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  • βœ‡The Daily Cartoonist
  • CSotD: Not the Worst of Evils Mike Peterson
    By marking the day now instead of tomorrow, I’m likely going to miss quite a few Memorial Day cartoons, but I like the simplicity of Bennett’s political statement. Bennett’s minimalist cartoon reminds us of why we have Memorial Day while, by placing the War Powers Act amid the graves, he mourns the rule of law […]
     

CSotD: Not the Worst of Evils

24 May 2026 at 11:35
By marking the day now instead of tomorrow, I’m likely going to miss quite a few Memorial Day cartoons, but I like the simplicity of Bennett’s political statement. Bennett’s minimalist cartoon reminds us of why we have Memorial Day while, by placing the War Powers Act amid the graves, he mourns the rule of law […]

Shrimp & Grits by Andy Marlette 2021 – 2026

27 May 2026 at 01:35
The Sunday Shrimp & Grits comic strip by Andy Marlette has been in rerun status for all of May 2026 so far. The dailies have been in reruns since November 2023. Is it too early to call? Shrimp & Grits debuted from Creators syndicate daily and Sunday on May 31, 2021. The strip appeared at […]

  • βœ‡Colossal
  • LR Vandy’s Rope Sculptures Disentangle Histories of Colonialism and Transportation Kate Mothes
    For millennia, humans have navigated seas, rivers, and oceans as avenues for trade, exploration, conquest, and colonization. During the Age of Discoveryβ€”an era interwoven with what’s known as the Age of Sailβ€”European explorers and traders embarked on journeys around the world to map previously uncharted continents, trade commodities, and establish new socio-political outposts. Imperial forces competed with one another to control as much as they could, all in the name of wealth and power, and
     

LR Vandy’s Rope Sculptures Disentangle Histories of Colonialism and Transportation

14 April 2026 at 18:00
LR Vandy’s Rope Sculptures Disentangle Histories of Colonialism and Transportation

For millennia, humans have navigated seas, rivers, and oceans as avenues for trade, exploration, conquest, and colonization. During the Age of Discoveryβ€”an era interwoven with what’s known as the Age of Sailβ€”European explorers and traders embarked on journeys around the world to map previously uncharted continents, trade commodities, and establish new socio-political outposts. Imperial forces competed with one another to control as much as they could, all in the name of wealth and power, and individual landowners and traders profited immensely. But sustaining a presence in far-flung places would never have been remotely possible, nevertheless successful, without slavery.

Well into the 19th century, humans were transported through a vast slave network, with millions crammed aboard ships bound for various parts of Europe or North America. For London-based artist LR Vandy, the layered and often fraught legacies of labor, shipping, and trade undergird a distinctive sculptural practice.

β€œSpinning a Yarn” (2025). Photo by India Hobson

Vandy’s studio is based at Chatham Historic Dockyard in Kent, where the history of wooden ships is alive and well. She uses materials such as Manila ropeβ€”a thick nautical rope made from the abaca plant, which is native to The Philippinesβ€”bobbers, navigation equipment, ship’s helms, hull-shaped wooden forms, and more, to explore the tangles of maritime history.

Vandy’s exhibition titled Rise, in The Weston Gallery at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, marks the artist’s first solo museum show. Many of the works seen here are included in the show, while others represent earlier pieces. In her most recent work, the rope is a central focus as she explores its β€œentanglement in human
history, its role in the development of civilisations, and its inextricable links to colonial enslavement of people,” says an exhibition statement. Everyday objects are repurposed and manipulated in an ongoing inquiry into process and materials, especially β€œdrawing attention to the social, economic and political systems embedded within everyday objects.”

Anchoring the space at Yorkshire Sculpture Park is a giant, rope-covered form evocative of a maypole, nodding to historic European folk traditions that celebrate community, ritual, and regeneration. Other objects appear to spin or sway, as if skirts are swishing or invisible players move through a series of games. β€œMy practice centres the hidden human costs of colonialism, transportation systems and commodities, and the knotted histories of trade and power they contain,” Vandy says in a statement. β€œThe title, Rise, references ideas of resilience, protest, liberation, and collective joy explored through rituals and dance.”

Rise continues through September 13 in Wakefield. If you go, also see Nicola Turner’s dramatic exhibition, Time’s Scythe. Learn more and plan your visit on the park’s website, and follow Vandy on Instagram for updates.

Detail of β€œSpinning a Yarn.” Photo by India Hobson
β€œTransmitter” (2023), wood, metal, and plastic, 47 x 19 x 14 centimeters. Courtesy of the artist and October Gallery, London
β€œDancing in Time: The Ties That Bind Us.” Installation view of β€˜Rise’ (2026), Yorkshire Sculpture Park, in collaboration with October Gallery. Photo by India Hobson
β€œHeavy Is The Head That Wears The Crown: Flotilla No.1” (2020), wood and metal, 150 x 112 centimeters. Courtesy of the artist and October Gallery, London
β€œSpinning in Time: Isis” (2024, Manila rope, wood, metal, copper and red cotton, 85 x 30 x 30 centimeters. Β© LR Vandy. Courtesy of the artist and October Gallery, London
β€œLinked” (2023), wood, rope, and metal, 63 x 25 x 20 centimeters. Β© LR Vandy. Courtesy of the artist and October Gallery, London
Installation view of β€˜Rise.’ Photo by India Hobson
β€œSpinning in Time: Net” (2024), Manila rope, wood, metal, copper, and red cotton, 73 x 15 x 15 centimeters

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article LR Vandy’s Rope Sculptures Disentangle Histories of Colonialism and Transportation appeared first on Colossal.

  • βœ‡Antiques and Vintage - flickr
  • DSC08415 Ironbridge 40's Weekend 2026 – Operation Jedburgh dimparcio
    dimparcio posted a photo: Operative of the French Resistance with the Cross of Lorraine on her right arm. Operation Jedburgh was a clandestine operation organised by special operations units from Great Britain, the USA and the French government in exile. Ironbridge 40's Weekend 2026, held 23rd and 24th May 2026 at Dale End Park, Ironbridge, in Shropshire. An annual 1940's military and civilian re-enactment, using themes and characters mostly from the European theatre of conflict.
     

DSC08415 Ironbridge 40's Weekend 2026 – Operation Jedburgh

28 May 2026 at 11:40

dimparcio posted a photo:

DSC08415  Ironbridge 40's Weekend 2026 – Operation Jedburgh


Operative of the French Resistance with the Cross of Lorraine on her right arm.

Operation Jedburgh was a clandestine operation organised by special operations units from Great Britain, the USA and the French government in exile.


Ironbridge 40's Weekend 2026, held 23rd and 24th May 2026 at Dale End Park, Ironbridge, in Shropshire. An annual 1940's military and civilian re-enactment, using themes and characters mostly from the European theatre of conflict. As always, the atmosphere was fun, friendly and vibrant. Photos taken

Pictures were taken on the Sunday, 24/05/26, at a public event where it is assumed to be OK to publish on the internet. Permission was granted by the subjects for posed photos. However, if anyone wants any photo removed from this set, please contact me, Bob, at dimparcio@protonmail quoting the file number eg DSC1234 and I will do so forthwith. Otherwise, if you like them and would like to download them, please do so, especially if it helps promote re-enactments such as this.

  • βœ‡The Daily Cartoonist
  • National Cartoonist Day Spotlight on Mark Buford D. D. Degg
    Early last year Mark Buford put an ash stake in his Scary Gary comic strip. Now Julie Lineback for the University of West Georgia brings us up-to-date with Mark. β€œA Major in Minds, a Minor in Mischief.” As the U.S. recognizes National Cartoonist Day on May 5, University of West Georgia alumnus Mark Buford ’86 […]
     

National Cartoonist Day Spotlight on Mark Buford

6 May 2026 at 02:09
Early last year Mark Buford put an ash stake in his Scary Gary comic strip. Now Julie Lineback for the University of West Georgia brings us up-to-date with Mark. β€œA Major in Minds, a Minor in Mischief.” As the U.S. recognizes National Cartoonist Day on May 5, University of West Georgia alumnus Mark Buford ’86 […]

  • βœ‡The Daily Cartoonist
  • Rolling Stone Excerpt of TrudeauΒ & Doonesbury: A Biography Alan Gardner
    Rolling Stone has published an excerpt of the upcoming biography TrudeauΒ & Doonesbury: A Biography (non-paywall link). The subtitle of the article would make me read it, even if I wasn’t already interested: β€œHow cartoonist Garry Trudeau embraced the counter-culture, became aΒ Rolling StoneΒ writer, and pissed off Hunter S. Thompson so much that the gonzo journalist mailed […]
     

Rolling Stone Excerpt of TrudeauΒ & Doonesbury: A Biography

19 May 2026 at 20:53
Rolling Stone has published an excerpt of the upcoming biography TrudeauΒ & Doonesbury: A Biography (non-paywall link). The subtitle of the article would make me read it, even if I wasn’t already interested: β€œHow cartoonist Garry Trudeau embraced the counter-culture, became aΒ Rolling StoneΒ writer, and pissed off Hunter S. Thompson so much that the gonzo journalist mailed […]

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