Tuesday, August 18, 2009
LUNA
Philadelphia City Hall sponsors art exhibitions from time to time. The deadline for digital (jpeg) submissions for their next one, PAPER WORKS, was August 14th. I made it with a piece specially designed for this show, but it was touch and go to pull it together in time.
It was clear the City wanted more than just a painting or drawing on paper. Specifically, the prospectus called for "A celebration of works that utilize paper as a medium, including: art books, paper sculpture, paper-mache sculpture, assemblages, collages, constructions and installations: not just works on paper."
Well, that was a challenge! I'm an oil painter, so what could I do to join this so-called celebration of paper constructions and installations? The answer came to me like a flash while I was half asleep, riding the train to visit Patricia in Media: Paint the four phases of the moon, picking up on the classical nature of the moon as feminine (with the sun being masculine), and somehow arranging to present them in sequence. I would paint these on paper plates, and instead of just painting the shadowed surfaces of the moon black, I would indicate the shadow as black hair using paper mache constructed from paper serving napkins. Voila!
While I was doing the painting, a neighbor discarded the perfect lamp for me. I salvaged it from the trash for its SQUARE lampshade, patched a few holes, and I had the ideal support for the 4 moons. I tried mounting fan blades on the shade and using a heat lamp to make it turn, but that didn't work at all. However putting a fan, like from a hair dryer, under under the lampshade worked great.
So here is the way it turned out, with the required "artspeak" Artist's Statement that describes the work (NOTE: This is the first time I've tried to upload a video into this blog. Hope it works. I think it may take a minute or two to get itself together before it starts.):
LUNA
Oil on paper serving plates, paper cocktail napkins and stretched linen, with external fan:
12"x 9"x 9"
With that work as a centerpiece, I also submitted two other less grandiose paintings, an earlier study that I did of Luna, and then a little fun thing (that I don't seem to be able to upload at the moment):
Study for LUNA
It was clear the City wanted more than just a painting or drawing on paper. Specifically, the prospectus called for "A celebration of works that utilize paper as a medium, including: art books, paper sculpture, paper-mache sculpture, assemblages, collages, constructions and installations: not just works on paper."
Well, that was a challenge! I'm an oil painter, so what could I do to join this so-called celebration of paper constructions and installations? The answer came to me like a flash while I was half asleep, riding the train to visit Patricia in Media: Paint the four phases of the moon, picking up on the classical nature of the moon as feminine (with the sun being masculine), and somehow arranging to present them in sequence. I would paint these on paper plates, and instead of just painting the shadowed surfaces of the moon black, I would indicate the shadow as black hair using paper mache constructed from paper serving napkins. Voila!
While I was doing the painting, a neighbor discarded the perfect lamp for me. I salvaged it from the trash for its SQUARE lampshade, patched a few holes, and I had the ideal support for the 4 moons. I tried mounting fan blades on the shade and using a heat lamp to make it turn, but that didn't work at all. However putting a fan, like from a hair dryer, under under the lampshade worked great.
So here is the way it turned out, with the required "artspeak" Artist's Statement that describes the work (NOTE: This is the first time I've tried to upload a video into this blog. Hope it works. I think it may take a minute or two to get itself together before it starts.):
LUNA
Oil on paper serving plates, paper cocktail napkins and stretched linen, with external fan:
12"x 9"x 9"
In this kinetic representation of LUNA, she joins Diana and Artemis as our constant feminine celestial companion. To emphasioze the benevolence of our gentle handmaiden, the material chosen for the ground utilizes paper serving plates, with paper mache hair created from paper cocktail serving napkins. LUNA is presented in a revolving sky, endlessly progressing through her four aspects; LUNA waxing, LUNA full, LUNA waning, and LUNA new, to repeat the sequence again and again in glorious mesmerizing display.
With that work as a centerpiece, I also submitted two other less grandiose paintings, an earlier study that I did of Luna, and then a little fun thing (that I don't seem to be able to upload at the moment):
Study for LUNA
Oil on paper serving plate with paper mache hair created from paper cocktail serving napkins.
This painting of the moon was made in preparation for beginning the full kinetic representation of LUNA
Labels: art in city hall, kinetic painting, luna, moon, paper mache, paperworks
