-
Ambivalence and Paradox, part 1
What American or artist would fail to take umbrage if described as derivative or old-fashioned? We pride ourselves on self-determination, yet our use of that freedom is paradoxically dependent on the developmental duality of nature and nurture. In common parlance paradoxes are mere contradictions, but their charm and challenge come from the fact that they…
-
Living artistically with paradigm crises, part 2
[ continued from this post ] Grouping art history by theme and subjecting it to feminist interpretation can be a helpful exercise. As Bram Dijkstra pointed out in the introduction to Idols of Perversity, “while we may have forgotten the specific content of these images, they nevertheless had a fundamental influence on the development of…
-
Living artistically with paradigm crises, part 1
Everybody makes mistakes. Some “mistakes” are not mistakes. Sometimes they are entirely logical extensions of political, religious, or academic doctrines that used to yield dependable results. When we become aware of our cognitive biases and preconceptions, how do we decide which to keep? Far more intriguing and useful is the concept of multiple truths that…
-
Mail art #3: Wax seals yet again
First and foremost, thank goodness for the occasional light-hearted project like this one with which to leaven everything else. I was dared to construct a wax seal larger than my usual 1 in. diameter. I decided that this meant I had to make one in excess of 4 in. With so much more surface area…
-
Identity politics
Today’s derailing experience comes courtesy of my studio mentor. He pointed out that an opinion I expressed about identity politics invalidated my entire thesis. He wasn’t wrong…but the opinion I voiced this morning was less nuanced than the one I would have stated if given more time. To give the appropriate visual context, here are…
-
Fame
The Chico News and Review did a (brief) blurb on the annual Window Art Project. I mention it because my polyptych Nor against yourself was included in their mass of thumbnails.
-
The One and Only Original, 2nd ed.
Seven hundred pages of research and note-taking later, I was floored by déjà vu. As George Santayana’s epigram scolds, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (qtd. in The Culture of the Copy 271). The repetition was this: I wrote on the relative merits of originality and duplication in art almost…
-
Book reviews
I was recently asked about the top three ideas or theories from this year’s massive pile of academic reading. #1 “…since no paradigm ever solves all the problems it defines and since no two paradigms leave all the same problems unsolved, paradigm debates always involve the question: Which problems is it more significant to have…
-
More recursion
It’s time to present another eclectic batch of artworks that question assumptions and generally inspire imagination. Simon Stalenhag’s illustrations present a divergent version of the eighties. The Swedish artist provides the alternative reality’s historical summary in a review of his work in WIRED. In this case, each digital illustration combines elements of white, middle-class…
-
LUGGAGE vs. wooden frames
As I mentioned, there are two ways in which to display what I’m tentatively calling the Opiate of the Masses triptych. In the altered luggage version, there is sadly no phosphorescence whatsoever. That would be a con. It does, however, come with a handle. Schlepping art around gets old fast. The prospect of simply snapping…
-
Origins cube
I finally finished the large Yoshimoto cube. Consider it homage to the link between the infinite and the infinitesimal (admittedly far less structured than “Powers of Ten” by Ray and Charles Eames). These reversible cubes perfectly suit my fascination with twinning and/or paradigms. The doppelganger this time is contrasting references to science and the first…
-
luggage vs. WOODEN FRAMES
One of this semester’s experiments was to create two different types of frames for the same polyptych. One is an altered piece of secondhand luggage that opens up to expose a triptych. The other is closer to the hinged polyptychs I’ve been making for the past year. Today I’ll present the paintings in their wooden…
-
Yoshimoto cubes, part 3
My previous art cubes used appropriation to present opposing two-dimensional views of womanhood in religious art history. This time that same self-transformation has a much larger scale. (Each of the black component pieces is an eight inch cube.) I thought I was finished creating art about the whole Creation vs. Evolution argument last fall, but…
-
Our hubris regarding realism
[ This paper was written in November 2012 to highlight the central irony of realistic painting. ] Naively, we artists often expect our familiarity with art to protect us from its tricks; like wise fools, we fall prey to its more disingenuous incarnations. As a prime example, consider the paradox of realistic painting. It pretends…
-
The One and Only Original
[The following is a defense of original artwork I wrote during October 2012.] “We heard about this paint,” the customers explained, “which you put on a print to make it just like a real painting.” They might have purchased Liquitex acrylic gel or perhaps (if they balked at the price) some Mod Podge. Unfortunately, they…
-
Chico window arts project
While the star of Chico’s Artoberfest is the Open Studio Tour, the month of artistic celebration also includes a push by downtown businesses to prominently display artwork. It’s a small nod to the town’s artistic proclivity. Here is a local newspaper’s report on the displays. I am not part of the studio tour, but some…
-
Correspondence art, Round 2
I heard this on a recent walk. Our fall colors tend to be modest, but we see a lot of Canadian geese thanks to a local wildlife sanctuary and many rice fields. I had all sorts of complicated notions for how to incorporate my favorite symbol of fall into this round of cards. What about…
-
Kewpies, feminism, and humility
As Elaine Scarry mentions in On Beauty and Being Just, we more vividly remember our mistakes about beauty than intellectual topics (11). Somehow it is easier to recall a time when we dramatically revised our opinion about the beauty of a person, place, or experience. I have recently had just such a humbling experience…about paper…
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Colleen Wampole 