{"product_id":"5-minutes-27-seconds","title":"5 minutes 27 seconds","description":"\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003ePhilippa Bentley\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eacrylic on birch ply prepared panel\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e200 x 995 x 20mm\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Cloud Paintings\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e-\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eConstant Change\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p4\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eA reflection on impermanence, ephemerality. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p4\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe sky is reassuringly constant yet ever changing- a beautiful paradox, and reminder that we are fleeting, small in the face of grand natural rhythms and beneath a vast and  'indifferent sky'.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p4\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe paintings are composed as snapshots of dissipating clouds,  capturing moments in time.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eThe sky is vast, eternal and reassuringly constant.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eIt is beyond human- something larger than us.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eIt is there today as it was yesterday and will be tomorrow.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eIf life is feeling overwhelming\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e-look up. It puts everything mortal and worldly in to perspective.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eThe sky, this ocular phenomenon- the perception of light in the atmosphere- has a beauty that is uplifting and inspiring.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eAnd clouds - accumulations of water vapour\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e- roll across that sky forming, shape shifting, dissipating, disappearing, catching light or shadow, in endless variety.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eAnd this is the beautiful paradox of the sky- it is constant yet ever changing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eIt will never look exactly the same twice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eI find it’s steadfast constancy comforting. I get a similar feeling out on the ocean, especially if no land is visible. Or in the midst of a beautiful desert-scape extending to the horizon. In the mountains? Deep in green bush? Watching wild weather blow in across the estuary and fade away. Watching tides breathe in and breathe out.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eIt is tapping in to a sense of the almost imaginable, unfathomable grand scale of existence, grand natural rhythms over which we have no control but are, somehow, part of- just by being alive. How amazing is that.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eIt makes me feel simultaneously small – a wee fleeting thing- and elemental, alive, inextricably interconnected to the whole.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p7\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e”To a superstitious type, clouds can be augurs – but even for the sceptic, they are natural monuments by which man’s insignificance might be measured.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003eE Moffitt.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eIt is this impermanence, ephemerality of our being that I aim to capture in this series of paintings, where the sky functions as both physical and philosophical space.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eThe paintings are composed as snapshots of dissipating clouds. I employ temporal sequencing, read left to right, of the cloud as it dissolves over time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eMy process : I video a cloud and watch it transform- such a calming, lovely thing to do. I then take screenshots at various points of my video, choose and order up to five of these images and then paint the story of this process. Capturing moments in time; documenting impermanence. Another paradox, perhaps.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eThe titles of each painting record how long this process took. \u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e‘2 minutes, 37 seconds’; ‘1 minute, 27 seconds’; ‘6 minutes, 14 seconds’. Time is passing. And there is an unstoppable change over time- a mere few minutes from white cloud to no trace.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eIt happens, whether you like it or not. The sky, indifferent, keeps on being the sky.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eAnd so we are back to grand natural rhythms and a metaphor for the fleeting, ever changing nature of life\/being.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eIn this way my cloud paintings become a sort of ‘memento mori’. This Latin phrase translates as ‘remember you must die’ and addresses the inherent ephemerality of life because of the inevitability of death. But please read this in a positive way, as was intended in Roman usage. The Stoics used ‘memento mori’ as a tool to appreciate and invigorate life, to create priority and meaning, to focus on what truly matters and not waste time on the trivial and vain. “Memento mori, memento vivere” or ‘remember you die so remember to live’.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eAnd of course these deceptively simple, beautiful paintings are ultimately open to your own understanding, deciphering and enjoyment. A narrative for each viewer to read and make sense of.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003eLook up.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p6\"\u003ePhilippa Bentley.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Philippa Bentley","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51540585120059,"sku":"22426","price":1750.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0269\/3601\/6967\/files\/5-minutes-27-seconds-Philippa-Bentley-2-views.png?v=1785983714","url":"https:\/\/www.flagstaff.nz\/products\/5-minutes-27-seconds","provider":"Flagstaff Gallery","version":"1.0","type":"link"}