Fruitful Interlude

Today the opposite of tomato is 'works of art with a minimum of steel'

Presenting a one-off seasonal special today, rather than the habitual annual fruit-fest, as a pair of the available (just, given their ripening-to-mellowness condition) pears became resolved into a suitable composition for active contemplation through the process of drawing in graphite & watercolour.
As usual, the pears are arranged & seen in such proximity as to attempt to 'charge with energy' the space between in the manner ascribed by Andrew Forge to a particular composition of Euan Uglow's featuring a pair of pears (please refer to this archive blog post).


graphite & watercolour/30x21cm

Soundtrack:


Moon Wiring Club 'A Spare Tabby at the Cat's Wedding'
Bauhaus '1979 - 1983 Vols. 1 & 2'

There's something of the autumn that palpably informs the aesthetic of the Moon Wiring Club, rendering a listen to the goings-on of the denizens of Clinkskell all the more appropriate under the seasonal circumstances, although no such excuse is required, of course, such is TOoT’s attachment to the work of Mr Hodgson.

The re-acquaintance with the sounds (& iconography too) of Bauhaus is another matter altogether, however, with the whim to hear said music occurring what might be a good 25 years since the last aural engagement with what was a particular favourite band, back in the early Eighties (so much so, in fact, that they remain the only band I’ve seen live on as many as three occasions: the first, in fact, mentioned already in these parts, here, in relation to an appearance, also, by The Birthday Party, back in June of 1981).
An interesting experience to report, accompanied by the sense of knowing why one may have moved on from certain artists & their music, their sound, although not without a number of moments of pleasant recognition, of songs that do seem to have endured, that offer more than merely the indulgence or whatever of nostalgia (the revisiting, indeed, of specifically teenage passions: swinging the heartache of the loss of, perhaps? For all that, with the hindsight of experience, may be worth anyway…), more often than not because of their deviation from the norm of the signature aesthetic, which itself retains a certain attraction, if, possibly, preferably, in smaller doses than the two volumes of the retrospective somewhat indigestibly constitute.

Back to (Double) Black...

A grand day out indeed, this afternoon, as it concluded with the most delightful discovery, upon the surface of one of the back streets of Chester, of an example of what had become, over the course of the years & numerous documentings, TOoT's signature 'double black lines' road markings, formerly thought to have been consigned to the past (& another place) but brought vividly into the now in a new location.

In addition to both the sense of novelty & the renewing of acquaintance with a familiar subject, there is an exciting development too in the form in which these particular lines (corrective black over original yellow) appear - not mechanically applied like the previous examples, but, in numerous instances (these synechdocally suggesting the whole), quite obviously hand-made, altogether more 'painterly' as they record the passage through time & space of the brush in the dried marks of the discrete strokes.

As with the subject matter generally, the photographs taken thus picture mostly grey monochrome surfaces of a variety of tones & textures, apart from where, as in the first example below, some of the original yellow lines remain (as a compostional element, amongst others, of the whole):




The following corrections in particular - the sequence of images describing a course from left to right - display a wonderful, explicit brush-marked quality, applied, swiped at, mostly, diagonals to the horizontal of the underlying lines, the pale yellow of which is evident in traces beneath the black paint: such a process, as apparent, might well be considered to be a certain kind of 'action painting', such is the flurry of activity fixed in the form of the dried brush strokes.



In the following example, the evidence of the repaired road surface provides a further element of linear & compositional interest, with tonal & textural subtleties, at an angle to the double black lines. Also vividly apparent is the small section of yellow line left uncovered, uncorrected: what could such signify? Is it purely an aesthetic statement perhaps, devoid of any practical informational function?




By way of serendipity, the moments prior to the encounter with these double black lines had been spent having a welcome sit down in Waterstones', indulging in a relaxed & leisurely read of Bertrand Russell's 'In Praise of Idleness' in the Philosophy section, from the shelves of which A picked an edition of the 'Basic Writings' of Heidegger sporting the cover design illustrated below, with an image most appropriately of a tarmac-surfaced & paint-marked nature.


If ever there was an inducement, a sign indeed, to engage, after much procrastination & delay, with the ideas of Heidegger, which has been the intention for far too long now, then surely such must be it.

Cheese and Tomato

Something in particular caught my intrigued eye in the new, October issue of Art Review during a browse today, as, oft being a companion of tomato, it might, namely a reproduction of a photograph by Clare Strand of a cheese 'sculpture' made by her father.


Rather a coincidence this, following as it did the publication of a particular tomato-based story in a local newspaper earlier this week:


The perfect combination.

Thought Into Practice...

Today brought something of a development in relation to yesterday’s thoughts (or musings upon the lack of), & a welcome return to a session of drawing practice - not the intended active contemplation of a particular collection of seasonal objects (as has become customary during this month of the year) but, rather, others that presented a more compelling distraction during the course of making the decision where to draw.

The object matter then is, primarily, a table lantern with a translucent, frosted glass surround & some LED candle lights of a similar type, arranged upon a windowsill & observed, in the familiar if not exclusively habitual manner, contre jour.
The subject matter, of course, is the representation of a tonal study of the composition & the dialogue between the process of marks made with graphite pencils & putty eraser, of addition, accumulation & subtraction, exploring the subtleties of the transitions of tone between objects & 'tactile' space, of attempting to record what is seen in conditions of natural light - & the fluctuations, fading of - over the course of time.


graphite & putty eraser/20x30cm

What was observed was, essentially, an arrangement of simple geometrical shapes that in places & along edges, with the light from without/behind passing through their translucent forms, glowed a bright white, the drawing process thus involving erasure of the graphite marks forming the mid-toned ground back as far as possible, where appropriate, to the original white of the page.

Closely observed, the material substance & surface finish of the objects brought to mind very much the tracing paper, & overlaid accumulations of, used by Kees Goudzwaard in constructing the paper & masking tape models for his 1:1 scale painted representations of, which can thus be read as highly-realised & faithful still lifes of low-relief three dimensional objects, almost in the manner of trompe l'oeil, &/or also geometrical abstract compositions in the best traditions of Modernism.

Kees Goudzwaard: paper model for 'Transit' 2009

Kees Goudzwaard 'Transit' 2009
oil on canvas/120x90cm

Also pictured is a photograph of the objects originally intended to be studied & drawn, upon the rather wonderful retro coffee table & its closely-toned patterned surface: nice.





Soundtrack:


The Lilac Time 'The Lilac Time'
PJ Harvey 'Let England Shake'

Pause for Thought

The afternoon tea break at work today afforded the opportunity to have a brief browse at least through the latest, September 2011 issue of Modern Painters, including as it does an article on & also a Q&A with Richard Serra, during the latter of which he claims, on the subject of drawing & keeping sketchbooks, "For me seeing is a way of thinking, and drawing is my way of recording my thoughts", a philosophy that struck a mighty chord, such is the contemplative importance I've always attached to the process of looking & drawing, the activity of thought.

Does the lack of any drawing activity on my part then signify that I'm also not thinking...? And further to that, taking the Cartesian view, does that suggest that, not drawing, not thinking, therefore I am...not?

Picnic Time

Another documenting of objects found upon the road, just so, during a wander down a local country lane – not the usual ‘roadkilled’ aluminium cans on this unusual occasion, but, rather, an anomaly in the shape of some scattered jaffa cakes, somewhat out the context one might expect to encounter such, the first pair to be pictorially captured rather conveniently exhibiting the opposite sides of their forms (note the particularly aesthetic glossy chocolate topping, very much like the most luscious oil paint).



Then, returning to the more familiar ‘roadkill’ conceptual framework informing the found objects project (such as it is) in general, a third jaffa cake, existing apart from the previous pair & alone in its own space upon the road surface, appearing, we might say, a little ‘tyred’, displaying evidence of having been run over by a wheeled vehicle & consequently flattened down a little…



Also a fourth jaffa cake, still contained within one aspect of its packaging, a tube of orange cellophane, that, especially in the unusual context in which it was found, constitutes a most striking aesthetic object in itself, its colour providing a vivid contrast to the background of grass & tarmac upon which it lay.


Under the circumstances, one is very tempted to brew an accompanying pot of tea...

Brightening-up...

Presenting something of a 'painterly' post today, with the pictorial evidence of a mark of orange paint that appeared particularly flourescent against the grey of the kerbstone upon which it was made & the tarmac of the road surface, on a day of dull grey light, & which photographed in even more incandescently fiery fashion than it occurred to the naked eye, in the moment, a striking aesthetic effect.
Note also the inclusion of the painted arrow (or at least its uneroded remains) within the composition, giving the whole a certain dynamic, perhaps, & the inadvertent presence of the shoes of the 'gazer'...

[untitled]

And so a return to the ubiquitous subject-object matter of aluminium can 'roadkill', as found & photographically documented, but, in a new twist, here, in the new(ish) locale, upon & amongst an area of tarmac road surface that adds a touch of colour to what had previously - in the 'double black lines' days & context of yore - been almost exclusively grey monochromatic surroundings & backgrounds to the 'roadkill' finds.


Such a find & photograph affords the opportunity & provides the inspiration to indulge in a little much-needed image & blogging husbandry, & specifically the selection & (re)presentation of some more recently taken photographs of small areas to be found along this particular road, which, by way of explanation of such an endeavour, constitutes the main bus route operating between Chester & Wrexham, hence its surface being marked at numerous intervals to indicate stopping zones, tarmacked over, as might be extrapolated from the available pictorial evidence, a certain red & also outlined & lettered with yellow paint.

From such source material, the keen aesthetician might extract a variety of incident, such as this fine example of craquelure, of an intriguingly circular, looped nature, upon the yellow painted line, which itself shows evidence in places of having been applied in two layers:


A second example includes the familiar-to-these-parts form of the grating of a cast-iron drainage grid cover, in addition to abstracted fragments - lines, angles, curves & loops of forms - of alphabetical lettering as another aspect of compositional interest. Again, erosion of areas of the uppermost surface(s) exposes evidence of the 'archaeology' of the strata of the entire surface's construction, layer upon layer...


The fragments of lettering & evidence of surface erosion - sometimes revealing intriguing glimpses, traces, of previous text painted underneath, cancelled out by subsequent layers - are features that might be observed also in the following further examples/compositions, also all rich in a variety of surface texture in the manner of 'painterly' painting, with which a visual analogy is intended, of course...





Note how, in this final example, the yellow line has been painted particularly thickly, for added textural effect.


In the context of such a photographic record & its subject matter, it's been interesting to read over the summer the reviews of Ingrid Calame's well-received exhibition at the Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh - the artist's drawing & oft highly-coloured painting practice being sourced from tracings of the incidental details of pavements, roads & other horizontal surfaces, & developed into complex layered compositions as might be appreciated from this online gallery of images.

15th September Update

On a coincidental note, here's a still life of a piece of fresh tarmac as painted by Dan Young & featured on his 'Daily' blog.

The Sound of Music

Presenting the latest essential acquisition to the new home, a very much desired 1960s record player, this time successfully acquired from ebay (from one of the lovely sellers offering a 'Buy it now' option, thus bypassing the lottery of the hated auction process) after being previously thwarted.

So, a jolly nice & stylish Ferguson portable model in perfect working order & with excellent sound, just the very thing with which to reacquaint the ears with the particular qualities & delights of vinyl, some of the latest additions to the growing-again collection of which are also pictured, including Galaxie 500’s wonderful ‘This Is Our Music’ (poetry in motion, indeed), thus able to be heard for the first time in this format, which sounds very much at its best (the guitars seem so much more up front, somehow), as intended. ‘Today’, also featured, was indeed the only one of the band’s albums I ever owned & heard on vinyl back at the time the records were contemporary (the other two were bought on cassette, for the purposes of portability), a situation now fully rectified by the acquisition also – presented, as ‘Today’, most kindly by A – of ‘On Fire’, the wonders of each of which are refreshed by being heard on vinyl, with its more organic, analogue warmth & roundness of sound.






Happy days.

A Significant Find...

Drawn once more to the roadside, & objects found in such a vicinity, here is (re)presented photographic evidence of a curious encounter whilst pottering homeward yesterday, with this trio of plastic miniature road signs planted into the earthy interstice between two kerbstones...



Today, they were gone. What can it all mean...?