turning the town blue

 

 He seems to be completely unreceptive. The tests I gave him showed no sense at all!

 

His eyes react to light; the dials detect it. He hears but cannot answer to your call!

 

All hope lies with him and none with me

 

I often wonder what he is feeling! Has he ever heard a word I've said?

 

'never mind, your part is to be what you'll be'

 

I'm you wicked Uncle Ernie

 

I'm the gypsy

I'm the acid queen

 

Tommy doesn't know what day it is

 

These pricey deals don't teach us. Your freedom doesn't reach us. Awareness doesn't shape us. Enlightenment escapes us. How can all this trivia take us to the goal you reached? We came here to be like you, find the world you preach.

I'm free - I'm free, And freedom tastes of reality! I'm free - I'm free, And I'm waiting for you to follow me

 



 Tintern

 

Right behind you I see the millions. On you I see the glory. From you I get opinions. From you I get the story. Listening to you I get the music. Gazing at you I get the heat. Following you I climb the mountain. I get excitement at your feet!

 



Saints fan flying over Fratton Park

Art from Winston Churchill Avenue, Southsea, Portsmouth
Quotes from Pete Townshend/The Who's Tommy. 
Some of the 1975 Tommy movie was filmed at Southsea, Portsmouth including the Pinball Wizard scene fimed at the King's Theatre, Albert Road.  Albert Road shops were featured in this post

Guest post from Mme Akriche

Hi Phil,

I was looking through my old photos and thought you might like these.
 

They were the old German blockhouses. These were somewhere near Soulac on the west coast of France.
 

here's some more on what appears to be a professional photographer's blog so I will link not steal:
http://fabienmonteil-photographies.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/graffitis-sur-les-blockhaus-plages-du.html

 

yours
Mme Akriche

South by Southsea (part two): My Dog Sighs

Some of the Southsea shop fronts in the last post had bright and cheery murals, fun but not great art.  The sort of thing you see in hippy towns the world over.  But there was some street art which went further.  That crossed the line between decoration and art.  That made you say WOW.  Well, made me say wow anyway.  This was the first one, on the side of a tattoo parlour.  Have a closer look.

Last time I was in Southsea I saw a big piece on a wall down a side street, close to Albert Road.  I didn't have a camera that day but I thought I remembered where it was.  So off I went down the road by the King's Theatre.  There were a couple of white vans there.  One had a picture of Sooty, Sweep and Sue on it (they were playing at the King's).  The other said on the front "I want your antiques" and on the back had this picture:

 

I carried on down the road and found the forecourt I was looking for.

I love this mural.

It had a signature.  I couldn't read it but took a photo so I could figure it out later.

I really love this mural.

Anyways.  Back to the car, off I go, driving home.  Noticed some hoardings, hiding a bit of building work.  With some graffiti on.  There was nowhere to stop on the main road so I took the next left and left and right and left and one way street and cul-de-sac and, quite lost, parked the car.  there were the hoardings. 

Again some good, some bad, some ugly.  But most striking: a pair of eyes.

The eyes definitely have it.  And look, a tag, a signature. My Dog Sighs. I took pictures of the rest (you can see some of them here) including this one.

And hey! That's the guy from the van! But that's the signature from the red Eyes mural.  All of this stuff is by My Dog Sighs (yes that's what it says).  Now I've never heard of My Dog Sighs (my bad) but a little exploration of the interwebs sheds a whole lotta light on the artist.  You should see the cans. 

Here's some words from Bristol Upfest 2103 website:

After working quietly but fervently on the streets for the last ten years, honing his craft with his Free Art Friday project, Portsmouth based urban artist My Dog Sighs has recently stumbled into the international contemporary Art and gallery scene with splash. Sell out solo exhibitions across the UK, US and Israel have brought his unique melancholic yet formidable talent to a new audience who might otherwise miss his subtle, ecologically minded street work. Born from a desire to interact with the urban landscape and its inhabitants without impacting negatively on them, My Dog Sighs’ work forms a narrative based on counterpointed poignancy that resonate with those that have the opportunity to find them. Moments of loss and then being found echo the materials used. Tin cans, once the receptacle of our sustenance, all too quickly rejected, thrown away, abandoned by a materialistic society keen to gorge on the new.

I'm going to write more about My Dog Sighs in the future.  You'll want to know more about Free Art Friday and you really have to see the cans.  Don't wait for me - hit your favourite search engine now. 

South by Southsea (part one) Red Clay Halo

Saturday was Record Store Day.  The idea of Record Store Day is great; supporting independent record shops by promoting all of them as though they weren't independent, as though they are all part of a movement.  The Indie bit is significant - a throwback to the punk/post punk idea of bands, venues and record shops operating outside the mainstream. Independently. 

Unfortunately an awful of the hype seems to be about promoting records by mainstream artists, re-releases of ancient Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan records. What is the point?  There's an argument that pressing plants are too tied up with pressing multiple copies of an Oasis vinyl disc that they have no facility to press genuine independent records.  I found looking through the racks of vinyl to be quite depressing: it didn't take me back to the wonder of record shops decades ago. 

However I did enjoy watching Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo, playing in the street outside Pie & Vinyl in Southsea.  Especially their version of Dan Penn's Do Right Woman. After a while I wandered off through Southsea.  I found another record shop, this one selling oldies, original albums from the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s at a fraction of the price that the new pressings were retailing for.  Not only that but Elvis was outside.

 

There were a lot of interesting looking shops around, some with pretty cool artwork. Some of it goes way beyond just being a decorated shop front.  Some of it is art.  Here's a few shop fronts.

 

 

 

 



Paint the City

 m one

 

 m one

 

 m one

 

 Rusty Sheriff

 

 

 My Dog Sighs

 

  My Dog Sighs

 

  My Dog Sighs

 

  My Dog Sighs

 

All to be found in Southsea, Portsmouth.  You can find out more here.

In living colour

In Heaven there are a lot of colors, even more than we have down here on Earth

Carlton Burpo

Some people are never satisfied. 

This earth is the only heaven I need.