Cloushapes (sic)

[Howard Brown]

I wrote the following as a suggestion to CAS. Gavin replied ‘Do propose this to the others on the Forum. It’s not something that we at CAS would be able to pursue but I’m sure they would be pleased to hear the suggestion.’

It is not a typo for cloudscapes – these tend to involve landscapes. GWW (Granny Weather Witch, ex-Met Office) was a stickler for this since it helped her to observe the type of cloud.

Nor is it Clouds That Look Like Things – these are characteristically more figurative – but if you wish to describe clouds you tend to need these descriptions.

Cloudshapes is my term for a form of art which I suggest is being created on the CAS Forum by (mainly) three photographers who love their clouds – Michael, Keelin and Hans. Their thread is https://cloudappreciationsociety.org/forums/topic/black-and-white-thread-volume-iii/

Cloudshapes implies monochrome and the name, using some words from The Tate, evokes their aim to make art that while abstract is also expressive or emotional in its effect, producing a meditational response in the viewer. The three are also good wordsmiths and bounce off each other.

So my reason for this note is to suggest that their material would be more than sufficient to create a (sort of time lapse) video. Such videos might be used many ways these days, but typically in dental surgeries where they have TVs on the ceiling above the patient; with no sound the video would need subtitles. It would need careful editing of course, and the agreement of the copyright owners that their material be used for the good of CAS (which I think is not for profit).

[Michael Lerch]

H..I have one of those  ” Digital Photo Frame” that is basically a slide show in a frame. Saw one at my dentists and I thought, Pretty Neat!..Well fast forward 5 years  and there it sits..still in the original box..Yet I still think..one of these days..Perhaps when I retire I’ll get to it.

But you have a good idea. I’ve complained about the blank featureless ceiling at my dentist. I think dentists are sadists so you have to some how win their good side witha such a positive idea.  maybe on the wall in the waiting room..anywhere..etc

Of course i’ve signed a few copywrite releases and will continue to do so.

Good idea!

[Hans Stocker]

Well thank you Hygge! I read your suggestion as a compliment and appreciation for all contributions to the Black & White “triology” that has developed between Michael, Keelin and me (and an occasional appreciated fourth but then triology would not be applicable). Michael started Volume I after some try outs on specific topics initiated by Michael and now we are already approaching Volume IV.

So Gavin is right I am certainly pleased to hear the suggestion.

What to think of your suggestion, I really don’t know (yet). I love it the way it is now. I am open for all kind of suggestions, but dentists do not have much appeal to me (no offence for any dentist who would read this).

The three of us seem to inspire each other and it is  fun to post a picture that can pick up the trail of a former one or start a new trail. Stories start, develop and can stop abruptly. Always surprising imho. I hope we can continue much longer this way!

To end with: I love your word-play “clouscape” Hygge.

[Patricia L Keelin]

Hygge, Thank you for introducing this creative suggestion and for your kind compliments about our contributions on the B&W forum topic. I’m all for any pleasant visual and/or audio distraction my mind can float away with when undergoing a medical procedure! One doctor I visited recently had a slide show of beautiful nature scenes looping on a laptop that she could adjust to align with a patient’s eye view. No doubt watching a series of cloud images while being poked or prodded would have a calming effect. Is this something you’re offering to put together? I’d be happy to grant permission for any of the images I’ve posted.

Both Michael and Hans were so warmly welcoming the first time I posted to the topic that becoming more involved quickly became irresistible. I treasure what has blossomed there since, and am grateful to CAS for offering us this platform to share our trove of captured “cloudshapes” (your term for these images seems most appropriate!).

An easy playfulness seems to arise whenever narrative themes develop and make unpredictable turns as new images are posted. It’s become a journey with unexpected delights and some very funny exchanges. Most recently, Michael’s innocent posting of “Something I Found Swimming in My Sky” got us going. No one could have predicted where that thread would lead or how fun it would be to find an archived image that suddenly fit the spontaneous storyline. Perhaps there’s another idea that might work for the CAS site: Short stories or themed dialogues that evolve as images are added. Something to muse upon?

Meanwhile, thanks again to all.

[Howard Brown]

I only just noticed my typo ‘Cloushapes’ for ‘Cloudshapes’, and in a heading too – it makes me sic (sic). You were all too polite to comment.

Keelin, no I do not plan, do not have the skills, to pursue. A one time moderator of the forum, Mike (the glider pilot), once commented that it was a joy to see the random walks of threads.

Lastly it is for me to thank you all for the enjoyment, and deeper reach into clouds, you give me.

‘H’

[Hans Stocker]

As to the typo in the title Hygge, I was confused a bit. Now I am sure and you meant cloudshapes (to be different from cloudscapes). I made them clouscapes in my reply and thus added a typo to the typo in the title of the topic. You must know that the word “clou” in Dutch language means punch-line, so at first sight there seemed to be an extra level involved in the wordplay for me. But that’s no excuse for me, the word clouscapes made no sense. In English the punchline was in the shapes and not in the clou nor the scapes.

So we end with cloudshapes, which is a very nice new word you introduced in the lansdscape of cloud terminology.

Thanks,

H.

[Patricia L Keelin]

The clou ‘scaped me too, while I wondered if the word had simply fallen prey to the sneaky winds of autocorrection. But I like the new term for all the reasons you’ve given, Hygge. It will be a nice addition to my cloud vocabulary.

[Howard Brown]

Alfred Stieglitz

I would have read about Stieglitz in The Cloudspotter’s Guide, Gavin Pretor-Pinney, pp 86-87. But I had forgotten this when I was thinking about Cloudshapes. I think Stieglitz would indeed have been pleased with the Forum’s B&W threads.

[Howard Brown]

Omission from previous post #218672 – Wednesday’s Cloud about Alfred Stieglitz

http://us11.campaign-archive2.com/?u=3b978e064761964547808bac4&id=8282776772

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