The lecture gave me a lot to think about. When I heard this year’s theme, I was really intrigued by it as, I believe painting can be so many different types of agents, and when I think of my own painting, it really seems like an active agent in itself. To be honest, the concept of ‘painting as agent’ seemed ambiguous to me, but after this talk, provided by all four tutors, it became that much clearer. I enjoyed all of the ‘agents’ mentioned. In particular, Tom’s ‘painting as copyist’ made me think of why I recreate scenes from films, or photographs, and now especially, from Raphael’s drawing. If the original was so perfect, why should I recreate it? To add something to it? Will the recreation undermine the original? I think tom might have mentioned this point. Anyway, the ending note from Nelson was extremely gripping as well, as he was using his own paintings to drive his ‘painting as being’ ‘painting as arrival’ point. I really related to what he said about painting being about you, everyone else, relationships, memory, being human…etc. Another eye-opening thing was when he said ‘how much can I take out the painting to convey what I want to say’ which is a genius point because I never really thought about taking things out of an original composition, for example, from a film still, or photograph, I’ve always left things how it is. I might experiment with that. I’m realising that’s one of the reasons why his paintings are always so serene, whether or not this is in a shadowed way. I also struggle with colour, and I will take inspiration from his paintings as well. I will think more about what agent painting is for me … but it is definitely something alive and kicking.
rough notes:
how does my artwork connect to the world?
painting as copyist ..
Replicating things to the infinite degree possible. still on the quest or more interested in perfect original. death of painting, job replacement. photography..painting is a way of thinking.. engraving showing the myth of the painting contest between zeuxis and parhassios.. realism, curtain is the painting. art in illusion, processes in which the eye is deceived, light into paint. human brain tuned into different, nature of our reaction to it. best copy , learn to trick the brain the best, translation. origin of painter, Bryson. system of code , in his view, ignores particularity of historical situations. impossible to isolate context painting is in. still life - cultural artifices, philosophically complex system. whilst original still life is illusion, role changed as time moves on. illusionism of works aims to trick to eye - anti painting ... empty signs ... if the objects are already masterpieces, why should they be replicated, contaminates it.. undermines original reference. .. -dense arrangement of objects.. tribute to king .. collect these objects .. -representation .. photographic and contemporary imagery, traditional processes to render photography.. different to original, meaning, endless reproduction, relationship between image and meaning.. until they don’t function any more. .. Andrew grassie.. production of art itself .. leo fitzmairice, nature of copy.. copy of motion, deteriorates.. distributed, compressed, poor image no longer about the real thing. reality.
diego Rivera
painting as being. ‘Painting as arrival’
find voice, develop, making smal paintings from newspaper, social things, war, ongoing..
quick paintings. some things come to the surface .not sticking. when reflecting on work.
big destroyer of paintings, activated . 200 x150cm , three chances . Caring about images, have to care about image. keep going. care about sth about the image. tear them up. have to be close to it. cannot be something detached. know the space you’re describing, know the territories.
painting , one picture can’t be meausure of everything . communicate a state, try to think about conditions of work. Photography, memories, begins like a liquid, feel his way around it. Thinking about space, how much can I take out the image to communicate.. psychology of image. existence, relationships with each other. nature of our own being.
paint - ideal carrier - matter and sth else, explored (matter and memory, matter and presence) in paint, - good at having that kind of relationship. too much of matter, loses. Too much of ghost image, balance between the two. Being and non being. has to be living and being and being a human being . us and our actions and our stories. nothing complex. complex enough. our stories and relationships.
