painted wall – Page 147 – Seosamh Mac Coille Collection

Operation Motorman

2013-06-032026-08-16Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Below is a close-up of the information board on Seamus Bradley, a 19 year-old IRA member who was killed during Operation Motorman, the British Army’s retaking of ‘Free Derry’ on July 31st, 1972. Bradley was found to be unarmed and bled to death while in British custody (according to the Pat Finucane Centre). The letter in the display case is addressed to Bradley’s brother, Daniel, from the MoD, and concludes “I regret to inform you … that there is nothing in the circumstances of his death, as detailed in the [Historical Enquiries Team] report, which would make it appropriate for the Government to apologise.”

The plaque is to Patrick Shiels (M03583).

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Fighting For The Crown

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Mural in the Tullycarnet estate to the local flute band (“established 2007” Fb), showing various UK flags and the lion and the unicorn from the UK coat of arms. According to the nursery rhyme, “the lion beat the unicorn/all around the town” and so only the lion wears a crown.

Previously: TFB mural in the subway under Kings Road.

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Infant In The Bulb Of A Plant

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Here is the central portion of the east wall of Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry frescoes in the Detroit Institute of Arts. Rivera’s wife, Frida Kahlo, had a miscarriage during their time in Detroit and the infant in the image is a tribute to that loss.

Rivera, a communist, was invited to paint the frescoes by Edsel Ford, of the Ford motor company. He painted four walls of a great hall in 1932-1933, celebrating industrial and medical progress while also portraying its deadly uses, and mixing Aztec, Mexican and Christian imagery. The east wall is the first in viewing order, just as in church liturgies.

Below is an (unaccredited) image of Rivera painting the outline (the “cartoon”) for this section of the wall, in 1932.

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Copyright © 2013 Cathal Woods
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Life & Death

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Above is a striking panel from the west wall of the Diego Rivera ‘Detroit Industry’ hall in the Detroit Institute of Arts. One of Rivera’s main themes was the dual use of technology, for both good and bad, and here he represents aviation both commercial and military. The bottom panel shows worldwide shipping and the extraction of natural resources by developed countries (on the right, you can see rubber trees being tapped).

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Copyright © 2013 Cathal Woods
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The Assembly Line

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As can be seen from the final image below (showing the whole of the main panel), a bright sunlight was streaming through the glass ceiling on the day of our visit to Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry frescoes in the Detroit Institute of Arts, making many of our images of the north wall unusable and degrading the quality of the few included here. They nonetheless show the stunning level of detail Rivera went to despite the massive size of the work. These are all of the main panel, the bottom third of which shows construction of the eight-cylinder engine for the Model B (probably).

For more information, see also: Infant In The Bulb Of A Plant (East) | Building The Model B (South) | Life & Death (West)

Top centre …

Bottom centre …

Bottom left …

Shot of the main panel on the north wall …

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Copyright © 2013 Cathal Woods
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Building The Model B

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Today we feature the main panel of the South wall of the Diego Rivera Detroit Industry frescoes in the Detroit Institute of Arts, which shows the construction of an automobile (probably the Model B – we will see the V-8 engine being produced on the north wall) at Ford’s River Rouge plant in Dearborn. The wide shot is above and more detailed shots of the lower left, the right third, and the lower central portion follow.

Here is a video of the Rouge plant in 1938 and 1939 …

Here is the right third – in the bottom right corner (above the strip with panels charting a day in the life of workers) can be seen Edsel Ford, of Ford Motors, and William Valentiner, director of the Detroit Institute of Arts at the time Rivera painted the frescoes (1932-1933).

The lower left portion …

Below are three shots of the lower central section, of increasing proximity to the work; the third demonstrates the amazing level of detail of the frescoes.

Angry Burners

2013-05-252026-08-16Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The Angry Birds puzzle game (on mobile devices and on Facebook) is a smash hit for Finnish game developers Rovio (WP) and is now a part of popular culture, including this take-off on the Comber Walkway – angry burners.

War And Peace

2013-05-222026-08-16Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The three central panels of the World Wars memorial in Tullycarnet (featured separately), along with two smaller stones, stand in front of a mural reading “Time for peace. Invest in kids … not war!”. The image of a boy playing with a ball against a wall is based on a 1994 photograph by Crispin Rodwell. The slogan in the photograph, originally, was “Time for peace; time to go” but for publication, as here, the second part was cropped out.

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