Sound Clutter
What do I feel strongly about? The constant sound of cell phones ringing and one-sided conversations that I don’t want to hear.
Please, be quiet sometimes…..
What I see
I see delicate beauty in the work of D.E. May. A sense of humour within the obsession. Lists of shapes and words.
D.E. May
From Bobo came the recommendation to look at the work of D.E.May a West Coast contemporary artist concerned with archiving and obsession.
Statement of D.E. May:
“I suppose I have always been drawn to the non archival. The work I do may not be here forever, but it will probably see us out. In the truest moments, I don’t look at the work as something I made. I see it as something that has been here all along.
I am concerned with time and temperature and tars and resins and climates. And Regions. Stains. The color of glue. Random marks of a traveled space. The role of water. Then, there are times I look down at the worktable, and I would just like to remove history.”
Thoughts on Hoarding
As a friend of mine recently said: “the dream of the hoarder is to become an archivist”.
I agree with that. I have a desire to catagorize, create groups of like objects, and make lists.
There is no desire to get rid of stuff. Even trash becomes valuable, something to look at. In digging through my stuff I have come across, more than one, empty bottle of ink. Intellectually I know this is trash, but another feeling is…”this may come in handy as a visual model for a drawing or painting.”
Even though space is an issue, in other words, I desire more space, there is an overwhelming need to hang on. It has something to do with being attached to the world; fear of death.
Precious Trash
Hoarding, Aggression, and the Studio
Hoarding can cause social problems. For example: when I see empty space- I want to fill it. Recently at school I was given a space to share with a fellow student. Within hours I had filled the space with my stuff. Canvas stretchers, books, rags, paint, pencils, notes, paper, etc etc. I eventually took over her space and began taking over her walls. In an moment of weakness I ripped her name tag off the wall…like no one would notice…thinking I now needed to take over the space. Naturally this very quickly elicited an angry response.
ag⋅gres⋅sion: the action of …violating by force the rights of another…an unprovoked offensive…
Psychiatry: overt or suppressed hostility, either innate or resulting from continued frustration and directed outward or against oneself.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/aggression
How does this affect my art? I have not produced anything to date. My activity has merely been about filling the space with my stuff.
The idea of space in this case, is to use the space as a working studio, not as a storage for the stuff to make art. Hummmm….
More on David
Why do his images and thoughts ring true? Is life that weird?
David Shrigley’s my hero
While researching artists who deal with trash/collecting/hoarding/etc. I came across the work of David Shrigley.
His work is included in a Canadian Catalogue publication in 1999 where his ballpoint pen drawings were part of an AGO art show called Waste Management.
A description of the work is as follows:
“Shrigley’s scribbly cartoons exploit the subversive power of laughter to tell dark truths about the world that is slowly consuming itself.”
This artist has chosen a truly original path that inspires me to make art and not take myself too seriously. Thanks David.
Have some fun and see his work by clicking on the link above.
Art and Hoarding
Sarah Sze is a New York based artist who makes site-specific sculptures from small everyday objects. Her collection of seemingly non valuable items such as Qtips and bottle caps form the structure of her beautiful work. In her work the multitude of mundane materials is raised to the level of visual elegance.
Break Down – Inventory
This book represents the complete record of all Michael Landy’s possessions – all 7088 items. They were broken down into their component parts during Break Down, performed at the former C&A flagship shop on Oxford Street, London W1. Break Down took place between Saturday February 10 and Saturday February 24, 2001 and the remains were buried in a landfill site. The project was a The Times/Artangel commission.
The inventory was drawn up by Michael Landy with the assistance of Clive Lissaman.
Shelves house a collection of antlers in Vjeko Sager drawing, phobophobia6. Phobophobia means a morbid fear of developing a phobia. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/phobophobia
In this drawing the collection is more stately than the random chaos of a hoarder.
Hoarding and Studio
"chaos breeds image" FB
The studio of Francis Bacon is a famous cluttered space. See the Documentary on Francis Bacon
Quotes form Francis Bacon: “Art is artifact”.
“we are always trying to defeat death by leaving images..”
“inspiration only comes from working”
“you make your own technique…trial and error”
“not illustration of reality but to create images which are concentration of reality a shorthand of sensation”
