#writingaboutart

[monomaniacmetropolitan]

FETISH FOR THE UNREAL

Ever since I was a child, I have had a fetish for the unreal. To communicate precisely what this phrase means is a difficult task for me. Writers and thinkers have laid out similar sentiments in the past. An example which quickly comes to mind is Yukio Mishima’s famous dilemma in Temple of the Golden Pavilion. Mizoguchi, the tragic monk who’s corrupted by beauty, many times expresses the dichotomy between the eternal and the finite but concrete. In a revealing passage, Mizoguchi and his date engage in the beginnings of sexual activity in a beautiful park, far from the temple where he resides. Very quickly, Mizoguchi’s attempts to involve himself in the immediacy of his bodily sensations are made impotent by his obsession with the eternal beauty of the Golden Temple, many miles away. The Temple quite literally blots out his vision (including the girl) and overcomes any sense of presence, desire, or activity he has. The contemplation of beauty—to many a passive beholding—is pitched by Mishima as the opposite of action. This feeling Mishima describes: an obsession with the eternal, with the immutable—it comes close to capturing the longing which has followed me for many years, starting with my adolescent trips to the Hirshhorn Modern Art Museum. 

It is hard for me to pinpoint a moment in which my epiphany about this fetish for the unreal came to pass, but a helpful clue comes in the form of a gallery plaque inside the Hirshhorn.  This plaque was situated next to a video exhibit which I thoroughly enjoyed at the age of 12. I have since forgotten the title and artist corresponding to the video exhibit, but from my recollection, the video was a series of recorded miniature cityscapes, all of them created with mundane objects. The sequencing of the video was important: the audience would watch as a hand enters the frame and arranges the objects in front of them. For 99% of the scene, the objects would look out of place, banal, entirely identifiable. After all of them were placed, however, the artist would flip a switch, reconfigure the lighting, and suddenly the audience would be transported into an austere, eternal world, where the objects composing it lost all identifiable essence. The plaque described this work as a “collection of surrealist dreamscapes.” 

“Surrealist Dreamscape” 

This word stuck with me for a long time. Its meaning is quite simple, almost redundant, and yet I found myself repeating the mantra over and over again as I grew older. Soon after seeing this exhibit, I tried to write a short story about a group of pilgrims in an underground neon-plastered city. The plot was vague, but from what I remember, the characters were attempting to journey along a famous underground highway known as the “Electropath.” The title was the key; the idea came to me in a dream. There was never anything concrete about the short story and it never came to fruition past the first few lines of a lonely google doc. In fact, I still have access to the writing:  

“I stared up at the dark sky… 

As black as it was, it seemed to project an impossible amount of light. As if it was artificially made… 

I would stare up at the dark sky for what seemed like endless amounts of time just thinking.” 

As cringe-inducing as it is for me to look back on this substance-less adolescent writing, the very fact that I never completed anything about the story says a lot. The inspiration I had drawn from the video exhibit in the Hirshhorn, the feelings which it had brought about in me, the artistic longing it had triggered, none of this could be thoroughly captured by words. The major caveat, which I have since discovered, is that the previous statement is not actually true (certain Borges stories have since captured nearly the same feeling I was striving for) ... however, when I was 12, this was true because I, a 12-year-old, was unable to capture this feeling in words. 

As time went on, what I slowly realized is that there was an internal homology in my aesthetic imagination which identified the artificial with the eternal. The appeal of ElectroPath was the cold neon geometry, the seemingly infinite power of human constructs. The fact that the story was set in a cavernous underground complex also revealed that I wanted to write a story where the day-night cycle, unpredictable weather, and the general fluctuations of the natural world did not factor into its austere beauty. The dark cavernous digital underground was static, eternal, thoroughly unreal.  

Further along my development, I started playing video games more and more. A secondary epiphany which struck me was that this fetishization of the unreal could be very accurately manifested in the “Spectator Mode” of video games. What I found in Spectator Mode was the precise answer of my need to become a Ghost or Specter. I realized that part of this fetish for the unreal derived from my fear of the temporary and the bodily. Personal decay, withering, radical finitude—these were fundamental aspects of human existence which I could not, and still can’t, cope with. My fetish for the unreal was, in a certain way of putting it, a fetish for the Ghostly. From the deepest recesses of my mind, I strove to inhabit an eternal wandering body—free from the contingencies of a living body, but still caught up in some kind of spatiotemporal world. This was not a longing for the eternal or divine, where I could dissolve into abstract contemplation of the infinite beatitudes; this was still an earthly wish, a fetish, a desire to remain in the (perhaps not this world, but a world) as a disembodied consciousness, and do no more than watch what happens.  

[vincemontague]

I’ve written a book and I’m so grateful to my friends and to Latah Books for their support and belief in my writing. Cracked Pot chronicles my relationship with clay, words, deep loss, and grinding through some tough years. What pulled me through was the making of art and my community of friends and artists. I’m excited to share this story with you. Available for preorder. See link in my bio. Here is the cover to Cracked Pot. #writing #memoir #artpractice #grief #hybridwriting #studioart #art #writingaboutart #ceramics #studiopottery #poetry #prosepoems #smallpress #nonfiction #vincemontague #latahbooks #coverreveal #publishing Book jacket copy: When Vince Montague’s wife perishes in a tragic car accident, he is plunged into a world of grief. After weeks of loneliness and despair, he begins to explore his wife’s pottery studio in the wild hills of Northern California, teaching himself to mix clay, throw a pot, fire a kiln, trim and glaze. Just as his grief is ebbing and his future in clay is looking bright, a wildfire advances upon his studio and threatens to destroy everything he has created. ​ Cracked Pot is a singular book: a story of love lost and the labyrinthine path through grief; a meditation on the craft of pottery and its power to inspire and restore; a rumination on the life of a writer and the refuge of words; an examination of how generational family trauma can shape an artist. Montague’s haunting memoir is a kaleidoscopic and redemptive reading experience, one that serves to remind its readers about the cracks and the light. https://www.latahbooks.com/blank-1/cracked-pot https://www.instagram.com/p/Cjs6LUnrpxy/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[leepuffer]

As ceramicists we are tasked with harmonizing multiple elements, both physical and metaphysical. Of the physical- form, surface, and function are of primary concern. All of the principles and elements of three-dimensional design apply to creation and analysis of the work. Like any sculptural form, the elements and principles are the language we use to discuss the artwork, how it succeeds formally, and why. It is important to have use of this vocabulary as it helps us to understand our own responses to an artwork, and the responses of others, more deeply. #arteveryday #sodafired #ceramics #artspeak #writingaboutart #dancingaboutarchetecture #icanhelpyou #makemeaning #makeitmeaningful #shelfie #meaningmatters #makeart #artistlife #sculpture #artcurator #ceramicsculpture #contemporaryart #creativehappylife #creativitycoach #porcelain #figurativeabstraction #artlife #markmaking #makeyourmark #smallworks #artconsultant #studiopractice #contemporaryceramics #leepuffer #abstractsculpture https://www.instagram.com/p/CMhnAosjoYc/?igshid=t9jhky7pjnst

[mblwrites]

𝙳𝚛𝚊𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎... 𝚂𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚗𝚒𝚚𝚞𝚎 𝙸 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜, 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚖 𝚌𝚞𝚝-𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚎. • ꧁꧂ 𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚠 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑. • ꧁꧂ 𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚒𝚡. • ꧁꧂ 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚢, 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚡. • ꧁꧂ 𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞? 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚡 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚗𝚒𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜? • • • • • • • • • #aspiringblogger #personalblogger #personalblog #drawingoftheday #draweveryday #pencilcolours #pencilcolordrawing #pencilcoloring #pencilcolors #pencilcolourdrawing #drawandwrite #drawingandwriting #creativewritingdaily #creativewritting #alwaysdrawing #alwayswriting #outoftheboox #writingaboutart #collagedrawings #collagedrawing (at Tel Aviv City) https://www.instagram.com/p/CBgaerepz_B/?igshid=vtkqaw6iywej

[art-feed]

What’s left of abstraction? 

[sethtummins]

2 new posts. A few minutes of reading. #newpost #writingaboutart #oilpainting #landscapepainting #painting #landscape #writingaboutpainting #pantomime #fear https://www.instagram.com/p/CAeEtmpHYIw/?igshid=10cr5vt0z2iwr

[dina-milovanov-art]

So... I tried my hand at an artist's statement for "The Three Graces". People tell me that I should write up better descriptions of my paintings and share what inspired me to make them and where I'm coming from. I hope this one actually tells a bit of a story that's actually interesting to the viewer and isn't just the typical self-absorbed high-brow gallery bullcrap. I don't know. What do you think? https://dina.milovanov.ca/products/graces-2 / / / This painting is an abstract take on a classical motif and an homage to all the great artists who drew inspiration from it. The Three Graces are daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, and were thought of by the Greeks to represent elegance, brightness, splendor, youth, beauty and good cheer. Like in Botticelli's "Primavera", here they are depicted with their hands joined in a gentle dance. My palette owes much to the same source. Somewhat subdued and dominated by greens, pastel blues and purples, it nevertheless doesn't shy away from assertive red accents. When working on the overall design, I thought of all the gorgeous medieval and early modern stained glass windows that abound in cathedrals across Europe. Pieces of stained glass are carefully shaped and placed into a lattice which, once soldered, will hold them together. When viewed, the result is flat regions of vibrant colour separated by starkly contrasting lines; if the glass pieces are small like they tend to be in gothic rose windows, we get a breathtaking mosaic. Close your eyes. Now open them. What if I told you this festival of hue and motion is an abstract work by Fahrelnissa Zeid? In my piece, likewise, you see regions of colour held together by a lattice, but one thing they're not is flat. The paint is applied thickly and generously with a palette knife. Botticelli's Graces are delicate and exalted, stained glass windows are your portal to the transcendent, but I decidedly bring my Graces down to Earth. My Graces are pastose, rich, juicy, they have heft. That's what brightness, splendor, youth, beauty and good cheer actually look like. #artiststatement #writingaboutart #artgallery #artwriting #artcritic #artforsale #artcollectors #originalart https://www.instagram.com/p/BykfNTJH5Sz/?igshid=1hr4zkw0gp0g8

[sueclancy]

Worked from my #handwritten notes to #write an #artexhibit #statement for my upcoming #oneperson #fineart #exhibit @burntbridgecellars opening #firstfriday in June in #vancouverwa - I'm titling my exhibit "Dear Readers" - as it's about #reading and how one #sense experience leads to another much like one #book leads to another. You can see what my notes became here: https://sueclancy.com/dear-readers-art-exhibit-statement/ - #contemporaryart #originalart #caplanartdesigns #modernart #writingaboutart https://www.instagram.com/p/BxjEtnHJLW9/?igshid=122kok6andwaf

[paysagesinterieurs]

Opening of #anohnilove @thekitchen_nyc 🇫🇷Yasuda nous vise avec un flingue plutôt gros, genre Smith et Wesson 586, les ondulations du rideau transforment continuellement son sourire en grande tristesse, comme une grimace faite à la vie. Les mamelles de la puissance, Les dents de la rage, Le sourire de l’amertume, Le regard d’outre-tombe, Le gun de la provocation moqueuse, Les Twin du repentir, Le blond de la divinité.

🇺🇸 Yasuda aims at us with a big gun, like Smith and Wesson 586, the undulations of the curtain continually transform her smile into a great sadness, like a wince made to life. The breasts of power, The teeth of rabies, The smile of bitterness, The look from beyond the grave, The gun of mocking provocation, The Twin of repentance, The blond of the deity. 

[russellwrankle]

Just when I start questioning my parenting, my daughter writes this bit for her “Free Write” assignment for high school and makes me misty eyed. “This is my dad’s piece and it has a lot of meaning to me. I used to walk barefoot to my dad’s studio that was in our backyard at our house in Toquerville. I had made a trail I could follow without getting any goatheads in my heels. I had walked back there and helped him create this piece, he’d allow me to do the bare minimum. I’d add the texture on the crabs legs and the dogs creases. My dad’s studio was one of my favorite places on the planet. It’s where creativity floated in the air along with tons of dirt particles. The ground was covered in dirt and snot from when my dad would blow snot-rockets. Everything was covered in red clay, including all the walls from years and years of my dad’s artwork being made. He had put up a surround sound for his music and he’d always have the Avett Brothers or Old Crow Medicine Show on, my childhood tunes. In the winter, I’d spray the fireplace that provided warmth and comfort, and it’d sizzle and smoke. I’d make my own artwork sometimes and I made money once during one of my parent’s holiday sales. I miss my dad’s studio and how it would make me feel. This piece of artwork with the crab and the dog is a representation of all the positive things that went on in that rundown barn my dad had turned into a studio, it’s the definition of my childhood. #fruitofmyloins #offspring #writing #art #fastfiction #words #sculpture #writingaboutart #curator (at Cedar City, Utah) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrEEYQsAT7b/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1r7r3iyt0tl7

[kcloonanart]

Muses of an insane mind. Writing is an important part of my work as a reflection and for deciding titles and any other accompanying text. The thesaurus is a favorite of mine - - - #writing #thesaurus #art #artist #artistsofinstagram #thoughts #writingaboutart #automaticwriting #freeformwriting #streamofconsciousness #titles #losangeles #losangelesartist

[eng100a]

OSGEMEOS (Brazil) known as the twins.

http://www.osgemeos.com.br/en/biography/

[picsbysimonsen-blog]

ok, so this is awesome and fun!! just hit the button, and it populates an artist statement for you. what a time saver!! 🤣 the rest of the statement is in the comments. what do you think?? . thanks for that, @bmoreart. #artybollocksgenerator #artiststatement #artybollocks #writingaboutart #havefunwiththat #makingshitup

[leepuffer]

If we have a successful body of work, people love it, and it sells well. If we continue to make this body of work for a period of time, you become a manufacturer, not an artist. Artists innovate. It is imperative to change and develop. Art life is progressive. While I espouse a structured approach, I am not suggesting a formula. It is a framework within which we can explore every possible permutation of an idea. As we work, the art naturally evolves. When we have exhausted the possibilities of the framework, we create new parameters for ourselves. #arteveryday #feelgood #befree #writingaboutart #dancingaboutarchetecture #icanhelpyou #beyou #makemeaning #makeitmeaningful #meaningmatters #makeart #artistlife #artonpaper #artcurator #abstractpainting #contemporaryart #creativehappylife #creativelifehappylife #creativitycoach #watercolor #figurativeabstraction #artlife #markmaking #makeyourmark #worksonpaper #artconsultant #studiopractice #contemporarydrawing #leepuffer #authenticity https://www.instagram.com/p/CAyhXqFjPAk/?igshid=386gwq3dns6w

[lakencorrea-blog]

I'm working on an artist statement! Writing about your artwork is difficult! If anyone has advice comment below!! 🤔#artist #artiststatement #writingaboutart #art #artliterature #artonthebrain #writingishard #helpwriting

[art-feed]

Through uncanny vintage photographs, Laura Larson tells a story of love and attachment.