Master copy, Evening Landscape: A Windmill by a Stream by Jacob Van Ruisdael (around 1650), Process, Materials, Reference Texts
Read MoreMaster copy, Evening Landscape: A Windmill by a Stream by Jacob Van Ruisdael (around 1650), Process, Materials, Reference Texts
Read MoreAug 12, 2020
Presenting two videos conveying two versions of a sunset experienced at Baie des Anges in Nice. The names are PEBBLES and SEA VIEW (each 1’ 14s). While making these, I was asking myself what “reality” is and what different mediums may mean to the artist and the viewer.
A few quick notes on Painting and Video…
These two videos were created to respond to each other as two views of the same experience. The videos attempt to speak about different overlaying realities, reality as seen by the human eye, reality through the means of painting, reality as seen by a digital recording device (iPhone) or a software program, and the reality of a person’s emotions and thoughts. These are all taking place simultaneously.
The SEA VIEW is also a video about painting; I believe that the
practice of painting (and other handmade art forms) is very important
right now because of the experience it provides the painter him/herself.
For the painter, a painting can hold many different realities
simultaneously. Below, find a few thoughts on painting that came to my
mind as I was making these videos.
- As a painting is made, it provides an instant trace of the human hand and serves as a tactile proof of existence in real-time and space. Every painting carries a personal story and memory to the person who made it. It is a form of a recording of a person’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences conveyed through gesture, line, and color by means of very simple tools and materials. Therefore, a very open, affordable, and egalitarian medium accessible to most people.
- While viewers often tend to compare paintings with photographs, for the painter, it is rather an experience that unfolds through time. So, in that sense, it might be appropriate to compare painting to video, a medium that also may hold memories unfolding over time.
- In contemporary life, Painting (and other “handmade” art forms) can act as a counterbalance to the virtual world. It may serve as the dialectic opposite to the virtual and digitized reality.
- For viewers who are not painters or familiar with the painterly process, video medium can be very alluring and may convey stories and different realities in a more convincing and direct way than a painting itself. However, the production of a digital video requires a camera, a computer, knowledge of software, etc. The artist is dependent on technology, and the artist’s voice is mediated through technology. Video is a medium made through technology to be viewed through the means of a technical device; a screen or a projector. It is a medium that indirectly perpetuates and accentuates our civilisation’s dependence on technology.
- When a painter looks at a painting, he/she looks at the structure, composition, brush strokes, the materials, the reflections, the color compositions, etc. He/she also thinks of the process of making it. This is a world of its own that is less accessible to the general public unless explained by other means such as language, film, or immersive environments.
- A painting can only be appreciated fully in person and through time. No technical device is necessary to experience it. To view a painting is an intimate experience and ought to be valued as such. Because of this, paintings should not be treated as objects of “mass consumption.” In my opinion, it isn’t possible to fully experience a painting in a group or in a crowded environment. Also, a photograph of a painting cannot, by any means, replace the experience of the painting itself.
- On the web, paintings are presented, but the images are digital photographs of paintings, not the paintings themselves. The web is, therefore, a celebration of photography above and beyond any other medium. The photographs act as substitutes of the real objects, and only part of the story is therefore conveyed. Many times, the wrong story is conveyed. Paintings and art that don’t translate easily into photography will suffer from this.
- A painting is an object that remains rather unchanged through time. The painting can carry a monetary exchange value; therefore, the cultural value of a painting is often confused with its monetary value. The market and the art world participants (artists, galleries, curators) benefit from upholding this vision. In my opinion, the cultural value of a painting, as noted above, is not related to the monetary value.
- If an artist strives to create immersive experiences as a means to engage a wider public in art, a good gesture would be to make viewers paint their own paintings. In this way, the viewer will be personally engaged in the process of making art, and as a result, will acquire a different understanding and appreciation for the painting medium and art in general.
Aug 07, 2020
written in preparation for the installation LA POETIQUE DES LAVOIRS held in three wash basins in the village of Saorge in 2013.
NARCISSUS HUBLOT EST2013 ECHO SYSTEME TURBO
VIDAGE
Rêvez, rêvez de moi !... Sans vous, belles fontaines,
IMPERMEABILISER
Ma beauté, ma douleur, me seraient incertaines.
ANTI-FROISSAGE
Je chercherais en vain ce que j'ai de plus cher,
BASKETS
Sa tendresse confuse étonnerait ma chair,
LAINE
Et mes tristes regards, ignorants de mes charmes,
DEPART PAUSE
À d'autres que moi-même. Adresseraient leurs larmes...
ESSORAGE
Vous attendiez, peut-être, un visage sans pleurs,
AIR CHAUD
Vous calmes, vous toujours de feuilles et de fleurs,
SYNTHETIQUES DELICATS
Et de l'incorruptible altitude hantées,
RINCAGE CONDUITS
Ô Nymphes !... Mais docile aux pentes enchantées
90°
Qui me firent vers vous d'invincibles chemins,
1200
Souffrez ce beau reflet des désordres humains !
RAJOUT DE LINGE
Heureux vos corps fondus, Eaux planes et profondes !
MARCHE EXPRESS
Tout texte en majuscules: machine à laver générique
Tout texte en minuscule: Fragments du Narcisse, Written by Paul Valéry
NARCISSUS SHORT
(short version installed as vinyl lettering at Fontana de Medge)
VIDAGE
Rêvez, rêvez de moi!…Sans vous, belles fontaines,
IMPERMEABILISER
Ma beauté, ma douleur, me seraient incertaines.
ANTI-FROISSAGE
Dites, ne suis-je pas celui que vous croyez…
RINÇAGE CONDUITS
Souffrez ce beau reflet des désordres humains !
RAJOUT DE LINGE
Heureux vos corps fondus, Eaux planes et profondes !
AUTRES OPTIONS
Profondeur, profondeur, songes qui me voyez,
LAINE
O semblable!...Et pourtant plus parfait que moi-même,
OPHELIA WHIRLPOOL ULTRA WITH SENSE LIVE TECHNOLOGY
SUPER DELICAT
There's rosemary,
SENSING
that's for remembrance.
WARM HIGH SPIN
Pray you, love, remember.
QUICK DRY
And there's pansies, that's for thoughts.
HOLD DOOR OPEN
There's fennel for you, and columbines.
TOUCH UP
There's rue for you, and here's some for me.
ALL COLD RINSES
We may call it herb of grace o' Sundays.
HEAVY DUTY
Oh, you must wear your rue with a difference.
MORE LESS DAMP
There's a daisy. I would give you some violets,
TIMING
but they withered all when my father died.
DOOR LOCKED
They say he made a good end.
HOLD THREE SECONDS
OPHELIA 1598 HPP HAMLET PLUS PRO :
SOIE ET VOLAGE
Voici du romarin
JEANS
c'est comme souvenir:
VIDAGE EXPRESS 15 MIN
de grâce, amour, souvenez-vous;
RAJOUT DE LINGE
et voici des pensées, en guise de pensées.
EXPRESS TACHES
Voici pour vous du fenouil et des ancolies.
SYNTHETIQUES
Voilà de la rue pour vous, et en voici un peu pour moi;
COTON AVEC PRELAVAGE
nous pouvons bien toutes deux l'appeler herbe de grâce,
REPASSAGE RAPIDE
mais elle doit avoir à votre main un autre sens qu'à la mienne...
SPORT INTENSIF
Voici une pâquerette. Je vous aurais bien donné des violettes,
ECO TIME
mais elles se sont toutes fanées, quand mon père est mort...
DEPART PAUSE LAINE
on dit qu'il a fait une bonne fin.
PAUSE 3h
Tout texte en majuscules: machine à laver générique
Tout texte en minuscule: Ophélia in Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 5, written by William Shakespeare, 1598
NEVER ENDING SPINCYCLE
(text based on a compilation of washing machine texts)
Hot
Warm
Cold
High
Medium
Low
On
Off
Spin Speed
End of Cycle Signal
Hold 3 seconds
Lock/Unlock
Control
Wash temp
All cold rinses
Start
Press and Hold
Pause/ Cancel
Door locked
High
Medium
Low
Extra Low
Air Only
Temp Adjust
More Dry
Normal
Less Dry
Dryness
Autocycles
On
Off
End of Cycle Signal
Sensing
Wet
Damp
Cool Down
Cycle Complete
Wrinkle Shield
Power
Auto
Dry
Damp
Super Delicate
Delicate
Casual
Normal
Heavy Duty
Touch Up
Quick Dry
Timed Dry
Timing
Add a garment
Wash
Rinse
Spin
Cycle Complete
HOT
LOW
END
ALL
AIR
DRY
OFF
WET
ADD
HOT AIR
DRY OFF
WET END
ADD ALL
LOW
WARM
HIGH
SPIN
HOLD
WASH
TEMP
DOOR
LOCK
HOLD
ONLY
MORE
LESS
DAMP
COOL
AUTO
DAMP
DUTY
WASH
WARM HIGH SPIN
HOLD DOOR OPEN
COOL WASH DUTY
AUTO LOCK ONLY
MORE LESS DAMP
Charge
Dosage
Court
Hydro Plus
Séchage doux
Autres Options
Taches
Autre programmes
Air chaud
Repassage rapide
Défroissage
Vidange
Essorage
Rinçage Conduits
Coton
Synthétique
Jeans
Laine
Express
Chemises
Automatic
Séchage
Séchage Délicat
Défroiss. Vapeur
Nett. Cuve
Imperméabiliser
Chemises/ Chemisières
Express 15 min
Arrêt
Vidage
Coton
Coton éco
Synthétiques
Mix
Délicat
Soie
Laine
Rinçage Essorage
Rajout de linge
Départ Pause
Programmes Quotidiens
Coton avec prélavage
Coton blanc
Coton
Coton couleurs
Synthétiques
Synthétiques délicats
Spéciaux
Laine
Soie et voilage
Jeans
Express
Sport
Sport intensif
Sport léger
Baskets
On Off
Eco time
90°
90°
60°
40°
60°
40°
6 kg
400
500
600
700
800
1000
1200
3h
6h
9h
12h
marche
pause
RUBBER-BAND WORK-OUT
warm up
3 crunches
6 pushups
9 squats
20 knee high running
strap band around something at medium height
face the rubber bands pull back and squat each leg at a time
back towards the rubber-bands, take step forward and punch both arms at the same time
put strap under feet walk right (15 steps) pull out straight right leg 5 times
repeat to the other side
squat using the bands and stretch out overhead
3 crunches
6 pushups
9 squats
20 knee high running
strap band around something at medium height
face the rubber bands pull back and squat each leg at a time
back towards the rubber bands, wing flap both arms towards the center
stand on rubber band, do curls
stand on rubber band, extend one arm at a time do back of arm muscle with arm overhead bending back
crunches, attach band to door behind, do sit-ups
on all four, fit handle on foot, hold rubber band with two hands against floor, stretch leg back and up
hold rubber band with hand, flap bent leg (diagonally across from hand)
repeat on other leg
put strap under feet walk right (15 steps) pull out straight right leg 5 times
repeat to the other side
band crunch
repeat as needed
Aug 06, 2020
Besides continuing developing my painterly skills and my understanding of pictorial space, part of me finds a need to start classifying or make some sense of the work I've produced for the past six months. Also, while I would like to keep my process completely unpredictable, open, and based on intuition, I would like to find a way to present my research and all the information that I have gathered. When one employs an intuitive process that isn't goal-oriented or censored, one ends up with an impressive amount of work and information. I think the reason for this is that when one works towards a "goal," this actually reduces the output, meaning it takes away the "flow."
Today, I started to count what I've produced in my studio during the past six months:
- 345 drawings and paintings in various mediums
- seven sculptures in wood, cardboard, and paper
- various displays and installations of my artwork in my studio
- eight small sketchbooks with notes and drawings
- 3,200 iPhone photographs (featuring my process in the studio, daily walks)
-926 videos (studio process, daily walks, videos of Instagram feed), a few edited to short videos placed on social media
- daily posts on FB and Instagram
- daily reading of critical articles in the NY Times, le Monde and various art magazines (on average two-three articles per day)
- several hundreds of pages of printouts of artworks by other artists
- daily reading of academic articles
So, it feels a little overwhelming. I now think that the time has come to start looking at these different things I've produced and start thinking of what they represent. I'd enjoy presenting my research into the meaning of Painting in a more cohesive format that can be shared with others. At the moment, I'm thinking of using my artistic output (paintings, photos, videos) in three ways simultaneously, inserted as images into a video, compiled into a book, and used as materials for collage paintings or sculptures.
To not feel overwhelmed and discouraged, my mind turned to Carl von Linné, the botanist who invented the two-name system, binomial nomenclature, which gave a generic and specific epithet (genus and species) to organisms. During his lifetime, he named and organized over 14,000 plants. (His work interests me also because the naming of plants coincided with an increase in the transportation and dispersion of plants across the globe fueled by colonization, a subject I touched upon in my Plantes Voyageuses exhibition in 2014.)
I did a little search and found an article written by James Prosek in the New York Times that traced Carl von Linné's journey in Lapland in northern Sweden. I thought it was well written, and it made my mind travel. I hope you will enjoy it. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/0...
Once we put a name on something, as Linnaeus did compulsively, we've identified ourselves as the observer and the named thing as the observed — a barrier is placed between, lines are drawn. If I am observing, it suggests that I am separate from nature, but in some of my best and most memorable moments, I am part of it, when a certain amount of the knowing is shed. Such a moment happened on the vast lake in Lapland as we watched a thousand shades of day flirt on the horizon with darkness in colors beyond names and perhaps even beyond language. "
James Prosek, "A Botanist in Swedish Lapland"
By observing, describing and naming the artworks I've made, I will create a distance between myself and the intuitive process, however, by naming I also recognize the existence and unique qualities of these intuitive artworks.
"To name a thing is to acknowledge its existence as separate from everything else that has a name; to confer upon it the dignity of autonomy while at the same time affirming its belonging with the rest of the namable world; to transform its strangeness into familiarity, which is the root of empathy. To name is to pay attention; to name is to love. Parents name their babies as a first nonbiological marker of individuality amid the human lot; lovers give each other private nicknames that sanctify their intimacy; it is only when we began naming domesticated animals that they stopped being animals and became pets. "
Maria Popova, "How Naming Confers Dignity Upon Life and Gives Meaning to Existence"
Popova, Maria, "How Naming Confers Dignity Upon Life and Gives Meaning to Existance," Brainpickings.org
https://www.brainpickings.org/
Prosek, James, "A Botanist in Lapland," NY Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/0...
Many of you have followed the artistic process that I have shared on social media during the past six months. Besides investigating what meaning painting has for me personally, and for society as a whole, my research has examined the creative process itself. I have aimed to pursue a studio practice that is open and fluid without set boundaries – where the continuity and linearity of the artistic process is continuously called into question, so to eliminate the urge to strive for a final goal.
I've allowed my process to be completely open, permitting it to change almost daily as I responded to what I saw, read, or experienced in both the real and virtual world. By applying various rules, I've challenged myself to keep the process going. I've also been fortunate to engage with artists, art historians, and other persons in various forms of dialogues relating to art. This has stimulated me to delve deeper. Further, I've resisted my urge to classify and censor my artistic output. Social media has served as both a recording device and as a means of keeping my process in a continuous destabilizing state of flux. My aim for this was to mirror, in my artistic practice, what is actually happening in the real world and to question my own habits and preconceived ideas. Through the means of art, painting, and intuition, I sought to explore hidden parts of myself. It is true that painting, because of its fluidity, may be one of the best ways to explore intuition and the subconscious of the mind. Already, after six months, I have a better understanding of my own feelings as they relate to painting and my art-making process in general.
However, when an art process relies solely on intuition and feelings, it feels very destabilizing. There are days when the process itself makes me feel "dizzy" or "disoriented" due to the lack of structure and boundaries. One also feels very exposed and vulnerable as if there is nothing there but a feeling of emptiness. It almost touches on the sublime, meaning infinitely beautiful, but at the same time, terrifying. After engaging in this for months, I feel more and more at ease; however, it still feels like a balancing act. Apparently, these feelings are familiar to artists exploring this type of creative output.
Below are a couple of quotes from an essay written by Theresa Hardman called 'Understanding Creative Intuition:'
The collective unconscious specifically is, according to Jung, the source of intuition and instinct. In his theory of the collective unconscious, Jung describes it as a fluid, sympathetic, 'boundless expanse,
a place of unprecedented uncertainty, with apparently no inside and no outside, no above and no below, no here and no there, no mine and no thine, no good and no bad. It is the world of water, where all life floats in suspension; where the realm of the sympathetic nervous system, the soul of everything living, begins; where I am indivisibly this and that; where I experience the other in myself and the other-than-myself experiences me.
According to Jung, the unconscious (both personal and collective) is therefore synonymous with ego loss, in that the unconscious eliminates boundaries between the 'I' and the rest of the world. He states that the creative person is somehow able to connect unconscious knowledge with conscious ideas, which often results in a creative product or action. Creative intuition is a communication between the conscious mind and the collective unconscious, which suggests possibilities inherent in a subject or situation.This recalls Heidegger's concept of Being, which is an openness to the world through one's state of mind. It involves self-abandonment – an emptiness of mind, not seeking, but listening, waiting and reflecting. In his essay, 'The Origin of the Work of Art', Heidegger writes that in this state of mind 'the artist remains inconsequential as compared with the work, almost like a passageway that destroys itself in the creative process for the work to emerge'. By adopting a passive and receptive state of mind, ordinary, habitual ways of thinking are annihilated, and the artists may be open to the poetic moment. In another essay 'The thinker as poet', he claims: 'We never come to thoughts. They come to us. That is the proper hour of discourse.' Heidegger describes the artist as 'one who truly knows what is', in other words, a person deeply aware of every passing moment of Being and completely open to its possibilities. A Buddhist concept related to this is sunyata, which can be described as the living void, the passing concreteness of experience, which is continually opening to us. It is understood as non-anthropocentric in that, in this void, the individual self loses its separateness and merges with reality beyond itself.
Theresa Hardman, 'Understanding Creative Intuition' is available for download here:
Nov 15, 2017
-Top: Aurelie Nemours, Carré d'Angle, 26/45, 1985/1991
-Middle: The Beach of Nice
-Claude Viallat, 1968/005, 1968
A blue and white stretched umbrella embraces the sunset. A paper with prints of squares in different formations faces the viewer behind protective glass in a museum. A white fabric covered with a repetitive pattern of identical amorphous shapes is draped along a wall like wallpaper sliding silently by the visitor. All of these installations share common denominators of simple geometric patterns on white backgrounds. What differs? Which one would you pick? I’ll pick the one with the best view.
Nov 14, 2017
Hanging loosely from laundry lines, this early work by Nice artist Noël Dolla named Structure étendoir from 1967, speaks about the elements of painting and sculpture. Small cloths in different sizes and patterns hang from clotheslines supported by a suspended wooden frame. Like many other artists of the soon to be movement of Support/Surfaces, Dolla questions if painting is more than a stretched and supported piece of cloth and wood stretchers? Can painting become sculpture and have depth? Can art be part of daily life? Structure étendoir brings forth an association with laundry, it is a work that evokes the local character of the streets of Nice. Still today, city dwellers hang their laundry outside of their windows. This brings me to think that the back streets of Nice are actually where the art is and not in the museum.
Further, it seems to me that this piece brings up the importance of gender in art. In 1967, it was certainly provocative for a male artist to equal painting to laundry especially as women historically had performed this chore. At the time, the work of women artist was rarely displayed in galleries; however, fresh laundry was on public display in the streets of Nice. The avant-garde art movements located in Nice, loosely grouped under the name of École de Nice, included remarkably few female artists. However, the female form was a recurrent motif and inspiration for many of these male artists. So, I wonder if a woman had presented this work would it have had the same effect? In any case, Dolla choses to use laundry, what women do, as a muse rather than what women look like draped on an exotic chair.
In comparison, occupying similar conceptual territory, French artist Daniel Buren installed six years later, in October 1973, a site specific work called Within and Beyond the Frame at John Weber Gallery in New York. Here, Buren displays eighteen vertically striped panels stretched on lines, top and bottom, from the inside of the gallery to the other side of the street. Nine panels placed on the inside and nine on the outside. Being dependent on the support of the building walls, its meaning is generated by its New York urban context. It could be seen as a critique of the enclosed and dominant art market in New York.
Buren's Within and Beyond the Frame feels tight, structured and militant. Maybe it is after all more closely associated with advertising banners and flags than laundry. In comparison Dolla's loosely held Structure étendoir, displays a warmth and visual poetry closely associated with the beauty of daily life. I can't help but feel that when a clothesline becomes the gallery, there are no longer any limits for the painter. The artist is free.
White laundry overlooking an art opening at gallery Espace à Vendre in Nice.
Traduction en français
Librement suspendu sur des cordes à linge, cette œuvre de l’année 1967 par l’artiste niçois Noël Dolla, nommée Structure étendoir, parle des éléments de la peinture et de la sculpture. De petites toiles de tailles et motifs variables sont suspendues sur un cadre en bois. Comme beaucoup d’autres artistes du mouvement Support/ Surfaces, qui serait bientôt formé, Dolla se demande si la peinture pourrait comporter plus qu’une toile tendue supportée par des châssis en bois ? L’art peut-il participer au quotidien ?
Structure étendoir montre clairement une association avec le linge. C’est une œuvre qui évoque le caractère local des rues de Nice. Encore aujourd’hui, les citadins suspendent leur linge sur le rebord de leurs fenêtres. Ceci m’incite à croire que c’est dans les ruelles que l’art existe et non pas au musée.
En outre, il me semble que cette pièce aborde l’importance du genre en art. En 1967, c’était certainement provocant pour un artiste homme d’égaler la peinture avec du linge. Notamment car selon la tradition c’était les femmes qui faisaient cette corvée. À l’époque, le travail des femmes artistes était rarement exposé dans les galeries, cependant, le linge était présenté au public dans les rues de Nice. Les mouvements avant-gardes de Nice, vaguement regroupés sous le nom de l’École de Nice, comptaient très peu de femmes artistes parmis les membres. Pourtant, la forme féminine était un motif récurrent et servait d’inspiration pour un grand nombre de ces artistes hommes. En conséquence, je me demande si une femme avait présenté ce travail aurait-il eu le même effet ? En tous cas, Dolla choisit d’employer le linge, ce que les femmes produisent, comme muse plutôt que l’apparence des femmes drapées sur une chaise exotique.
En comparaison, occupant un domaine conceptuel similaire, l’artiste français Daniel Buren a installé, en Octobre 1973, une œuvre in situ nommée Within and Beyond the Frame à John Weber Gallery à New York. Ici, Buren déploie dix-huit panneaux à rayures verticaux tendus par des fils en haut et en bas, depuis l’intérieur de la galerie jusqu’à l’autre côté de la rue. Neuf panneaux à l’intérieur et neuf panneaux à l’extérieur. Dépendant du support des murs et du lieu, sa signification est produite par le contexte urbain de New York. Il peut être considéré comme une critique de l’enfermement et la domination du marché de l’art de New York.
L’œuvre Within and Beyond the Frame donne l’impression d’être raide, structurée et militante. Peut-être qu’après tout cette œuvre est plus proche des bannières de publicité ou des drapeaux que du linge. En comparaison, l’œuvre Structure étendoir de Dolla semble librement tenue et montre une chaleur et une poésie visuelle associées avec la beauté du quotidien. Je ne peux pas m’empêcher de penser qu’une fois une corde à linge devient la galerie, il n’y a plus de limites pour le peintre. L’artiste est libre.
The formal foundation of all my work lays in color, geometry, and the expanded field of painting. From this base the work develops and changes to adapt to specific projects, constraints or locations. Most of my work is first contemplated in writing and thereafter planned through a series of sketches and architectural drawings. The selection of the materials and color palette is an important and integral part of the planning process. I often use materials that are not considered traditional art materials, which forces me to continuously develop new techniques. As I start working with the materials, intuition takes over the creative process. I enjoy having a dialogue with the materials that I use and enjoy being surprised and challenged by unexpected results.
Jul 07, 2017
Jul 06, 2017
Donald Judd once said, “Confusion is simply confusion and clarity is fundamental to art”. In the vein of pensiero debole, I would like to reverse this statement by suggesting that clarity is simply clearness, and confusion is fundamental to art. My work is not intentionally structured to confuse the viewer, but my creative process is circular argument rather than a linear one.