Harford, Radford and Tic Tac

[David Stafford]

A giganto barrel of work from Tic Tac, our friend in far off Starnberg. With a collection this big you could start a museum which I have done and now I have to write the copy for the exhibition catalogue. Starting in the upper left hand corner three images become a "Vagrant Story" of the viewer's own weaving. Because the photos will probably be too small to see properly allow me some description. Top photo is a scuffed sticker of Batman slowly dissolving under foot traffic, (Tic Tac refers to this as "Batman",) the second photo is the exoskeleton of an insect still trapped in a shabby spider web, (Tic Tac calls this "The Ballerina," and the bottom photo is four men carrying a large black object (She calls this The Tarantula). What I'm trying to get at here (in a leaden way) is: how she transmutes the banal into the magical. It's a gift.

Below "Vagrant Stories" two bills from the Republique de Tic Tac or $100 Beats which, if I understand it correctly, allows the recipient 50 more beats of the heart or a short life extension. All told I received 150 beats. Not a lot in the great scheme of things but they could, if apportioned properly, be responsible for one last sunset or one smooth bowel movement before expiration. I suppose it would be too difficult for the recipient to decide just how s/he'll spend those last 150 beats. We'll work toward that end unless you feel it would destroy a certain last minute spontaneity.

Also included are Tic Tac's Amy Winehouse Mona Lisa, her Salvador Dali  postal homage and a typically Bavarian novelty card with flies or mosquitos added. (Tic Tac wishes me to inform the viewer that the original Mona Lisa, that is, Tic Tac's original Amy Winehouse Mona Lisa, did not have a large fly decorating her bow.) Thank you, Ptrizia

Also newly arrived this week one of Michael Harford's hand-made collages. Michael is a master of the fine x-acto cut collage technique. No little bits of white around the edges here. My guess is that Michael relies on his intuition for a lot of his compositions but frequently what emerges (for me) as a subtext is our dire slow emergency: the stressed out planet and its consequent drag on our energies. Thank you, Michael.

Finally (these all arrived the same day) I received this royal admiralty hat from Lynn Radford. Originally commissioned by Admiral Negroponte of the Republic of Bananastan, the project came to an abrupt halt after Negroponte died in a suspicious manner (slipped on a peel). One hates to benefit from another's travail but his loss is my graine. I know a lot of you will be wanting to see the hat in use and to this end I have persuaded retired Rear Admiral Len Bumeister to model the hat as it was meant to be worn. (Editor's Note: New label was hastily add after Admiral Negroponte succumbed). 

Thank you, Lynn.

[Lynn Radford]

Thanks for blogging, David! :D

[Katerina Nikoltsou (MomKat)]

Fantastic! What a super blog!

And 'love seeing TicTac :-)

[Ptrzia (TICTAC)]

    :-)