Archives for category: Hand Puppets

fc presenting

Last night the second post of the Dede story was launched at ||:VEGGIETORIA:||. For the Dedes it is an absolute must to watch, just like a riveting mini series on TV. As I had them all in one place, I told them what Foreign Correspondent and I had nutted out recently. Surprisingly we received very mixed reactions. I was so convinced they would be excited and I realised  I don’t know them  as well as I thought I did.

The main reservation was that the Dedes believe most Germans speak better English than they let on. They wouldn’t need the extra summary. Foreign Correspondent just stood there and smiled, but he didn’t try to convince them of his plan. In the end Devil’s Advocate said: “Can we discuss this later? I want to know what Miss Viwi has to say today!” And he invited Foreign Correspondent to take the floor.

Foreign Correspondent stood there calmly, looking very credible, and started his speech: “Thank you Dedes for giving me the opportunity to talk to you tonight. I believe you would like to be known to a wider audience. Is that right?” He paused for effect, and all the Dedes obediently nodded their heads. Then he continued. “I can help you to achieve this and I would be delighted if you would accept my proposal. ” He took charge of the computer and switched to Miss Viwi’s page.

“First of all, I want to thank Miss Viwi again for her kindness in publishing a series about the background of the Dedes. Let’s see what she has to say:”

{dede puppets | second act}

[The book:]

hermits-web-cover

‘Hermit’s web or the few friends I need, I hand-craft myself’. The story of this book introduces the first fifteen Dede characters.
dietlind: „The idea for the story was conceived when someone I didn’t know invited me to become friends on face book. Not only was this person a stranger to me, I don’t have a face book page. So I go on and tell the world that I have enough to do with my real friends, my Dedes. The book is written in easy-to-understand English, similar to the blog.  

[the blog]

dietlind: „I started the blog shortly before the book was launched. An artist friend of mine had advised me to document the entire process. A year on, I am really happy I have heeded this advice. The thought of selling [the puppets ] has disappeared into thin air and the blog has definitely strengthened the relationship between the Dedes and myself.

group pic top left to right.: Detail, Snippedy, Devil, Mouse and Socialite || below left to right: Monkey, Pig, Professor, L’Artiste Dede, Foxy Lady and Fairy Godmother

miss viwi: So you can’t imagine selling puppets?

dietlind: „Not at the moment. In particular not those that appear on the blog and there is no way I could part with the first ones, the ones from the book. But at one stage there will be so many, and I should be able to let some go. I can envisage, though, creating some puppets specifically for an exhibition and to sell them before I get used to them, before I come up with their character traits.“

[Exhibition]

Exhibitions are a relatively new subject for the artist, she never considered it with her previous work, but The Dede puppets are a category of their own, they really want to be seen.“

Apart from a few low key photographic exhibitions, the puppets were on show at the book launch.

book launchBook launch April 2012, Auckland, Visitor examines L’Artiste Dede (Foto: © Sonya Roussina)

An installation by the artist Dietlind Wagner had been selected as a finalist in New Zealand’s prestigeous  „Wallace Art Awards“. The installation of five dede puppets was exhibited in a gallery in Auckland.
Further solo exhibitions are planned for 2013.

dietlind:I also had two workshops for Senior Citizens and would love to explore this area further. Hand puppets are often used in therapy with kids, but I am convinced they could be equally useful with the elderly.“

The  interview will continue next Sunday 20/1/13, at 8 am CET at |:::VEGGIETORIA:::|.

P.S.: If you have any queries, wishes or comments feel free to write in

“Good, good” Devil said. “Now, Foreign Correspondent, this was a very literal translation. But you have to prove to us that you can summarise, if we are to give you the responsibility of looking after the Dede’s German blog. So how would you summarise what Miss Viwi has said?” Mouse turned to Devil and gave him a hi-five.

Foreign Correspondent was unfazed and said: “In brief, Dietlind loves us all. And all of us, who are currently in the room are safe. She won’t sell any of us. She believes the blog strengthened our relationship, but she also knows we are attention seekers and she would like to comply by presenting us to the non-digital world in exhibitions and workshops. If you have any queries, leave a comment or send an email!”

“I hope your German summaries are a bit more comprehensive, but I would say give it a go!” Devil concluded.

foreign correspondant

Today is Sunday again and the Dedes are all curious about what the second installment from Miss Viwi on ||:::VEGGIETORIA:::|| will be like. I am pretty sure they will be hanging around the living room tonight again so they don’t miss the new post.

Miss Viwi’s series got the Dedes thinking. We got a few comments lately from German speaking readers and friends who said they use the Dedes to brush up on their English, but sometimes they are not sure about the meaning as the blog is quite colloquial. During the week this fellow introduced himself to me. He claimed to be a foreign correspondent. I didn’t believe him at first, he looks more like a tourist to me, but then he put forward his ideas and I changed my mind. He seems to know what he is talking about.

Here is what he suggested: He is going to scan all the posts on the dedepuppet blog and will write a summary twice a week in German. These summaries will be posted on dedepuppetsde.wordpress.com, not on this blog here. There will be no new stories on the German blog at all, as all the Dedes are in New Zealand, so new stories can only happen here and they will continue to happen in English. Of course Foreign Correspondent will report back to us if any interesting comments are made.

I haven’t put it to the Dede committee yet to find out what they think, but Foreign Correspondent was proactive and translated the site anyway. He says he wants to be ready to roll as soon as he gets the go ahead. I said he should hold his horses as we will put him to the test when Miss Viwi’s post needs to be translated again. So tonight he will be presenting his proposal and translation to the Dedes.

What do you think?

the neigbours

The weather here is just fantastic at the moment. During the day it is hot, but still bearable, and when night falls, it becomes balmy. This is the time when it is lovely to sit outside for a little, before the mosquitoes start their battle for dominance  outdoors. Last night a few of us where sitting on the deck, having a quiet wind-down from a busy week, when Nosy Neighbour and his wife Two-faced walked by. They only got married last year and we don’t see much of them. We see him more than her, though. We really only know her as a shadow behind the curtain in their living room. He, on the other hand, is out and about. He does some gardening or fetches the newspaper and I even think he does the shopping for the two of them. He particularly likes to be out after the Dedes have had a loud party. Sometimes I suspect he is only hanging around in the open in order to catch me and have a good old rant about my lot.

“Hello neighbours,” I called out when I saw them passing “Want to join us?”

They looked at each other and Two-faced shook her head. “Would love to catch up” Nosy Neighbour replied, “but we have to keep going. We have to do something about the kilos we gained over Christmas.” Nevertheless, he approached the deck a little, but Two-faced was anchored firmly to the footpath and didn’t move an inch.

“Lovely evening for it” Devil said to keep the small-talk going.

“I’ve just started to read your blog” Nosy Neighbour told us, when he finally stopped a few paces from where we were sitting.

“What do you think?” Mouse wanted to know of course.

“Interesting read” he said and looked at me. “I don’t even know why you bother. They are such a nuisance.” He pointed with his head towards my little friends, and continued talking as if they weren’t there. “Why don’t you kick them all out and that is it. No more problems! Myself? I wouldn’t put up with their crap!”

All the Dedes that were with me started laughing. They thought it was a big big joke. Only I knew he was serious. I had too many similar conversations with him before.

“They are not that bad” I appeased him. He rolled his eyes, turned around and mumbled: “You really have to mow your lawn too” while he walked back to his wife, who was still waiting on the foot path. She waived at us with a smile, before they walked on.

“He has such dead pan humour, I just love it!” Devil said.

“We should invite them to our next barbeque,” Mouse added. “It’s a pity we know so little about them, they are Dedes just like us, aren’t they?”

monkey lamp

Yes, I was happy with Philosopher’s statement about what the Dede’s mission is. They are celebrating diversity! I was really happy for a day, until Monkey showed up.

Monkey swung through the curtains to the floor lamp and stopped a safe distance from me. I observed him closely. He is a bit stand-offish and usually only comes to see me in a group with others. Even today he looked as if he had to muster all his bravery. He sat there and casually scratched some flees out of his fur. Finally he addressed me: “Diversity you said… ”

“Yes”, I answered proudly “That’s what the Dedes are about”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You could also say ‘Live and let live!’ Embracing all the differences” I said.

“Funny you should say that” said Monkey, still sitting at a safe distance.  “So what about the monkeys then?”

“What about them?” I asked as I had no clue what he was on about.

Aren’t you writing a book!” Monkey said.

“No, not at the moment, though I have written plenty of books in the past. Now I am too busy with the Dedes”

“So it’s not true that you have a nearly completed book in the drawer… The others told me so.”

And then all of a sudden it occurred to me,  yes, right. Last summer before the Dedes burst onto the scene I was indeed working on a book that contained all my wisdom of over sixteen years of teaching digital imaging. I had made good progress until the rain set in and the Dedes pushed into my life.

“Ah, you mean ‘Let’s kill that monkey‘?” I blurted out. Oops, only now I noticed what an unfortunate title it had.

Monkey jumped a bit further away from me and said: “Yes that one”.

I laughed out loud. “No worries… I don’t really kill monkeys. Did you really think I would?”

He wanted to know why I gave my book such a mean title. It is a clear call to violence after all. I explained it was frustration talking. I had the strong feeling some of my students didn’t really want to be bothered with understanding the programs, but chose just to fluff around and see what comes out. I wouldn’t call my student monkeys, no way, but any work created without intention I call ‘monkey work’.

“This doesn’t sound like celebrating differences. In fact it is very derogatory. You have to come up with a different term!” said Monkey while swinging away.

philosopher walk

On Wednesday mornings Philosopher comes round and picks me up for a walk. I treasure this hour with him. There is no need to talk, if there is nothing to talk about. Sometimes silence in company can feel awkward, you certainly know that feeling, but with Philosopher quietness feels comforting. He has a very good head on his shoulders. And if you talk, you can be sure he would never pooh pooh any ideas – even if they are miles off the beaten track – nor would he speak badly about anyone.

So we walked in silence for a while and then I had to ask him: “So, Philosopher, what do you think about Witch’s comment on the blog yesterday?”

“Sorry, I don’t read your blog,” he answered honestly. “What happened?”

“You don’t read my blog?” I asked in disbelief.

“A lot of your friends don’t. Everybody knows you will tell them what’s happening anyway next time you see them.”

“Do they really?”  I tried to remember the barbeques I had been to lately and started to wonder if everybody is getting sick of me. Am I  quietly turning into a bore? I have to admit, Philosopher is right, the Dedes are my favourite subject.

“Oh, yes,” Philosopher smiled benevolently. “But don’t worry, they all like your passion – and not just that, they love us Dedes.” Before I could think more about my real friends, Philosopher got me back on my original train of thought: “So what did Witch say?”

I told him that Witch was taken aback by my remark the Dedes are for fun. It was just an aside and I wished Witch wouldn’t read my blog and wouldn’t pick up on little throw-away phrases like that.

“Do you think we are for fun?” Philosopher inquired.

“Not always… but what do you think, Philosopher, what is the agenda of the Dedes? Help me out here, please.” I know for a fact Witch would love to have more space on the blog to promote a frugal and healthy lifestyle. Cash Cow might support her, but it would displease most of the other Dedes, as this is really just Witch’s hobby-horse.

Philosopher didn’t think long: “In my opinion, the Dedes are celebrating diversity and they are having fun while doing it. This, my valued friend, is a good enough reason for their existence!”

cash cow witch tea

Cash Cow and Witch popped in for a cup of tea. They seem to have become good friends over the last couple of months and hang out together a lot. As soon as they had their mugs in front of them Witch started to raise her concerns about my post yesterday, where I wrote about Pirates business preposition.

“You know, I am not happy with what you’ve said” she started. And Cash Cow nodded eagerly in support.

I was very surprised about this comment, as I know Witch is not into money.  At least she never tires of telling the rest of us that… Though be careful when you ask her to look into her crystal ball for you; she charges an arm and a leg for that service. It is her only source of income and of course being self-employed she never knows when the next payment will come in. (I have no idea how many people use her services.) So over time she adopted an extremely frugal life style, living off the land. I admire her for being able to make a meal out of virtually nothing. She is also very generous and happy to share her concoctions with others – unfortunately most of the other Dedes are not too keen to take up the offer.  So she is a bit of a loner and just does her own thing. It can’t be good for anybody, and I was pleased when Cash Cow took a liking to her. It seems to work both ways and I assume Witch has taken Cash Cow under her wing, sort of as an apprentice. We all know Cash Cow is strapped for money, and she certainly can learn a thing or two from Witch about how to make a bob stretch further. I hope she doesn’t teach her how to read the crystal ball though. I can not imagine a cow doing a good job in this profession.

“So you would have taken up Pirate’s offer then?” I replied flabbergasted.

“Of course not,” Witch looked at me sternly. “What is it with you people, why is it always about money?!”

“Aren’t you just talking about my missed business opportunity?”

“No, no, I agree with you on this one. I wouldn’t trust Pirate as far as I could throw him.” Witch shook her head fiercely.

“What else did I say then?” I tried to recall the conversation with Pirate, but all I could remember was him trying to sell me his latest scheme. In fact I couldn’t remember saying much at all.

“You said we are here to have fun!” Cash Cow blurted out.

“Do you really think we are that shallow? We only want to have fun?” Witch asked. It certainly didn’t feel like fun right then, it felt more like the inquisition.

“Forgive me,” I begged “it was just a thoughtless comment. It didn’t mean anything.”

“You have to be a bit more careful with your comments, my dear, you certainly devalued us Dedes with that one!”

pirates deal

Last night we had a storm. Nothing unusual really in our neck of the woods. However, this time the storm blew Pirate back home. I haven’t seen him for ages. I think last time was when he wanted to sell me his dad’s old vinyl records, because he thought I still had a record player to listen to them.

Pirate is rather an odd one. He calls himself an entrepreneur. I am not sure, but I think in the old days you would have called someone like him a wheeler and dealer. Nobody really knows what he does for a living. Sometimes he has pockets full of money, other times he has to conveniently leave for an important meeting before the bill can be settled.

He has tried his hand at everything… pyramid schemes, that truly weren’t pyramid schemes (his words, not mine), fixing computer viruses via phone and selling grandmothers…. But if you know all this, and can withstand the pressure to buy, he is actually a really lovely Dede.

So last night he came round to my house and asked if he could stay for dinner. ‘Oh!’, I thought to myself,  ‘watch out, he is poor at the moment’. I am not too keen on his company when he is poor. Not because of the fact that he has no money. No, no, I don’t like him for the hair-raising schemes he devises when he is desperate. But then, he is always happy to take us out to posh restaurants when he is rich, so how could I not share our simple meal with him?

“So, I hear the Dedes are doing well” he said, while he was watching me cooking dinner. “They even had something written about them in Austria!”

“Yes,” I confirmed, but didn’t want to say more.

“Are you making money yet?” he came straight to the point.

“What kind of question is that?” I asked. “We are not in it for the money – We are having fun!”

“Bullshit” he said. “Don’t give me that airy fairy crap…”

“And you watch your language” I interrupted.

“I am a pirate for god’s sake,” he reminded me of the obvious. How could I forget looking at his hideous mustache.

He came back to his proposition: “You know, you are sitting on a gold mine. Just let me be your manager. I will organise everything for you.” He pushed a piece of paper over the breakfast bar in my direction. I glanced at the heading: ‘Manager’s Contract’. “We could do T-shirts and printed coffee mugs and, oh, the mind boggles…” His eyes glazed over.

“Dream on….” I said to him, while I fished spaghetti out of the pot. “We have to sell the Hermit’s Web books first!” I didn’t have the heart to tell him outright that he would be the last Dede I would entrust with my affairs.

“But…” he started again. I stopped what I was doing and stared deep into his one good eye.

“Just asking…” he said a bit huffy, but I knew he’d got the message.

screening

Mouse and Devil had asked me to set up the laptop on the living room floor last night so that all the Dedes could see what Miss Viwi had written about them in ||:::VEGGIETORIA:::||. There is certainly more space in the living room than on the kitchen table, never mind that I wanted to watch a film on TV…

It was just like a premiere for a big screen film, bar the red carpet. They all gathered around the laptop and Mouse had brought up the Word Press Reader so they wouldn’t miss when Miss Viwi published her post. Then it appeared – just as promised – at 8pm our time: The first thing they saw was a picture of Devil in the hammock. The Dedes burst out laughing and Devil was quite embarrassed to be shown in this laid back position. He immediately said it sends the wrong signal. He is not usually that idle.

“There is no pleasing some” Witch said “At least there is a picture of you, so be happy for a change.” Secretly, I was quite grateful for this remark.

“So what does the post say?” Socialite called out, the poor thing was standing in the fourth row and couldn’t see a thing. “Read it out to us Mouse!”

Mouse started to read it out, but in German. “Hang on,” Foxy Lady said “I’ll read it out and translate it as I go for our English spreaking friends. Mouse, would you be so kind and take notes?”

And so Foxy Lady started again:

{dedepuppets | first Act}

A rainy day in December + a pile of old newspapers + a childhood memory = an art project (with heaps of art terms)

Today |:::  VEGGIETORIA:::| welcomes venerable guests from New Zealand. Miss Viwi is conducting an interview with the artist Dietlind Wagner and a second artist who is one of her works. One artist is prerequisite for the other artist’s work – ??? In several acts I will entice you away into the world of Dede puppets.

[The idea]

It was Christmas 2011 and on a rainy day the artist wanted to tidy up her studio when she came across a pile of old newspapers. “All of a sudden this idea of hand puppets sprung back to mind” tells Dietlind Wagner about an idea planted by her mother in childhood. “Mum spoke often and lovingly about a devil hand puppet she had created once. So  the idea of giving hand puppets a go was with me pretty much all my life.”

[The first puppet – Devil]

dietlind: „Of course the first one had to be a devil. He turned out beautifully, despite I had  hardly any experience with the medium. And as it didn’t stop raining, I just continued.”

miss viwi: In the meantime there are 40 puppets, do you have a favourite?

dietlind: „I can’t tell, but Devil being the first puppet, will always have a special place.“

[technique/material]

40 characters have been created to date. These are real hand puppets made from papier mache and the heads are between twelve and eighteen centimetres high, with a weight of around 30 grams, but they are extremely strong and won’t break. Special features are build around a cardboard skeleton.  The faces are collages from magazines.

[The tonuge-in-cheek before and after picture]

The artist photographed the first puppets to send an image to the newspaper they were made of. Transformation is a very interesting aspect of the work. Made from newspapers which convey news and stories, emerge new characters which tell their own stories. Stories the artist writes. “You know how it goes: even great stories become old news as one makes new friends with new stories and new insights.” (From the preface of the Dede puppet book ‘Hermit’s Web’).

Originally the plan was to sell the puppets in a local art shop, but when the artist’s friends said how much they liked them, and Dietlind discovered how photogenic they are, she started to write a story, a story in which the Dede puppets are the protagonists…

—– The visit to ||:::VEGGIETORIA:::|| and the interview were a talking point in the Dede World today.
The interview will continue next Sunday in ||:::VEGGIETORIA:::|| at 8 am Central European Time.

“I am very happy” Devil said, visibly chuffed about being mentioned.

“There is nothing new in this interview” Smuggy said, disappointed. “You can read all this on the blog here as well.”

“Shut up you silly thing!” Mouse said. “Miss Viwi has done wonderful job and I am certainly looking forward to next week.” All the other Dedes clapped and cheered.

devil telling me off

As ArtistatExit0 commented yesterday, Pig and Witch might not tell me their story because they still have mutual respect for each other. So I decided to let the sleeping dogs lie – for now at least. I know myself, sometime in the future, when I tidy up, I will come across this picture again and my curiosity will get the better of me once more. One day I will find out….

Anyway, I was just sitting here writing my blog, when Mouse came running through the door.  At 8:15 in the morning! I was more than surprised… I know very well that Mouse (our little gossip) has a very busy schedule on Sundays. It is a set routine for her. Every Sunday the same… She starts her day with an early morning breakfast with Devil, then goes on to have a mid-morning snack with Pirate, lunch with whoever has a story to tell. Then she moves on to have coffee and cake with Deutsch Fraulein (German girl) and dinner at Witch‘s place in the company of Cat. She finishes her day with a night cap at Professor and Pig‘s place if there is no party to go to. You will certainly agree that is a lot to get through in one day.

Today she must have had a very short breakfast with Devil. I was just about to ask her what happened when I realised she was fuming. “So when were you going to tell us?” she squeaked at me.

“What?” I said, totally unaware about what I had done now.

“You traitor, you went to ||:::VEGGIETORIA:::|| all by yourself and none of us knew.” I noticed Devil appeared in the door now as well. Mouse had run so fast that she left him in the dust.

“This is not quite correct!” I replied: “L’Artiste was with me.”

L’artiste doesn’t know anything about public relations, you should have consulted with the rest of us.” Mouse made such a roar that more and more Dedes woke up and made their way to the kitchen, where I was sitting writing my blog.

“What’s going on?” asked Ducky, the politician. “Tell them,” Mouse said, hands on hips.

So I told them the story.

Before Christmas, Miss Viwi, an Austrian blogger invited L’Artiste  and myself to visit her site ||:::VEGGIETORIA:::|| for an interview. Miss Viwi is concerned about contemporary nutrition and animal welfare and is also very interested in art.  She has fallen in love with the Dedes and wanted to profile them on her blog for German speakers. The series about the Dede puppets will start today with the first installment.

“It didn’t occur to you to talk to us about what to say in the interview?” Devil asked.

“Honestly, they were mostly art questions. After the incident with Buchalov, I thought you guys were not particularly interested in art. And anyway, I think L’Artiste and I did a reasonably good job” I defended myself.

“Give us an example” Mouse demanded.

“Ah, there were so many questions… Let me think, one was how I had….”

“Admit it, it wasn’t really about us, it was about you!” Devil said. “Didn’t you say in your New Year’s resolution that this year it will be all about the Dedes and not about you…. Here we go, we are not even one week into the New Year and you failed…”

“Give it a break, Devil!” I got a bit angry now “Just wait until the first post is published and read it yourself!” I told them the first post will be published in Austria in the morning, which would be night time for us.

I had to get out of here and left them sitting in the kitchen while I went for a run. This is the reason why my post was a little bit late today.

hermits web.indd

Since Professor  revealed one of Pig’s secrets yesterday, I thought I’d grab my chance and dig out this old photo I found in the shed and ask him about it too. I had already published this photo  in ‘Hermit’s Web’, but still don’t know what the story behind it is. It is such a mystery to me, as Witch and Pig barely talk to each other.  Looking at the photo they must have been good friends at one stage. Neither Pig nor Witch will tell me what happened and it irks me tremendously that I don’t know what the story is.

It wasn’t one of my better ideas. Professor looked at me as if he wanted to kill me and said: “Please!…” and left me standing there. Devil who was with us at the time shook his head and said: “You really have a way of putting your foot in it, don’t you!” and wandered off as well.

It seems everybody knows but me. Don’t tell me you all know as well! Do you have any ideas? Please, please tell me!