we are all connected.  We are one.

Time ticks inexorably on, but a bit of electrolysis as it was submersed under water for at least a year has left a distinctive patina on this particular Time Top

Some exhibits are beside the water, others in it.

Every city should have a floating ray gun whose target changes with the tides. Don't you think?

Some exhibits are touched by the tides,

while others artistically express the wind's whims.  The wind as artist... that's soooo lotus land, don't you think? :) Biennale suits Vancouver, too.  It is a temporary thing, a fleeting artistic expression that is also one day gone with the wind, a thing of the past.  Unless someone does something extraordinary, that is.  Yue Minjun's A-Maze-Ing Laughter

was so well loved that Lulu Lemon founder and creator of the sheer yoga-pant Chip Wilson donated 1.5 million dollars to purchase the work and ensure that it could stay

to entertain Vancouverites and tourists alike for generations to come.  

Dennis Oppenheim's Engagement Rings stayed, too. 

If ever an exhibit had a ring of permanency about it...

On the other side of the park, sitting in the sand in all of its corroding glory, you'll find what amounts to a poignant reminder of the impermanence of absolutely everything, and despite being on permanent display: 

Bernar Vanet's arcs of steel.

I love how this art represents both the artist's unique world perspective, and and at the same time, it's a unique perspective from which to view the world.  

Imagine what this propeller's pilot  might have seen!

There is a lot of blue sky to explore up there!

So often you see toys made to look just like teeny-tiny copy of real life things. So for example, you'll see one of those London double-decker busses, only it's two inches tall.  This sculpture is great, because it is the exact opposite - it's a toy made larger than life!

Art, art everywhere...

sometimes it is tucked away, out of sight and out of mind till you stumble upon it. Whether you see it, whether you are aware of it or not, it is still there, silently standing vigil, waiting for each of us to come and explore, to enjoy.  Like this:

And people say I get around. :)

 Mmm balls.  :D 

Art always interacts with the world around it.  It challenges your pre-conceptions, it makes you think, makes you feel.

The thing I love best about Vancouver's Biennale is that it takes art outside, away from the traditional museum venue and into the real world. This way, it becomes an integral part of the world all around, so that our interactions with it are genuine.  Art becomes a part of daily life.  Continuing along on our way, we ran smack dab into the Olympic cauldron.  There's a thin line between art and propaganda sometimes.

I heard that they lit the cauldron when they opened up the Cactus Club restaurant next door.  Strange, that. I always thought that the Olympic flame is supposed to represent the spirit of competition, the athlete's passion, drive and determination, not mojitos and hot buffalo chicken wings.

double double toil and trouble, fire burn and corporate interests bubble

It sits idle, awaiting the next corporate grand opening, comfortably at home among the financial district's grand glass towers.  Imposing, not interacting.

But don't worry. We've still got Douglas Copeland.  All's well that ends whale!