Slacker Art

11/29/2017

“...because he likes to wrap things.”

11/27/2017

This is Modes of Transport, painted by M. F. Husain in 2008-2011.

This amazing piece was painted by the artist during the last three years of his life, when he was 93-95 years old! It is quite large IRL, so even the physical feat itself is impressive. And it only makes sense that a work so epic in scope was assigned to the reflective denouement of life.

This triptych covers different modes of transportation in modern India, using daily genre scenes, spiritual folklore and his personal narrative as the context. It strikes me that all these scenes are positive. Everything is moving forward, into the future. The riders and drivers are having fun, even being joyous on occasion. The child on the scooter has the exact same excited expression as the woman in the car. The presumed patriarch of her family is perched with a baton as if in a parade. The scooter family seems to be having the most fun. The PBS Car Talk guys once said that riding a scooter was their favorite way to travel in terms of pure fun. There is also a lot of romance in this. Even the oxen seem to be in a sensual dance while pulling the cart.

I’m not a huge fan of transportation myself. Never the patient one, it confuses me how much of travel is spent waiting, i.e. not traveling. But it is a requirement of modern life and this painting brings forward the hope that is associated with going somewhere.

07/05/2017

This is Genealogical Tree of the Mercedarian Order, painted by an unknown artist in Bolivia in the mid 1700s.

Don’t you hate it when that happens? You settle down for an afternoon nap and… POP! Out comes a tree infested with gnomes in strange haircuts. Such are the hardships of monastic life.

In this case, it’s Saint Peter Nolasco giving birth to the Mercedarian Order. One review of this work said that Spanish missionaries often turned to art like this to convert locals, who were often illiterate. However, the vast majority of Europe was also illiterate at the time so it smacks to me as postcolonial residue. These things were probably on sale at gifts shops all over the world – both old and new.

I especially love the tender way his left hand is caressing the lower branch. Although I think he was either double jointed or in immense pain.

And now we finally know where Ridley Scott drew his inspiration.

03/21/2017

This is an Untitled work sketched by Gego (Gertrud Goldschmidt) in 1968.

There are many great ways to present three dimensional data onto a two dimensional surface. Geographers use contour maps to add elevation to maps. In a stacked plot, each line can represents a moment in time, with the height and the horizontal location being any other two variables (such as amplitude vs. frequency). You can “read” it by moving up or down.

I like to think of this sketch as a stacked plot, interpreted as a signal changing over time. If you read it from the top going down, it begins smooth then gets jangled very quickly before slowly settling back down.

You can also see how the lower (left) end of the signal remains smooth and it’s only the high (right) end that sees the action. This is not a life/landscape altering event. It’s a discrete, but complicated, movement. I especially love the occasional loop. That denotes something really freaky going on.

I recommend clicking to view enlarged as the lines take on individual lives of their own. Then try staring at it for a bit with slightly unfocused eyes and some fun optical illusions can occur. I see a white tornado or mushroom cloud in the middle. The artist who made this was mainly known for her wire frame geometric sculptures. I'd love to see this same pattern interpreted as such a sculpture. And then to experience them side by side.

03/20/2017

This is Cat Making Up (Sketch and Print), drawn and printed by Inagaki Tomoo in 1962.

Animals cleaning themselves can be windows into their souls. When cats clean, it projects a sense of relaxation and regality. When dogs clean, it’s an aggressive, incessant and sometimes vulgar display. Birds cleaning in a bird bath or puddle of water can imitate a hyperkinetic modern dance. Primates project sophistication and an intelligent plan of attack as they pick out the lice and mites. At least until they eat them. Then it’s all like.. are we really related?

This cat exists in two instances of space-time at once. Perhaps it is an illusion to Schrödinger’s Cat – existing in two places and in two different states at the same time, until we look at it. Is that what art is? Is it a wave function of the artist’s intent that collapses only when observed by another?

03/18/2017

This is The Girl by the Window, painted in 1893 by Edvard Munch.

In the late 1990’s or so it became a trend in Hollywood movies to make promotional posters with a masculine action hero standing alone and looking downward. It was supposed to give the hero gravitas and complexity. To me it always seemed like pandering. Those attempts have nothing against a master like Munch. Here a woman stands next to a window, almost genuflecting to… what? The Moon, a street lamp, Heaven? The scene has such power to me. I’d rather stare at, think about, and talk about this painting for 2 hours compared to watching any movie.

This painting is like poetry. It has a structure, theme, composition but ultimately it is left up to us to decide what to hang upon that structure. It could mean so many things to so many people. Not just concretely, but symbolically too. It could be a discrete scene or a misty feeling. With either carrying equal emotional punch.

If I’m going to keep doing this, I need to get a better camera and learn how to use it. In person, the blues glow stunningly. And in the window across the street you can see detail, such as a small streak of orange red at the bottom suggesting a burning fireplace. There are a ton of photographs of this painting online, and this was one of the largest resolution wise. But none captured the detail of that tiny window or the brilliance of the blue light.

03/12/2017

When everything you want is within reach but out of sight.

By Keiko Satoh.

03/07/2017

This is one of the Heads of Luohan, made in China around the 11th century.

Luohan are Buddhist disciples near or in enlightenment. There are multiple layers of expression here, that all combine to give that serene yet slightly mischievous look so many Buddhist monks and priests have. The eyes are relaxed, the lips have a subtle hint of a smile, veins are popping on the forehead. The only thing that jumps out is the swollen nose, as if he just got punched in the face. Maybe instead of figuratively, he should have literally turned the other cheek.

03/05/2017

Dublin's Long Room. Either paradise or purgatory, based on whether you brought your reading glasses.

Dublin's stunning Long Room. One for the book lovers ;)

02/27/2017

This is “John Cage rehearsing with Merce Cunningham and Carolyn Brown” taken by Hervé Gloaguen in 1966.

DJs have always been the coolest of the cool. And it is nice to know that is a timeless archetype. And despite my love for the 808, it has nothing on the reel-to-reel in terms of oozing cool. This man was also the composer for the show and I bet he squeezed every last bit of juice out of that bell-horn speaker.

How many layers are in this photograph? I count 5… the foreground, the sculpture, dancers, poles, landscape background. Except for that landscape, all the layers are equal in my eye. They draw equal attention, have equal things to say and without any of them it would be a profoundly different photograph.

The photo has tons of movement, but the first thing that jumped out to me was the statue that looks just like one I see daily as I take the #2 bus up and down Lake Shore Drive. All those vertical lines make me want to soar straight up into outer space (especially on that darn neck tie). And what about the poor sap with his arm cut off? It opens the scene up to our imagination.

02/20/2017

This is “The Fountains”, painted by Hubert Robert in 1787-1788.

In person, these are monumental paintings that immerse you. The painter was nicknamed “Robert of the Ruins” because of his love for ghostly urban decay. In addition to ruins of antiquity, he also loved scenes of burning buildings and church demolition. Happily, there are as yet no known paintings by him of puppies abandoned in the rain. Nevertheless, he was a big hit in France and spent most of his life in the elite echelons of society, including spending 24 of the last 30 years of his life actually living in the Louvre. While there, he even made a painting imagining what the Louvre would look like in ruins. Amazed that they trusted him with the keys.

Many say the people in his paintings were inconsequential to his art,. At best, they were only there to provide scale and animation. At worst, they reflected a technical limitation of his ability. To me, they are what drew me to his work. I imagined what it would be like to live so near a structure as to make it part of everyday life. Only one person is alone in this scene (the solo figure ascending the stairs). One woman is carrying a baby so they evidently felt safe there. In fact, I think it is a social hangout. Grab some water, ruminate on the incessant heart beat of time and entropy, overhear some good gossip.

Notice the guard rails on the left side. Worry not about the crumbling architecture or cracks in the immense arches, just don’t walk off the ledge. I also like the optimistic take on the water works. He obviously has not worked with pipes before or else he’d know that plumbing is the FIRST thing to go.

02/15/2017

This was drawn by my daughter in celebration of Valentine's Day, 2017.

Notice the rich articulation of theme. The questioning of Man's inhumanity of Man in an age of savagery and oppression. The infinite fractals in the eyes and television representing our culture of surveillance. The heart in one hand and cookie in the other. You can have love or sustenance, but not both. The evolution of her craft from her pink to her red period. The lack of ponies and unicorns. This is truly art for our age.