Archives for posts with tag: mood

exhibition flyer.indd

Yesterday I had a meeting with the curator of my exhibition. It really hit me then that it is only a month away. I have to fill a room and 30 meters of wall space. What a luxury…

I spent today creating my promotional postcard. I love this image of Fairy Godmother and Devil. They look like they are sharing the town secret, and it didn’t take me long to decide they will become the pin-up couple for the exhibition.

ArtistatExit0 made a brillant comment on the blog yesterday. He suggested that if some of the puppets sell, maybe the new owners could contribute to the blog by sharing how their Dedes fare in their new home. I love the idea of having a real Dede community. I am not sure though if the blog is the best platform to accommodate such a community, or whether face book would be more suitable. (I am still not particularly familiar with face book). I will mull it over and hope to have something in place before I sell the first one. It would be exciting if the new owners of the Dedes  would be willing to participate every so often. And it certainly would make it easier for me to part with them.

I want to include parts of the blog into the exhibition. After all, I have 30 meters of wall space to fill. (The puppets will sit on plinths so visitors can walk around them). At the moment I am thinking of having two electronic frames side by side. One showing images used on the blog and the other one showing the matching text. I am not sure if it will work. That is something I dreamt up recently, but haven’t investigated further. And this certainly doesn’t fill 30 meters!

On the two Sundays during the exhibition I will have puppeteering workshops. It became clear in my conversation yesterday that when it comes to playing with puppets everybody just assumes it is for children. Personally, I enivsage the puppets sitting on grandmother’s bookshelf rather than in the kiddies’ toy box. I explained this to the curator. Today I got an email from her telling me about a conversation she subsequently had with some people from U3A (University of Third Age). They seem to be quite interested in the puppeteering idea. Oh, there is still so much to do. For now I am happy that I recovered my spirit from the bottom of the toy box!

leave skeleton

Lil’ Sculpture has finally made his decision. He was sitting up on his bookshelf observing the Dedes closely and you should have seen the Dedes’ faces when he announced his decision. His choice was Deutsch Fraulein (German girl). How on earth did Lil’ Sculpture come to the conclusion she would be an outsider? Beats all of us really. But anyway, he is convinced and stuck to his guns. Deutsch Fraulein played hard to get and didn’t want to answer in the beginning. She doesn’t want to have her photograph taken either. We don’t have many pictures of her, even though she was one of the earliest Dedes and she has this wonderful smile.

Recently she has taken up photography as a hobby and she definitely prefers to be behind the camera rather than in front of the lens. So she made a deal with Lil’ Sculpture. She will answer his questions if he puts up one of her photographs instead of a picture of her. Lil’ Sculpture didn’t have a problem with that at all and so the deal was sealed.

Here are the questions and her answers:

1. What makes you unique?

Deutsch Fraulein: Oh dear, can’t you tell? I am different! I have this birth mark on my forehead. It is very clearly a German flag. You know, I should have been someone else but this birth mark has ruined everything. It really hindered me from becoming what I really should have been. Did you know that originally I should have been the Dede Princess?

2. Do you consider being unique a curse or a blessing?

Deutsch Fraulein: In my case it is a curse. I have to carry an historic load through no fault of my own. If I’d been the princess it would be a blessing. People would respect me for my status.

3. What is the most difficult thing for you to cope with?

Deutsch Fraulein: I have no home. I have no roots. I was born here, but I am a foreigner. People take one look at me and know I am not from here. But funnily enough, if I moved to Germany I would be a foreigner too.

4. What do you like most about your uniqueness?

Deutsch Fraulein: I could do without my bloody uniqueness. I want to be like everybody else. I saw a doctor to find out whether the birth mark can be removed, but no, there was nothing he could do. I have to live with it forever.

5. If you had one wish, what would you wish for?

Deutsch Fraulein: A magic cap! An invisibility cloak. Something I can wear to become invisible.

rain

A terrible storm has popunded the area for the last three days. The wind was howling around the corners of our half finished house. Not the kind of weather you want to go out in, particularly if you are not water proof. So the Dedes huddled together in their corner, while I had to brave the weather. Lil’ Sculpture, back in his vantage point on the book-shelf, tried to decide who he will put his five questions to. His idea was to identify a puppet who is a Dede, but still an outsider within this otherwise homogeneous society. When the idea first came to him he thought it would be easy to pin point a candidate. Now he realises there are a few contenders. In fact they are all more or less outsiders to some degree.

Then he wanted to question Clay Head, who used to be a Dede but turned into something else. Clay Head had obviously left the community by choice. Unfortunately no-one has seen Clay Head since the move. It might be that he has left the Dedes for good. Alien was his second choice. Of course an alien must be different. But watching closely how they all interact Lil’ Sculpture became aware Alien is well established in the Dede society. He is the life and soul of every party and doesn’t  give a toss about what everybody else thinks. Even if he is an outsider, he doesn’t seem to have a problem with his role. Then there are others who desperately want to be different, but are not so. They are like any other Dede.

As the Dedes are bored sitting in their little corner all day they are now starting to pressure Lil’ Sculpture and warned him if he doesn’t make up his mind soon, somebody else will take over and ask the next questions. “You can tell you are not a Dede” Socialite said unkindly, “Dedes don’t take so long to make decisions.”

He begged them to give him another day. He has short-listed three candidates and he will make up his mind by tonight.

This week I’ve seen the first promotion for the Dede puppet exhibition, which will be at the end of June in the Depot at Devonport (Auckland, New Zealand). It was printed in the Gallery’s quarterly magazine. The blurb reads as follows:

Dietlind Wagner, Dede puppets 22 June to 4th July. Opening Saturday 22 June 3pm to 4:30pm

In a hyper-communicative world Dietlind Wagner slowly transforms old news into her vibrant colourful character heads,  Dede puppets.

For Wagner, these sculptures are a vehicle to express introspective views on interpersonal communication. Her puppets are designed to charm, bewilder and even repulse thus inspiring reflection within the viewer. The puppets uniquely sculptured and collaged faces allude to the fractured personalities in the fast paced world of modern-day communication. The stories they tell are homage to real friends and real people with all their flaws and idiosyncrasies. Being a very private person Wagner has not exhibited extensively but her puppets have managed to tease her out into the public. An installation of five puppets was selected into the finals of the 2012 Wallace Art Awards.

I’d better get back on track…I am meandering a bit at the moment!

When I arranged the exhibition, I knew I was cutting it a tad fine with the renovations that are going on in my house. The Dedes didn’t even exist, when we started planning the extension two and a half years ago, but the physical build started in February this year.  Silly me, I didn’t expect the actual build to impact on my psyche. The whole thing is supposed to be finished at the beginning of June. Has anybody ever finished in time?

house2 house

The pictures here are two weeks old and the build has progressed since. In the meantime everything is wrapped in building paper and the cladding is nearly completed. Soon we will have a staircase going up to the first floor. The floor boards are still missing though. And yes, we are really living on the site. Under the remaining black tiled roof.

socialite and witch

We were very suprised that Witch wanted to tag Socialite. It is an open secret: there is no love lost between the two of them. Socialite is an outgoing champagne kind of gal, while Witch is a staunch teetotaller who loves to stay at home. There are worlds between them. Anyway, Witch presented the questions to her nemisis. And Socialite jumped right into answering them.

1. Describe yourself in three words?

Socialite: I am outgoing, it is easy for me to make friends and I have a great fashion sense. I know what’s hot.

“Three words” Witch reminded her.

Socialite: Mhm outgoing, driven, sharp and gorgeous of course.

2. What don’t you like about yourself?

Socialite: I like myself. There is nothing that needs changing. Oh, my big nose maybe. Yes, definitely my big nose. One day, I will fix it.

3. What would you save if your house was on fire?

Socialite: That is not difficult. My big collection of lip sticks. I feel naked without my lippy. I wouldn’t go anywhere without it.

4. What is your biggest dream?

Socialite: I want to do something really, really big. Something I will be remembered for forever. What exactly… I don’t know yet, but it will come to me!

5. If you would volunteer, what organisation or job would you choose?

Socialite: This question isn’t fair! I don’t have the time to volunteer right now, so I haven’t really thought about it. Sure, I will do it one day. But I know already I couldn’t volunteer in an old peoples home. This really would depress me. Nor could I help out in an animal shelter where it stinks. Help migrants settle maybe? No, I am not patient enough. That rules out anything with kids as well. What a silly question! I don’t know, I’ll have to think about it.

witch cooking2

Devil had the great idea yesterday to play tag-a-Dede for a while, but he didn’t reckon with the rest of the Dedes. When he put it to the others they rolled their eyes, or at least some of them did. Luckily for Devil, Witch was  busy cooking as usual and didn’t pay much attention to what he had to say. When Devil announced he would tag her first up she didn’t react at all, so Devil took it she’d agreed.

It was a slightly different story this morning when he wanted to give her the questions she had to answer. All of a sudden she didn’t want to have a bar of it.  Everybody had a hard time convincing her that she was indeed present when the game was discussed and she did not object to being the first one tagged.

Finally she shrugged her shoulders and conceded. “But I won’t tell you how old I am!” she said, as Devil handed her the questions. “Rest assured, there are no incriminating questions” said Devil. “You can answer in any way you like. We don’t know if they are correct!” Of course I know very well everyone will try to appear in the best possible light.

1. What is your pet hate?

Witch:  When someone judges without knowing the full story.

2. Describe yourself in three words?

Witch: Patient,  independent, good looking.

3. Is there anything you can’t get your head around?

Witch: If someone puts profit over humanity and the environment

4. If you could eradicate one thing from the world, what would this be!

Witch: Racism

5. You are a witch, why don’t you just eradicate it then?

Witch: I am a witch not the Almighty. There are limitations to what I can do. Like everybody else I can but try.

Witch was obviously relieved that it was over, but Devil explained to her that it was now her turn to come up with five questions for another Dede. “Who would you like to tag, then?”

Socialite” she answered, as she was sitting right opposite.

devil under tree

The Dedes were very upset that I brushed them off on Friday night. Quicker than I had anticipated, they re-instated Devil as their spokesperson.  It was a unanimous decision, mainly because nobody else wanted to do the job and Devil wasn’t really that serious about handing in his resignation. Secretly, he was chuffed everybody voted to have him back in the job.

Being earnest about his new, old, position he  came straight to me and aired the concern that bothered everyone. “Have you fallen out of love with us?” he asked outright.

“Of course not!” I said. It  must have sounded pretty lame, rather like I wanted to fob him off again.

“But why are you not writing about us then? There is still stuff happening in the Dede world. You simply don’t report about us anymore! When we look at the blog there are only photos of things we don’t even recognise. I don’t know how many times I have to remind you, it is our blog and it is your obligation to write about us. At least that is what our contract says, or am I wrong?”

Devil, we never signed a contract!”

“Ah well, naming the blog dedepuppets.com is as good as a contract!”

“I agree, it is your blog and yes, it has your name.”

“So, do your job then. I’ll watch you!” he said and turned away ready to leave.

“Hang on, hang on…” I said. I wanted to ask him what they would do if I don’t comply. Are they going to find themselves a new artist? Tough luck. Let’s face it, the Dedes and I are linked, come hell or high water. I have to admit, at the moment I am sick of these demanding little critters who can see only their own perspective. Oh, I would so like to give them a piece of my mind for a change, but I bit my tongue.

“Look Devil,” I said instead, “I am a bit pre-occupied with building stuff at the moment. It won’t be forever. To be honest, I would rather write nothing about you than crap. If I write rubbish, that won’t help your cause either. You do understand, don’t you?”

He looked at me for a while. I could tell it made sense to him but he was in a bind. He needed to go back to the rest of the Dedes with a more positive answer.

“Okay” he said at last. “I have an idea. Let’s have a week of  ‘tag-a-Dede'”

“What is that?” I asked.

“You ask a Dede of your choice 5 questions and the Dede has to answer it as honestly as possible! That would mean we are running the show and you don’t have anything to do with it. Mouse can help us putting the answers up on the blog. She is good at that.”

“That is such a brilliant idea!” I could have hugged Devil  but he is not the huggy type. I was so relieved he came up with a solution that meant less work for me for a change.

‘I can make a start and tag Witch tomorrow. I always wanted to ask the old girl a few things.” Devil was really excited about his idea. “I have to come up with 5 really good questions. Maybe some of our readers want to help me! So if you have a question for Witch, our health freak, let me know.”

meeting

I knew it, I knew it. I am in trouble with the Dedes again. They constantly watch whether I spend enough time on their cause. I think I finally figured out what their ultimate goal is. Even if they would never admit it, they want is to be famous…. at any price.

Of course they are annoyed that I put my photographs on their blog  for a week and worse, these photographs got more likes than their stories usually get. For them it is pretty simple. They blame me for everything. They say I am not representing them in the right light and I am currently neglecting them. I am far too busy with other things and I don’t spend enough time with them.

My experience tells me it’s futile to try to defend myself. Once an idea has taken hold in their minds it is a hard task to change their opinion.

Last night they all had a go at me again. I can tell you, it was the last thing I needed at the end of the week. I told them they need to organise themselves better and not rely entirely on me. If they have something to say, they should send their spokesperson.

You might remember Devil has resigned from the spokesperson’s position. So with this move I bought myself some time. They first have to fill the position before they can approach me again. Knowing how the Dedes run their meetings I can relax for a while. I guess  nothing will happen until next weekend :)

wire knot

This week has been pretty stressful but I still want to keep my blog going. I know from experience once I start slipping, it will turn into a land slide in no time flat and that would mean the beginning of the end.

So I went through my image files and found this one here to describe the current situation. It shows the most important thing in any New Zealander’s tool box. A piece of No 8 fencing wire. It is said a true New Zealander can fix anything with this. It is a reference to the creativity and ingenuity of the early settlers in adapting to living so far away from the ‘mother land.’

Ah well, it shows I am not a true New Zealander. My piece of wire is tied up in a serious knot and it doesn’t look as if I could untie it in a hurry. Maybe the weekend will fix it!

sunny and lartiste

Who is going to tell Sunny that we are not using his project as is. Certainly not me. I am a wimp when it comes to such talks. Thankfully I have a good excuse. I am not even a Dede. If I told him he could view the decision as oppression and blame me, the outsider, for his woes of being turned down yet again rather than taking in the real reservations we all have with his proposal after Minor’s revelation yesterday. No, one of the Dedes has to tell him and let him down softly.

I asked for volunteers and waited for a bit but nobody held their hand up for this certainly ungrateful job. Devil just shook his head when I looked at him. “I resigned from my job as spokesperson, remember? I gave you the letter” he said.

“And I’ve never officially accepted it!” I reminded him.

“You took it and said you will get back to me after the weekend. You never did.”

“Guys, guys, what is it with you two?” Witch interrupted. “It’s not helping. This is a totally different issue and won’t get us anywhere today!”

“I just wish he understood what it means to be an artist” L’Artiste started now. “He doesn’t get that while you can use bits of existing work you have to bring your own in and develop it further. He is such a me-too guy. It drives me bonkers!”

“Do you want to talk to him, artist to artist?” I immediately asked.

“No, he wouldn’t take it from me. He would discard my words as sour grapes, as though I was envious I didn’t come up with this ‘brilliant’ project.”

“Why don’t we all talk to him then he has to accept we all agree on it.”

“Yes, and have him feel like standing before a tribunal? This is a sure recipe for disaster…”

Minor should tell him. After all she knows the entire background. And it was her who alerted us to his ruse.”

“C’mon she is only a teenager. Do you think he will take the message from her?” Detail stepped protectively in front of her daughter.

“I don’t know what the big deal is” Philosopher finally said. “I’ll do it. It’s not that we want to scrap the project entirely. We just have to strip it back and assemble it differently, don’t we? I personally like the beginning with everybody sitting on the stands. It goes right back to our roots as NO BODIES. When you look at the image posted yesterday your expressions are just gorgeous. Can’t we work along these lines? We just need a mentor who can help Sunny develop it into his own style.”

“Agreed” I said quickly before he could change his mind. “You just proved you would be the perfect mentor!”

“But I know the least about art.” Philosopher pointed out.

“Art  is Sunny’s job. You only have to keep him on track.”