UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #86

“The Fractured Earth #3”

The Rockscape Series

 (Watercolour with collage on watercolour paper) 

Size:  83x98cm (framed)

THE IDEAS  and TECHNIQUES USED IN THIS PAINTING:

This is a photo of our beautiful coastline on the Sunshine Coast, Australia.  It looks so beautiful that it is hard to imagine that there is something very wrong with it.  WRONG - Yes!  Scientific studies confirm that the Pacific Ocean is in peril due to pollution and over fishing.  “Populations of marine animals – fish, mammals, reptiles and birds – have declined by an average of 89 percent from their historical highs.”  (from “Frankenstein’s Cat” p.105 by Emily Anthes ).  Also “global warming is raising water temperatures and levels, and changing its acidity and salinity.  Experts are also predicting long-term changes in precipitation, storm frequency and ocean currents and circulation.  These shifts are already having profound effects on marine life. “(p.115).  These concerns are addressed in my Rockscape Series where I have painted ten watercolour paintings. 

This painting #3 addresses pollution.  I picked this drink can off the beach at Pt. Cartwright.  I photocopied the object directly and used the photocopy as the collage.

The subject of the watercolour is taken from my photograph of the rockscape on Pt. Cartwright, seen below.

I have discussed the concept behind this Rockscape Series in Posts Nos. 9, 67, 69, 72, 78 and 81, so dear reader, go to these past posts if you are interested in more about this series.  Each painting addresses a different concern.

The composition of this watercolour is simple and flat.  This is consistent with my style even though I have portrayed the photo realistically.  It is balanced with the viewer’s eye being drawn to where the coke can (the pollution) is, which is the focal point. 

Watercolour paint gives a very soft effect and the colours are clear and unambiguous.  An artist cannot “fudge” a watercolour painting because of its transparent quality.  The style is contemporary.  The form is two dimensional and the concept is abstract.

The title gives the meaning of the art work and this title is used for the whole series.  Each painting in the series is numbered. 

I am a colourist.  I go to great care to create colours in my painting that are unique and I spend endless time planning and mixing these colours.  Watercolour paint is celebrated for the unique way that light is represented through this medium.  However over the past few years, since the advent of PCs, paintings have increasingly been selected and often judged from computer photographs.  As a painter, I find this practice very limited. A painting in reality and a painting produced digitally are not  the same thing.  Moreover size does matters!  When paintings are judged for an exhibition they are all viewed in the “same size” format from a computer and/or projected onto a screen.  Size is an element in the planning and production of a painting, and should not be reduced to one size fits all mentality. 

According to the computer scientist, futurist and author Jaron Lanier, “A digital image of a painting is forever a representation, not a real thing...A digital image, or any other kind of digital fragment is a useful compromise.  It captures a certain limited measurement of reality within a standardized system that removes any of the original source’s unique qualities.  No digital image is really distinct from any other; they can be morphed and mashed up.  That doesn’t mean that digital culture is doomed to be anaemic.  It just means that digital media have to be used with special caution.” (my emphasis)  (from “You are not a Gadget” p.133-4).  In other words a painting loses its inherent integrity when it is copied.  Lanier is very concerned with the way the arts and creativity are being compromised by the way computer programming industry has evolved which, in his view, has rendered the present generation culturally impotent.

Lanier goes on to state, “A real painting is a bottomless mystery, like any other real thing.  A painting changes with time.  It has texture, odour and a sense of presence and history.” (from “You are not a Gadget” p,133-4) Expanding on what Lanier says, I would stress that it also is a form of human expression – no other creature communicates in graphic form nor do they think creatively. 

Once a week over the last 86 weeks, I have prepared and published a post about one of my paintings with an emphasis on Understanding Abstract Art.  However from this week onwards I will be writing on a less regular basis.  I will however notify readers in the same way, through Facebook and LinkedIn.  Therefore expect the next post from me in about a fortnight’s time.

http://www.buderimartstudio.com 

UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #46

Title:   “Grok” 

(Acrylic)

90x90cm

THE IDEA BEHIND THE PAINTING

The word “Grok” is new.  It was invented by the author Robert Heinlein.  It means to intimately and completely share the same reality or line of thinking with another physical or conceptual entity.  According to Wikipedia grokking is the intermingling of intelligence that necessarily affects the observer and the observed.  This painting is about networks and networking and its social affects.

Artistic techniques used in the painting:

The advent of computer technology has not made the human race any happier.  In fact it seems to have restricted human qualities such as communication, relationship and love.  It is based on the binary system of mathematics, and I would predict, as humanity evolves the human brain will develop with a bias to extreme thinking – the human race will develop a “binary brain”.   All nuances in the spectrum between the two poles of any continuum will disappear leaving just the two extremes.  This will be reflected throughout all levels of life, ie. religion, wealth distribution, political ideologies etc.  It is happening now.

In this painting I used a wide variation of colour on the spectrum Blue/Orange.  There are many variation of Phthalo Blue used.  Also I used an Orange made from a blend of Fluoro Orange and Vermillion. 

I intentionally made the Orange constant and flat to contrast with the dynamics seen in the abstract subject which is the point of focus. This abstract subject is what represents the networking as per the internet.  The Orange “hybrid” colour is derived from two colour types, which gives the painting its intense impact and adds to its edginess.   Orange and Blue are complimentary opposites and are meant to have this effect.  They are extremes on a spectrum of opposites, just as Black and White are extremes.

White is used in this painting to get the Aqua but Black is not used.  Alizarin Crimson is mixed with Prussian Blue to get the Blackish colour.  

The concept of “connectivity” as implied by the title “Grok” is considered and examined throughout the process of creating this piece.

There is no right way to hang this painting.  I leave that to each individual’s taste.  The painting is technically balanced but also poses a sense of imbalance with the main subject disappearing off the canvas.  This imbalance creates tension which was my intent for this painting.  I do not feel that modern technology has created balance and harmony – in fact I feel that it has increased edginess.

The defused plane of Tan colour that obscures part of the main point of focus represent the future which is uncertain and cloudy.

There is no way a viewer could ignore this painting.  It is meant to be “in your face” through the colours used and its composition.  It is about the “Brave New World” of our future.  However I do not necessarily see the future in a pessimistic way.  Nevertheless, we all need to be consciously aware in the moment and not assign our individual responsibility to others who seek “control” of our hearts and minds through advertising and the mass media which includes the internet.  It is used as the banner for this blog.

http://www.buderimartstudio.com