THE ART PROCESS: Collage

Collage is a technique used by visual artists where an artwork is made by assembling different forms, usually paper cut-outs of text, photographs, and other clippings. The term “collage” comes from the French word “coller” which means “glue”. Collage art became a distinctive part of modern art in the early 20th century.

That being said, what are people doing with it today? Are computers revolutionizing the process of cutting and pasting? In short, yes.. completely. Take the work of Dr Sepian for instance (he’s not really a doctor). His work is greatly influenced by the science/philosophy of pataphysics, which is, according to French writer Alfred Jarry, “the science of imaginary solutions”. On this, Dr Sepian’s has said “some people consider themselves surrealists, others art’s activists, I consider myself a pataphysicist!” Okay, alright, I can dig that! 

His collage work isn’t something I’d call necessary powerful or ground breaking, it’s even a little silly at times, but as a fan of the surreal, I have to say it hits the mark. In some ways the impact is in the details, and I have a feeling if this “doctor” were to explain each collage he produces with words, we’d be left a little smarter having heard it. 

THE ART PROCESS: Ursus Wehrli and The Art of Cleaning Up

Ursus Wehrli is an artist who likes to keep things tidy. He’s most well known for his entertaining TED Talk Tidying Up Art where he presents the work of famous artists like Jaspen Johns and Paul Klee except in a deconstructed and organized output. In his upcoming book The Art of Cleaning Up, he extends this overly-rational form of modern art to the world around him with just as much efficiency.

Take apart -> put in order: a simple concept with deeply satisfying results.

THE ART PROCESS: Miniature Art

On the same wave as Victoria’s previous post highlighting Aiba’s work with miniatures, let’s take a closer look at these little artist-created worlds (like, real close - these things can get pretty tiny). 

Miniature and model art focuses on the thousand-year-old traditions of engraving and sculpting small-scaled objects mostly based on life-sized things. As this genre meshes in with the contemporary art world, some very interesting analysis of nature and architecture arise. 

A great example of this which comes to mind is the meticulous work of Keisuke Tanaka. His process starts with large blocks of blank wood which he carefully and skillfully carves into incredibly detailed sculptures. The carvings are then hand-painted with extreme care. Weaved into his pieces, which are mostly comprised of trees and cloud-like wisps, you will find cityscapes, tiny wooden houses, and swirling trails. 

These overall whimsical pieces come silver-lined with the beautifully ironic concept of trees being carved out of wood. What I like most about miniature work is how the artist can put a whole forest at your feet yet it will remain completely humble as if you were standing in the forest itself. 

THE ART PROCESS: Digital Illustration - Part 1

Digital illustration is the process of producing images by the use of drawing software and a pointing device such as a tablet. Virtually replacing “pen and paper”, digital illustration strays from traditional methods of drawing and painting to create entirely new levels of possibility and function.

This is apparent in the digital work of artist Kazuhiko Nakamura. He deals with a heavy dystopian themes and realities in his 3D illustrations. The process of developing thorough concepts for his images is very important to Nakamura: “I search for my image tenaciously trying to create the best combination of the shapes, textures and lighting.” 

In some ways these pieces feel like the imagery of a good sci-fi book, and in other ways the concept artwork for a video game - which they very well could be. Incredibly detailed 3D modeling, layers of varying textures, and strong, inspired concepts create a successful narrative about man and machine. 

I’ll continue to highlight some top-notch digital illustrators over the next coming weeks.

THE ART PROCESS: Performance Art

Performance art is a relatively “new” artist process which hadn’t gained popularity, let alone fully existed until the 60s. This particular form of expression involves time, space, the artist’s physical body, and some sort of relationship or distinct communication between the artist and the audience. It’s a very disciplined and conceptual form of art where the artist is likely to attempt pushing the limits of human nature or cultural norms by challenging the audience unconventionally. 

Since it threatens traditions of the artist’s purpose, performance art faces the continuous battle of proving itself as a viable form of art. Where the industry is concerned, in some ways it may as well not exist since a performance piece is usually a single event which cannot be repeated or captured to be purchased. I personally appreciate this factor, and I like that it shifts the function of the artist from creating alone in a studio to exposing themselves in a living, breathing way. 

To best explore the versatility and impact of performance art, let’s look at the work of Marina Abramović, New York based Serbian performance artist. Abramović is at the very top of my most brilliant artists list. In terms of original thought and powerful conceptual realizations, she very much moves past the limits of the mind with grace. For over three decades she’s been dealing with themes of ritual, pain, connection, and communication. 

Abramović has produced many critical works ranging in scale and concept. In 1974 her experiment titled “Rhythm 0” consisted of 72 mostly harmful objects being presented to an audience told they can do whatever they want to her with the objects as she stood there for six hours, completely impassive. During this performance she was cut, stripped, manipulated, and had a loaded gun held to her head - all by an audience of regular people. The outcome of this work was an important study of audience/artist relationship as well as the limits of the two. 

THE ART PROCESS: Psychedelic Art Part II 

The word psychedelic means “mind manifesting”. What Alex Grey makes clear to us in his paintings is the energy (both good and bad) of the human being. In the late 70’s Grey had a series of etheogenically induced “mystical” experiences that transformed his agnostic existentialism to radical transcendentalism. In short: he tripped on LSD regularly and thus came forth his postmodern paintings with sacred themes radiating incredibly. 

Many of his paintings, especially his life-sized series of 21 paintings called The Sacred Mirrors which examine the physical and metaphysical anatomy of a human being, represent in great detail the skeleton, nervous system, and cardiovascular system. He paints humans praying, meditating, kissing and so on, with religious symbols such as auras, icons, and chakras.

THE ART PROCESS:
Psychedelic Art - Part I

The first time I laid eyes on Leif Podhajsky’s art, my pupils dilated so large that they may as well have gotten stuck that way because I’ve been seeing things hypersensitivly* ever since. (*not a real word)

I’m sure this man is considered a god in some type of alternate world and I’d certainly bow to him. His work is deeply concerned with nature to the point of creating within what I like to call a sub-nature or possibly a post-nature. I say this because nothing in his images feel like anything he’s showing us can be real, aside from the objects we have some previous relationship to. In short, he is bending our human relationship with what we’ve accepted as reality. 

It’s mostly the geometry which controls the ease of these images, making them so to damn good to look at. Despite somewhat troubling or melancholic themes, there’s a comfort here with soothing tones and fluid lines. Some of Leif’s images feel like you may just fall into them, and others feel like you might become them; psychedelic art is like drugs without the drugs. 

Matthew Brandt: Lakes and Reservoirs

THE ART PROCESS: photographing outer space

The universe is constantly being created—and destroyed. It hides nothing. You’ve seen these colorful, wondrous images of galaxies, nebulae and supernovas before but have you ever wondered how these images are collected? Here’s some truth about the process with the most-ess. 

First of all, a little history to put things in perspective. The first full photograph of planet Earth wasn’t captured until 1972, when the Apollo 17 crew left Earth en-route to the moon on December 7th. Since the moon was behind them, they had a perfectly lit view of, well, us! And this photograph was taken so that we can marvel at, well, ourselves! 

The leading photograph shown above is of Spiral Galaxy NGC 3982. To achieve this image as we see it, there’s first over 1400 screen captures taken, one every 10 seconds, from the Hubble telescope over the course of 3 weeks. This amounts to 10 hours of processing, beginning with black and white images from 3 Hubble cameras. 

“Creating color images out of the original black-and-white exposures is equal parts art and science”
- hubblesite.org

Hubble doesn’t use film, it’s cameras record light from the universe with special electronic detectors. Finished color images, as we see them, are actually combinations of two or more black and white exposures to which color has been added during images processing. So, not to shatter any or all illusion, but these colorful and dazzling images are not exactly what we would see in outer space with our own eyes. Hubble can detect all the visible wavelengths of light plus many more that are invisible to human eyes, such as ultraviolet and infrared light.

The images, in order, are Spiral Galaxy NGC 3982 (I personally would have called it something cooler), The Crab Nebula, The Eskimo Nebula, The Helix Nebula, an old star giving up the ghost, The Eagle Nebula, and the last two are the great Carina Nebula.

Thanks for the eye vacation, NASA.