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 …

 

See also: Infant In The Bulb Of A Plant (East) | Life & Death (West) | The Assembly Line (North)

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).

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The lower left portion …

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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.

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Copyright © 2013 Cathal Woods
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Brigada Ramona Parra

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2013-06-28 BRPmural+

Brigada Ramona Parra (BRP) is the mural-painting wing of the Chilean Communist Party. Some of its members came to Belfast in 2009 and worked with local republican and loyalist muralists to put up this board at the southern entrance to Ormeau Park. The colours are still vibrant, but the board on which the piece was painted is deteriorating significantly. 200 images of the mural being painted can be found here. BelTel report of the launch.

Below: An extra-wide (2500 pixel) straight-on shot and a youtube video of BRP pieces 1968-2011.

Update 2013-09-06: Write-up of BRP on BBC.

2013-06-28 BRPmuralWide+

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Jobs That Aren’t There

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2013-06-27 CorporationSt+

These stencils on the back of the dole office, visible from Great Patrick St, are lamenting the lack of jobs. “Why do they keep sending me to look for jobs that aren’t there?” “5,000 jobs to be created each year. 125,000 people out of work.”

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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End Political Censorship

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2013-06-28 CarrickfPanels2+

Three panels adjacent to the new UVF ‘Inclusion’ mural in Carrickfergus, two of which protest perceived discrimination against Protestants. The panels at left (“End political cencorship [sic] of Ulsters [sic] Protestants”) and right (“Stop PSNI violence & brutality against Ulsters [sic] Protestants”) mention the PSNI, while in the left one the BBC and UTV and the judiciary and courts are mentioned in addition. The sponsoring group – Carrickfergus United Loyalists – have a Facebook page.

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01175 davys street  loyal carrickfergus then, now and always united loyalists

Unwelcome To Ardoyne

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2013-06-19 PSNINotWelcome+

Painted signage at the north end of Berwick Road/Paráıd An Ardghleanna in Ardoyne/Ard Eoın (next to the Maıréad Farrell piece featured previously): “P.S.N.I. not welcome in Ardoyne”.

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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On Your Side

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2013-06-26 HelpUVF+

UVF flags are still flying in east Belfast (see previously for the controversy) and the advertising hoarding above the mural on the corner of Carrington Street again provides an interesting juxtaposition with the mural below.

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Titanic Town – East Belfast

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2013-06-21 WorkersDetail+

Three shots of an old mural above the steps to the pedestrian walkway over the Sydenham bypass in east Belfast, featuring workers from the turn of the 20th century at the Harland & Wolff shipyard, which can be seen in the third image.

Previously: Titanic Workers – South Belfast | North Belfast

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01157 X01159 X01158 william conor shipyard workers crossing queen’s bridgeover the bridge

Speaking Your Language

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2013-06-25 Gaeilge+

These billboards are all over north Belfast to coincide with the Scoıl Samhraıdh Mhıc Reachtaın (McCracken Summer School) which begins on the 22nd. This one is outside Tesco’s on the Antrim Road.

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01163 fact over 20% of people in this area have irish tá gaeılge agaım cúpla focal irish language organisation speaking generation tá an ghaeılge beo i do cheantarsa foras na blıaın na

The Duel

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2013-06-23 TheDuel+

This is a 2012 mural by Cork artist Conor Harrington (whose blog is called ConorSaysBoom) in Hill Street (below the Duke Of York). Two men fence while a third watches on; nature in the form of a deer lies dead on the floor.

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Titanic Town – North Belfast

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The mural features “North Belfast dockers, millworkers, shipyard workers [from] Titanic town 1912”.

Along the bottom are the names of various Belfast pubs and other businesses: The Waterloo, The Terminus, The Sportsmans Arms, The White Hart, The Bowling Green, The City Arms, The Orpheus – York Street, Railway Bar – Canning Street [image from 1970], The Edinburgh Castle [the boat of the Union-Castle line, launched 1910, built at H&W?], York Street Mill, The Gibralter [sic] Bar [whose then-owner was killed in 1972], Ye Old Castle [a bar (and restaurant?) bombed in 1971], The White Lion. Please leave a comment if you can add any information about these place-names.

A close-up of the info plaque at the top right can be found below. The piece was painted by Jim Russell from Glasgow.

The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)’s collection of photographs of Belfast, 1912-1914 (some actually from 1911 and 1915) contains various shots of the area.

There are always cars parked in front of the mural, which is at the blind end of St. Vincent Street, next to Crusaders’ football ground. But finally we have captured it entire, automobile-free, in an extra-large (3854 pixels wide) image.

Previously: Titanic Town – South Belfast

2013-06-12 NorthBelfastWorkers+

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X00686 X01139 X00687 gibraltar north belfast dockers millworkers shipyard workers titanic town 1912, this mural was developed under belfast city council’s titanic community engagement project, with support from the titanic foundation. thanks go to jim crothers and the hubb community resources center