Advanced Life Drawing : Processing Dense Matter

This piece is a reflection of a change in my artistic process. Recently, I have begun to work much more from my emotions. In times past, I worked very much on a cerebral level in which I would dedicate incredible focus to every little bit of my work. It was not spontaneous expression; it was a calculated portrayal of ideas. However, since I have deviated from that, I have found a great amount of happiness and freedom in my work. This piece will illustrate the transformation I have experienced.

This piece is to be performed in a location where art is created.

The artist will confront a rectangular prism made of neatly stacked white paper.

The artist will walk around it, and study its mass.

The artist will take a hammer, and attempt to beat a form into the top sheet while angrily saying: “Make great art! Make great art!”

This will be unsuccessful because the mass will be too dense, but the artist will continue until they are exhausted.

The artist will then lay the hammer down

The artist will kneel next to the stack of papers

The artist will whisper “I love you, I’m sorry.”

The artist will caress the paper, and continue saying “I love you, I love you…”

The artist will—using made up lips—kiss the top piece of paper.

The artist will notice a lipstick mark on the paper.

The artist will take the sheet of paper off the top.

The artist will tack their art on to the wall.

This can be repeated until the paper depletes.

Of course, this piece can be interpreted beyond my change in artistic processes. An artist’s process is very similar to how they interact with the world. In my case, I have begun to stray from “rational” thinking. Whereas I was constantly analyzing my surroundings before and defensively approaching them, I am now approaching them with open arms. I was scared of expressing my feelings, because that action would make me vulnerable. Instead, I would focus on abstracted ideas; they could be argued and they could be dissected—but when it really comes down to it, they were always levelheaded. I didn’t need to get too invested in them. They couldn’t hurt me.

I originally thought of the papers are representing potential artwork. They are white, and therefore pure and untouched. They are the starting point for any creative process. However, the papers can represent just about any other “thing” that a person comes in contact with—whether that “thing” is concrete or abstract. The action of hammering represents a violent attempt at shaping the work, or a violent attempt at creating an impression on the “things” that we come in contact with. We can attempt to do this with brute vigor, but when it comes down to it, the violent, sterile approach doesn’t have a significant impact. Instead, we must approach the object layer by layer—in a loving, admiring way. It will take a significant amount of time to work through the layers—but each of the layers that we work through can be “great art.”