Lately it’s been hella rainy.

This has gotten me thinking about water in general and the ocean in particular. I have enormous respect for it. It’s the most terrifying and humbling presence in my life… for several reasons which I will list.

1. I live 3 blocks from it and I’m a terrible swimmer
2. The recent tsunamis/typhoons that wiped out so many lives and livelihoods in the Asia Pacific.
3. That very real possibility of entire countries being swallowed up by it.
4. There’s a worldwide drinking water shortage and the ocean is the only growing body of water… yet drinking from it will kill you. Ah the terrible irony.

But I’m not even trying to be a downer. Cos as much as the ocean can destroy, it creates. Think about how much life there is down there that we haven’t even begun to grasp. We try though, and I always enjoy people who try.

So this post is dedicated to the ocean and the artwork it inspires.

The pics above and below are from Mexico’s Underwater Museum, lifted from the UK Telegraph. According to the BBC, the museum is intended to raise environmental awareness by serving as an artificial reef. Apparently tourists were trampling on and destroying the real coral reef.

Shots from The Life Aquatic, directed by Wes Anderson. The scenery and animation are fantastic… the film itself is highly mediocre. In fact I’m only a fan cos I secretly dream of living at sea. But I digress.

This is one of my favorite things to witness at Ocean Beach: older Asian men, fishing in rubber pants. It’s calming and reminds me of my dad, who also happens to fish. Photo minus said older Asian man.

Isle of the Dead, made in 1883 by Swiss artist Arnold Böcklin. From Wikipedia:

Böcklin himself provided no public explanation as to the meaning of the painting, though he did describe it as “a dream picture: it must produce such a stillness that one would be awed by a knock on the door.”

There are several reasons why cutting stencils is the shit. It’s the perfect excuse to (1) hold a knife (2) put my anal-retentiveness to good use (3) liberate my closet psychosis (3) use words like psychosis, which are otherwise unnecessary in my daily life.

Speaking as a stencil head, I can’t help but get all sexcited when I come across the work of my fellow paper cutters. Above is work by Bovey Lee, an artist who intertwines the personal and the political via intricate rice-paper webs. Her apocalyptic visions– images of atomic destruction, natural disaster, and industrialization– are chillingly offset on translucent paper lace. From Hyphen: “she forgoes the use of color, common in traditional paper cutouts, in order to emphasize linearity and the interplay between solid and void.” Somehow, such abstract wordage– which would normally cause my eyes to glaze over– makes sense when describing something so otherworldly and fragile.

The animation below, by Annie Poon, is similarly lovely. It reminds me of my little sis and how kids are able to create possibility and adventure out of the most ordinary things. Just the other day I saw a toddler playing with a bus cord for the longest time, all the while cackling with joy. Moments like this make me feel optimistic, cos this kid knows something you don’t.