Art and the loss of human heritage

 

From the St. Louis Art Museum collection.
A Buddha head from contemporary Afghanistan dating to the 4th century, mixing Greek, Chinese and central Asian traditions.

In the last 30 years, several countries whose current dominant religion (Islam) considers artistic representations of the human form as idolatrous, have seen the destruction of some of humanity’s great artistic and cultural heritage. Those countries include Afghanistan, where cliff-size statues of Buddha at Bamiyan were dynamited in 2001 by the Taliban, and Syria, where the Baathist regime of dictator Bashar al-Assad has outright plundered and looted the great Roman ruins of Palmyra. Both places have been ravaged by civil war, invasions, and religious intolerance. Even before these attacks by religious fanatics and criminals on monuments to cultural melting pots that were ancient Syria and what is now Afghanistan, art from these areas has been plundered and sold.

The St. Louis Art Museum, a great institution that I love dearly, has two examples of art from these locations. They include a funerary bust in the Roman Palmyriene style and the head of a Buddha that mixes Greek-Hellenic features with Chinese traditions, which dates from the 4th century of contemporary Afghanistan, from the ancient Gandhara region. I have no idea how these two pieces ever entered the art market, but many pieces like them have flooded into the global art market because of civil conflict and violence in both countries, where proxy wars, terrorism, religious intolerance, and intolerance have prevailed. Our sense of who we are has been lessened and ultimately chipped away by the destruction of such places.

Grain Silos, Lincoln County, Washington
The sun was setting as I snapped this photograph in August 2014.

It was a hot August day when I snapped this picture as the sun was setting on wheat country in Lincoln County, Washington. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful place indeed.

I said, you talkin’ to me?
I photographed this bull Cape buffalo in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park.

The Cape buffalo of Africa is one of the world’s largest and strongest land mammals. It can toss full-grown lions with a shake of its head and horns, and they are not afraid to attack lions if their herd is threatened. In Tanzania, where I shot this, I was told they are among the most dangerous land animals in Africa. This enormous male bull looks like it had tussled before with a lion, and clearly it did not lose that battle. I would hate to cross their path if they felt threatened. (Click on the photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Heeler mixes
This pair of young males were quite happy to get some attention, despite the fake snarl of the mostly black coated one. He was all show, and mostly wag.

In central Washington, in farm country, one can see quite a few of these heeler mixes. They are very beautiful dogs, and so smart you almost think they could speak to you. I captured these two young males at the Omak Stampede back in 2012. I just saw a similar mix today while running, and its happy smile brought this pair back to mind. Make no mistake, these are working dogs too. (Click on the picture to see a larger photo on a separate picture page.)

Ross Island Bridge, Portland

 

Taken with a GoPro.

I cross over the Ross Island Bridge every day going to work. Here is an angle from below, taken from the Springwater Corridor. (Click on the photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

It is Super Bowl time, and the great American media event has us glued to our screens
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.

The 49th Super Bowl is still being played. I am listening live on the radio, as the Hawks just went up 23-14. Here is how it looked at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, which thoughtfully opened up its doors to the public and showed the game on its giant screen.

Home of the woodpecker
This dead fir tree is in the Mt. Hood National Forest.

High on the Columbia River Gorge, in the Mt. Hood National Forest, I found a number of standing dead trees that have been thoroughly scavenged by woodpeckers. Lovely place up here. Seven species of woodpeckers live in the forest, so I cannot say which ones may have hammered away here.

Cormorants on the Columbia River
Kelley Point Park in Portland is a good spot to observe a number of our avian friends who call the region home.

This is the last of my “photos in the mist” set that I published this week. I do like this one and the pure joy of watching birds being birds. You can listen to their calls on this web site run by Cornell Labs. I will anthropomorphize here and flat out say its an eery, almost haunting call. Click on the photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.

Kenton City, a Portland hood ready for prime time

 

Taken with a GoPro.
Taken with a GoPro.
Taken with a GoPro.
Taken with a GoPro.

I decided to visit Kenton City in North Portland after spotting the famous Paul Bunyan statue from the Max rail line. This is on the U.S. Register of National Historic Places, a giant slab of concrete reminiscent of miniature golf course art from the 1950s and 1960s. Across from Paul sits the stripper club, as Portland apparently has the greatest concentration of stripper clubs per capita after sin city, Las Vegas. Had a nice coffee at Posies, found a nice piece of large-scale sculpture, and generally enjoyed my brief visit. This place exists because of the large stock and lumber yards that thrived along the Willamette River in the late 1800s and early 1900s. I am guessing this spot will gentrify in about three to five years, max.

Port of Portland rail yard and grain elevator
The Port of Portland is an international port that ships grains and other exports globally.

My explorations of the industrial lands in north Portland uncovered some haunting images as the mist lingered for hours. I could photograph rail yards and shipping facilities forever, and the Port of Portland had some tasty visual morsels. I love the forms, the functionality, and total commercial nature of these places. They have one purpose, and that is to ship goods from one place to another. They represent commerce in its least packaged and purest form. You can see other photos I have taken of industrial forms on my web site. I also have documented a number of industrial sites in Portland on my blog.

This particular image is of the port’s Rivergate Industrial Park. The port’s web site reports Portland is the largest wheat export gateway for the country. (Click on the photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)