Last Friday

Let me start by saying I had the weirdest Friday. Last Thursday I was thinking about what I would blog about for the next day. I couldn't think of anything so I pulled a trial post I had sent Catie/Cathleen way back when we were first forming Swings and Arrows to show her how I thought the blog should work—thus the Friday Bull's-Eye post. Well after putting the post together I got all into Bull's-Eyes and started looking through Kenneth Noland's body of work. After being totally inspired by Kenneth Noland I decided that the next day with my 8th grade boy art students we would do a KN inspired art project. The project went well and I created two demonstration bull's-eyes that I ended up rolling up to bring home to hang in my house.

During the day at my teaching job I kept being reminded about how young kids make mistakes and how we must forgive them because I probably made the same or similar mistakes when I was their age and the generation before me forgave me and I learned.

I promise this is going somewhere.
I then went and picked my kids up from the babysitter and drove home. As we walked into the house, my freshly painted bull's-eyes in my hands, I stood in shock as I stared at this:

Yep, my window had been broken. After the shock wore off I looked around and realized nothing had been stolen and that a ball had smashed my window causing the entire frame to crash into my house. 

So this is where things get weird. Brian comes home from work and we decide to board it up ourselves to save money. We have one piece of wood in the house that I had painted years ago that fit perfectly. Here's the piece of wood we had: 

Yes, it had a bull's-eye on it.

Brian then reminded me that we can't be too mad because it was obviously just a kid who made a mistake and kicked a soccer ball into our window.

Things came full circle like a bull's-eye, all on Bull's-Eye Friday.

Weird.

-Grace

Artist of the Week: Hollis Brown Thornton

VHS, permanent marker on paper, 22 1/2"x 30", hbt10-p002, 2010

Hollis Brown Thornton is an artist from South Carolina that I first discovered on 20x200, an awesome online gallery chock full of affordable limited edition art prints. I actually purchased a print of his very cool VHS drawing above as the gift I gave my video-editing hubby on our wedding day this past April.

The tall stacks of videotapes reminded me of the precarious piles that used to collect on the shelf of the entertainment center under our boxy TV set, with titles that told the story of my youth. Dirty Dancing and Footloose shared the same tape, recorded without commercial breaks off of HBO, while Ladyhawke always had to be fast-forwarded through to get to Grease. I cannot think of one movie without the other. Same with Beetlejuice and Back to the Future.  

Osiris Mountain, archival pigment print, available in various sizes on 20x200

My Galaxies, permanent marker on paper,
8 1/4"x 10 1/4", hbt08-p051, 2008, $600

In these drawings, Thornton uses permanent marker to create portraits of defunct technology. I like the striated effect of the magic marker, another vestige of childhood. I especially appreciate the idea that the material itself is not exactly archival; it will fade away (if left in direct sunlight and not framed properly) just like the technology that he so lovingly depicts in his work. 

He works with acrylic paint as well, and also employs a process called pigment transfer in some of his drawings that he provides step-by-step instructions for on his website.

Unsolved Mysteries of the Universe, pigment transfer on paper, 8 1/4"x 10 1/4", hbt10-p056, Edition of 5*, 2010, $100

Toucan Sams, 
pigment transfer on paper 
8 1/4"x 10 1/4", 
hbt10-p061, Edition of 5, 
2010, $100

While I did like the print above, I don’t totally love his manipulations of old family photos. Especially the pixelated paintings that he describes saying, "They represent the idea our physical reality is becoming more and more intertwined with the digital world. There is also a transformation that is almost cartoonish when the image is manually converted to a pixel image, reminiscent of childhood as well as old video games."

I think it’s probably just a personal prejudice of mine, but I’m kind of tired of nostalgia as a subject matter (as well as the idea of revering technology that is becoming obsolete). This definitely became clearer when reading various statements he'd made in my searches on the internet. And I quote:

"It relates to how the beliefs or values of one culture or time period are going to change or be completely obsolete in the future, and how our relationship with reality changes, with reality becoming more and more of a virtual or digital one today."

Sometimes an artist's explanation can really ruin the work for me, either over-simplifying it or being too purposefully vague. But I do love the idea of portraits of old objects as a representation of someone’s interests, as a way to read a life. Then again, I might be reading too much into it.  

- Cathleen

[Photos courtesy of the artist’s website, his Big Cartel shop, and 20x200]

The Evolution of the Triptych .

I could put this post in my Design Always Repeats Itself but I think that would be misrepresentation because the triptych never disappeared from the history of art and design.

Here is the Merode Altarpiece.

Probably the most famous altarpiece aside from the Ghent Altarpiece. This triptych was created in approximately  1425 by Robert Campin and an assistant. What makes this altarpiece so important is its use of symbolism and its misuse of perspective which illustrates the struggle to understand perspective before the Renaissance.

Last semester I did a paper on this altarpiece:

This is Altarchen by Gerhard Marcks and Alfred Partikel. Made while teachers at the German Bauhaus Marcks and Partikel decided to take a traditional subject and style and transform it by using modern techniques. 

Within both triptychs there is a lot of important symbolism but what I love most about Altarchen is its ability to take something as stagnant as the religious triptych, turn it on its head and make it relevant again. I mean, that's tough. I can't imagine taking something old and making it exciting again while maintaining its original integrity.

Gerhard Marcks went on to live on a long life and created the doors for a church in Germany which I can't locate today but they are amazing. As soon as I find them I'll post an image. 

Partikel had a tragic life and in 1945, in the midst of WWII, disappeared while mushrooming in Ahrenshoop. 

Enjoy!

-Grace

Tricky Treats!

As the Halloween season approaches, my thoughts often turn not to clever costume ideas that involve me wearing facial hair in some capacity, but to the creepy treats I can serve to costumed party-goers. Let’s face it. Nobody’s REALLY fooled into thinking they’re about to eat a handful of curiously pretzel-shaped “skeleton bones” when you put out a bowl of white chocolate Flipz, but just go with it, ok?

This year I’ve decided to up my game, plan ahead, and make sure I cover all of the major Halloween party food groups:

Fingers in a Bandage = Franks in Blanks w/ Slivered Almond “Fingernails”
*with Blood (Ketchup) and Puss (Mustard) for dipping!

Goblin Eyeballs = Deviled Eggs
* green food coloring will make those eyeballs really ghoulish!

BRAINS!! = Brain-Shaped Cheese Ball
*add a little pink food coloring for optimum effect and serve with Tris-CUTS, of course!

Dead Roaches = Dates Stuffed w/ Goat Cheese & Pecans

Jack-o-Vomit = Guacamole Spewed Forth from a Carved Pumpkin
*with a side or TORTURE-tilla chips, obviously!

Mush Mouths = Apple Slices w/ Caramel Cheesecake Spread & Marshmallow Teeth
*hmm…red lips or green? Which are Halloween-ier?

And if I get REALLY ambitious:
A Giant Pumpkin-Shaped Carrot and Veggie Dip Platter
*probably requires the least amount of effort, is the most festive, but is definitely not trick-y enough.

This one is for when Micky and I throw our future children one of those totally awesome Halloween parties that I remember from my youth, where kids bobbed for apples and blind-folded-ly felt their way through big bowls of cold spaghetti “worms” and peeled grape “eyeballs.” Ahhh. Those really were the days:  

Kitty Litter Cake !!

Made with regular chocolate cake mix, ground up Golden Oreos, and Tootsie Rolls for the most authentic litter look, I'm not sure anyone could actually overcome the visual and have a scoop, but it would definitely be the ultimate gross-out treat for such an occasion. Bon Appétit!


- Cathleen 

I'm Thinking About... Bull's-Eyes.

God, I love bull's-eyes.

American artist Kenneth Noland did a series of bull's-eyes and each one seems to have a personality of its own.

Turnsole

MoMA NYC

1961

Some a little less organized:

Quid

1960

Neat and composed, reckless and smudgy, they each tell a story and elicit different emotions from the viewer.

I can’t find the title of this one, but it’s one of my favorites.

And Half

1959

Kenneth Noland was a member of the Washington Color School which the Corcoran Gallery of Art sums up as: “…united by an exploration of the language of abstraction, a desire to experiment with materials, and a love of color.”

The bull's-eye has permeated our visual lexicon. It’s not only prevelant in the fine arts but also in pop culture and the decorative arts. The Who use a bull’s-eye as their band’s symbol:

Even Target uses the bull's-eye for their logo. Here is an image of the bull's-eye they used from 1962-1968 in their advertising:

I often think of archery and the game of darts when I think of bull's-eyes. Here are a few of my favorite sports related bull's-eyes:

An archery set from FredericksandMae.com. The wooden box is hand silkscreened.

And this Finnish dart set from kioskkiosk.com. I love the green and white concentric circles—so visually pleasing.

Here are some other cool bull's-eyes I have come across:

Bullseye Ashtray

1970’s

Available at Flair Home Collection in NYC

Fireman’s trampoline

1950’s

9ft wide

Available at T.C. Donobedian in San Francisco, CA.

A radiator cap for AMC cars made from 1966-1980.

Have a great weekend! And please post any high-style bull's-eyes you see.

-Grace

A Different Take on Paper Sculpture.

I stumbled upon these masterpieces while blog surfing.

Photo courtesy of the artist's website.

Andy Singleton is a paper artist and illustrator in England. His take on paper art is part origami part sculpture.

Here's some samplings of his work.

Photo courtesy of Nick Singleton.

Paper chickens for Hermes. 

Photo courtesy of Nick Singleton.

Paper boat for Hermes.

Photo courtesy of Nick Singleton.

Single paper chicken.

Photo courtesy of Nick Singleton.

Bravo, Andy. Artist's website here.

- Grace

Artist of the Week: Clea Minaker

Feist dropped a new album (Metals) last week and I had been counting down the days until it was unleashed. But this is not a review of said album. Which is beautiful, by the way. I think I need a few more days—nay, weeks—of non-stop listen-age before I will be able to conjure the right words to describe its great complexity. 

No, this post was inspired by my fond remembrance of the two concerts I saw far too long ago in support of her last album (The Reminder) and the amazing shadow puppet light show put on by Clea Minaker at both of them. Employing an old-fashioned overhead projector, Clea used her hands to manipulate paper cuts, mud, and other objects across the glass, casting illustrative vignettes on the bright scrim that stretched behind the musicians as they played.

Clea is a performance artist and puppeteer who lives in Montreal. Her blog didn’t give me nearly enough of what I was looking for: clear footage of her genius in action. Seeing her work in the flesh (or shadow of the flesh, as it were) was truly breathtaking. Every graceful gesticulation quietly punctuated Feist’s words and followed her inflections perfectly. There is something really moving in a simple gesture writ larger than life across the screen. Like when a kid first realizes that a fist and two fingers can pitch a bunny head on the wall. Eureka! Alas, you and I will have to settle for what I could scrape up on Youtube:

 

In researching the artist, I discovered there was a documentary called Look at What the Light Did Now that was released last December and is not available on Netflix (of course I already checked) but is available on Amazon (of course I already Wishlisted it). The film covers the making of The Reminder, the concert tour, interviews with Feist and her creative cohorts, and features footage of the amazing Clea Minaker making shadow puppet magic. At least that’s as much as I could garner from the trailer and clip I found on Youtube here:

- Cathleen

[Photos courtesy of the artist’s website.]