Maus!

This has nothing to do with my project but I felt it deserved a little mention:

Just finished reading Maus: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman. It is phenomenal, I suggest everyone to go out and buy it immediately. It details how the author's father, Vladek, managed to survive the Holocaust. The book is a graphic work and the author had the very effective and novel idea to metaphorically depict Jews as mice (hense the title) and Germans as cats. The book is very depressing and dismal but is meant to be considering the subject and the honesty with which it is portrayed. Maus has a power that is probably very rare for a comic. It is a very humane, factual rendering of a story that could not be easily told orally, never mind accompanied by such stark and intimate drawings. What I really admire about Maus is that Spiegelman never once embellishes the story for effect. This makes it as relevant a document of the horrors of Nazi Germany as any that exist. As unique a piece of art that has been created in the last few decades.

How do you like them apples?

Here is a drawing in pencil I produced in September. Sorry for the horrible photo quality! I am far from a natural with the camera. Basically, the inspiration behind this work is the fact that our bodies are made up of approximately 60% water (according to Arthur Guyton's Textbook of Medical Physiology). I did this as a possible precursor to a painting. I felt that the splashes of water that emanate from the right would make for a painting full of movement and motion. However, the idea does not really fit with my theme. Oh I haven't mentioned my theme at all on this blog! It is that of gestures and what these gestures communicate! That could change though. My mind tends to jump from one thing to another. I cannot decide if that is a virtue or vice!

Oh and the woman in the picture is the sultry singer Fiona Apple. The image is from the booklet that came with her debut album Tidal.

Back to the drawing board. Geddit? Okay, I'll stop with the jokes...

Decided to return to some brainstorming as a means to initiate some creative thinking. I think I may focus on the theme of Line to help. This would make for a project with boundless possibilities.

I have also been thinking about the piece of art in the previous post, although I still dislike it immensely. I had the idea of not showing the performance but rather telling and explaining it to people. The audience (if i could call them that?) would have to create in their imagination what the performance entailed. As a result, in their mind the piece would be constantly moving, changing and been redefined. This could be movement and motion of perceptions and thoughts.

Lacking Inspiration!

Project is not going great at all. I am full of ideas but cannot seem to produce ideas that are worth elaborating on. They all seem so uninspired and uninteresting. Here is an example:

Came up with an idea for a performance piece. This was no doubt inspired by Marina Abramovic, one of my personal heroines and a very innovative and respected artist. Basically, the piece consists of one person completely covered in blue wool (in an almost cocoon fashion) with another person standing parallel to them. Both are linked by one or perhaps up to three threads. The one person absent of any wool starts to revolve, causing the other person to revolve in reaction. They continue this until the wool is transferred from one person to the other.

The piece dealt with the idea of movement in unison. It also referenced the idea of connection, of relationships between people and objects and shared experiences. I wanted to make something meaningful and I felt this could be it!

However, after days of thought the idea just seemed blank and tedious. It just felt a bit pretentious and forced. It was me trying to create something I would not normally create and open my horizons but the idea seemed baseless. It has no heart and was missing a certain aura, a certain feel that many performance pieces I have studied contain. However, I have wrote it down in a little notebook just in case it might spur some inspiration.

Jenny Saville

I am in love with this artist's work. Her manner of painting is phenomenal. The way she depicts flesh is so mesmerizing. She has a physicality in her work that is beyond belief. I hope that someday I can paint just as well but that is highly unlikely. She is unique. No other living painter can hold a brush to her. Geddit? Anyway, enough of the joking around here is some links and some images.

Interview with Jenny Saville in The Guardian

Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights

Should I even have to give a reason why I would post this video? C'mon its Kate Bush! Massive inspiration this lady is! Although, to be fair, I could pull off wearing that red dress better then her... I kid, I kid!

Out on the wiley, windy moors...

Drawings!

This is a sketch of a child learning to walk. In the left corner is a smaller drawing depicting a child holding two balloons in the shape of cow bones. The idea of the cow bone originates in a dream I had. I researched into the symbolism of such an item in dreams. It deals with lack of mothering and to be emotionally deprived. I thought this would interesting to include as the picture itself would be based on a mother and child relationship. It adds a little depth and makes it more visually engaging.

Here are some small sketches. Just working out some ideas here. I am working in pen which is something new to me. I never usually work in pen.

Still searching for a theme!

This week I was playing with the idea of learning to walk as a theme for my project! I was inspired by examining some Marian devotions from the Renaissance. I was specifically looking at those created by Piero della Francesca and Botticelli.  Love both these artists' work. I was lucky enough to see some of their pieces when I visited London, especially della Francesca's awesome The Baptism of Christ (1450). This has to be one of the most perfect pieces ever produced. It is brimful of so much harmony and introspection. This picture is especially interesting to me at the moment because it uses the Divine Proportion. This is also known as the Golden ratio. I am reading a book on the topic at the moment. You all should so some research into it!

This is the work of art below:

Here is a link that may prove useful:
The Divine Proportion

Also, the book is entitled The Secret Code and it is written by Priya Hemenway.

Enjoy!