Archive Page 110

The worked look- or yetashe Comments

‘ve tried many times in discussions/conversations to explain this concept; understanding though was to no avail maybe its not something to drop in casual conversations.

Visual artist in most cases know what I mean, by the worked look, because it is something that is used/ recreated intentionally to give a certain look or visual perception, not just visual art but all art including music and films. At the end, the concept can be applied to or found in all things. A speech made, a house built, a motor rebuilt, and a haircut.

‘It has a worked look’- I used it to describe art usually and don’t think about it much nobody really does- I’ should probably follow this by- I think!

A piece of artwork that has a worked look is something that has been given much attention. Its not perfect design or technique, but so much attention was given the work.

A good example is a simple sketch but the piece of paper you can see the old lines that has been erased and drew over, repeatedly. That to me is the worked look, and I feel it when I’m listening to music or reading a book or watching a film. I don’t really think about it much. I feel in visual art its easier to see. If you have seen Woody Allen films or a David Mamet plays/films the words/conversations are so important that there is a certain poetic flow it. You can tell that the Screen writer pays attention to each word in the script.

Does the worked look make good art?

I don’t know- Probably there is no right answer, but I know there have been many great artists that recreate the look intentionally. A good example is Egon Shiele (see the drawing on the left the edges have been masked with gouche)or Richard Diebenkorn,(see right image, you can see the underliying drawings underneath the top layer of the paint(s)) both from different eras and syle buthave a certain worked look. Ezra Wube, a young ethiopian painter in New York, I feel uses the same technique as the above artist, although the content might be different.

I remember cars in Ethiopia are driven 25 plus years, they are old but they receive a lot of maintenance over years. Its been worked on thus it has a worked look. Now doesn’t that care have a certain appeal since its been given so much Tender, Loving and Care.

Most of us have grandmothers, who made who made the holiday food. In most cases, everything is made from scratch, kibe yeneteral, berbere yeqenetsal, doro yetaredal, etc,… and then they cook it. There has been so much TLC to the making, that it gives it no choice but to be so tasty-betam yetafetal. Yes I consider my grandmother Doro Wot a form of art. Right up there next to Pablo Picasso, it should be at the Louvre. Continue reading ‘The worked look- or yetashe’

Esh Kut! 7,263 Comments

Yes, esh kut! Ring a bell? Yeah, I thought so. Thats how you kick me out of my own yard. Kut! yechi wosfatam doro zare egruan sebre kalasarefkuat eko… I’ve heard it all. We’ve heard it all. Me and my fellow doro menga including the poor CHaCHutoch. We’ve heard it all. We’ve seen it all. But guess what? The doro is back. kukuuuuuu! Break of dawn. Anticipate the night. Doro Mata, here to stay.

No need, I’ve welcomed myself. You can help me out on farewell.

Ethiopian Stamps (antique) Comments
1895s.jpgBeleive it or not Ethiopia was ahead of other african countries on getting modern style stamps printed in color. This is one of the first stamps ever printed in Ethiopia. 1895, I dont know how they got the equipement to print in color but this was not Post-Adwa, which i beleive is lasted 1894 – 1896.This is a guess but maybe they needed to send mail internationally at the time, becuase of the war.Before they did the modern style stamps i?m pretty sure they used black ink stamp. As early as 1860?s, as I?ve read.
Below are ink stamps from 1901 through 1906.

Obosta.jpg

Omalekt.jpg

Oethiopie.jpg

We got the some scans of stamps from Winter Park Stamps for an artcle which, a famliy member Ethiopian stamp collector was interested in writing. It was never written. Needless to say; we do need someone to document this part of our history, as there is not much written abou the subject. I found Doig?s Ethiopian Stamp Catalogue online.

Wondata Comments

Selam Hizb'och Welcome to Wondu's corner. From today on, you will be basking in the glory that is Wondinet Haile and my inner workings. You will read about my highs, my lows, my funnies and my gloomies, my observations of the life that revolves around me. I am in prison ' a minimum security five day a week prison that is . This prison comes with the perks: an eight by eight cubicle, a wanna-be PC, a small desk,  and last but not least a funky new carpet smell. So, for those five days I wallow in disgust, working relentlessly and at the same time looking for escape  the Internet. Back in the non-internet days, workers would get entertained from shooting hoops using crumpled up Post It notes, ( ) But now, I flex my freedom by going from this yonder to that yonder  from Australia to Brazil. But most of the time, I hang out in the horn of Africa. Addis Ababa is my home town so I travel between Piassa and Merkato searching for news and entertainment. Over the years I have figured out all the spots, Cyberethiopia has all the news links that come in on a daily basis. Its a one-stop shop for all the Ethiopia news you want. For entertainment, the forums are full of laughs. Medrek is serious, where the older educated crowd hangs out and ESAi is progressive, where all the young professionals test the waters. Abesha is young and funny, they are Abesha but most of them do not speak Amharic. Seleda is the spot the starbucks of the internet; like all things it came to an end a while back. Currently I'm surfing the many bloggers Yekolo Temari has a Qal Tera, which I checked out to get reacquainted to the new Arada lingo. FTL Ethiopia, short for "for the love of Ethiopia" has a girl writing on virtually every topic Ethiopian. Few Years back I stumble upon a website called 'Ethiopian Brides,' basically a website for a few dollars will give you phone numbers of young Ethiopian girls from mostly Addis Ababa. If you are going to pay for the digits might as well be yeketema lij. Not that a white person would know the difference, NO I want a girl from Gondar as she is likely to be more submissive. Recently a white coworker got a FedEx from Vietnam; Johnny you've won a beautiful Vietnamese Bride!. For months, he was window-shopping for a bride through his monitor; finally, he got one. I wonder how many Ethiopian girls succeed in getting married to a westerner. Recently the number of girls available on this website has quadrupled. Approximately 1,300 girl's pictures are available. Of course the Ethiopian bridal market is not as sophisticated as the Eastern European market which has millions of sites. For that matter, even the Asian market has dozens of sites to start commencing for beautiful brides. Well at least in this matter; I am overjoyed that Ethiopia is in last place.

Web Colors and News Sites Closed

News sites are on white background!

News sites are white. It’s as simple as that (well, maybe not quite that simple, as of course there are exceptions). A reason for this might be that we more associate news with newspapers, and there black text on white is the norm. If we look at some other news sites, we will see that this is true:

USNews – white background, with blue graphics. ABCNews – White background, with blue graphics. BBCNews- White background, with blue graphics. YahooNews – White backgrond, with blue graphics. Beginning to see a pattern…? So, besides white backgrounds, the news sites also have blue graphics. This is not only an aesthetic decision, but it builds on the fact that blue is a color which is perceived as dependable and strong. This is the reason that many corporate web sites also have much blue in them.