The Assemblage Unit

At the Op Shop I had no idea what to buy. I looked at lots of different things and had a lot of trouble choosing what I wanted to pick. I ended up buying a green-y urn/pot/thing and I am in the process of painting it flesh colour and the inside a murky red. I am then going to smash it up and reconstruct it.

Quiz

So i got my boyfriend to do it too, and he got

"The Warrior defeats the villain and rescues the victim. Warriors are courageous and disciplined, imposing high standards on themselves. At worst, they run roughshod over others. At best, they assert themselves appropriately to make the world a better place."

Since when does a destroyer need a warrior? Wouldn't they end up killing each other?

Quiz

I did a quiz online to see what archetype it said I was and it said destroyer, which was kind of buzzkill. I didnt know what I would get, but destroyer sounded a bit negative.

Destroyer

When the Destroyer is active within a person, what we see are the effects of tragedy and loss. At best, this initiatory loss leads to a greater receptivity to new ideas, empathy and compassion for others, and a deeper knowledge of their own identity and strength. At worst, it simply decimates a personality, and we see before us simply a ruin of what was.

Donna Marcus ... and a little more

So I realise I have not posted on my blog lately, and there's a fair bit to catch up on.

Donna Marcus! Well, she is just the most adorable and sweetest little lady, and I think she's a very creative woman. In a way I find it interesting to lament on the stereotype (as different to archetype ;)) of the typical modern day woman, belonging in the kitchen, etc, and the funny way that Donna has taken all these stereotypically womanly objects and taken them out of the kitchen and turned them into clever works of art. I particularly liked the salmon jelly molds (or whatever those were) and the steamers. When Miss Hampton showed us the images in class I had no idea how clever some of these things were.

Now Donna had a lot to say in terms of assemblage and turning things into junk. Tomorrow we got to the Op Shop to get a piece for our assemblage unit, and we have now been told to link this to an archetype. I thought I should take this time to have a look at some of the archetypes that most appeal to me. (in the quiz we were given, I mostly got the Magician and the Orphan. This didn't really surprise me, because I know that I'm an incredibly needy and vulnerable person, but I also know that I am quite broad-minded. I also really like dragons.)

So my favourite archetypes are:

Enchantress - I have found a lot on this idea of an "enchantress" - who is not so much of a femme fatale or anything like that as I had previously thought, but more as a morbid, slightly melancholic, but more of the kind of wicked queen kind of image in fairy tales. I always think we treat them worse than they deserve- they're mostly just old and cranky.

The sage or the magician - They probably aren't really, but I imagine them as very similar characters. Both smart, I suppose.

Miss Hampton also said that we are attracted to people who will make us feel how we want to, etc, and kind of complement us how we want to. So I thought about that, and then I thought about my boyfriend who I've been with for about a year now, and the characteristics I attribute to him.

I mostly think of him as like a dog kind of person, like all you have to do is feed them and rub their belly and they'll love you forever, and he's kind of like that. Reliable. Low-maintence.

He's not much of a bad boy really, so I guess I'm not after femininity.

He's smart, so I guess I'm not looking to feel really intelligent.

He's very tall, and I always like to feel short and small, but that's less psychological. I guess because he's all tall and can like lift me over his head I feel pretty safe, and I have some deeply stemming safety issues.

He's very polite.

I don't know Miss Hampton, you might have to give me some help with this one, because I'm not really sure what this one means.

SEE YOU TOMORROW FOR ASSEMBLAGE

Some words on the current piece

My current piece is (so far) a painting of the collar that my dog, Bella, used to wear. I am now trying to work into it with some oil pastels, working back and rubbing, and the application of tissue paper. This technique is called palimpsest, and it the idea of layering through art. One of the artists I explored for my essay, Nicholas Hutcheson, is one artist who employs the use of palimpsest to build his artworks.

I really wish I could elaborate but my maths assignment is stressing me out and I should make headway on that before I asphyxiate myself with anxiety.

Michael Zavros

I really like Zavros. In the film we watched in class of him, where he showed his house, I used to live on that street- i know exactly where that house is. I could walk there right now if I wanted to.

I like how he captures such simple ideas, like the Balenciaga bag in timeless fashion, and the faceless model, and makes them look so elegant and easy to understand. He has such a beautiful hand, too.

I love the way he uses tone to create the illusion of form, especially in the horse drawings he does. He seems to have a real affinity with his pencils and charcoal.

Unlike the other two artists I have looked at, he has a much more realistic style of making art, but it transcends the notion of realism into being something so impressive and beautiful.

I really love his art.

Jenny Saville

Jenny Saville... So where do I start?

I'd like to say I like her work, because in many ways I do. Honestly, though, she freaks me out. A lot.

I like the way she interprets the body and the mutilation of the body... but the way she expresses it sometimes makes me feel very uncomfortable.

The blood, and the dismemberment is startling, but gets her message across.

"It is interesting to note that Saville once worked in a plastic surgeon's office in New York and frequently visits a London medical museum as member of a pathology group. She shares with Francis Bacon a fascination for collecting pictures found in old medical journals of bruises, scars, gun shot wounds, pictures of deformities, and traces of disease which leave inscriptions on a body over time, like a memory, or a mark on a canvas."

http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/24th-street-2003-04-jenny-saville/#/images/4/

the picture above scares me the most ^

i can't put it on my blog, but there you go.

the way she paints can be nice, but i don't personally like it. the strong tonal contrasts are too abrasive, and i do not personally like the overwhelming-ness of the warm colours.