ARTISTS ON DISPLAY
Roger Pedactor


NEWS

Police save goldfish from blender-art exhibit

COPENHAGEN -- Police removed from an exhibition a work of art with goldfish as the focal point after an animal rights group complained that the fish were in peril.

The creation by artist Marco Evaristti consisted of goldfish swimming inside regular kitchen-blenders. Exhibition visitors could switch on a blender, transforming the content to fish soup, the Ritzau news agency reported.

Police decided to remove the item after consulting the local veterinarian in the Danish town of Kolding

Artist uses cremation ashes for commemorative paintings

BILOXI, Mississippi -- Walk through the glass doors of Commander's Gallery, past the conventional oil and pastel paintings, and on the other side of the green curtains you'll find a new art medium -- human ashes.

Bettye Jane Brokl, a statuesque woman dressed in black, smiles as she points to the grayish powder nestled between the broad strokes of azure blue and bright red. It is here that art, death and immortality intermix.

Brokl, whose home is in a state where traditional burials are usually the rule, admits her cutting-edge memorials that use human ashes aren't for everyone. "It's not for people who do not believe in cremation. It takes someone that likes unique things and maybe is into the arts. It's done with dignity and taste. The mourning process is not disturbed here," said Brokl, who has patented her process of sealing ashes under glass. It is an alternative to the urn, she said. About six tablespoons of ash are sprinkled on the artwork and the abstract painting is then placed in ornate frames.

Brokl, who only months ago began selling the paintings outside of Mississippi, said she's currently relying on funeral homes to pitch the memorials to mourners.

To date, 50 of Brokl's nearly 100 memorials have been sold. It all began after Brokl's mother died in 1996. "She had donated her body to science, and for two years I went without closure," Brokl said. "So when I got the ashes back, I kept a cupful and buried the rest in Kentucky. I did some abstracts and incorporated my mother's ashes and gave it to family members." "It feels good to have her here, and I take her everywhere I go," said Brokl.





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