Possible acts of wonder (not Corona-related): guns turned into bells, the beauty of colours (and Nina Simone), and swimming as soul-saving

Here we will assert our imaginative right NOT to be defined by a pandemic… and highlight some other powerful transformations that are possible, with the forces and materials of the world.

First, above, is The Bell Project. From Aeon:

The artist Hiwa K – born in Iraqi Kurdistan and now based in Germany – is celebrated and exhibited around the globe, but he rejects what he views as the more pretentious and extravagant trappings of the art world. He says that he knew his work ‘The Bell Project’ (2007-15) had met his standard for eloquent accessibility after his mother – an art world outsider – gave it her vote of approval.

For the project, Hiwa K inverted Europe’s centuries-old process of melting church bells into war weapons by melting the Western weapons that have overwhelmed his homeland into bells, and transporting them back to Europe.

From It’s Nice That:

When asked to direct the animated video for Nina Simone’s Colour Is A Beautiful Thing, Sharon embraced the project with the honour of staying true to Nina’s soulful tones. Originally recorded in 1982, soon after Simone moved to Paris, an LP was recorded for a small French label but has only been sporadically available ever since. Titled Fodder On My Wings, the lesser-known album was recently reissued earlier this month on 3 April 2020 and is now available for the first time as a digital release, as well as through CD and LP.

“It was a completely open brief,” says Sharon on the project, “the record label were looking for something playful and elegant,” and the animation director certainly delivered that and more. The label had seen a previous film of Sharon’s titled Geronimo! and liked the crafty playfulness of the watercolour animation. With this in mind, Sharon proceeded to evoke a similar tone with Colour Is A Beautiful Thing, drawing on the positive energy of the song. “I just let the music take me where I thought the visuals should go,” she adds on the intuitive moment.

From Aeon (again, thank you):

In 2012, the Irish long-distance swimmer Stephen Redmond became the first person to complete the Ocean’s Seven challenge, which includes marathon swims in seven channels around the world. In The Swimmer, the Irish filmmaker Thomas Beug takes us along on a brisk Atlantic swim, gracefully weaving lyrical images of Redmond on land and in the water with his musings on the ineffable sense of purpose he finds in the open water. Complementing Redmond’s narration are lines written and performed by the Irish poet Derek Mahon, offering a refreshing glimpse of the sublime and the spiritual within the realm of extreme sports.