when horns sound like stars burst...

three images of bugles from a fantastic martin ramirez exhibition seen at the renia sofia museum in madrid a few months ago. one of the best things about the sofia as opposed to the prado is that you are allowed to take pictures, thus one can creep along knowing there is the potential towards phone camera notation of wall labels and artworks. of course, it is generally nice to struggle with notations using a pen in a notebook, which travel with me everywhere; but sometimes it is nice to be able to have a replica on hand a couple of days later when the mind pictures and hieroglyphics in the notebook don't cut it. two years ago i saw a similar show of ramirez's work at the craft folk art museum in ny where no pictures were allowed. i have a few notes in my notebook from that time with cryptic notations about how ramirez seemed to be picturing sound in his starburst forms on the inside of bugles, but i wasn't able to capture with my own hands, the feeling i wanted to take from his. it wasn't until i saw the images flattened onto the screen of my phone, and then computer, that ramirez's sound projecting outward reminded me of the graphic psychedelic sunlight emanating from a tadanori yokoo or stanley mouse poster...

p.s. for anyone that has mucho money to burn, the incredible stanley mouse bo diddley poster pictured above is available here