C O M P A S S I O N
Dora Maar
I went to see Dora Maar's exhibition at Tate Modern and was impressed by how works. I had read about her on a ficitonal novel on the Guernica. Although the book did not discredit Dora Maar as one of Picasso's muses, she was only portrayed as the photographer/recorder of the Guernica, not as an experimental, surrealist photographer. I especially liked this series of work The Stimulator and Silence. They are collages that have the same photo as the background. But they are seamlessly integrated and have a Dada feel. They are emotional.
I was thinking of photographing some pictures like this if I was going to include photography in my first project.
Beaded Curtain
I believe that beaded curtains are very interesting. They might be used for decorative purpose, but each design has its own tone and communicate something different. For example the first one has an "ethnic" feel to it, with predominantly warm tones whereas the second one is more "oriental". The third one is quite different from the first two, as the material and the gap between each thread is different. It feels more antique and western. Of course, all of these are commercial so they might not have a message to transmit to anyone and the furniture around the curtains help create the atmosphere. But we see that the design itself can convey something very different.
What I was interested was how we can feel it, how our bodies can go through the curtain. My project is going to be on the same line, where it would a piece of cloth instead of a beaded curtain in which the audience would be able to pass through.
Various Artists
Visit to Musée des Beaux Arts Bordeaux
I found these works spoke to me the most. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the Artists' names and the name of the works. I believe that these works all have simplicity in common (maybe not the last one). They feel a little unfinished with the amount of blank space (first one and third one especially). They were all in the abstract section of the museum, as each room was separated according to the art genre. They do not have a lot of connection to my project brief, but I thought it would be important to have them here for future projects.
Collaborative works
Du tac au tac
Du tac au tac : émission du 1er août 1969
https://www.ina.fr/video/CPF87009205
4 Illustrators complete a storyboard by adding one extra element to the previous' one. The situation in which they are under are the same: same room, same pen, same paper etc. However it varies on who is drawing and the order in which they draw. I think it is interesting to see how four different individuals can conceive such a clear narrative without them planning out beforehand. They can each let their individuality shine through and demonstrate their skills in drawing. It is impressive to see how fast they come up with ideas and how they draw in one take, without redoing it. I think it will be a good training for me to forbid erasing past progress and keep continuing to draw/work,
The spontaneity of the ideas is quite remarkable and for Commune, I would like to get some shots in which hasard plays a role. It's not necessarily in correlation to my theme, but I want to know how it changes the way I think and how it changes the way I work.
Neva Hosking
Part 2
I was going to print the illustrations digitally, but to keep my options wide, our tutor suggested that I try printmaking as well. One of my reference being Neva Hosking (again). I think the range of materials she's printed on is nice as well as her use of monochromatic colours. The use of ballpoint pen is effective in her drawings to convey sadness and something fleeting. The second was interesting because they were only fragments of fabric and a fragment of a drawing. However, they still managed to convey emotions by focusing on the eyes. As someone in the past said, "eyes are windows to the soul".
John Gerrard
Western Flag 2017
An ephemeral flag. Out of smoke. The smoke that is blowed away looks a lot like a real flag that is slightly tattered at the end. Its simplicity is quite beautiful and the black smoke is quite terrifying. It reminds me of someone reporting bad news or funerals. But it also a symbol of anarchism or the flag of Afghanistan from 1880 to 1901 (according to Wikipedia).
The way the artist had the flag on a screen in different locations enables more people to watch, extending its audience. I like the third photo, a wide screen in the middle of a desert.
Alan Sonfist
Fallen Limbs Rising (1975)
Collage of Natural Cultural (1990)
Collage of Time Landscape (1974)
I was interested in the use of various mediums in his works. Paint, metal, physical leaves/branches or paper, all his works have a message discussing about nature and our relationship to it. Human lives are paralleled with Alan Sonfist's works that suggest no anthropoid presence.
Daido Moriyama
His works are emotional even though we may not see expressions on the subject's face or it's a photo of a landscape. They are black and white and high contrast, far from reality, but they seem so real. So real because they capture something that happened and are not staged (from what I know, they are allegedly street photography). The photos are sometimes abstract, like the first one, ambiguous, but they feel like they mirror and emotion.
The third one is shocking. A hand holding the pole, out of focus, with a girl looking back at it. Almost frightened. It is disturbing to watch. The hand seems predatory and he fact that her friend with the same uniform has her back to us adds even more fear.
Project I
Neva Hosking
Part 1
I found Neva Hosking on Instagram as she is a so-called social media artist. I appreciate greatly her illustrations and when I was browsing through her website, I discovered these experimental drawings. I like the way she uses different materials including, used envelopes, exam paper and note pad paper. It is a nice way to use paper that is not supposed to be for drawing and I love the texture of the pencil, the pens and the paint on such papers.
I think the most successful one is the second one, a black spraypainted line on three yellow papers. In addition, a typed text on each paper. There is an irony with continuity of the line and the texts opposed to the physical separation of the paper. It seems ephemeral and goes well with the content of the text: "I know most things/ being imagined/ don't really ever happen". The not capitalised letter of "i" adds to that continuity/discontinuity theme and has a fragility to it.