How did anyone know anything before ?
I made this comment as I was looking at MyDustyFlipFlops’ post for the STREET ART Friendly Friday Challenge. It was in response to seeing another amazing wall mural by Matt Adnate. Adnate is an Australian artist who specializes in building-size portraits of aboriginal people. I didn’t know him before but I recognized his unique style when BushBoy posted his STREET ART response. BushBoy’s picture reminded me of a mural on the Australian International School in Singapore. From there it was an easy Google search to find the artist and discover a fountain of work. What would I do without Google! How did anyone know anything before?
I enjoy researching topics and discovering facts when blogging. Take for instance this photo that I featured in the STREET ART challenge.
When I took the photo it was because I liked the color and energy. To me it signified much of what I like about Hong Kong. For the Friendly Friday Challenge I looked up the artist behind the imagery. Who was the Frog King?
The artist is Kwok Mang Ho, a pioneer in Hong Kong’s contemporary art scene. Now 73 year old, he started in traditional ink drawing and from there moved on to mixed media and performance art. His iconic Frog King persona evolved from a childhood fixation on frogs. Like the amphibian who lives in two worlds, his art brings together western and eastern cultures. More significantly, he seeks to balance the negatives of current affairs with an abundance of positives through art.
My other discovery this week was from Albatz Travel who featured Yarn Bombing in Vancouver. Yarn bombing is street art that uses knitted or crocheted yarn or fibre rather than paint or chalk. It is also called wool bombing, yarn storming, guerrilla knitting, kniffiti, urban knitting, or graffiti knitting.
The inventor of yarn bombing is Magda Sayeg, a math major who was bored with the clinical look of a metal door handle. She decided to knit it a cozy. Here is her story.
My thanks to everyone who participated in the STREET ART challenge. Special thanks to those that sparked little discoveries in our wonderful WWW world.
Toronto, Canada. September 2020
The Sandy Chronicles 
I love discovering and researching little things too – thank you for the exposure to more fun stuff to get us through this time of COVID.
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You’re very welcome Elizabeth. I’m glad that you enjoy these virtual adventures 🙂
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There’s so much great stuff out there. Your essay brought to mind a documentary from a few years ago: Faces Places. If you haven’t seen it, I’m pretty sure you’d like it a lot. Agnes Varda, the late director, and a street artist known as JR, are the doc’s featured players.
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I looked it up and it does look like a doc that I’d like very much. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find the full version. I will keep on looking. Thanks for pointing it out Neil.
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A Maths Major comes up with yarn bombing. Who would have thought?
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