everywhere is anywhere is anything is everything

This is a piece of art from a show we recently saw at the Vancouver Art Gallery by Douglas Coupland. He is a prolific artist and author whose work is fascinating in it's playful irreverence. This one titled, 'Gumhead' and was located on grounds of the gallery. It is a 7 ft. sculpture of the artist's head which he has invited the public to participate in by plastering it in, yes gum. This is a recent installation but when we arrived it was already quite covered in the stuff. He work often references everyday material in this way, inviting the viewer to rethink what is art using everyday materials in new ways. It is a really interesting show and I recommend it. - Fern

Captain Cook

Another statue graces the Inner Harbour, as prominently displayed as Queen Victoria's, facing the Empress Hotel, that of Captain James Cook. Victoria must be excused a bit of shameless name-dropping here. The famed explorer did not actually stop at Victoria. However, in 1778 he must have passed nearby on his way to Nootka Sound, further up the island. He was looking for a western exit to the fabled northwest passage. Not finding it, he turned around and went back to the South Seas, where he met his untimely end. Travelling with Cook on this voyage were two other later-to-be-famous sailors. Midshipman George Vancouver, who later returned to these waters as Captain Vancouver, has the honor of having Vancouver Island named after him as well as two neighbouring cities, one in British Columbia and another in Washington State, USA. The other famous seaman on Cook's last voyage was the Master of one of Cook's two ships, the Resolution, one William Bligh, later captain of the HMS Bounty when her crew mutinied.

I am particularly fond of this period of nautical history and am looking forward to the Tall Ships Festival later in the year (June 26-29), when Victoria will host sailing ships from many parts of the world. This year we have been promised a visit from the replica of HMS Bounty that was commissioned especially for the film, "Mutiny on the Bounty" starring the late Marlon Brando. I am looking forward to photographing it from stem to stern.