All sides NOW

All sides or as Joni Mitchell sung it Both Sides, either way this photo taken by Victor Obsatz in 1953 (FAMSF) inspired my Marc version that is more Brahma-Vishnu than the face of double-exposure of Marcel Duchamp or maybe...how about God?

In the Salzberg Museum this painting from the Middle Ages depicts the Holy Trinity, the mystical unity of the three divine persons: God the Father, God's Son, and God Holy Spirit.

Why is this simple graffiti always so funny??

Terry T. asks, "Why is this simple graffiti always so funny?"

Dear Terry,

The mustache graffiti you sent made me LOL then the gales of laughter got me musing, amusing about other mustache moments.

Last night I was reading being digital by Nicholas Negroponte. In his chapter ART WITH A CAPITAL “E” pg 223-224 I was struck by his vision of the digital future and to his reference to mustaches!!!

“The digital superhighway will turn finished and unalterable art into a thing of the past. The number of mustaches given to Mona Lisa is just child’s play. We will see serious digital manipulation performed in said-to-be-complete expressions moving across the Internet, which is not necessarily bad.”

Those in the know, would know, that he is referring to  L.H.O.O.Q. and the mustache Duchamp graffitied (rectified) on to the Mona Lisa. As satire, as profound transformation, either way L.H.O.O.Q. makes me LOL.

And Negroponte makes me think, it’s about digital time for mustaches on everybody.

Two Sides

It might be described as “two sides of the same coin” an idiom that implies that an idea or a thing has two sides and although they may seem different, they are very closely related

or 

maybe it's a coin with a depiction of Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, transitions, duality, passages and endings, who has two faces — one looking to the future and one looking to the past.

Illuminated Marcs

Inspired by the intricate embellishments of illuminated manuscripts these explorations put Marc in place in the center and in the margins of the alchemical.

Either or
Neither nor
might be the title of this year's exploration.
Thinking about the possibilities of the unions of opposites, the fulfillment of androgyny.

Androgeny is not trying to manage the relationship between the opposites; it is simply flowing between them...

June Singer

Discovery

As 2018 draws to a close, it's time to reflect on a remarkable year. 

The discovery of Raymond Roussel sent me deep into the stacks of research and exploration. It's thrilling to be on the case. Yes, another poet with connections to Marcel Duchamp. In 2016 I discovered Surrealist poet Robert Desnos who channeled the voice of Rrose Selavy, Duchamp's alter ego. This year I found Roussel, a powerful influence on Duchamp— sparking his creation of The Large Glass. 

Along with an expressionistic DeKooning knock off, a frenetic Giacometti search, a swirl of white paint ala Twombly and a bit of a sad-sack feeling marooned in a maroon shirt, the fab four accomplished what I intended:  I am ready to cut loose, free the tight grip of my pencil and let the paint and graphite flow. 

               

               

A tight pencil sketch did not make the cut so it was cut up, shredded then balled up.

Marc posed as the subject for several of my art class projects — described HERE.

The deconstruction of Rembrandt portrait by erasing, a very Marc-like gesture, was instrumental in my History of Drawing lesson. Here is the scoop:

You can begin with a drawing (one of your own or maybe if you have a Rembrandt around) slowly erasing the image until you have found your resting place.

When I named-dropped Rembrandt in Lesson Plan: Lesson Eleven I was using him as the prime example, the definition of a masterpiece, his artwork so valuable that it would be unthinkable to erase. Plus, joking, imagining the possibility that you have a Rembrandt at home — nigh impossible. 

The next day while delivering several of our beach plastic artworks to Cubberley Artist Studio Program in Palo Alto to be included in Eco Echo: Art and Environmental Lab, I spied an array of frames set out, free for the taking. Always on the lookout for anything that has potential reuse I took a closer look. Low and behold - there in the free-pile was my Rembrandt — his iconic self-portrait. Yes, indeed!!! I tucked it under my arm and away it went.

Praise be to serendipity.

Back home I set about to erase with an electric eraser. On the search to discover a new constellation, a new meaning.

Here is the 2018 short of the year:
As both artist and subject DeAnsar searches for the optical phenomena of reality. Inspired by Alberto Giacometti's portrait of James Lord, DeAnsar affirms,"The form is always in proportion to the obsession." And then, there are (nothing more and nothing less than) ants.

Rembrandt to Marc and Back Again

 REMBRANDT

You can begin with a drawing (one of your own or maybe if you have a Rembrandt around) slowly erasing the image until you have found your resting place.

When I named-dropped Rembrandt in History of Drawing Lesson Plan: Lesson Eleven I was using him as the prime example, the definition of a masterpiece, his artwork so valuable that it would be unthinkable to erase. Certain with the possibility that you have a Rembrandt at home!!!

The next day while delivering several of our beach plastic artworks to Cubberley Artist Studio Program in Palo Alto to be included in Eco Echo: Art and Environmental Lab, I spied an array of frames set out, free for the taking. Always on the lookout for anything that has potential reuse I took a closer look. Low and behold — there in the free-pile was my Rembrandt — his iconic self-portrait. Yes, indeed!!! I tucked it under my arm and away it went.

Praise be to serendipity.

Back in my studio, on the search to discover a new constellation (Mickey Mouse), a new meaning (Marc's moustache), I set about to erase with an electric eraser.

Along with rooms full of many masterworks you can visit Rembrandt’s Self Portrait at The Frick Collection in NYC or from the comfort of your home you can watch this short video.

Luminous Nose

Do you know the work Edward Lear who is certainly the master of the nose? Best known for his short limericks and poems for children The Owl and the Pussycat he was also the scribe of the poem Dong with the Luminous Nose.

The Paris Review writes about Lear’s serious nonsense.

Like his cousin Diogenes who carried a lamp during that day in search of truth; in search of an honest man, Dong uses light of his nose during his search of his lost love (gaiety, beauty, truth).

Inspired by his description of the nose made from the bark of the Twangum Tree, tied with cords to the back of his head, I crafted a nose from a bulbous gourd from our garden. I intend to don this protuberance and wear it to our reading group where we will be discussing Jenny Uglow’s Edward Lear: A life of Art and Nonsense. It’s a marvelous read.

THIS IS NOT A NOSE.

THIS IS NOT A NOSE.

For detailed ruminations about the nose, what is and what isn't, go to my Lesson about how to draw a nose or not.