Art 21 Reflection Two

That looks like an amazing job!

This time, I decided to choose a couple of artists from the "what to watch" doc, to see if I like them better.  I chose Cai Guo-Qiang (gun powder) and Vija Celmins (pencil drawings).  I will start with Cai "the powder guy" Guo Qiang :), because that is the one I could find first, and he seemed really interesting.  Mr. Cai seems to specialize in gun powder, and having worked with it for years, he has gotten to know it and made some conclusions.  He is drawn to gunpowder for his art because it represents "beauty and romance" on the one hand, but also can be used for destruction.  After working with it for years, he has learned to accept that it is dangerous to anyone nearby, and that he needs to stand back and give the powder most of the "control."  The rest will sort of fix itself (boom!).  I don't think that there is any way for me to relate to exploding things for art (Do I wish so?  Yes. Is that at all possible?  Not really...), but I guess I like the way/mindset he has when making artwork.  He seems so relaxed even though he is working with a potentially deadly material, and lets things happen the way they normally would.  I was a little uncomfortable (but also laughing my head off) when he compared making art to making love, but if that inspires him, it's okay with me.  I really like his work because it is unique and one of a kind.  There aren't many people in the world who do that kind of thing.  Before I watched the video, it looked like it would be really easy: just dribble powder and your are good to go.  However, after watching him, I can appreciate how much work and precision goes into each painting.  Dusting?  Not sure.  Anyways, he has his own style to express himself with, and I am sure many people around the world, especially kids (well, pretty much anyone) who are interested in it too.  (Note that I saw the rest, but as a kid, I am the most interested in talking about the gunpowder.  His dad's scroll was really cool though).

Doesn't that look like a photo to you?

Vija Celmins is an artist who does incredibly detailed and labor-intensive drawings and paintings.  At the beginning, she said that she used the photo she was not exactly copying as an inspiration to her.  It helped her focus on getting the "feel" of the cosmos, almost sharpening her mind so she could make those painstaking looking little stars.  In that painting, she had worked on it for over a year, and painted it a dozen times.  She doesn't throw away the ones she finds that she has lost the touch on.  Instead, she paints over them, letting them accumulate and giving the painting a different feel.  She considers sanding away the layers part of her process, and calls her numerous attempts "building a painting."  I really like her work too because it is so realistic, and if I didn't know better, I would think it was a photograph.  I am using the one up there (the plane) as an example, and she used all gray in the painting (the plane and the sky).  This may be really easy to you professional artist types, but it is amazing to me.  Knowing how long it took her to make the comet painting, I can only imagine how long this one took.  I can not relate to making incredibly realistic paintings, but I think I can relate to her process, in a less extreme sort of way.  To me, cleaning the slate and starting fresh is a part of the process, and sometimes it makes things feel better. My drawings do not turn out like that one when I start over, but I think ideas come to me more easily when I am in front of a blank piece of paper.  In fact, I think it is easier for me to work on one thing for hours (with less breaks) so that I can keep my mind blankish instead of working on it for an hour, taking a break, getting back into the "feel" of it, etc.  Ironically, even as I say that, I think I will stop there for now.