found art | The Ambitious Drifter

When I first saw the patterns made by the crabs I thought it was a message for me alone. Now I know differently. I learned to listen to what the tide was telling me. The beach is their canvas, there are many messages as each crab expresses what it feels.

Butterfly

In my dream it was promised

I will be this next.

The tides have told me

I will live in the sun

And make my nest out in the air

The waves will be a memory

Contending clouds

Will be my wide new sea.

Hawk

The shadow of the hawk

Will keep my nemesis – heron

Away, he will not dare

To land near here

My strong magic

Protects me still

Comet

This ocurred in our mothers’ time,

The time of our parents

Beyond our parents.

We watched it fall, that star

Dragging down darkness

Howling as it came.

Soon it grew cold,

Many of the creatures around us

could not survive.

We crabs still

Live upon this beach,

Going, as we do,

About our business.

More art by crabs

I’m a great admirer of William Eggleston, a photographer who is able to find beauty in odd places, using textures, shadows and colours. A poster of his ‘The Red Ceiling’ hung on my wall for years. I’ve always been drawn to demolition sites, odd city walls and back streets to find interesting photos. I like to find order in chaos. They can be quite abstract, literally photos of ‘nothing’. I find they help sharpen my eye, allowing me to ‘see’ better.
This is a small collection of some of these photos. My favourite, ‘Wall Hanging’ is from a demolition site in Brussels. I guess it was the backing of a bathroom cabinet or mirror. To me it’s ‘found art’.
Like patterns on water, these images are ephemeral. They’re impermanent glimpses. Then again, there’ll always be another, if you look hard enough.