I have been enjoying collecting some fine art of differing kinds in the name of Japan relief efforts. I have picked up several fine pottery pieces, a few of which we have (carefully) dared to put into practical use on occassion, but mostly just items of beauty to admire (and try to keep out of Keira’s reach!)

This hobby has also led to the formation of some interesting connections, such as discovering up-and-coming artist Lorena Alvarez from Bogota, Columbia, whose work I aquired in a charity auction recently.

At the pricer end of the spectrum, I’ve seen some fine pieces as well as some that I don’t quite get. As an example of the latter category, there is a piece from the rather wordily named Silent Art Auction in Kiyosumi for East Northern Japan that has been sitting open in my web browser for the past two months or so, while I contemplated what to make of it. As Firefox 5 has decided to chew all my memory and make my Mac almost unusable at times, I’ve decided it may be time to shut a few of the 150+ windows and tabs I have open, including the Kiyosumi one… Which means, it is time to unleash this oddity onto my unsuspecting readers.

The title of the work is “carnvial” by “Tal R” from Israel, and it has an estimated price that is around US$12,500. So what exactly do you get for this? Obviously, considerable karma points for helping to fund the ongoing relief efforts in Japan. In terms of the art work, it is technically a wax-on-crayon drawing on (ripped?) paper. The content is… disturbing, or at least mysterious. Personally, I think it looks like a tall, dark woman (going by the boobs and hair), wih a rather over-sized dark-brown penis aimed at a petite but nicely dressed chicken. Of all the works in the auction, this one was the most, um, intriguing…

If anyone can see anything less odd than I can, my apologies for my sick, sick mind, and I’d be delighted to hear about it.

Phew. Well that’s one Firefox window I can close. Now on to solving other pressing global crises…