Life in vacant spaces

Christchurch 2014. At first glance you see a ghost town created by an economic bubble/crash. Boarded windows, letters bursting out of abandoned offices. Or you see a war zone, maybe one you have  imagined or seen on TV. A concrete and tiled staircase leading to nowhere. Twisted metal poles pressing through brick and concrete rubble. But then you urbex. Yes, I am claiming it as a verb. You step onto the vacant lots that were high rising bastions to enterprise. You trespass, but let's face it that's the only way. And around every corner, in every nook and all over every cranny, there is art. Initiative, hope, respect, expression of grief, optimism, sadness and again, hope. Art. Street Art. Urban landscape. This is Christchurch 2014.

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The Year of Good Men 2014. Live Life Without Regrets.

I just posted this on WordPress, with apologies to die hard yahoo/wordpress people, of course. As I explained on that other bloggy stage I am southside – you know, google/gmail. Such a divide.  So what I said over there (and I have to say Blogger, Wordpress have that user friendly thing down pat so step up) ...

2014 heads towards 2015 now and I reflect on some good, decent men who made a difference in this world and left it in our hands, this year.

1. Allen Martin - the man who got Ventolin on the Medicare pharmaceutical list, and steamrolled out submissions on things that really mattered to people in dire need. You wouldn’t know because he never bragged. He just did it.  He founded the Victorian Brain Injury Recovery Association and was a genuine decent human.

2. Ben Naz - the one and only Guerrilla artist who lived life without regrets, and championed principles of equality, fairness and truth. He truly was and is, Manila’s finest. He gave many in the street art community a feeling of solidarity and reminded us of what matters, and why.

3. Gough Whitlam - 21st Prime Minister of Australia – the man who gave us Medicare. He believed in the rights of the Indigenous traditional owners of this land we live in. He gave us legal aid. He gave us an awareness of what equality is. There has never been another like him.

4. William Wood Cullen - My Uncle Bill – by his own description, he was a laborer. A fighter in his youth with regret in later years, but he came from Springburn, Glasgow, where razor gangs bumped up against survival daily. He was kind, decent, principled and pragmatic. He was my Dads keeper, his best friend and confidant. He could croon, recite the International call of Marxism and every line of Tam O’Shanter.

R_O_N_E Lumen 2014

Lumen

Luminous flux. 

Emitted per second. 

Measures.

Squared angle.

Candela. 

The power of the light 

Emission. 

The light we see. 

Visible l

Or rather - 

The visibility of how light acts 

On a surface, 

Or through a medium,

That we see.

 

1. 
   

Barek Barek Barek Barek Barek Barek Barek Barek Barek Barek Barek Barek

       

When We Lose Heroes - #RIPBenNaz

Do you remember when Lennon died? Neither do I, but I know the song 'Imagine' and can picture a time when maybe we could have given peace a chance. That's the legacy of a hero.

People remember where they were when heroes die because the moment is significant, it stands in front of us and the world pauses. People used to ask "where were you when Kennedy was shot ?" because  everyone had a story, like "I was walking down the street and crowds had gathered at a shop window, watching a large television screen". How we hear the news has changed since then, but the stories haven't. Incidentally I was walking in Edinburgh Gardens when I learnt of Gough's passing.

Everyone dies. The thing about heroes, though, is that when they are gone, they don't go. A switch gets flicked and they transition seamlessly from living legend to something even higher.

Not every hero is famous and not everyone's hero is a hero to all. Wordsworth's heroine Lucy lived unknown, but when she ceased to be, well:

She lived unknown, and few could know
When Lucy ceased to be;
But she is in her grave, and oh,
The difference to me!

Ben Naz died this week, and here are some of the things people are saying:

he was a true fighter, an inspiration and one of the greatest artists!

saddened at the passing of a legend as an artist and person! Rest in Paint

yesterday was a sad day for the street art community our brother Ben Naz Guerrilla Artist passed... a fighter a legend, I don't know one person who won't be saddened by this, will miss you brother always smiling always fighting until the last moment.

Here is a news article: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/10/30/14/how-filipino-french-artist-fought-his-life-until-end

I think everyone on the Interwebs knows that Ben Naz is one of my heroes (my bio piece here) and I am watching Facebook spill over with heartfelt words about the man. But no-one has captured the essence of why he is a hero quite so well as Baron Naz:

My Dad showed me the world in more detail, he taught me everything that he has learned and I must use that to carry on life as what my Dad wanted me and my mom to carry on and be happy, 'LIVE LIFE WITHOUT REGRETS' Thank you all very much for what you've done for my Family especially for My Dad!!!

 Live Life Without Regrets. Ben Naz. Guerilla artist, activist, Pinoy role model, friend. #RIPBenNaz