3/30/03

What am I painting?

I'm painting letters. The letters are on a grid and I know what letter goes to which square on the grid and what color to paint the letter. The letters will do two things:

The letters will form words, which will form sentences, which will form paragraphs. All the letters will form the first few paragraphs of "On The Road" by Jack Kerouac.

The pattern of color created by the precise placement of the letters and the precise color they're painted will form the face of Jack Kerouac. For those who don't know, "On The Road", Jack Kerouac's first commercially successful book, made him an instant legend for the closely autobiographic adventures he writes about.

The problem was, Kerouac started to live the heroic image he portrayed in the book, and in the classic rock star way, lead to a path of early death from Alcoholism.

Playing With Postmodernisms

This piece plays around with the several post modernism ideas:

Nonlinearity

The entire painting process deals with writing the sentences of a book out of order; a letter here, a letter there. It's absurd. The hope that the painting will even create a face is just that - a HOPE. There is no textbook technique that tells you to "pick a point at random, and paint that point, then pick another, till the work is done". Which leads to:

Supplement

The technique was created out of the blue, using a computer and a program written from scratch. A non-traditional tool, a computer, was brought in to allow the painting technique to be real.

Slippery Signifies

What is it that I'm painting? Am I painting a colorful rendition of 3 pages of On The Road, or, I'm I painting a picture of Jack Kerouac? Both! Neither! It's up to you to decide

Inspirations

Jasper Johns

Many of Jasper Johns drawings, prints and encaustics have stenciled text in the art work itself. My piece could be seen as a Pop Art piece, since it also has text and is a portrait of a well known Pop figure, like Andy Warhol's Elvis's or Monroes.

Picasso - Cubists in general

This piece could very well be seen as Constructive Cubism. I've taken Jack Kerouac, ripped it apart and now I'm putting it back together, in little pieces; in my case: letters.

What I am filming?

I am filming the process of all that is above. The process is of interest itself, since you can't quite easily state that all the letters will put on, in random, which is of interest to other's that seem to like to inflict pain on themselves.

Since the process is so long, the filming is actually done in a time lapse fashion, with one frame shot every 10 seconds. This will create a film that will show time in fast-forward; 4 minutes in every second of film.

It is my belief that a different perspective of the world can be attained when one speeds up or slows down time. An example of this would be a photograph, which basically stops one moment of time forever. Because of this fact, you notice things in a photograph that you wouldn't otherwise. for example; the movement of a fast moving waterfall, a speeding car.

Inspirations

Andy Warhol

Again, another Pop Artist, Warhol used to make the most incredibly boring films; he once filmed someone sleeping, he filmed the empire state building from dusk to morning, he filmed people for 15 minutes.

Warhol's studio, known as "The Factory", was notorious as a hangout of hipsters that fooled around while Andy worked and encouraged their tomfoolery. Much of his inspiration comes unapologetically from his friends and acquantences.

I hope to show that painting is a long process. This long process allows one to Think. Painting is a mostly boring and solitary process; you get to know yourself while painting. Painting does not happen alone, there is communication and the exchange of ideas by the artist from other artists. This is especially apparent in a shared studio setting such as the second floor caves of studios.

I'm going to encourage that things happen while I paint, with the following constraints: nothing detrimental happens to the painting, no one touches the camera or messes with the filming process.

Please be patient while it loads ~ 136k, you must have the Flash 6 and a fast computer.

Jerimiah came into school last week with a TV set he found in an alleyway. He proceeded to take apart the television and - as it would seem to everyone around him - break it.

Break it real good.

He then took his stereo and somehow attached the two together rather titalatingly. He then played a CD, and the Television screen wobbled with a green, spastic line to the music. In short time and with only a found TV and given away stereo, he created an audio visualizer without electrocuting himself.

Jerimiah is my hero everyone now and again.

This was nothing less than cool, but I knew that I could have busted out my Powerbook, opened up iTunes, which also does visualization, and wrecked his little creation. I didn't.

Two days ago, it's started to snow, and it stopped sometime early Thursday. We've gotten between two to three feet of snow and if you've never experienced a snowstorm in a city, it's basically: crippling at first and then very, very dirty. Also, if you're thinking about doing anything outside of where you live: if the massive snowdrifts don't get you, the snow monsters will. Toni's porch collapsed and almost killed her and her meows. I decided to art/nerd around, since I can't get to school to paint and I forgot my sketchbook.

Jerimiah's little invention motivated me to work on something I've been playing around for a long time, namely the absolute reverse of what he just made. Instead of a audio visualizer, I wanted to make a visual audiolizer. I never heard of such a thing, but that's why I wanted to make one. I think my interest in Brian Eno from his Oblique Strategies Card Deck and learning about John Cage gave me enough shoulders to stand on to dry something interesting.

What you get when you audiolize an image is what first seems to be random blips and bloops, since feeding an images to an "instrument" as a musical score isn't exactly going to produce the traditional canon of musical composition. But, images/paintings themselves can be lyrical; they have patterns embedded within them. Everything is a pattern of something else.

Besides, didn't anyone wonder what a ducky would sound like if you used it as a score of music? I guess I just have slightly different desires than other people.

One of my first memories when I was a child was when I took my baths. Baths were the only times when I remember very clearly when I would play with toys, to the point where I would create entire new worlds that had events carried on by myself. I'm not sure how much I played with other children, but in the bathroom, taking a bath, I was alone. The basic setting was the same; a great ocean and the characters remained rather in place; a submarine, an octopus and a mirage of lower tiered characters. Sparked by such stories as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and the many trips to the coast where my family kept our sailboat and would sometimes visit the museum in New London that housed the first atomic-powered submarine, my stories were usually about a submarine that, after many heated battles in War, or with giant Octopi, would find itself traveling beneath the North Pole.

It's very simple to understand why my submarine would find itself in such frigid conditions. I felt that I was sometimes in a submarine, alone; that I was insulated by vast quantities of water and that no one really could find me, even if I wanted them around. That, and my Sister, or Mother, or Brother would simply forget that I was in the bathtub, whose water would slowly become cold and I, clammy. Even at this age of perhaps three, I never liked asking for help and wasn't too too bright on actually getting out of the tub myself, since this was against the Rules. It had to come to a point of absolute torture for me, before I would cry out,

"Mom!",

knowing before my cry for help would be answered what the message of assurance would be:

"Minute!",

And, I would be forgotten for about another fifteen minutes, or an hour.

Or two.

I can fuzzily trace two characteristics of myself from these early events: One: I have the amazing skill of being able to take cold weather conditions with ease. Many days in highschool, I would negate the use of a coat on the walk to school. I used to go on ski trips, forgetting gloves and barely bat an eye. The second thing that happened, was that I got curious of what was around me and my imagination got even wilder. I think if anyone was stuck in a cold, wet, 5' by 4' room, they'd need something to get them through.

So I began reading the magazines by the toilet. I would later take the magazines and make collages out of them; the first real Thing I can remember I was "into". As well as magazines, we had one book called, "The World of Michelangelo". A very peculiar book to have around ancient copies of Woman's Day and Country Magazine, but obviously, the most interesting.

Flipping through this book was how I introduced myself to Art. I immersed myself in cold water and in the great fresco paintings and heroic sculptures. I was bedazzled. I knew what painting and sculpture were it seemed and seeing that level of the two was just magic. It probably still is.

One time, when my Mother finally did come and fetch me, I had the book out and asked her silly questions, like, what particular parts of the human anatomy were and what they did, since well, Michelangelo, if anything, was a Master of the nude. It was sort of the first time I understood the difference between a boy and a girl. Sometimes my Mother would change the subject and flip to the first page and point to the last word in the last sentence of the last paragraph and state, "See, Michelangelo's Father had the same last name as you do, 'Simoni'."

And I thought:

"Wow."

Even though I didn't know the dates of these paintings, I knew they were Old; even though I didn't know where Italy really was, I knew it was Far; but, here was a link from this man to me that was as straight and solid as crystal. This was probably my first feeling of dumbfoundedness. I couldn't believe that there was a major chance that this man was somehow related to me and that I, as well, may become a great painter and sculptor.

I got busy as soon as I could; I felt very serious when I drew and all I can remember from drawing at a young age, was that it was fun and that when compared to other students, I wasn't amazing in the very least. I was, if anything, sub par and that developed the first fracture of an inferiority complex I still have.

But, I can still look to that book, which is now in my own bookshelf, and think that it may have all started there. That maybe my life was changed because of that one book-

And really long, cold lonely baths.

a ramble.

1. The basic Thing trying to be communicated is that of a Process. This can take many forms.

a. The use of time as a material;

(1. giving evidence of what has since past in the final work, (2. having time play an active role in the work (ie, a Movie)

b. The use of supporting drawings, writings, false starts and dead ends in the final piece. The reason behind this is to break the final piece from being stuck in one timeframe. If you paint, make the underpainting show through; use that as a tool. If you sculpt in rock, leave parts rough with tool marks.

Beauty is only skin deep. Yes, a painting can be beautiful, but the process of creating the painting can be momentous. A final Painting can be seen as only evidence that a process has stopped; that it is associated with death. Interest lies in problems and the solutions - of the process.

c. Viewer participation to mold the artpiece as it is being shown.

Art work does not have to be the blood, sweat and tears of one person. A set of limitations can be accured onto a piece by an artist or team of artists and then the Environment (if the piece is in a gallery, that's it's "Environment") can take hold.

2. The work, whatever it is, does not hide the fact that it is created from a type of Material. If it is a painting, it doesn't try to fool the eye in such a way as to trick the viewer that it is something else. Photo-realistic paintings aren't needed. If you want something photorealistic, photograph something. A material should be used as it is and all materials should be investigated, no matter their ephemeral qualities.

This in no ways negate the importance of "real to life", or "objective" work, but paint should be painterly, because it's paint. Trying to paint perfection will make you realize there is no such thing and that one should get over ones selve.

3. The idea that the hand made item is still of importance. In the age where multiple copies of something that can be created from an electronic file anywhere around the world at the same time, a unique Creation holds value and interest.

4. Pieces that can be easily appropriated are of increased interest if:

Everytime they are viewed, they are viewed differently, using laws of Randomness. Thus, no two viewings will ever be the same.

5. The idea of using various media, such as a visual part and a audible part (or time, or tatse, touch, feel, or what have you) and using them to create the entire "picture" is key to composition. The reason behind this is my theory that memories are a "snapshot over time", and not just a singular "snapshop" of a person place or thing.

For example, Writing works best when it describes what's happening using senses, not just stated the obvious (Show, don't tell). No one cares about the obvious. No one likes to be told what to do. Allow people to understand what's possible.

Although free to use all senses, the artwork will stay mostly visual, since this sense is the most developed in humans; 80% of the brain is used to compute visual signals.

6. Series of art can be done, but similar pieces should never be done using the same material. The time should never be wasted saying a similar thing in the exact same way. Do a sculpture of your painting, a movie about your sculpture. This will lead to great leaps in thought.

Why?

The lives we live today are increasingly complex and fast-paced. It is of interest to take daily observances and see them in a different speed or frame of reference, to be better understand your time.

Many things we do are complex and a way to allow ourselves to grow as a civilization is to share ideas and Processes. You should not be able to copyright a philosohy. The sharing of ideas is the basic responsibility of everyone.

All this work should make the viewer want to respond. A way for them to respond should be given.

"When he woke up, the Dinosaur was still there"

"'Shut up', he explained."