Hastings Battleaxe enjoys the Elias Sime exhibition and other things

Maybe I have been influenced by artist Elais Sime to live in a slow way – but for sure, not much has been happening. The unseasonably cold weather has tried to stop Battleaxe setting forth to wage war on the garden. Am definitely a fair-weather gardener – have scarcely been out there since the autumn.  Have been writing, taking a chapter of novel number two to my novel writing group, as well as struggling with the odd poem.  Doing WI things, including going to a charity fashion show. The exhibition at the Hastings Contemporary was excellent – Elias Sime ‘Eregata’, Politics, as usual, is farcical. Our so-called government passed the Rwanda Bill the other day, meaning that theoretically, some poor  devils could be sent there. I think most sensible people are assuming it will never happen – by the time they have overcome legal challenges and actually found someone to fly a plane, hopefully it will be election time. Anyway, here’s our clematis in the back garden.

Let’s start with the Hastings Contemporary. Battleaxe knew nothing about the Sime exhibition and hadn’t planned to visit it, but we were just having coffee with some friends down there so decided to wander round. Was surprised and impressed, so much so that I bought the book about it – a first for me. Here is a review of the exhibition. Sime, from Ethiopia, uses recycled waste, mostly electronic waste, to make pictures. You have to stand up close to appreciate the intricate nature of the works, and then stand further away to appreciate the scale of them  -many are huge.  Not only is the art stunning,but it also sends very clear messages about our throw-away society, and in particular, the massive waste of used technological devices, much of which is dumped in Africa by us lot.

 

Each art work takes months to produce, and he has a team of studio assistants working with him, often using traditional techniques, such a braiding. ‘Eregata’ means ‘serene’. This is slow art, meditative art. Battleaxe recommends this exhibition – it is on until September. Here are a few more pictures – all from the internet. It is hard to capture his work in a photo – you need to see it.

Pondering about slow, meditative art made me realise I needed to now do a spring fabric picture, to go with the winter one – see this post. Had another very pleasurable workshop with friend Jacky Scales and got started on it. Have lots to do because spent more time at Jacky’s yakking with chums than concentrating on the task in hand. Will share on here when it is finished.

The garden is now growing busily. Battleaxe has decided to bow to the inevitable and not attempt to grow anything that does not like clay soil, and most important, will suffer in the wind that whips round our garden. This year we have had to buy a new rose arch and a tall pagoda thing for a clematis – the arch blew down in the winter gales and the other had rusted away. Maybe next year we will have to face the dreadful task of sorting out that clematis above. As you can see, the arch is very top-heavy, and is already propped up against the wind. The photo makes the garden look a bit wildernessy – honestly, it is not that bad….

Do you know, I can’t be bothered banging on about politics. It is the local elections on Thursday. I’ll vote Labour, even though, in Hastings, as I’ve said before, a whole load of councillors defected from Labour to become independent – the fools – leaving the Greens and Labour in an unseemly scrap with each accusing the other of ridiculous things, most of which are not remotely true and trivial to boot, such as funding for the Jack-in-the-Green Festival and dogs on the beach. (Who wants dogs crapping on the beach anyway? It is bad enough round here with it all over the pavements). In our Ore Ward, Heather Bishop is standing for Labour. I know her and she is a good woman. Also, she is now the leader of the Labour Group on the Council. Unfortunately most of the independents are not standing for re-election. The crafty, cowardly wretches made sure that they had another safe two years before they jumped ship. Most of them are still in Council cabinet positions, even though they have made some dodgy decisions. Just hope nobody is mad enough to vote Tory.