Just Imagine!

Just around the corner,

There's a rainbow in the sky.

So let's have another cup of coffee,

Let's have another piece of pie! *

I drove through a double rainbow and it seemed a divine and magical omen.  Certainly, it never fails to put a smile on my face, and optimistic feelings abound.  To see any segment of a rainbow seems always a wonder special to behold.  It is free for all.  It travels the world without prejudice, available to thousands of people who bother to look up into the sky.  To experience the rainbow from our urban streetscape may not seem very inspiring, but for artists, ideas can spring from the poorest of materials.

"Rainbow"

Alberto Bora

plastic bags

photo courtesy of Librado Romero/The New York Times

How many of us would take the idea of a rainbow and use the lowly plastic bag to describe the spectrum of color in a three-dimensional sculpture?  This is the value of an artist: to imagine and then create.  You could say, "Well, I could do that...anyone could do that!"  But you or they didn't!  And thankfully Alberto Bora did turn his idea into reality.  I am happy that the plastic bags were able to live another life beyond the landfill.  But then sadly, I think of how many times our plastic bags could encircle the world, outliving us all.  Alberto Boro demonstrates that the medium of plastic bags can be more evocative than the simple coloring of of a grade school child.

note:  In New York City, El Museo del Barrio is hosting its bi-annual show entitled The (S) Files 2011.  It is a show composed of 75 Latino, Caribbean and Latin American artists, taking the theme of the street as their subject, hence the (S).   


* Depression era ditty