Month: June 2019

In this third image of Blue Danube, I have both sections connected for a length of eighty-one inches.  In this image, you can see the mix of black and white objects.  If you could see the artwork from the side,  I have place white dots on the black stems to refer to deep space.  The white stems represent all the different spaceships from the movie.  They designed those spaceships with detailed and varying surfaces.  At first, I tried to used stencils to add some markings to the white stems. That did not work.  Instead, I used a mechanical pencil to draw in the shapes from the stencil and then sealed them with a white glaze.  In the lower section, right side, I have designed the highest note to look like the space station from the opening scenes from the Blue Danube video.  All this would look a lot more interesting if the background would be darker.

I have until the eighth of July to entry this artwork.  I still have a lot of decorative and interest items to add.  Those types of things are important to the look, and depth of the artwork.  The last thing then would be to add the stereo music system.

 

Scott Von Holzen

I am fortunate to bring this artwork into existents.  I base it on the music, The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss II, from the movie 2001 Space Odyssey.  Luckily YouTube offers a clip of the music from the movie that still amazes me, and that captivated my imagination then.  As a kid I grew up in the space age knowing the names of the nine planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto (now considered a dwarf planet).  No matter,  from the start Saturn was always my favorite.  Its name started with an S (for Scott) and those rings made the planet even more special.  I remember having a paper cutout mobile of the solar system that hung in my bedroom.

One other recall, from that time, was a Christmas wish for a telescope, that I never got.  My parents said something about the order not being sent.  I never asked either of them if there was more to the telescope story.  Throughout my life, I debated buying a telescope;  I have not.  I now live in the city that has a bright sky,  street lights, and few stars which makes a telescope an impractical idea.  And yet, I found a new connection to my past.  Our latest house is on a hill facing south towards the city.  To my surprise, I can see the moon many nights throughout the year.  An unexpected delight is finding the moon, during the night, as it moves across our bedroom windows.  Didn’t need a telescope then.  Don’t need it now.  Wonderful that on many nights the spirit of that little boy, and the space age he grew up with,  lives on.

Scott Von Holzen