Reflective Process #2 (Heels Over Head)

graphite & putty eraser/20x30cm
original source: 'The Guardian' 05/12/08

The particular newspaper original from which this drawing was processed reappraises a number of the recurring themes of The Project, the ‘upsidedownedness’ of the image – drawn as such - for instance, & not least the levels of representation & reproduction mined, with the photograph itself including an ‘image within’ in the form of a reflection upon the surface of an area of water.

On a purely incidental level, but noteworthy still in relation to the nature of photography & photojournalism, this image was but one of a number of compelling examples published of the particular human subject, proof perhaps that some subjects are simply more photogenic than others, although this issue has no conscious bearing upon the transcription-into-drawing-as-process purpose of The Project or the more general nascent concept of ‘de-photography’.

Concerning the (almost exclusively) monochrome nature of The Project (which, often transcribing from the coloured originals which have become the norm in newspaper reproduction, ‘de-photographizes’ into graphite drawings), there’s an interesting essay in December’s Art Review, on the subject of Jasper Johns’ related paintings ‘False Start’ & ‘Jubilee’ – the latter being, in essence, a monochrome version of the primary-coloured former, both ‘expressionistically’ painted in terms of brushmarking with additional stencilled lettering - & the artist’s hinted preference for often working in monochrome (there being a recent exhibition devoted to Johns’ extensive ‘Gray’ work, comprising some 118 works), for its ‘sculptural’ qualities, with colour believed to interfere with the communication of form & volume: this indeed, is the reason for my own preference for monochrome, & for the pencil in conjunction with the eraser, the effort to realise some form of ‘sculptural’ quality in the drawings.
Johns, of course, also created sculptural objects, with the surface tactility that was a feature of his encaustic-surfaced paintings which themselves often incorporated three-dimensional objects into their compositions &/or otherwise achieved a degree of ‘object-quality’.
The essay also mentions, in passing, the extensive body of monochrome work produced by Gerhard Richter, the Robert Storr-authored & lavishly illustrated catalogue of whose exhibition ‘40 Years of Painting’ is providing the current primary research material.
Interesting to consider that, obviously, working from photographic sources is doing so in the Duchampian tradition of the readymade, amongst many fascinating ideas.

Soundtrack:


PJ Harvey 'To Bring You My Love'
Bjork homemade compilation
Leonard Cohen 'The Essential'

In the melancholic depths of the dark, cold days of winter, when the depression can take the form of an actual physical ache in the head, even whilst engaged in the sanity- & life-saving process of drawing, it's strangely comforting & even uplifting to take refuge in a return to 'The Essential Leonard Cohen', to which one seems inexorably drawn at such times: just magnificent songwriting, perfectly performed.