Sky of the
year 2014
2014
was definitely the year of the sky, so it's only fair to present the
sky of the year 2014 award. Skies started getting odd late January
and they have been quite embarrassing throughout the year. July had
windy spells which blew some blue back and November saw almost
natural circumstances for most days, but that was about it. Last
weeks have been daily madness all over again.
Early
skies were scary yet beautiful, later they became more depressing,
with growing difficulty to enjoy the show, not in the least through
the ever thickening smog over our heads. Patterns have changed. In
the beginning it was all long lines widening out and creating the
famed Milky Veil. After summer short fat lines which quickly
dissolved but filled the sky with filth nonetheless, certainly
nothing like ordinary planes produce, started appearing. On
coinciding days they would manage to block the sun out of a cloudfree
sky. Those skies have certainly earned their égards for growing into
the new normal, but since we are entering a new year, we now may
expect to see it happen once more, a year in which a lot of our
strength and wisdom will be needed, I propose a beauty contest. Which
skies have most awed us? Do you remember? I took pictures to help me.
I started in January and took a lot in summer, autumn skies were
flatter with the ingreying doing damage. Some are quite dramatic,
clouds building a theatre stage high up over the land, enormous
spectacles of Dalí inspired sculpture, on the other hand a veil
fighting it out with the sun. Yet nothing was done with them. Nobody
talked about this daily circus in our skies. I altered some of these
pictures, looking for the colours beneath the inevitable grey tones,
and made a couple T-shirts with them. The photos presented in my top
five are mostly in their original state.
5
Catalunya
Our
summer was handsomely wrecked by all the spraying from airplanes and
early August felt like November, not in the least considering how
dark it sometimes was. These skies are totally fake and they were
taking away our sun. For skin protection, they told us in autumn.
4
Through the heart
Milky
veil with struggling sun and a fresh chemtrail stabbing it straight
through the heart in late afternoon, now there is a classic picture
we have seen way too often this year. This one is from June, near
Castelldefels. I really like its dreamlike quality.
3
Music
The
beauty of those plucky cotton skies is in their ability to allow
extreme close ups. With the sun peeping through, the clouds look like
an orchestra of barking dogs, well conducted by the voice of the
light. Music in the sky, I like to call this one. 't Was on a bright
June Saturday, we had a couple of those, with skies we would never
see again afterwards, real early stage art live in the making.
2
Tourist spec
When
people surface from their metro ride they all look upwards, just to
see how far construction has progressed since the last time they trod
these steps. Tourists, of course, don't leave it at that. In their
well-practiced awe they stop in their stride and grab for their photo
camera, with busy locals angrily urging them on. It's a classic
display of mutual dislike. But is any one of these people looking
beyond the spires to see what's going on further up? I thought it
quite the spectacle and deserving of a top spot.
1
Elephant
For
all that it represents of the year 2014, this picture receives our
award. June at the beach, the water still a bit chilly but the mood
uplifting. After horror May everybody was in for a funky summer.
Notice how nobody seems too interested in that ridiculous cotton
pattern over their heads. They rather turn their face to the oddly
white sunlight. But I was lying on my back and I saw this one coming.
Call that a cloud? I chose to call it the elephant in the sky. I made
a T-shirt out of this picture.
