https://videopress.com/v/0NDXRSOD Sabellidae? I'm reading up on worms, and while I haven't checked with anyone yet, I think this is a type of tube worm in the family Sabellidae, commonly called a feather duster worm. Which if you think about it, is an odd way to refer to its gorgeous feather-like anatomy. Why not call it … Continue reading worm
Author: gailwight
alien planet
The tides have been perfect during this first week of the year: perigee lows during the afternoon's oblique sun, warmish down by the water, not too windy. The water is COLD though, and I've managed to get thoroughly soaked every day. Worth it. So amazing. Here is a stunning creature from January 1, 2019. I … Continue reading alien planet
Dog in a Tartan Skirt (Edit)
it’s been a hard year, thought i would close it out with someone else’s art. hope you enjoy this little poem as much as i did.
Dog in a Tartan Skirt
There’s a dog wearing a tartan skirt
outside the window of Starbuck’s;
a tartan skirt, a belt, and a knitted white sweater.
Its little dog legs are moving frantically
on the wet pavement,
while across the slick road
and the sodden green park
the ocean sits
like a slab of lead
having clearly decided
to take some time off,
no crashing on the shore today.
South of the border
America blunders around
trying to remember
where it parked
that big ass car
that everyone admired
and envied.
The people look to God
but God, once again,
is moving in mysterious ways;
I, for one, wish He would knock it off,
enough already with the mystery
could He not for once in His eternal life,
clarify something?
I mean, for fuck sake,
there’s a dog wearing a tartan skirt
outside the window of Starbuck’s.
Hamonshū
This book was published in 1903 as a resource guide for water designs that could be used by craftsmen. The artist, Mori Yuzan, worked in the Nihonga style, which emphasized the beauty of traditional Japanese aesthetics during a period of infatuation with the west. I am infatuated with Hamonshū! I've shot thousands of photographs of waves … Continue reading Hamonshū
Scenic Overlook
Back in May, I had an exhibit at Patricia Sweetow Gallery in San Francisco. A few of the projects already discussed here were part of the exhibit: The Fix, Copepodilia, Pacific Falls, and Collision. I also showed three new selections from a series of videos called "In the Time of..." which were inspired by Pool. The works were … Continue reading Scenic Overlook
Bass Biology
I lost sight of this blog, buried in a big project and a flurry of exhibits. More later on "Scenic Overlook" and other exhibits, but this summer has been completely turned over to a large commission for the new Bass Biology Building at Stanford. High resolution photographs of ocean waves – color reversed and knitted … Continue reading Bass Biology
diatoms
I recently finished reading The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf. It's one of the best books I've read in the past few years, along with Elizabeth Kolbert's The Sixth Extinction. Both of these books are about the big picture, about deep time and the interrelatedness of all things, living and non-living. The Invention of Nature is … Continue reading diatoms
free ride
https://vimeo.com/247895416 Here are two more nudibranchs from Salt Point. The video shows (I think) a Cockerell's Dorid. It's right at the water line, and is hitching a free ride on a limpet. Or maybe trying to eat it? By the end of the video, you can see its foot and the rhinophores, yellow-tipped and feathery, … Continue reading free ride
nudibranchs
I've started a new work that has me, happily, back to shooting video in the tide pools at Salt Point. It means catching the tides and the weather at the right hour, on days when I'm in the area – a rare mix. Friday was a perfect day, and I was trying out a new … Continue reading nudibranchs
place
The very opening of Tacita Dean & Jeremy Millar's book Place: "The question, what is place? presents many difficulties. An examination of all the relevant facts seems to lead to different conclusions. Moreover, we have inherited nothing from previous thinkers, whether in the way of a statement of difficulties or of a solution." – Aristotle, Book IV, … Continue reading place