bras for a cause

Lately, I have been working on my own art, something I have not done in a long time and it feels gooooooooood.

I am working on a peice to submit to a show called ‘Bras for a Cause’ - a breast cancer fundraiser taking place in Port Perry at my moms art gallery -Meta4. Peice are submitted to the jury and will be auctioned off to raise money. I am working with wax, one of my favorite mediums. In the past I have cast wax primarily, but this time I actually painted it onto myself wearing an old bra, and when it was thick enough and hard enough I was able to take it off and peel the old bra off, leaving me with two slid wax cups. At the moment they are red and bland, but i am enjoying the process and now that I have the basic structure and shape, i get to play around with attaching, decorating and actually building the bra. I’ll post pictures when its done!

‘kind of love making’

 another essay that I wrote…yes, I am aware the first paragraph is the same/similar to the previous essay posted….it just suited both!…..

            The unrest and struggles that arose from national crisis in the United States in the 1960’s allowed artists some form of “aesthetic liberation”[1] and to take up a voice about the “nature and limits of art itself.”[2] It was a “unique period of massive development” that was responding to “a unique geographical and political situation”[3], and some artists believed that “something happened” in Canada that “happened nowhere else”[4]. This freedom provoked new thinking in the discourse on art and some of the developing movements and emerging styles. It was a time of renewal and drastic change, heralding also, the Confederation in 1967 and a sense of patriotism throughout Canada, which found its way into many artists’ works. Sexuality, gender issues, equality and feminism came to the forefront of discussion, liberating some of the previously conservative thoughts on the subject while also causing conflict and controversy. This time of turmoil and discovery of a Canadian sense of patriotism and identity is reflected in the themes and undertones in many artists’ works of this time as is themes of sexuality and independence. Joyce Wieland, AA Bronson and Alex Colville all explore aspects of a search for identity, through self-observation and exploration, and the depiction of bodily elements. Questions of sex and sexuality are also raised in these works, however they are explored and depicted in dramatically different manners. In a sense, each of these artists are creating self-portraits, expressive of their bodies, identities, sexuality and gender in a personal manner and style.

            Feeling the pressures that were put on the post-war woman to return to her role as the domestic wife after the war, a young Joyce Wieland struggled with indecision in her attempt to define her own role without being deviant from the accepted “norm” of the time. [5] In her diaries, Wieland expressed her conflicted feelings, and sense of a limited amount of time in order to both become a wife and mother, and still fulfill her dream of working as an artist[6]. She ultimately fulfilled two of her three dreams – marrying fellow artist Michael Snow, and becoming an incredibly influential Canadian artist for the duration of her career. However, she was never able to have children, a sad topic addressed in some of the underlying themes of her works[7]. She did become one of Canada’s most “prolific and influential artists” and she “explored and pushed the limits of many artistic concepts throughout her career”[8].

            Wieland’s first works were influenced largely by abstract expressionist works, but also by the sense of humor and topics, such as female and male sexual imagery, which was “typical” of the emerging style of Pop Art at the time[9].  Time Machine produced in 1961 is an extremely autobiographical work, like much of her works[10], and emphasizes the female imagery she favored at the time, despite the “infamous prudery of Toronto in those years” [11].

            The work itself is a large canvas, painted various hues of blue in the background, with a large, centralized circular form, bright orange and stain-like – in contemporary terms one might label it as “central-core imagery”[12], used by such Abstract Expressionists as William Ronald.

            Wieland seemed to be attracted to the feminine, she sought out “potential images which have remained unexplored by her male counterparts” and she attempted to “construct an aesthetic, based upon a tradition which she saw as belonging to women”[13]. She described Time Machine as a “stain-painting” which was intended to be “sex poetry” that described “universal wombs and the cycles of women”[14].  The aspect of a “stain” and the way in which the paint has been allowed to run and drip in certain places, is reminiscent of sex fluids, or even, perhaps menstrual fluids. Male sexuality is also important in this work, with phallic like objects, “delicate penises timidly approach the womb-like forms”[15].

            The overall affect of the work is a personal, sexual exploration, and perhaps celebration of femininity, as well as heterosexual pleasures, clear in the frankness of the topic and the bright colours.[16] However, Wieland also explains that this work is also “an imprint of my state; my infertility” giving the works “romantic imagery” darker implications[17]. The work draws you in, leaves you wondering and uses abstraction as simply a “vehicle of expression”[18] without having to enter into a “subject-object dialogue”[19] as a consequence to the subject matter of the self, the body and sexual identity.

            Another work exploring similar topics, but coming to very different conclusions is Snow (1969), a seriograph by Alex Colville. Colville explores self, and suggests sexuality in a much more sterile and prude manner and tends to reflect an “interest in the precise geometric articulation of space”[20]. Despite taking a much more realistic and mimetic approach to his imagery, Colville, similar to Wieland, also tends to use “central-core imagery”, placing his figures in a concentrated area of the frame[21].

            The work depicts two figures, a man and a woman, presumably reflective of Colville himself, as he modeled most males in his works after himself, and his wife, who was his model and his muse. They both have their backs to us, the viewer, and seem frozen, still, as they gaze out of the window at the freshly fallen snow. The simplicity of colour – largely peachy, yellow and flesh tones, contrasted against the crisp white of their undergarments and the snow, suggests the purity of the landscape could be reflected in the relationship between the two figures, and their surroundings, void of detail to draw our eye, places an “emphasis on the close relationship between the figures” and “draws us into that atmosphere of intimacy”[22]. The “warmth and gentleness of slight gestures” depicts an “openness and familiarity that relies on mutual trust and respect” which speaks in a personal sense to the relationship of Colville and his wife.[23] The heterosexual pleasure reflected in Wielands work, is also suggested in Snow, however the pleasures appear to be more of a companion and relationship, than sexually driven, despite that they are nude in the image. Colville was drawn towards painting because he liked that “painting is made”, a “kind of love-making – that is, it is only worthwhile to make that which one loves, respects”, an attitude that comes across in his treatment of the subjects in his works[24].

            The leading theme in the majority of Colville’s works, including Snow, is the self-reflection and personal observation in a search to depict identity, which leads us, the viewer to self-contemplation. Much of his works also give rise to an “acute tactile sensation” and causes the “unfulfilled desire to touch and become involved” in the work[25]. The distant quality in his work draws one in to wonder, in a same sense of Wielands works.

            In the vein of self-observation, Michael Tims, later dubbed AA Bronson after forming the collective General Idea in 1970, took a series of conceptual photographs entitled Mirror Sequences(1969) which included seven black and white photographs. They were self-portraits concerning the body, Bronson’s body in particular, and perhaps a search for identity or a way to measure the world in relation to the idea of self[26] and, in using different circular mirrors, explore the “ways in which the self is perceived by the other”[27]. The effect is that of a puzzle, disassembled and distorted images of his naked body, that “may or may not be able to reconstitute…a coherent whole”[28],photographed in “anonymous surroundings, without clothes or context”[29].AA Bronson was known for deliberately challenging “received notions about artistic identity”[30], something he questioned of others and of himself.

            Like Colville’s Snow, Bronson’s work is self-reflection, an attempt to depict his identity through the act of self-contemplation. The same frankness Wieland maintains in her  “sex-poetry” regarding sex and sexuality is felt in Mirror Sequences, as nothing is hidden – Bronson is creating a connection and relationship with the viewer by leaving nothing hidden, and asking for their participation in perception. Much of his work is incredibly open and invites one to be witness to every aspect of Bronson’s body and concepts behind his works. He continues to explore the self-portrait in much of his work.

            While the three works, Time Machine, Mirror Sequences & Snow are all incredibly different, working in an abstract expressionist style, conceptual photography and mimetic seriograph, respectively, they all communicate an exploration of the self-portrait or self-representation. The body is explored in relation to the sense of identity – whether it is the search for identity or the willingness to depict it. Joyce Wieland’s Time Machine is directly connected to her expression and identity as a woman, in an art world of men, and her emotions about her own sexuality and reproductive ability. It is autobiographical and expresses the emotional qualities Wieland experiences, and the importance of her femininity to her identity. Colville’s work Snow, however, depicts quite literally himself and his wife in a much more realistic and figurative manner, yet less expressive than Wieland. The distance felt in his work leaves the viewer wanting to be included, but clearly excluded from this important relationship on which his identity seems to depend.  Mirror Sequences by AA Bronson, shares the realistic and figurative style of Colville, and, like Wieland, the sexuality of the human body and his curiosity about the body is more important to his identity. The common, underlying human desires and instincts –for closeness, for understanding, respect, acceptance, love, lust, are explored and displayed by three very different artists, ultimately searching for the same answers.

            The 60’s were a time of change, revolution, revolt, and some liberation in previously more conservative views and lifestyles. This suddenly allowed topics that had remained, until now, largely unadressed in works of art, more prominent and accepted – sex and sexuality to name a few, as well as a sense of humor and freedom. Artists of all genres, including Wieland, Colville and Bronson, took this opportunity to re-asses themselves as artists and as people, and to adjust the way in which the world was changing to a more tolerant and aware place. Their incredibly different works are more closely tied than they appear with their depiction of themselves as individuals searching for an identity and representing themselves as aware of their bodies, their sexuality, their gender and their relationships towards others.                       

 

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[1] Crow, T. The Rise of the Sixties. London. Lawrence King Publishing Ltd. 1996.

[2] Crow, T. The Rise of the Sixties. London. Lawrence King Publishing Ltd. 1996.

[3] Bronson, AA. The Humiliation of the Bureaucrat. Jan., 1983. http://www.goodreads.ca/aabronson/

[4] Bronson, AA. The Humiliation of the Bureaucrat. Jan., 1983. http://www.goodreads.ca/aabronson/

[5] Lind, J. Joyce Wieland; Artist on Fire. Toronto:James Lorimer & Company Ltd. 2001.

[6] Lind, J. Joyce Wieland; Artist on Fire. Toronto:James Lorimer & Company Ltd. 2001.

[7] Paikowsky, S. Joyce Wieland. Montreal: Concordia University. 1985.

[8] Joyce Wieland. Ryserson University Online. http://imagearts.ryerson.ca/imagesandideas/pages/reference.cfm?page=121

[9] Joyce Wieland. Women Artists in Canada. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/women/002026-523-e.html

 

[10] Joyce Wieland. Women Artists in Canada. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/women/002026-523-e.html

 

[11] Paikowsky, S. Joyce Wieland. Montreal: Concordia University. 1985.

[12] Paikowsky, S. Joyce Wieland. Montreal: Concordia University. 1985.

[13] Armatage, K. The Feminine Body. https://pi.library.yorku.ca/ojs/index.php/cws/article/viewFile/12361/11444

[14] Paikowsky, S. Joyce Wieland. Montreal: Concordia University. 1985.

[15] Paikowsky, S. Joyce Wieland. Montreal: Concordia University. 1985.

[16] Paikowsky, S. Joyce Wieland. Montreal: Concordia University. 1985.

[17] Paikowsky, S. Joyce Wieland. Montreal: Concordia University. 1985.

[18] Paikowsky, S. Joyce Wieland. Montreal: Concordia University. 1985.

[19] Reid, D. A Concise History of Canadian Painting. New York: Oxford Univeristy Press. 1988.

[20] Reid, D. A Concise History of Canadian Painting. New York: Oxford Univeristy Press. 1988.

[21] Reid, D. A Concise History of Canadian Painting. New York: Oxford Univeristy Press. 1988.

[22] Burnett, D. Colville. Toronto: McLelland and Stewart Limited.

[23] Burnett, D. Colville. Toronto: McLelland and Stewart Limited.

[24] Dow, H.J. The Art of Alex Colville. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited. 1972.

[25] Reid, D. A Concise History of Canadian Painting. New York: Oxford Univeristy Press. 1988.

[26] Bronson, AA. Mirror Mirror.Cambridge: MIT Visual Arts Center. 2002.

[27] Leclerc, D., Dessureault, P. The Sixties in Canada. Ottawa. Naional Gallery of Canada. 2005.

[28] Bronson, AA. Mirror Mirror.Cambridge: MIT Visual Arts Center. 2002.

[29] Nemiroff, D. AA Bronson: Relections on the Person in the Mirror. 2002. http://www.canadacouncil.ca/prizes/ggavma/gx127240203513437500.htm?subsiteurl=%2Fcanadacouncil%2Farchives%2Fprizes%2Fggvma%2F2002%2Faa_bronson-e.asp

[30] Bronson, AA. AA Bronson’s Virtual Gallery. http://www.aabronson.com/art/index.htm

contradictions

 

work by eva hesse

 

 

 

The unrest and struggles that arose from national crisis in the United States in the 1960’s allowed artists some form of “aesthetic liberation” and to take up a voice about the “nature and limits of art itself.”  This freedom provoked new thinking in the discourse on art and some of the developing movements. Eva Hesse, a prominent German-born American sculptor, was active in the New York art scene at a pivotal time for both women and sculptors. In and era dominated by the simplicity of form stressed in Minimalism, Hesse managed to maintain a minimalist style, while questioning the idioms of the movement and instilling a personal and painterly quality, reminiscent of abstract expressionism, in her works. Contingent, in particular, depicts the culmination of her explorations into the boundaries between painting and sculpture, contradictions and her view of beauty and the absurd.

            Born into a Jewish family is concentration camp Germany in 1936, her childhood was riddled with trauma. After her families escape to New York, her parents divorced and her mothers fell into severe depression, which led to her eventual suicide. Hesse’s dark and expressive sensibility in her work that derived from her past was contrasted with her romantic belief  in “the redemptive quality of art,” which gave her work a humanistic quality uncharacteristic of other minimalist works. After graduating with her Masters from Yale University in 1959, she met Tom Doyle a “more mature and developed artist” whom she married in 19619 and together they moved to Ruhr, in West Germany, to, in 1964. Hesse had been struggling for years with her art, plagued by the “atmosphere defined by the Holocaust” that she felt upon her return to her native Germany. Her attempt to find her artistic and creative niche were convoluted by the questions that  “women were beginning to ask”  about their identity as the feminist movement began to emerge. She “fought to achieve recognition at a time when the art world acknowledge few women”, and when sculpture, in particular, was seen as a male form of expression.

It wasn’t until Doyle suggested that she experiment with materials lying around the factory where they lived, that she found a love for string and chord. She started a series of relief works where she literally translated the lines from her drawings onto masonite panels. Shortly after their return to New York, Hesse and Doyle’s marriage collapsed and Hesse was freed from her husbands shadow.

            With the relief works as a starting point in sculpture, Hesse discovered “her mature vocabulary” and toyed with different materials and Minimalist formal devices such as repetition.  Her works “carried an air or mirth and jokiness and an unmistakable whiff of eroticism”, which allowed her pieces a feeling of humanism  not typical of Minimalism, since, according to Jeanne Siegel, she never  “fleshed out the exactitude” required for the movement.  Hesse was also influenced by Anti-form, a movement announced in a 1968 article in Artforum by Robert Morris, known for informal installations18 and “random pilling” and “loose stacking” which rejected and criticized the form of minimalism.

Painting, the medium in which she was originally trained, always remained the strongest influence in her work. Her sculptures remained very frontal and often were  “dependent on the wall,” whether it was hanging on the wall such as Metronomic Irregularity 111  which is a mounted sculpture or in Accretion which consists of  50 fiberglass and polyester resin tubes leaning against a wall.  Expanded Expansion is dependent on the wall in such a way that it is a screen-like, wall structure. She also remained very concerned with the surface of her works, playing with texture and luminosity, constructing things in layers, sometimes binding and wrapping in an obsessive, often labor intensive manner.  Ultimately, however, it was the “intrinsic qualities” of the material that “conveyed meaning” . She experimented and explored, letting the material take its form, similar to the painting process of abstract expressionism.  Her works showed the process of things being transformed so that “painting and sculpture can no longer be neatly distinguished.” Her experimentation led to the feeling that her works create “tension between geometric and organic forms” and explore contradictions and opposites, enjoying the absurd that arises from the juxtapositions she creates.

In April of 1969, Eva Hesse collapsed and was rushed to hospital. 28 It was discovered that she had a brain tumor. Over the following year, she underwent three unsuccessful operations and became increasingly ill. Contingent, one of her last five pieces, embodies her view on art, beauty, material and process. In an interview with Cindy Nemser in 1970 Hesse explains how she “ started the piece before I got sick, which was last year.”  The piece was on the cover, in full color, of Artforum in May of 1970, the same month that Eva Hesse died.  The work consists of eight banner-like strips of cheesecloth, covered on the top and bottom with reinforced fiberglass, and latex in the middle section. The latex is pulled taut between the weight of the end pieces as all the pieces hang in a row, spaced apart, perpendicular the wall. It was completed by friends, as Hesse was too ill to complete it herself, and she supervised from her bed.       

Contingent brings to mind layers of skin, or bandages, with both the texture and colour. In this way, the piece maintains a feeling of being organic, which contrasts the formal and minimalist elements of the work.  Something seems haunting, yet familiar – as if each hanging cloth holds a similar tension and presence as a human  body.

The particular choice of materials also speaks to the presence that this work holds. Latex has a shelf life of about six months before it starts to deteriorate, change colour, and eventually become fragile and brittle.  According to her Catalog Raisonne “she was very aware that it was temporary….She would say that it was an attribute. Everything was for the process – a moment in time, not meant to last.” This creates a contrast in the work – the tension between the extreme durability of the fiberglass next to the ephemeral and temporary use of latex. She knew that life was not permanent, and did not feel that art should be either. “Absurdity” she felt, was “the key word. It has to do with contradictions and oppositions”.

Artist Jackie Winsor “felt that there was a quality in the color and texture of the surface” that seemed to carry an “emotional pitch that was very poetic and haunting” and created more of an ambience. It speaks to an “extremely personal” reach of experience that is “beyond or beneath speech,” and its authority is derived from its originality. Hesse’s concern seems to be with the “condition of the edge” – she is not focused on the boundaries within a type of work, but rather with the edges and lines that separate painting from drawing, allowing this work to be neither and both. The work feels both beautiful and repulsive, a border she enjoyed to tempt while playing with space and  intrusive abilities of edges. She had hoped to “get to non-art, non connotative, non anthromorphic, non geometric, non, nothing” and wondered “how to achieve by not achieving? How to make by not making?.”

            While Hesse never touched on topics of revolution or politics of the world that surrounded her in her work, nor did her experience with the Holocaust, nor her relationships with the men in her life ever seep into her pieces. Issues of gender roles can rarely be seen, nor are any blatant opinions or messages made clear. What comes across, rather, is her belief in the absolute absurdity of life, which she expresses in her joy of playing with extreme opposites and contradictions. She was able to change the view of women in art, sculpture, and shifted the perception of Minimalism.

“No one can see the exhibition in the same way as it would have been seen in 1968”. Not only does the piece appear different as it ages, with discolorations and a complete change in the experience of the work, but also what it represents no longer exists. It “showed that repetition, the grid, scale” all formal aspects of this piece as well as formal aspects of Minimalism, thought to be a cold, logical and mathematic take on art “did in fact have evocative powers that echoed our experience of the world and our bodies”.  By allowing her experiences, her childhood, her rocky marriage, the anxiety that plagued her, and finally, her diagnoses, seep into her work, she added a personal, emotional element to a style or art that was never meant to have one.  Minimalist sculptor, Carl Andre wrote that “perhaps I am thee bones of the body of sculpture and perhaps Richard Serra is the muscle, but Eva Hesse is the brain and nervous system extending far into the future”.  

 

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Crow, T. The Rise of the Sixties. London. Lawrence King Publishing Ltd. 1996.

Crow, T. The Rise of the Sixties. London. Lawrence King Publishing Ltd. 1996.

Britt, D. Modern Art: Impressionism to Post Modernism. London: Thames & Hudson. 1989.

Barette, B. Eva Hesse: Sculpture. New York: Timken Publishers Inc. 1989.

Barette, B. Eva Hesse: Sculpture. New York: Timken Publishers Inc. 1989.

De Zegher, C. Eva Hesse Drawing. London: Yale University Press. 2006.

Hughes, R. American Visions. Westminster, Maryland: Knopf. 1997.

Serota, N. Eva Hesse: Sculpture. London: Raithby, Lawrence & Company Ltd. 1979

De Zegher, C. Eva Hesse Drawing. London: Yale University Press. 2006.

De Zegher, C. Eva Hesse Drawing. London: Yale University Press. 2006.

Danto, A. All About Eva The Nation, July 17/24, 2006, p. 30–34. Posted online June 28, 2006.

Danto, A. All About Eva The Nation, July 17/24, 2006, p. 30–34. Posted online June 28, 2006.

Kimmelman, M. Eva Hesse and the Lure of Absurd Opposites. “New York Times”: May 10th, 1992. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE7D61330F933A25756C0A964958260

Danto, A. All About Eva The Nation, July 17/24, 2006, p. 30–34. Posted online June 28, 2006.

Danto, A. All About Eva The Nation, July 17/24, 2006, p. 30–34. Posted online June 28, 2006.

Danto, A. All About Eva The Nation, July 17/24, 2006, p. 30–34. Posted online June 28, 2006.

Siegel, J. Eva Hesse’s Influence Today? Conversations with Three Contemporary Artists. “Artforum”. Summer 2004.

Britt, D. Modern Art: Impressionism to Post Modernism. London: Thames & Hudson. 1989.

 

Britt, D. Modern Art: Impressionism to Post Modernism. London: Thames & Hudson. 1989.

Barette, B. Eva Hesse: Sculpture. New York: Timken Publishers Inc. 1989.

De Zegher, C. Eva Hesse Drawing. London: Yale University Press. 2006.

De Zegher, C. Eva Hesse Drawing. London: Yale University Press. 2006.

Minimalism with a Human Face. Issue #2 “Tate Magazine Online” http://www.tate.org.uk/magazine/issue2/hesse.htm

Minimalism with a Human Face. Issue #2 “Tate Magazine Online” http://www.tate.org.uk/magazine/issue2/hesse.htm

De Zegher, C. Eva Hesse Drawing. London: Yale University Press. 2006.

De Zegher, C. Eva Hesse Drawing. London: Yale University Press. 2006.

Kimmelman, M. Eva Hesse and the Lure of Absurd Opposites. “New York Times”: May 10th, 1992. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE7D61330F933A25756C0A964958260

Kimmelman, M. Eva Hesse and the Lure of Absurd Opposites. “New York Times”: May 10th, 1992. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE7D61330F933A25756C0A964958260

Minimalism with a Human Face. Issue #2 “Tate Magazine Online” http://www.tate.org.uk/magazine/issue2/hesse.htm

Danto, A. All About Eva The Nation, July 17/24, 2006, p. 30–34. Posted online June 28, 2006.

Serota, N. Eva Hesse: Sculpture. London: Raithby, Lawrence & Company Ltd. 1979

Serota, N. Eva Hesse: Sculpture. London: Raithby, Lawrence & Company Ltd. 1979

Siegel, J. Eva Hesse’s Influence Today? Conversations with Three Contemporary Artists. “Artforum”. Summer 2004.

Serota, N. Eva Hesse: Sculpture. London: Raithby, Lawrence & Company Ltd. 1979

De Zegher, C. Eva Hesse Drawing. London: Yale University Press. 2006.

Danto, A. All About Eva The Nation, July 17/24, 2006, p. 30–34. Posted online June 28, 2006.

De Zegher, C. Eva Hesse Drawing. London: Yale University Press. 2006.

Danto, A. All About Eva The Nation, July 17/24, 2006, p. 30–34. Posted online June 28, 2006.

Kimmelman, M. Eva Hesse and the Lure of Absurd Opposites. “New York Times”: May 10th, 1992. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE7D61330F933A25756C0A964958260

Danto, A. All About Eva The Nation, July 17/24, 2006, p. 30–34. Posted online June 28, 2006.

what do you collect?

In an era where material objects are so easily disposed of, it is interesting, in comparison, to examine what is saved and collected.  Collections tell us something about our arbitrary attachment of value to objects and, in turn, our habits and the rituals we indulge in, in order to create some sort of order or sense of organization in our lives. 

My intrigue surrounding collections as art pieces and collecting as an inquisitive art form  began as a child, growing up in a house that seemed to have an  already established collection of everything my creativity could desire. My mother collected bowling balls, lamps, bits of neat paper, feathers, umbrellas, costumes, old maps,  broken pieces of china, ribbon, scraps of leather and suede, and art supplies. My father collected shiny bits of metal, glass and wire, old machinery, musical instruments,  kites, juggling equipment,  didgeridoos, magnets, anvils,  and LED lights. Collecting was a creative activity much encouraged by my parents, which led to my own compulsive collections of all sorts, many of which are still in boxes and jars tucked away, as I am unable to part with them. For me, collecting is a spiritual act of fulfillment. I generally save things that might be considered junk, rather than actively going out and collecting some particular object. The things that I save seem to represent some sort of potential and it’s easy to imagine what I could do with all of these things, whether or not I actually get around to it. There are still many questions about collections left to be answered: Why do people collect? What constitutes a collection – when is a grouping of objects considered a collection? and What do people collect? Are collections art or merely a form of display culture or documentation? These are all  questions that will continue to interest me and that I will continue to investigate.

What do you collect?

art as utility…

I have a growing fascination with teapots and tea sets in general. They are stuningly beautiful. I’ve been familiarizing myself with the potential casting process and making multiple wax replicas, toying with the shapes and the colours and changing the material to something less rigid…taking the formality and tradition out of chine and tea sets. I have thought about making functional wax teapots out of wax, allowing them to melt and disintigrate over the course of tea. a potentially interesting process.

recently i visited the Gardiner Museum to take in the ‘Object Factory: the art of industrial ceramics’. this show was interesting because it was a mix of artists and industrial designers with a variety of ciramics, primarily tea of coffee sets – some were one of a kind ‘art pieces’ some were an example of a some ceramics that were mass produced, designed and sold. All of them were beautiful.

This show had a great variety of styles and interpretations of ceramics and tea sets – some were old china sets reconfigured, printed on or sanded away in some respect. Other were sleek, clever classic disegns, amusing designs, and some you would expect to find in a trendy hotel. the show toyed with materials, using rubber, foam, cork, bark or velvet in some of the designs, and explored issues of utility by cutting holes in a tea cup, taking away its use, but turning it into an art piece in the process – reimagining ceramics, their uses and their statement as a work of art – which is an idea that influences my creative process and continues to have me questioning materials and structure, and their implications. 

all in all, the show was great. very intimate, crisp, clear, bright and well displayed with an amazing selection of works by artist curator marek cecula.

if you like design, art, dishes, sculpture or tea, you should go see this show – its fabulous!

the first poet of technology

I stumbled across Buckminster Fuller in a recent article in The New Yorker. What caught my eye was something my father had shown me long, long ago – the Dymaxion car.

Fuller was crazy. It’s hard to tell if he was useful or not in his career as an inventor – while many of his ideas were quite ingenious for his time, he was not often taken seriously, and it is really only now that people have noticed how advanced and interesting his ideas were. His biggest concern was always humanity and the environment, something no one else took very seriously until now.

He invented the Dymaxion Car and the Dymaxion house – which is where most of my fascination with him lies. (Dymaxion, a term coined by Fuller is the sum of Dynamic Maximum Tension) Using his own mathematical system, based on tetrahedrons, triangles and circles, he dreamt of domes, houses, cars, flying machines….his most recognizable work is probably the geodisic dome built for the US pavilion at the World Fair in ‘67. His Dymaxion house was an energy efficient, low cost, pre-fab house built for a typical family, with customizable walls and features inside. It was ultra modern for it’s time (built in the 40’s), it was silver and round (not quite a dome), but unfortunatly it was never put into production.

I wonder how things would have turned out differently had we paid more attention to the concerns Bucky had – for the future, for humanity, for the environment, for sustainability…Could he have changed our thinking? Did he?

The article in the New Yorker is a great read, and is accompanied by photos from a recent exhibtion at the Whitney Museum.

On that note, with thoughts of zeplins, geodesic domes and pre-fab houses, back to work I go.

-kasey lee

day one.

Blogs are a funny thing, but I decided it was about time to jump on the bandwagon. I mean, everyone needs their own soapbox to get up on and share their opinion with the world – whether anyone wants to hear it or not is another story altogether

my blog will be a mixture of my interests, and be primarily, or I hope so anyway, related to art – visual culture, aesthetics, museums & galleries, art history, artists, design, movements, anything I can think of, have come accross or find that I am interested in.

I hope you enjoy the adventure.