Last semester I worked on large panoramic abstractions that dealt with themes of ethnomusicology and subculture. Influenced by my own experience with art objects as well as music that have resulted in intense reactions that are often labeled as "transcendental" I became interested in the way art has functioned as such within societies. The aspect of a supposedly inexplicable feeling being objectified by a physical and tangible form fascinates me. I looked for a way to embody that emotion in my paintings. Drawing from my favorite masters of the Western tradition of painting that have executed such works (Fra Angelico, Turner, Rothko, Ross Bleckner, and Delson Uchoa) as well as pulling much influence from my musical experiences with Rastafarian reggae, dub, and dancehall along with Metal, Hardcore, and Punk subculture. I wish for my paintings to contain visual analogies for musical form, particularly the way that most of my favorite music puts an emphasis on rhythm through heavy drum and bass. I also am captivated by light, the way that its appearance is amorphous and abstract when looked into directly, and it's repeated use as a spiritual signifier in religious traditions. So here are the four paintings from last semester (all roughly 6'x3') [click for larger images]:
This semester I have moved out of the cramped tiny studio that I had into a larger one which I colorfully painted the walls in. Already this has drastically changed my experience resulting in great changes in the way I'm painting. I have abandoned many of the strictures and iconographic signifiers I was working with to explore new territory. I've been doing many works on paper such as the first painting below, to discover an automatic, bodily form of painting that will allow me to move with the music I'm listening to. Recently, I have become more skeptical of the use of "light" in my paintings out of fear of it being cliche, and I wish to find a way to continue to express this interest in a more poetic form. I plan to look for a new way to approach rendering light, through reductive processes as much if not more than additive, a larger emphasis on color, and using observation as a partial source. The second painting is a current work in progress that is approximately 80% complete (with the central "light" portion the least worked):
I tried to make this a synopsis of just the core ideas of my work to keep things brief. If anyone has any thoughts, questions, or comments that would be great! I'm in particular looking for painters who have made "musical paintings" (so far my list includes just Kandinsky and Klee) as well as others who have similar interests.
Hope everything is going well with the new semester starting up in LA!
-Ian S.
Hey Ian!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for posting some of your images. I'm glad to see you've been productive and are also off and running in the new semester in your new studio.
The paintings look like they are coming along, and I hope you feel you're progressing.
Here are some questions I have and would be interested to hear your thoughts whenever you have a chance.
1) Is there a reason you specifically want to make PAINTINGS inspired by these kinds of music. I assume your answer would be something along the lines of what you said about "a supposedly inexplicable feeling being objectified by a physical and tangible form fascinates me", but I guess I'm curious to hear more about that. What makes a tangible form--rather than something ephemeral--more appealing to you as a way to express your connection to this music? Not that I have an answer or opinion--just curious to hear your thoughts, because that was quite an elegant sentence and I'm intrigued by it. For example, is it interesting to you b/c to make the intangible tangible is glorious...or sacrilegious?
2) You mention subculture, and that makes me wonder what a "subculture" painting would be? I suppose something like graffiti might come to mind, but since even that has become so commodified (especially within the art school/contemporary gallery art world), what would represent a counter-cultural way of addressing painting RIGHT NOW? That's another one I need to think on myself, but I'd be interested to hear what you think. Here's why I ask: I think these might be a little tame, a little like I might EXPECT the paintings to look like if you told me over the phone you were painting to get at music. Of course I cannot say that with confidence from viewing over the internet, but I'm wondering if your process could be more subculture? Or, put another way, do you need to fuck shit up a little more? I suggest that because it gets away from envisioning an outcome. I think we always have so much visual experience (aka baggage), that it might be hard to actually pictorialize a relationship to music in a new way. I agree with you that if you could find the right WAY to paint for this idea, that might be productive. Of course to define the subculture (in contemporary painting terms) would also mean positing what the dominant painting culture is first. AND, I want to be clear that it would be interesting to see if it is possible to "fuck shit up" in a way that is NOT expected, either. I just want to be clear I'm not necessarily suggesting throwing paint around, because that, too, might exemplify a very mainstream idea of subcultural painting. (But I'm not NOT suggesting that, either :)
What are your thoughts on that?
3) Lastly, because some of the musical movements you are most inspired by have African and/or Afro-Caribbean roots, I wanted to ask your thoughts on the potential colonial implications of "white guy making art from people of color's art". I'm not saying this is what's happening--I just want to throw it out as a worst-case scenario and see if you are thinking about that history at all? I also ask because I was really interested when we talked last year about underground hardcore and you said it was one of the most diverse and inclusive populations you've been around. I'll admit I was surprised by that but thought that was awesome. So, I ask b/c you seem in tune with these things, but it's still a fact that there is a long history of cultural imperialism, even if unintentional (i.e., Gauguin), so it might be productive to think how could your work embody your relationship to this music, and not some interloper. I hope as always you know that by posing these questions to you there is a big implicit compliment that to you--I would imagine you are thinking about these things and have interesting thoughts, so I'm just curious to hear them.
Thanks, Chris. These are really good questions as expected and I will do my best to answer them:
ReplyDelete1) I have used the “objectification of spirituality”, or the use of physical objects to induce transcendental or supposedly supernatural reactions in individuals, as an explanation for my own reactions and experiences within this vein while identifying as an atheist. I am a “cry in front of Rothko” and a “enter a trance while listening to music” sort of guy. Yet I don’t necessarily believe in God or a higher power. I have come to the conclusion that such experiences are biologically explicable (there’s a good amount of evidence and research that has begun to demonstrate so), despite being traditionally mysterious and incomprehensible to human understanding. Unlike a lot of pessimistic atheists, I strongly believe that “spirituality”, as described, is incredibly important to societies as a whole and an individual’s human health. In this way I reconcile my practice of attempting to make explicitly spiritual paintings with my own views, unlike some of the classic ab-ex painters whom would dodge any attempt to classify their works as “transcendental” due to their own skepticism. Ultimately, my goal is not to be critical or commending of religion--and that sort of dogma in either direction is not present in the work. Although presently I am making some work on the side that is playing with the idea of establishing a new “cult of painting and music”, and celebrates their very real spiritual impact. I do want to use painting as a scientific tool of exploration into the nature of human spirituality, divorced of a religious agenda.
2) This question really opened my head up to a lot of new ideas. The fact that “throwing paint around” and other methods would only play into already established dominant painting culture makes it particularly difficult to answer. I do want very much for my paintings to function in their own terms as a subculture. Not necessarily in an overtly countercultural fashion that attempts to alienate and destroy the dominant culture (as in punk music) but rather a “microculture” that exists within the dominant while not always subscribing to its expectations; ultimately demonstrating that it is the REAL culture with a stronger human bond to its practitioners and participants. Another difficulty for me with this question comes with the problem that my paintings are just as much a celebration of the spiritual power of painting as music, since ultimately that is the form that they have taken. The dominant culture of Western painting is still a huge influence on my work. Obviously this is a very difficult question to address but it is surely something I’ll be thinking about a lot as I continue from this point on. Huge thanks for bringing it up in particular.
3) This is a question I’ve been thinking about a lot and have discussed with Devin a few times. In translating African diasporatic music into a visual format, at least some connections to African visual arts have appeared in my work. This hasn’t been a conscious occurrence; the colors and marks have come from automatic painting and haven’t been inspired from looking at African work. Yet, I wouldn’t be surprised if this hasn’t come to me subconsciously, the bold colors of Reggae and Dancehall album covers are a big part of my visual experience day to day and I associate the music I’m translating with these elements. Since my work does not directly use African work as inspiration, I don’t worry too much about pulling a Picasso and divorcing imagery from its cultural implications to bastardize it to my own ends. I would hope that no one would find offense in my work thus far, but the race question in these paintings is of course much more complex than simple political correctness.
ReplyDeleteI am strongly interested in my role as a white listener to largely black music—that I discovered a genuine love and nurtured a fairly thorough knowledge of it entirely through the internet, with very limited real social interaction with Jamaicans. I know many of the contemporary dances, and spend free time mixing the newest dancehall riddims in an “authentic” way which I then broadcast over our student radio station as a DJ. In these ways I identify with Jamaican music and culture as part of my ethnic identity—not my race. Yet, for the most part I simultaneously know that I am a relatively privileged American who grew up in the Midwest, and that I have a very limited understanding of what it’s like to be a Jamaican. But I can say that I know infinitely more than any of my friends (white, black, or otherwise). This new form of individualistic ethnic double consciousness (not the painful postcolonial one described by W.E.B. Dubois) is becoming more and more common. I think that it should be encouraged and is a way for us to utilize culture as a way to strengthen humanity as a whole. It may be one way that my work is relevant to contemporary culture—my genuine celebration of my relationship with African diasporatic culture as a white male is something that I wish to make strength of the work, not something to be hidden or yielded to criticism of. Perhaps my position even allows me to contribute a unique voice to the culture as a whole—I have made some smaller works that have dealt with my listener guilt in admiring and purchasing reggae and dancehall music that contains sexist and homophobic lyrics, viewpoints of course that I find incorrigible.
Again, thank you, and it’s really great to hear a fresh viewpoint on the work. Hopefully I haven’t typed your eyes off.