Maira Kalman- An Uncertain Principle

Maria Kalman is a self discribed daydreamer, growing up in a house where facts where not allowed.  Which is part of what makes her such a wonderful artist.  She is truly open to any kind of form, while maintaining a definate voice of her own.  She blogs for the New Yorker and has done several covers for the magazine.  Her current blog is called "And the Pursuit of Happiness" (Link to blog: http://kalman.blogs.nytimes.com/ )  which is a more politically focused blog that started during the last presidential election.  But in 2007 Kalman was working on a blog called The Principles of Uncertainty, (Link to blog: http://kalman.blogs.nytimes.com/category/the-principles-of-uncertainty/page/12/ ) which was later published into a book. 

 

 The book itself is a whimsical recording of her life in a year.  She starts in the month of May talking about the Dodo bird, Spinoza, Pavlov's dog, and her mothers wonderful interpritation of the United States.  She continues the year the same way, recalling things that happend to her; such as her visits home to Tel Aviv with her sister, the death of her husband, and her love of extravagent hats. Anything that is possible to experience in a humans life she records in an almost non-sensical way that is liberating. Even though her account on life is whimsical it is also more true than anything that you can read in a history book, because she focuses so much on the human aspect of what it is that she is talking about. The works that illustrate the book fit her writting well.  The drawings and paintings that fill the book are textural, imperfect, delightful but at the same time serious.  But above all the book is inately human.  Who better to writte a book on existance than a self declared daydreaming free spirit. Kalman is some one who has managed to maintain a realistic yet positive view on the world that we all live in. Yet behind all the presumed sillyness, the book is truly thought provoking, bringing to the surface questions that we should be asking ourselves more often. Just as in life the book is an experience. 



"Well, Susan, this is a fine mess you are in."

In 2007 Kalman also lectured for TED talks (an annual convention) about simplicity in life and her blog The Principles of Uncertainty amoung other works she has done (the lecture can be seen in the video screen below or directly from the TED talks website).  Beyond The Principles of Uncertainty she has also written childrens books and before that she illustrated The Elements of Style a classical grammer book written by William Strunk and E. B. White, which she also talks about in her lecture. In The Elements of Style  Kalman was able to turn something so normal into something extrodinary. She took examples from the book and illustrated them in a way that no matter how rediculose the statment or the image, it made sense on that same human level she used in The Principles of Uncertainty.

"His first thought on getting
out of bed—if he had any
thought at all–was to
get back in again."

 She not only colaborated with the writters of the book, but also introduced a contemporary musican to writte an opera that went with The Elements of Style; Which was hosted at the reading room in a library in New York Citiy.  NPR hosted a discussion on her colaboration in 2005, including excerpts from the opera (Link to: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4985137 ). 

Paul Mathieu: A close minded "potter"

         Paul Mathieu spoke at the NCECA critical in Santa Fe, which my professor, Linda Sikora went to; and brought back Paul Mathieu's talk, The Radical Autonomy of Ceramics. (which can be downloaded from this link;  http://nceca.net/static/documents/radical%20autonomy%20FINAL%20short.doc ) I made the mistake of reading this article just before going to bed and found my self needing to blog about it at 3 in the morning because I found it so upsetting.
        How can a four page article rile me up from my tired eyes, and force me on to my poor under-used blog?  Well besides the fact that this "close minded potter" has decided to redundantly express his frumpy, backwards, and all to specific thoughts of the grandeur of "ceramics" as an entirely separate form of art; he hit home on an ideal of "art" the frustrates me to no end.  The idea that "ceramics" is "ceramics," that painting is painting, and sculpture is sculpture, and photography is photography, etc... When this idea of "art" is something so far from (what I see) as the truth. 
        In the article I find he is trying too hard to demote "ceramics" and at the same time put it on a pedestal as if it is some grand form of "art" that no other "art" can touch because it takes such a base of knowledge to be able to create it. When the truth is that "ceramics" is just as difficult as any other art form and even though you need a certain skill set to understand the material, it remains true for any other product of "art".  I think the ideals that he is spreading, this super specific and almost racist way of thinking is far too close minded for what "art" has turned into.  Why should "art" methods and forms become separate from one an other? Why can't potters/ceramicists be sculptures? Why can't painters pot? Why can't printers perform? Why can't performers sculpt? What is to say that these things can't happen? Why can't "art" become just Art.  Something that encompasses all types of work; whether they be separate or combined materials? I feel that this ideal is at the heart of what Art is! We may not be able to define precisely what Art is in a physically present way; because it is always changing and forming itself in to new things, so that no one can precisely pin point what it is.  That is the magic of Art, which is something that I am so drawn to. 
      It is unfortunate that Paul Mathieu is so (seemingly) set into this tyranny against Art. Perhaps his voice is meant to rile up these kinds of thoughts, just maybe he doesn't actually think that every form of art should be separate and unyielding to one an other; I can only hope.  Especially when there are artists out there like Maira Kalman, Phillipe Pasqua, Anslem Keifer, Paul McCarthy, Frank Gehrey and many more from the past, the present and more preciously the future. 

The Art of being in School

Week one of being back at Alfred University. I've started realizing already that maybe taking three studios is going to be... difficult.  Despite the dreary outlook I'm looking forward to stressful days, scheduled weeks, sleepless nights and early mornings.  Why would any one look forward to that kind of life? Well who can resist exploring yourself in physical forms?  I've already decided on trying something completely new in painting, I'm going to be as silly as possible, moustaches and disproportionate faces and bodies perhaps complimented by grotesque nightmarish images of corpses and monsters? Who knows what I will make besides the work itself.  Then there is the simple hope and dream that at the end of the semester I will be a competent potter, a crafts(wo)man, a learned hippy...who is right now a clay covered mess, with little direction and only has a learners permit for pottery.

Have you seen my xiphoid process?

Imagine drawing this at 8 in the morning on the first day of your...Abstraction class? That's right, first day of my Observation to Abstraction class we had to draw a to-scale drawing of the back from neck to hip. I'm surprised to say that it was actually easy (for that time of the morning).  What was really funny was the fact the my professor (Kevin Wixted) came over, said my clavicle was too long. I disagreed, so he measured and...it was perfect.  From this drawing we of course had to make abstractions from the drawing (It being an "observation" to "abstraction" class after all) which was fun, and led to some interesting things.  I will post those drawing eventually, but as you can probably see this image is bad enough, the others are worse.  So as soon as I have a better lighting set up, new pictures will replace this one.

Ooops...

So I know I was gonna blog a day, and yesterday I definitely missed; In my defense I was really busy and  I had an idea for a blog but...well I just got side tracked...  Any way I'm on a new mission...to completely clean the house, this week.  I'm going to go through every box I can find and get rid of as much junk as I can! One reason being that I just want to help out and get the house cleaned...but another being that Marcus (my boyfriend) and I are thinking of getting a cat! Now as much as I would like to say we will be getting one of those amazing cat breeds I talked about a few blogs ago...we won't be. But that's okay because we are planning on getting a rescue cat from a local humane society.  Any way just taking a break from the household grind, and the boxes are calling me...

WARNING: Water Can be Hot

So today I learned that water can get hot.  Like really hot, hot enough to give you second degree burns when you accidentally spill it on yourself.  I also found out that when this happens, it's a really great motivator to rip off all my clothes and get in the shower with some really cold water.  On the up-side I've been waited on by my (wonderful) boyfriend, he's brought me dinner, ice cream, tissues and blankets, which have made me feel worlds better (even though the giant blister and even bigger burn marks are still rather painful).  Back on the downside, I believe that the left side of my body is out to get the right.  Why would I think that you say? Well my right side is first of all the side of my body that got shingles. Secondly during the pit fire a piece of debris flew up and hit my arm and caused a nasty burn mark which is still healing.  Then while baking a turkey I burned my forearm reaching in to baste the turkey.  All of this has happened on my right side.  I think that my left side is getting pissed off by the fact that my right side has all ways been considered "dominant".  But this is just my theory...

Lucian Freud

Alright, getting back on track... One thing I plan to start doing is blogging about artists that I find inspiring. I will then add them to a list of artists, which will hopefully grow with time...that is if I can keep on track with my blog. 

Lucian Freud has recently become one of my favorite painters.  The majority of his work focuses on the nude, or at the very least portraiture. Using a thick impasto makes the paintings feel especially fleshy, which might make some people feel uneasy, but personally I find it makes them more intriguing and real.  Though his later works are mostly representational, he started out as a surrealist painter and in his 70's he started using him self as the subject matter in the nude, and not just models and people he knew. 

The raw texture with which he paints is not meant to discuss the human condition, or how we are in spite of our selves, but more to simply depict the actuallness of ourselves.  He does not depict the human figure as a transcendent being, but looks at people as just another object to depict. His sets for his paintings are rather simple, normally a couch or mattress on a wood floor with its human object set posed somewhere on the page. In regards to his palette his colors are just as raw and natural has the paintings themselves.  With the combination of color and style his paintings almost become two dimensional sculptures that you can easily get lost in. At first glance the corpse like figures are just figures, but as his work is considered you realize just how abstract they are.  Technically he is a realist painter, but his intention is known, they are just objects, and they take on a life of their own without actually becoming human, they are beautiful shapes brought together to make a solid composition. 

Currently most of my time is spent in ceramics, but I am still in search of what my work is meant to represent. As a painter I feel it is important to know what story you are trying to tell with your work (or what story your work is trying to tell you) which is something that Lucian Freud has clearly managed to accomplish.  I feel it is not only important to know what it is you want to say but knowing the right way to apply art to tell that story.  As a "novice" artist I am saturated with ideas but no real direction, something I hope to discern sometime within the next several years. Since my recent interest to Lucian Freud I've noticed that his mode of telling a story is something similar to what I wish to convey. But unlike Freud, I want to talk about the human condition, particularly in reference to how the self is in relation to the world around.  How do I stand up to the world? To time? To myself? Just a few things I wish to consider when telling my story.  Maybe wanting to use the direct relationship between my self and other things is to obvious, but some trial and error may help me to decide. 

A Little Off Topic I Think

Day two of project blog-a-day, and I am finding it necessary to talk about one of my very favorite things, cats.  I love cats, I can't wait to be deemed the crazy cat lady.  So you are probably wondering why I have two pictures of dogs on this post, right? That would be because currently I have two dogs, which I am allergic to.  Which is unfortunate because even though my Westie (Kimchee) and Beagle (July) are over weight brats that make me sneeze... a lot, I love them dearly.  Now don't get me wrong I do love dogs too. I have dreams of one day owning an Irish Wolfhound or an Australian Cattle dog, yet still I need the kitty in my life.

Clearly I'm a girl who knows what she wants; That being said you would think I know exactly what cat breed I would want...but I don't.  I suppose most people these days don't really think about cats having "breeds" because well, they are mysterious creatures filled with independence and sass. I will tell you that there are many breeds, and moods of cats. Some that will give you the "Sassy, I do what I please" attitude, but not all of them. 

For example there is the Burmese (a breed I wouldn't mind, except for their stubby noses) which is a cat who is known for always wanting to be with their people companions, even enjoying car rides if gotten used to it at an early age! As cute as they are, they are a hefty breed, that have been most frequently described as "bricks wrapped in silk". 

Now my next breed, one that I've had my eyes on for awhile.  The Devon Rex; A more recent breed arriving in the early 60's in Devonshire England.  The remarkable thing about this breed is that it has a curly coat, though it may look like it has no hair from first glance.  Because of their shorter coat some people with allergies (like myself) can more easily handle the cat, but every person is different and should give themselves a little time with the cat before bringing it into their home permanently.  This cat is knows for being active, and have been described as being cat/monkeys.  They will get into just about any space, or thing for that matter.  They are people cats and are also known for being affectionate and loving being perched on your shoulder 

A similar cat is the Sphynx, a cat made famous by Dr. Evil (if you don't know who this is, get off of my blog, or google it ASAP) This is a cat that is actually hairless! Even more weird was that the breed originated from Canada! Eh! This is a wonderful cat that loves the spot-light, and who would have guessed, but also their human companions! They also make great heaters, since they have no fur, their body heat can be felt directly. Even though you may think that this cat won't hold up in colder climates, you'd be wrong. After all what do you do when you get cold? Find something warm to snuggle up to, right? Well this cat will do the same, whither its you, another family pet or right under your blankets, it will take care of itself.  Besides aren't we all naked under our clothes?

So what's with the ugly cats you're saying? First off I think they are beautiful and elegant, but each to his own.  So I will resist the urge to move on to the Cornish Rex and instead talk about the lustrous Mau.  The Mau is one of the most ancient breeds, appearing in ancient Egyptian paintings in the pyramids.  It is also the only domesticated breeds that has naturally occurring spots.  The Mau is known for being a loyal relaxed cat.  By saying relaxed I don't want you to get confused with lazy, because this cat is also one of the fastest of the domestic breeds being able to run upwards of 30 mph.  Not only is it fast, but it's also a very intelligent breed, but what cat isn't?

Lastly I will talk about the Savannah.  Technically speaking the Savannah is a cross between a domesticated cat and a Serval (a wild African cat).  They where however accepted by the International Cat Association in 2001.  These cats are truly amazing, they are known for being able to jump to 8 feet from a stand still! They are also an incredibly smart and curious so they WILL get into your cupboards.  You'd think with their close association with a wild cat that it might have difficulties adjusting socialy to life with people; but no! They love being around people, in fact they can be taught to walk on leashes and play catch.  Also they are a rather large cat, being about the size of a medium dog (which some say they act a lot like) and weight anywhere between 10-15 lbs.  So why not go out and get one now? First off they are expensive, and finding a breeder well good luck.  But besides that they are actually illegal in some states in the US (Massachusetts, Hawaii and Georgia), and only under certain circumstances in other states like New York, where they can't be owned in the City, but in the rest of the state if it is 5 generations from the wild cat you are fine. 

So what cat am I going for?  Well I definitely am leaning towards the Savannah, but a toss up between the Sphynx and Devon Rex would work for me.  Now to get my own place without a terrier or hound dog...

Oy Vey

So I'll start with the bad news. This morning was probably one of the worst mornings I've had in awhile... First off, I have my period which is generally a good sign for bad things.  Secondly because of my first issue I also have a cold...and an iky mean one at that; I haven't been able to taste, smell, or do anything the last three days because all I've wanted to do is sleep.  Then this morning I get a ticket for speeding...awesome.  So I currently find my self engrossed in used Puffs with Vicks (which has got to be the single most wonderful substance on earth,well... besides Ben & Jerry's Dublin Mudslide, and Shark Week) watching re-runs of House, mentally rolling around in self pity. 

I've probably lead you to believe that there is also good news, since normally when people say "I'll start with the bad news" they follow with good news to make us think that everything in this world is balanced because when something bad happens something good must follow (a technique House uses, but normally filled with sarcasm or passive aggressive truth so in the end there really is no good news). So; now for the okay news...  This past weekend a few friends and I got together to do a pit fire. We had good times, some yummy food and lots of rain. After the first night we ran out of wood, and even though I spent a good part of the week making pieces for the fire, we are sure that most everything was broken.  I say that, not actually knowing because by the time I had to leave the pit was still too hot.  Bellow are some serious photos of the loading process, the firing process, and the still too hot process with some evidencce of broken pots in the bottom right hand corner.

Now with that last bit you may be thinking I'm a pessimist, and you'd only be half right...I consider myself a realist, so there is actually some good news! Yesterday I got my new paint brushes! I had to order all new ones because someone stole all of my brushes and paints this last school year (I hope where ever that person is all their paintings turn out bad and none of their colors mix right, which probably won't happen seeing has most of my paints where Gamblin which are renowned for being great paints...because they are) Soon I'll be getting my new paints...that is if I can afford them after my ticket...

Graphically Aided?

These three drawings are from my freshman year at Alfred University.  The are on massive pieces of rag paper drawn with charcoal.  This particular assignment had an intriguing project outline.  First we where suppose to make objects with a partner using found things then dipping them in plaster.  Once they set, we lit them and drew them.  A picture was taken of them when they where done and we had to th
en create a new image using Photo-shop as a tool.  The third drawing was then to switch objects with someone draw that one, but draw as if you were Photo-shop.  So you could rotate, insert new material, morph other material; Basically whatever we wanted to do (as long as it was based off of the object somehow) and that was how the last drawing was created.  Looking back at these drawings, I wish I had done more to the Photoshopped original drawing, I think it looks way to similar.  Something I really enjoy in the last drawing is that as you look at it you can keep finding things (cows, fish, screaming faces etc...) all over the place, it isn't too serious or literal; It really was just a ton of fun!

Architecture Studies

The top study was done my freshman year in charcoal on rag paper, the bottom my sophomore year in ink on loose canvas.  I find architectural drawings to be so interesting.  They really provide a great venue for setting a certain kind of moody-ness that I really enjoy. 

Self Portraits

These two self-portraits where done my freshman year in college. The bottom picture was an assignment, which was an allegorical self-portrait, at the time I was focused on unsureness and time as a theme and decided to do another piece based off of the one I did for school. Currently I'm not interested in that particular theme; though the idea of time is still something I find intriguing. When it comes to self portraits now I find my self more interested in the idea of a "self-portrait" done of someone else. The idea that the viewer can not know if a self portrait is actually a self portrait, or how an artist may elude to the fact that when a viewer is looking at the "self-portrait" that may not be the actual person. I feel there are a lot of ideals that can come from this theme. Concepts questioning if we really know who we are, what our place is in the world etc...( the answer is obviously 42, but that is a topic for another day) These all being questions I not only ask my self, but that I ask my work, and hope that my viewer will ask too.

Figure Studies

Both of these drawings came out of the same studio class (observation to abstraction). The top being a classic figure drawing, the other a study of movement. Charcoal and Ink, 22x30

Do I really need it? I know I want it...

Over the weekend I got to experience yet again how awesome DSLR's are. A friend of mine had quite an amazing example of one, with a beautiful telephoto lens and what can I say but... I WANT IT! (as the inner child in me would put it) So now on the budget of someone in college with no job, who needs to buy all new oil painting supplies (reason being...well a story for another day) on top of needing enough money to get through the two ceramics studios I'm taking, I want to get a DSLR... Now I'm not a photo student or anything, but honestly a nice camera would do me good. Not to say that I don't enjoy my little cybershot, but well...it's a piece of crap! It's fine for vacation goers who want to record in no specific detail their vacations to wonderful far off places, but I want to record my work! I want to record life around me as I see it, and the way I think it should be seen! And even though I don't consider myself to be a photographer as an artist getting images for what inspires me is one of the most useful tools. Who knows maybe with this wonderful camera I will become the next Anselm Adams! Okay my speech for my parents is now done...hopefully I will convince (but likely not seeing as the cheapest I've seen used is like $300 and the one I've found that I want is like $560...not gonna happen; oh well now where is my rich husband when I need him...wait I don't have one...)

Letchworth State Park

Letchworth State Park is such a beautiful place! All these pictures where taken on a trip with a Rochester photo group and boy was it a beautiful day. I was using a Canon Power-shot and although they where good pictures most of them I touched up in photoshop. I always feel guilty using photoshop to edit images because I feel that if you are showing them just as the image its self that you should have just taken an amazing photo to begin with. Not that that is so easy to do, which is where I think the line is drawn between amateurs and professionals; somehow I feel these days there are more professional amateurs than professional professionals. That is people with really nice cameras taking "nice" pictures and editing the crap out of them until they look professional. Maybe I just don't know enough about photography, but perhaps with all those expensive camera's out there if you're willing to pay that much for one you just get to slap a "I'm a Photographer, and I always take awesome pictures with my awesome camera" sticker on your chest so everyone knows to "OOoohhh" and "Ahhhhhh" at your pictures. ANYWAYS...I've done exactly what I hate most about photography today and edited most of these using tools like "exposure", "brightness/contrast" and "selective color" on photoshop. So maybe these days the real photographers and artists are the people who scripted Photoshop. That being said...these images brought to you by Photoshop personnel in the hands of an amateur photographer.

Eastman House

The Eastman House is really a place to see in Rochester. Not only does it have a photo-gallery attached to it, but the house its self is gorgeous. I took these pictures a number of years ago during summer, when all the flowers were in bloom and everything was green and...there where people EVERYWHERE! You can't really tell but for most of these pictures I had to wait for people to disappear behind pillars, around trees etc... because there was almost always someone blocking my view! In some of the pictures I think you can see an elbow or two ;)

Sailing Away

I sail with GYC out of irondequoit bay, so naturally at some point I was going to take pictures of sail boats. I really love this set of images, even though I think they are a little bit on the common side; So when I inevitably started playing with them in Photoshop I really focused on the color of the image. My goal was to bring out a specific color palette in each image that I thought would compliment it best.

It's in the Sky