Rat Rods??

The Detroit Red Wings and Autorama at Cobo filled the city and crowded The People Mover this weekend. I was more than happy to ride The People Mover to Cobo from Greektown Casino. I take a ride every chance I get it's a great way to see the city but still stay warm. So naturally I would like to discuss the Art at Cobo this week and some of the cars I seen while at Autorama. 

I guess, first I should explain what Autorama is, it's an indoor car show that is made up of older cars, its specializes in whats called “Rat Rods.” The classic Rat Rod is made up of old parts and painted with flat paint or not painted at all. The best part is how creative the builders get with using kegs for a gas tank or beer cans for a radiator overflow tank.

In short Autorama is the “poor mans” auto show and I love it. I like the fact that for one the cars are being used and not just a waste of money. I don't understand why someone would buy a car to look at in the garage, I would want to drive it and see what it could do. Here are a couple photos of the great cars that were at Autorama this weekend, if you missed it. 

Cobo is known for its auto connection, they have had auto shows at Cobo for a while now. This is a good reason to display some Detroit history and is the reason for its art work at The Cobo People Mover station. The title is Calvacade of Cars and the two artist are Larry Ebel / Linda Cianciolo Scarlett. 

Here is the description on The People Movers site:

“There are 2 Fords, 2 Chryslers, 2 G.M.s and 1 Cord. The artists first created this design by taking photographs of the actual cars. Then they chose the colors and the arrangement of how things should be placed and sent it to Crovatto Mosaics. Crovatto is located in a little town in Italy, and its chief industry is making venetian glass mosaics (too expensive to have done in the States). To make the venetian glass, workers pound out very small pieces of colored glass and put them on individual pieces of mesh. They would then ship the pieces of mesh to us. Installation was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle.”

This is a great description, and I am sure it took a great deal of time to assemble. I know it takes me a long time to put together a 1000 piece puzzle, this would have taken me years to complete. This is a great piece of art and you have to see it in person to get the true beauty of the cars and the work it took to assemble. 

Are you a fan of Jigsaw puzzles?

What is your all time favorite car, and why?

Sea shells by the sea shore?

This week I continue our tour around Detroit, The People Mover keeps moving around and around. 

This weekend I watched a movie that asked the question, “ When a butterfly leaves its cocoon, does it see how beautiful its become, or does it still see a caterpillar?” 

This is a great question and is true about art, we all see it in our own way. We see the world through our life experiences and art is no exception to this rule, this is why I am so passionate about art and classical music. The tile work here is very similar to something you would find in Art works from India. 

This is a great introduction to our next stop on our great journey around Detroit. Ms. Tobin is the next artist I would like to talk about after spending a year in India she was inspired to create the tile work at Fort / Cass Station (picture to the left). 

Here is the story from The People Movers website: 

“The artist spent a year in India and was very much influenced by the Islamic tiles found there. The famous Taj Majal in India has tiles with similar design. The design is based on a pattern of very large red X's and smaller black X's. For the glaze on some of the tiles, the artist used ash from the Mt. St. Helen volcano eruption. This piece was very tedious to install. It took six weeks, seven days a week to complete.” 

This is an untitled piece of art but the tile isn’t alone Fort / Cass also has a sculpture that is named Progression II, its made out of bronze this was the work of a woman named Sandra Jo Osip (the picture to the right). I see a form of evolution like a river wears away the land. It looks to me like a shell that has evolved over time.  

What do you see when looking at the pictures? 

Do you think a butterfly sees the beauty it possesses? 

Do we see the greatness in our own life, our own beauty or purpose?

Ref:

http://bit.ly/zgjugC

Don't wake the Ram!

I have selected a video to show the thrip around the city. This is a great one minute tour of the city via Detroit People Mover. It goes a little fast and might make you sick if you watch too closely. This gives you a great front row seat to the People Movers journey around the city and all of the wonderful stops. Now I know you cant see the wonderful art we have been talking about, but this still a great song and video none the less. I wanted to give everyone a chance to see the ride and experience The Detroit People Mover if you haven't already. Just keep in mind its way slower in real life then it is in this video. 

Now I wanted to talk about Renaissance Center station or Ren - Cen if your a local. But lets not get caught up on names and lingo now, lets focus on the art at the station. 


Title: Siberian Ram
Artist: Marshall Fredericks
Station:Renaissance Center Station

The bio for this says it all:

“The emotional and spiritual beauty of this cast bronze sculpture fuses with the functional form of the station architecture. Mr. Fredericks, who has earned an international reputation for exhibitions, awards and monumental sculptures, captures the warm and gentle spirit of this beautifully regal ram. The lush green backdrop for this piece, designed by Pewabic Pottery, is created from handcrafted historic Pewabic tiles donated by the Stroh Brewery Company.

http://bit.ly/A6nojd

Again the back drop is a the historic tiles of Pewabic pottery that is located just outside of downtown. The bio reads, “the emotional and spiritual beauty” this to me says it all, we all have emotional and spiritual beauty in our own ways don't we? The great thing about art and life is we all see it different and thats ok. Mr. Fredricks doesn't mind if you don't see the same vision he had when creating this piece of art. I see a goat just waking up and trying to get his body in motion. I see myself trying to climb out of bed in the morning to another day. 

The art goes far beyond this bronze goat once you awl into the Renaissance Center your surrounded by beautiful architecture in the main floor of the Ren - Cen. I love the River Walk (in the summer of course), and the best way to get there is through the Ren - Cen. You can also see many of General Motors new cars inside the building as well, they like to show off what they have been working on. What do you see when looking at Mr. Fredricks ram? What is something that stands out at the Ren- Center stop?

Moving on up

Title: On the Move
Artist: Kirk Newman

http://bit.ly/xie0Br

Our next stop on The Detroit People Mover is Michigan Ave., and has two works of art at this stop. The first one I see when at this stop is the one called "On The Move" that I mention above by Kirk Newman. Kirk had envisioned the people running to catch the train with briefcases in hand. I am sure we have all been in a hurry to get somewhere before. However, most of us have a car and can just drive faster to make up lost time. This isn't the same in a big city, when you have to ride a train, you must run to catch the one thats about to leave. The station has two works of art On the Move is one and the "Voyage" by Allie McGhee is pictured to the right. I do like the art at this train station its contemporary and different. However, I feel that the rushing people have a reason to be in a hurry and its to get back to work after a long yummy lunch at a local coney island. Michigan Ave. stop on The Detroit People Mover is home to the coney war and one of the greatest bus stops of all time. What would Detroit be without a Coney Island the coney war has been going on in Detroit for some time now. I like  Lafayette Coney Island myself but we all have our own reasons. 

http://bit.ly/x6n9oP

What one do you like the most, Lafayette Coney Island or American Coney Island?

http://bit.ly/yy7dcq

 I mentioned a bus stop earlier and would like to talk for a second about what makes it great. First off, its Rosa Parks bus stop and provided a picture to the right. This stop was in memory of what Rosa Parks did for civil rights. So once again we have art that will catch your eye but the story behind it is much better. I realize that this is just my story but I would love to hear your story, tell me what you think about Rosa Parks or what Coney Island is better, or even talk about the art. I have enjoyed the "On The Move" art and still like the idea that we are all in a hurry to get no where fast. Sometimes I think when we rush it never works in our favor. Life lesson slow down and enjoy your time here, before its too late.