consciousness
over an extended dinner conversation last night, wendy and I were talking about art, the artist's work process and the multiple layers of consciousness that we live in.
being an individual can be a liberating yet scary place to be. you inhabit a consciousness unwitnessed by no one else but yourself. this singular consciousness sits uncomfortably with what i believe is every human being's need to be "seen" and understood by someone. the idea of being an "invisible" man is alienating.
some artists need to paint as a means to exist. to express his consciousness on a white canvass. it releases the intensity of his consciousness, his being. this applies to other art forms as well. writing, singing, dancing. etc.
i was sharing with wendy my process. in my writing, i've recently realized that the process has been more draining than expected cos i'm tapping on the multiple levels of consciousness that make up my own.
"can you explain it?" she asks. wendy is schooled in art and art history.
"my senses can be really heightened...so much so that when i walk into a room. i feel the entire room and every single entity in it all at once."
i was surprised wendy didn't look surprised. the first time i shared this with someone (my sister) she thought i was just thinking too much. but i knew it wasn;t so and felt even more isolated.
well, until wendy pointed out that there are artists who work on that level. i've never met sylvia plath or michael cunningham myself...but through their work, i sense that these individuals too process the world and life in a way similar to me.
"and mark rothko too. and maybe that's why you're drawn to Pollock's works as well..." wendy offers.
wendy was trying to soothe my anxieties about my writing after getting some preliminary comments that threw me off guard/ some may not "see" what i'm trying to do not cos they don't want to but cos they can't... they simply enjoy different sensibilities and a different kind of consciousness.
at the end of our conversation...wendy shared with me the story of painter Mark Rothko whose works she saw at the Tate Museum in London last week. (i love the tate museum...)
"Rothko donated a series of paintings to the Tate. They are huge canvasses...many buyers would not want to buy the paintings collectively simply cos to have the entire series required a expansive space. And so rothko gave the collection to the Tate. he wanted the paintings to be viewed collectively cos viewed together.. the viewer will be offered a glimpse of rothko's consciousness when he was painting them. the nine paintings are in a dimly lit room at the tate... when you go in... you just stand there looking at it. after ahwile the paintings become alive...(likely through some optical illusion.) I asked my brother who was with me what he thought of it... he said..the paintings are 'breathing.' the paintings were breathing."
Rothko remained true to his consciousness and stayed focused on expressing on canvass what he saw in his mind's eye.
the story of rothko and his series of nine.. totally inspires me.
i am looking for that kind of discipline. discovering this work process has been totally unexpected and pretty draining for me.
about rothko:
(source: wikipedia)
Mark Rothko (born Marcus Rothkowitz) (September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970) was a Latvian-born American Jewish painter who is classified as an abstract expressionist, although he rejected not only the label but even being an abstract painter.
rothko quotes:
""The fact that people break down and cry when confronted with my pictures shows that I can communicate those basic human emotions.. the people who weep before my pictures are having the same religious experience I had when painting them. And if you say you are moved only by their color relationships then you miss the point."
"I am not an abstract painter. I am not interested in the relationship between form and colour. The only thing I care about is the expression of man's basic emotions: tragedy, ecstasy, destiny."
cross ref: blog entry on my fave malaysian artist.
being an individual can be a liberating yet scary place to be. you inhabit a consciousness unwitnessed by no one else but yourself. this singular consciousness sits uncomfortably with what i believe is every human being's need to be "seen" and understood by someone. the idea of being an "invisible" man is alienating.
some artists need to paint as a means to exist. to express his consciousness on a white canvass. it releases the intensity of his consciousness, his being. this applies to other art forms as well. writing, singing, dancing. etc.
i was sharing with wendy my process. in my writing, i've recently realized that the process has been more draining than expected cos i'm tapping on the multiple levels of consciousness that make up my own.
"can you explain it?" she asks. wendy is schooled in art and art history.
"my senses can be really heightened...so much so that when i walk into a room. i feel the entire room and every single entity in it all at once."
i was surprised wendy didn't look surprised. the first time i shared this with someone (my sister) she thought i was just thinking too much. but i knew it wasn;t so and felt even more isolated.
well, until wendy pointed out that there are artists who work on that level. i've never met sylvia plath or michael cunningham myself...but through their work, i sense that these individuals too process the world and life in a way similar to me.
"and mark rothko too. and maybe that's why you're drawn to Pollock's works as well..." wendy offers.
wendy was trying to soothe my anxieties about my writing after getting some preliminary comments that threw me off guard/ some may not "see" what i'm trying to do not cos they don't want to but cos they can't... they simply enjoy different sensibilities and a different kind of consciousness.
at the end of our conversation...wendy shared with me the story of painter Mark Rothko whose works she saw at the Tate Museum in London last week. (i love the tate museum...)
"Rothko donated a series of paintings to the Tate. They are huge canvasses...many buyers would not want to buy the paintings collectively simply cos to have the entire series required a expansive space. And so rothko gave the collection to the Tate. he wanted the paintings to be viewed collectively cos viewed together.. the viewer will be offered a glimpse of rothko's consciousness when he was painting them. the nine paintings are in a dimly lit room at the tate... when you go in... you just stand there looking at it. after ahwile the paintings become alive...(likely through some optical illusion.) I asked my brother who was with me what he thought of it... he said..the paintings are 'breathing.' the paintings were breathing."
Rothko remained true to his consciousness and stayed focused on expressing on canvass what he saw in his mind's eye.
the story of rothko and his series of nine.. totally inspires me.
i am looking for that kind of discipline. discovering this work process has been totally unexpected and pretty draining for me.
about rothko:
(source: wikipedia)
Mark Rothko (born Marcus Rothkowitz) (September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970) was a Latvian-born American Jewish painter who is classified as an abstract expressionist, although he rejected not only the label but even being an abstract painter.
rothko quotes:
""The fact that people break down and cry when confronted with my pictures shows that I can communicate those basic human emotions.. the people who weep before my pictures are having the same religious experience I had when painting them. And if you say you are moved only by their color relationships then you miss the point."
"I am not an abstract painter. I am not interested in the relationship between form and colour. The only thing I care about is the expression of man's basic emotions: tragedy, ecstasy, destiny."
cross ref: blog entry on my fave malaysian artist.
posted by mypurpleink at 11:58 AM
3 Comments:
Strange. I've been to the Tate at least five times, don't remember Rothko. Is the exhibition still there?
it isn't a Rothko exhibition. it is part of the permanent collection, housed in the "Rothko room"
best regards, nice info »
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