Artist Research no. 8: Alexa Meade 03/29/10

::Thanks to Sara D for pointing me towards this artist::
Alexa Meade is a painter based in Washington DC. Her work is incredible, she paints directly onto her subject, and then rephotographs the "painting" to take it from the 3D sphere to the 2D.  This is her statement pulled from her website. I have had a hard time trying to describe what I want my work to say, and this I think sums it up beautifully, "experiences cannot always be interpreted at face value; seeing is not necessarily believing." It is such a simple idea, but it is illustrated so carefully in her work. 

"The reverse trompe l’oeil series is Alexa Meade’s spin on reality. Alexa has invented a painting technique that makes 3 dimensional space look flat, blurring the lines between illusion and reality.

Typically a painting is an artist's interpretation of the subject painted onto another surface. In Alexa's paintings, she creates her artistic interpretation of the subject directly on top of the subject itself. Essentially, her art imitates life - on top of life.

By wrapping her subject in a mask of paint, she skews the way that the core of the subject is perceived."

Research no. 7 : Yarn 03/25/10

In a more attenuated attempt to unlock the meaning of my string I will investigate the etymology of it itself. I have been using the word "string" but in actuality I am utilizing knitting YARN to construct the forms, and using sewing string as "scaffolding" 

Yarn

narration: the act of giving an account describing incidents or a course of events; "his narration was hesitant"

A twisted strand of fiber used for knitting or weaving; Bundles of fibers twisted together, and which in turn are twisted in bundles to form strands, which in their turn are twisted or plaited to form rope; A story, a tale, especially one that is incredible; To tell a story

An informal name for a long, rambling story--especially one dealing with adventure or tall-tales. The genre typically involves a strong narrative presence and colloquial or idiomatic English. The tone is realistic, but the content is typically fantastic or hyperbolic

O.E. gearn "spun fiber," from P.Gmc. *garnan (cf. O.N., O.H.G., Ger. garn, M.Du. gaern, Du. garen "yarn"), from PIE base *gher- "intestine" (cf. O.N. gorn "gut," Skt. hira "vein," Gk. khorde "intestine, gut-string," Lith. zarna "gut"). 

Hernia -late 14c., from L. hernia "a rupture," related to hira "intestine," from the same root as yarn. 
Related: Herniated (1879); herniation.


I think it is really interesting that I want these structures to be symbolic of a bundle of memories, thoughts, ideas, embodying a person in themselves, and the etymology references intestines, guts,  and secondly, the idea of stories. I have heard the word used to imply someone "spinning a tale" or telling a tall tale of some sort, usually implying that it is not true, or exaggerated. Even in it's most literal definition a fiber twisted becomes a strands, which becomes a rope, thus emphasizing the idea of a snowball effect within stories or myths, or even the way memories can become something else entirely over time, changing and evolving.

Artist Research no. 7: Scott Hove 03/22/10

 Scott Hove is a self taught artist residing in California. His work explores both the sculptural and painting mediums and he is interested in traditional crafts and material studies. He references the balance between the natural world and the mechanical within his pieces. His rope work is spatially interesting and has lovely formal qualities. They create a nest of objects and architectural environments. He also makes really weird cakes.

Things I've done

I submitted work to Anderson Gallery, the three images I showed during my mid term crit from last semester. All three were accepted, I will document this during the opening next Thursday.

I submitted an image to Communication Arts, my dollhouse image, which I have titled "Stand-in"

Research no. 6: What is it? 03/11/10

I have been trying to nail down an artist statement and I need to figure out what the string is representing, what is it? I keep saying I want it to have a narrative feel, as if it could change itself, evolve, even within one image. I also agree that the first doll house image I made it seems to have a character of its own. I have begun to realize the string is a stand-in. For a person. Any person. Maybe they are me, self portraits, I'm not sure yet, but the string represents life, human life, memories and ideas. It is a receptacle, a container, a place holder. With the evolution of the images being within homes, and ideas of place versus space moving into the images I begin to see the string as little notations of existence. A book mark in time? This is an evolving thought, but I feel as if it represents something almost stagnant, in a moving environment. This thing will not change perhaps? Whilst everything else moves around it.

Artist Lecture no. 5: Erik Brandt 03/03/10

This was easily one of the strangest lectures I have attended. Erik Brandt is a eccentric graphic designer with seemingly no control over his limbs, he jumped around, hopping from one side of the podium to another, and from thought to thought, switching from English to German inserts of thoughts, flipping forward and backward through his keynote presentation. Everyone had to wear newspaper hats, albeit only 2 folks kept them on the whole lecture. He spoke as if the only people in the lecture were designers, therefore leaving me a bit out of the loop. I guess GD is a bit of a closed venue, all wrapped up in their font decisions and letter spacing. We looked at his student's work, and a few interactive sites he has made, filled with jarring roll overs. He spoke about how our economy is awful and we better all be ready to enjoy poverty level living, and how to make things from nothing. He showed a beautiful design crafted entirely from what could be found in the closest trash can. I admire this in artists, refusing to be limited by cost and materials. He also made us sing a song encouraging Socialism. I envied his energy.  I really liked this statement he made about how much we should care....

He was talking about being ready to graduate, nearing the end of school, and that if you've done it right,  

"You should be completely emaciated and totally elated." 

All images copyright Erik Brandt unless otherwise noted

Brandt didn't make this poster but it was what was advertising his lecture, event poster by john malinoski, 2010. photo: john dixon, 1997. the rabbit lives! 

 

Ampersand for SOTA's Font Aid IV.

Warm New Years greetings from frozen Minneapolis

  Facebook poster for the sea of green

New tÿpø illustration for the New York Times Sunday book review. 

These four photographs from opolis are being exhibited by the hong kong chingying institute of visual arts.

Research no. 5: Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience By Yi-Fu Tuan 03/03/10

I have begun reading Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience by Yi-Fu Tuan, and it is incredible. He breaks down concepts of space -freedom, and place -security, by explaining our evolutionary progress from infant to adult. Each of our senses allow us to comprehend our environments differently, collectively creating our understanding of our surroundings over time. Tuan compares our physical abilities with those of other creatures, flexible ears on wolves allow more directional hearing, carnivore's olfactory senses create a spatially structured world letting them distinguish distance and direction while tracking prey. The book progresses into the development of an infant, explaining how their sense of space expands as their eyesight focuses. They only comprehend the permanence of objects relative to their sight of it, once something recedes from their vision it no longer exists essentially. The kicking off of a blanket equates the first sense of freedom and space. Most fascinating to me is the common terms and sayings we use everyday are examined closely in order to understand their root meanings.

All text copyright Yi-Fu Tuan