Lmst

Dr Sam Bowker boosted:

Deeply evocative and profoundly moving, poignantly exploring themes of life and death, grief and acceptance, The Wreckers is the haunting second single from @neilhimself & FourPlay String Quartet’s album Signs of Life, featuring a brand new and deeply stirring poem from Neil.

This is one of the pieces from our forthcoming album that I’m most proud of. It’s truly special, if I may say so.

Have a listen here:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC0nPp1fSEM

And you can pre-order the record here:
https://bio.to/NeilandFourPlay

Artistic representation of silhouetted mountains, a purply sky, and a half-eclipsed moon, with a handwritten title “Huge moments of surprise that leave you wrecked”

Studio assistant snoozes while I draw new shadow puppets for “The Alchemist’s Jar” (save the date - 17 & 18 March 2023 in Wagga Wagga). #shadowpuppets #thealchemistsjar #greenbeetlecompany #cat

A collection of Egyptian shadow puppets are printed and scattered on a table, one is a drawing in a sketchbook. In the background a ginger cat sleeps comfortably.

Dr Sam Bowker boosted:

pretty sure the fire pigeons aren’t gonna care about your silly little sign

Sign with seemingly flaming pigeon that has a circle around it, a line through it, and “No” underneath.

Dr Sam Bowker boosted:

Don’t look for heroes.

Look for people who build community by making space for people to care for each other and raise one another up.

My annual playlist is nearly complete. For 2022, it is inspired by Attar’s “Conference of the Birds” (1177). The Hoopoe (or Hud-hud in Egypt) plays a leading role in the original story, so I drew this for the cover.

A black and white drawing of a hoopoe with orange pencil highlights. It is inside a sketchbook with spiral binding.

My shadow puppet for regional Australian opera singer Marie Narelle is evolving. This performance will take place in 2023 in Temora, New South Wales.

Two images of opera singer Marie Narelle. On the left is a photograph from the very early 20th century, on the right is a work-in-progress drawing for a shadow puppet by Sam Bowker.

Today I am developing a new shadow puppet for the Australian opera singer Marie-Narelle, as part of a regional arts project for 2023.

A woman faces left wearing a late 19th century dress, the paper is lit from behind so her face glows as pencil lines are drawn to delineate the work-in-progress.

Dr Sam Bowker boosted:

If you study this image, your brain will recognize there are 12 dots. But no matter how long you stare, your eyes won't be able to recognize them all at once.

Depending on your browser, you may need to click on the image for full effect.

This optical illusion shows 12 small black dots on a background of grey intersecting lines. It is very difficult to identify more than two or three dots at once.

Dr Sam Bowker boosted:

This amazing map shows travel time from London to the rest of the world in 1881
#history #dataviz #travel

map shows travel time from London the rest of the world in 1881

@maize thank you so much! Here is a moment from the beginning of “The Thief of Stars”

An intricate Egyptian-inspired shadow puppet depicting a male figure catching a falling star, on a background of dark blues with many stars above, created by Dr Sam Bowker for the 2021 shadow-theatre concert “The Thief of Stars”.

Good news! I have just been promoted to Associate Professor. (That’s academic Level D in the Australian university system, above Level C, which was Senior Lecturer).

Dr Sam Bowker boosted:

Hallo!

It is the Late O'Clocks here and I'm about to vanish for a few hours :lies_down: but before I go, I wanted to do a quick reminder:

:louis_toots_too: .art is not just about visual art, but all things creative: we have writers, musicians, dancers, podcasters, magicians, even clowns! :clown:

Further, you don't have to restrict your posts here to being art-related. We like following people, not brands - be your full wonderful self, and tell us all about it. :bowie_stardust:

:meowybara:

I am currently in the process of creating two new sequences of #ShadowPuppets for different concerts in 2023. These are the protagonists from my first #concert, #TheThiefOfStars in 2020-2021, in which we asked “What if #Aladdin and #Faust were the same story?”
The design of each shadow puppet is adapted from the khayal al-zill #puppets collected by Paul Kahle in 1909 in the village of Al-Manzala near Damietta, #Egypt, and includes additional references to terracotta water filters and #Palestinian cross-stitch textiles. Their profiles reflect the faces of the #singers who gave them voices during the concert.

Two black paper puppets face each other meeting hands in a high-five gesture. They are covered in intricate patterns and are resting upon the script for the concert “The Thief of Stars” by Sam Bowker.

Dr Sam Bowker boosted:

Here's another piece from a series of artworks I made called ساي فاي. The series focuses on mixing elements from mena culture with cosmic and sci-fi elements! Being from Syria, I always felt like we don't really see our culture portrayed in sci-fi. And so this series of collages was born!

#collage #art #artist

a picture of the great pyramid of Giza with a giant light beam shooting up into space from the top of it. Surrounding the pyramid are four planets all hanging in a bright hot pink sky.

Dr Sam Bowker boosted:

KEEP IN MIND! #Mastodon doesn't work like #Twitter!

Have you just made the #Twexit or the #TwitterMigration?

Favorites ⭐ - they're not "likes". They don't "elevate" posts, they just the poster know you liked their post.

Boosts 🔁 - these push someone's post into your friends feeds (and help discovery).

So if you ⭐ my posts, that's great (and I love you too)!

But if you 🔁 posts, then more people see them!

OH! - #Hashtags are how you search!

#mastodon #MastodonTips

Round 2 of my #introduction - now with hashtags! I’m an #ArtHistorian and #academic based in #Wagga in #Australia focused on regional Australian perspectives within #Islamic #art. For the #greenbeetlecompany (a collaborative #performance #research group) I make #shadow #puppets inspired by medieval Egyptian precedents (khayal al-zill) and curate exhibitions. My previous work focussed on the #history of the #Tentmakers of #Cairo, and as Sub Dean I coordinate #PhD students in the #Faculty of #Arts and #Education at Charles Sturt #University.

This is the shadow puppet for the character “The Djinn of the Stars” from our concert “The Thief of Stars”. It is a intimidating skeletal figure with large bright yellow eyes and hands resembling a Kris dagger or praying mantis raptorial.

@projectgus thanks Gus! I will edit my post to add hashtags. Much appreciated!

@steveminon haha! Thank you. It is a bit obscure but someone ‘has’ to do it :) It’s a creative practice research model drawing across our local arts ecosystem, and building applications of Islamic art history for new audiences.

Is there anybody out there?

I’m an Art Historian based in Wagga Wagga, working across Islamic art from regional Australian perspectives. This includes co-authoring the history of the Tentmakers of Cairo and editing the 2022 book ‘Deconstructing the Myths of Islamic Art’. I also curate exhibitions, teach widely and oversee postgraduate research across the Faculty of Arts and Education for Charles Sturt University.

My current research includes experimental neo-medieval shadow theatre concerts, inspired by Egyptian khayal al-zill shadow theatre. These are performed as the “Green Beetle Company” with Melinda Bowker and other collaborators, such as “The Thief of Stars” (2021) and “The Alchemist’s Jar” (2023).

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