Monday, April 20, 2009

15/04/2009



15/04/2009

Still on Easter hols but went in to do our performance piece today. We put the paints into plastic cups/jars to give us more freedom whilst painting. The paint was thinned by adding linseed oil, we used turpentine to dilute it further. We began by lying on the floor whilst listening to the music (Steve Reich), this we did, as it were, to achieve an altered state of awareness/consciousness; we listened to the music for a few minutes, then went about the job of painting the boards. The music was on a loop and it played for the duration of the work. It was an unusual experience; no planning as such (as to the structure of the painting) we just went with how we felt. It was in some sense quite liberating; being free of the usual restraints within the painting genre; we felt the painting as opposed to constructing it. It developed from pure unadulterated creativity, intermingled with generous helpings of spontaneity. Was it a success? most definitely so, the painting is full of energy.There is a wonderful array of different strokes, lines, swirls,reduction marks etc. Perhaps the next time we might use a more restricted palette, and maybe an even shorter time frame. We are both very happy with the result, it's not everyone who gets the opportunity to undertake this kind of painting/performance experience.Jackson Pollack is an obvious reference but many artists have used different means of altered states, to do paintings: alcohol, drugs, sensory deprivation and overload, etc, etc,etc.

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