Art exists in its creation, but its creation is often fertilized by ideas, philosophy. There are often mental novels that accompany the development of each painting. I aim to further express these ideas verbally in addition to visually. For now, I will introduce a few of concepts in Art ripe for experimentation which offer avenues for other Artists to explore expanded possibilities in painting. They also offer the viewer an expansion in their own connections to perception and the wider world:
1 – Can sublime composition be worked infinitely on a single canvas? If the achievement of an image or idea is relaxed in favor of creating a continuous rhythm, painting’s possibilities for connecting us to larger concepts of universal understanding, as science does, increase exponentially. Painting then becomes more about maintaining a universe than about describing a microcosm of it. I can see Artists in the future who spend their entire vocation on one painting. As science and metaphysics/spirituality venture off into the realms of the infinite and the infinitesimal, so must Art.
2 – Can abstraction create a rebirth of the image ? I envision a breath of fresh air in the realm of the figurative and illustrative pursuits which can be achieved if the result is evolved through pure abstraction. Let the painting be a painting first, realizing colors, form patterns, before any image or even idea takes shape. The greater connection to the fluidity of the autonomous process the more the mind connects to Art itself.
3 – If painting by its nature can create dimensional space from 2D rendering, might 3D rendering generate greater possibilities of dimensional space? Can 3D Art imbibe the 4th dimension, or another spacial realm we are not fully aware of? Are there half dimensions, portal dimensions, that Art can lead us to? And, if we incorporate the idea of composition, even sublime composition, might these elements create an even greater power of variables within this exploration? Could the gravity of a work’s composition lead to a greater understanding of the universe’s many dimensions?
4 – Can the realization of peace on Earth and the salvation of the human contribution to Life be catalyzed through abstract Art as it might through spiritual or psychoactive experience? If Art continues to evolve away from image or idea to discover its own inherent power, and this is done through allowing painting to layer itself compositionally even into the third dimension, and accident, serendipity, and automatism are incorporated into the continuous compositional flow, then Art becomes a way of exemplifying how all elements of reality can work together in a single universe. Oh, the lessons we can learn about forgiveness, compassion, understanding, respect, and love from a painting method that creates Art which is all inclusive yet profoundly unique! Art has always been essential to the modes of life through which we as humans operate on this planet, and now it is essential we work together as a colonial organism to save the human soul.
5 – If Art is one of the few things humans wish to preserve forever, then why not turn our grotesque amounts of garbage into beautiful public Art? With the technologies we have I see no reason why we can’t find a way to detoxify most waste materials and incorporate them into formable medium. Sustainable pigmentation with full prism potential (including ultraviolet and infrared) are also possible if we put our ingenuity to it. It would create jobs, community, and connectivity with people around the world. Bio-composition with plants and fungi can help connect the Artworks with the growing mechanisms of the Earth, incorporating concepts of change and evolution onto the Art. It can encompass all of Art’s gravity from the deep diggers discovering new realities or children working in harmony to build something they care about. Taking time to feel the Art will become synonymous with taking time to smell the roses.
Automatism
“Automatism” can be described as a process of image rendering in which strokes or marks are selected without conscious thought or specific narrative intent. Automatism is considered a hallmark of the early 20th century Surrealists and later it was an important element of Jackson Pollock’s discoveries into the nature of painting.
“Compositional automatism” can foster the exploration of uncharted territory in painting. If each stroke is worked into the piece as a stranger being welcomed into a community, and integrated into the larger whole with compositional direction and subconscious fluidity, a universe beyond one’s single viewpoint emerges. An agent of patience and understanding, compositional automatism can turn mistakes into maps, accident into epiphany. Without relegation of intent, this method can bridge gaps between the subjective and the objective. Through paint’s potential for endless layering, even into the 3rd dimension, Art can demonstrate the harmony of everything.
On Composition
I think often about composition as the foundation of Art-making. It wishes to exist for its own sake, beyond any image or idea, and exist at its fullest potential. Composition is a force, a will which an Artist taps into to create space through their work, timeless. It is unlimited in its potential yet makes a clear distinction from work which does not employ it. This will, this energy, becomes a way of life to the composer, and shapes his or her vision of the world. It is not about rules of thirds, contrasts or or any one element of Art-making. It is about the fluidity of all of the elements working through and within each other. Composition is a shamanistic trance, an astral stream of consciousness. Composition is the gravity of creation. And it is the essence of that about Art which evolves the human mind and spirit. It is the measure, balance, distribution and harmony of notes in any work which reaches beyond the surface image or idea, the core of Art for Evolution’s sake.
Seasons flying, color changing
Colors move, always, as light moves always. Palettes of everything are infinitely variable, even if to our eyes colors can seem firm and even concrete in their singularities. A block of blue on a white canvas, for example, is never that same blue even if it might look like it. Dim the lights, or raise and filter them, as nature does all the time, and that blue is different. Let time pulse at all and the color has changed. And that light is not just affecting the intended color, it is bouncing off of and through all of the little micro particles in the air, trillions of them, and those are always moving and never the same way, altogether, twice. If light is what affects what we see, and its interactions with reality are never the same twice, then a person is looking at something different every time they look at anything. How many colors does light travel through in the time it takes us to register what we call a single color, I wonder, and how does that affect our existence as color conscious entities? If color is seen as fluid and definable by its relationship to consciousness as opposed to its empirical classifications, the possibilities of what an Artist can do with color in painting expand exponentially.