Parsons Spring 2013 Drawing Blog
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Final Project - Intent
My final project is concerned with one's sense of self — on the hypothesis that what we perceive as the outer world is in fact only more of us. When one looks at the cat, he sees not the billions of eukaryotic cells building tissues building organs building systems building the cat, it sees not even the cat as a furry mammalian animal, one sees what he thinks of a cat. Does it purr? Then it's happy. Does it have freckles? It's cute. It's a cat. Well, I don't think so. It's what you think of when you see a "cat". See the discrepancy? The only time we actually see things is when these things are totally new to us, eg. babies' eyes. I won't try to cross the barrier and proclaim that what I draw and see is the objective reality (—that'd be tragically kantian, bet he'd be happy.) but instead, accepting what I see is not the reality, I might try to find what makes things I see my ideas of them. Or more correctly, (as there aren't specific parts in things that I see in a certain way that makes them my own, rather they are products of my own psyche in whole) I want to find what I see in them that might best signify to outer world (outer world according to me) my idea of them. Basically, every object in one's sensorium carries a fragment of one's own personality, and I want to find (catch) fragments of my own in mundane objects, and somehow express them without separating them from the object I've found it in. (that'd kill it) And somehow I need to find a way to express this on paper. I restricted myself to pencil, ink ,watercolour and brush, and I'll figure out a way.
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I remember seeing (briefly) some studies you did in that small white sketchbook with all the portraits. It was based on the first of the inspirations you posted of fading "pencil"? ripples. Can you post those so we can see them?
ReplyDeleteAnd I remember a collage you did at the coffee shop that was really amazing...could you pull one of those off with the new inspirations you have. I would suggest creating "textures" as you did with this paint, and then PLUG them into a sensitive LINE drawing like that for "Sketch of a potential physical implementation of my intent". Or just paint them if that works, but I think one way your communicate Beautifully is with LINE, so I want you to use it sensitively (sometimes when people first use a brush it doesn't act as senstively as pencil..so you have to model it off a line drawing (then photoshop it together!).
Be well Tom
OH and, the cognitive psychologist comment...
ReplyDeleteWe were discussing what we think versus what we perceive and how they get combined. He said that what I was interested in was not necessarily "useful" to the eyes and brain (human), so he does not study it. I said, "You only study what is useful? Feelings are useful, complete faith based beauty is useful to me," and so he clarified, "Useful to navigating your world, making sense of it." Oh, but it seemed strange and strengthening to realize that Science looks at the PRACTICAL useful, I as an artist look at that as well, but also the useful that is not necessary just makes life worth living. Art, with a small "a" is how we interpret things, situations and our relationships. We "create" in the best sense, to understand. Contemplation takes TIME, working through a thought in a drawing can allow some of that TIMELESS, somewhat THOUGHTLESS type of time to occur. What comes of this can be inspiring, aggravating but always tends to help me grow.
Be well T