Month: December 2006

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All art is conceptual art

Another idea that clarified in the podcast. The concept may not be conscious or articulated, but retrospectively it can be seen as something wanting to be born. Just as I can ask “what does this project want?” what is in it’s conception, we could ask that of anyone’s work. I am not thinking of each painting, but of the project… all those paintings of van Gogh spread around the world, and with a museum of their own… it is a sort of installation, institution.

I liked listening to Edward as this question led him from the lemon through the Zen brush strokes back to the lemon. It is all about a vitality in the stroke… it has either got it or it hasn’t.

The concept here in Thousand Sketches? Exploring the psyche in cyberspace – I found it very liberating to realise that a month or two back. What does it mean more specifically?

Some pointers in these words:

Variety – philogeny – evolution – recapitulation

Autobiography – unconscious

Conversation

Global – local – national

Technology – medium – nature

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Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny

This is really more show notes for the podcast we did yesterday.

Wikipedia

Ontogeny is the growth (size change) and development (shape change) of an individual organism; phylogeny is the evolutionary history of a species. Haeckel’s recapitulation theory claims that the development of the individual of every species fully repeats the evolutionary development of that species. Otherwise put, each successive stage in the development of an individual represents one of the adult forms that appeared in its evolutionary history. Haeckel formulated his theory as such: “Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny”. This notion later became simply known as recapitulation.

image

It applies in some cases in biology but I love how it makes sense of something in art. And I feel a licence to recapitulate, which without legitimacy or consciousness I have found a bit depressing.

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Conversations with Edward

I spent a pleasant day with Edward Coughlan and we did some art, walked, drank coffee & talked a lot.

Art: “Just as You are” – the words of Zuiken my digital version is in the next post, Edward’s lino cut print is also in the next post.

Here is the Podcast: The topics covered include ideas about art, and how thinking about it impacts on our work.

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What follows is a mindmap of the podcast & some of Edward’s pictures we talked about.

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Edward’s View

#230 Edwards View
Click for larger image.

Had a good day with Edward today – more in the next post.

Deleted a few today, part of not feeling inspired. (The previous landscape was done yesterday – actually very early this morning in my night-owl mode) Some were very bland… almost wished I could post that blandness up as it was in me, not with respect to ideas, just could not sketch!) This one got through, not really bland, but has something of the feel.

~

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Foothills

#229 Foothills
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I like the idea of a series of sketches from the road between Christchurch and our place in North Canterbury at Mt. Lyford – this one is from a photo looking back as we went home last time in the late evening. Just after Waiau I think.

I watched a video of David Hockney last night – really liked it. One painting “Mulholland Drive” was discussed and I appreciated the way he can give an artists impression of an experience. Perhaps this sort of sketch (though with the robotic Cyclops eye) might lead to me being able to do a hotter version – one with my experience in it more fully.

For all that this one has an emerging signature in it, one that I can now see in a few of the landscapes. I have not finished exploring this style!

~

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Following the flame – Jung’s Dream

Posting a sketch here by L Laughy from Nithwave for inspiration.

I had a walk & talk with Kate yesterday and we were musing over our projects – her horse treks & my sketches. She told me the story of Jung’s dream with the candle. I found it really useful to keep me focussed here & today has been a busy Thousand Sketches day! No sketches, but podcasts & posts and a few good emails have come & gone.

Then as luck would have it when googling for Jung’s dream I found the words accompanying a beautiful moleskine sketch, I’ll post the words and then the sketch.

“I had a dream which both frightened and encouraged me. It was night in some unknown place, and I was making slow and painful headway against a mighty wind. Dense fog was flying along everywhere. I had my hands cupped around a tiny light which threatened to go out at any moment. Everything depended on my keeping the little light alive. Suddenly I had the feeling that something was coming up behind me. I looked back, and saw a gigantic black figure following me. But at the same moment I was conscious in spite of my terror, that I must keep my little light going through night and wind, regardless of the dangers. When I awoke I realized at once that the figure was my own shadow on the swirling mists, brought into being by the little light I was carrying. I knew too that this little light was my consciousness, the only light I have. Though infinitely small and fragile in comparison with the powers of darkness, it is still a light, my only light.”

From: C. G. Jung, Memories, Dreams and Reflections.

Continue reading “Following the flame – Jung’s Dream”

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