this is what i do when i'm in meetings. the doodling actually helps me concentrate i think. funny how the mind works in that regard.
i've had artist talks on my mind. partially because i've given TWO of them in the last two days. one to my students - they have to give one on their work and so i offered to give them the long version of mine. i showed them work all the way back to right after being an undergrad. it's so funny how i look at that work now and feel so removed from it. i can actually physically remember making it - but it also seems like such a different time.
this morning i talked to another group of students, at a different school, about my work, about working in galleries, about how having a web presence in this day and age is so important....
i'm making my students talk about their own work because i think that saying things out loud really reinforces the premises, parameters, and thematic courses that you are hoping to develop in your work. i find that when i say something out loud it has to really BE TRUE. it also helps me re-evaluate where i've been and where i'm going. all of a sudden i can see connections between bodies of work that i didn't realize were there before. so as much as it's hard - it's also a good thing....
i also got the great opportunity to see julie mehretu speak about her work last week. i've waxed poetic about her work before and seeing her speak was good. very good indeed. she is one of those academically aware and incredibly articulate off the cuff speakers. here's some of the phrases she spoke that i fervently wrote down:
- mark making as an evolution of language [self-language]
- patterning as community
- markers of behavior
- work intuitively first and search for meaning after
- a sense of history - a city isn't born, but developed
- how to pull the imaginary/personal world into NOW [oh this was big for me]
- the idea of an image shattering as you get closer - a grander picture from a distance and the shifting of scale that one can only accomplish in a paiting
- erasure as a gesture - as a social gesture [oh this really made me think too]
and i had a little thrill. she included the plans of an ando building in one of her pieces... and i've shown in an ando building . i'll take any connection i can get. what most struck, me, though, was what a different league of artist ms. merhretu is. and how she appreciates it. she flies all over the world. all the major art cities, working on major [and physically large] pieces in major museums and institutions. it's such an "other" level of engagement. she is an art rock star and leaves you "awe" struck - and yet she is approachable and direct and everything you would hope....
anyway.... i offer two sneak peaks
i'm working on stuff for my show with aurora robson which will be at sq ft galery in nashville in january. i'm in the thick of it. i think it's working. i hope it's working. oh.....
i'm going to try and post regularly, but with grading [last weeks of classes], and life, and this show, and the holidays and.... i may be a bit behind on visiting you all. please forgive me. i miss you already....
Labels: art, artists, inspiration
I think I need to go and hear more artists talk...it is always such a jolt of inspiration and energy.
Love that you are helping your students by talking about your work...it is important and sometimes really hard.
love the sneak peaks...the fullness of the thread...and grey {you can wear your dream dress}
xo friend!
Your work + writing always inspire me. I love the sneak peeks...so beautiful!
i am with wendy...
need to see more
artist's talks...
it is so true
in science too...
saying it outloud
in front of people
makes you really
have to reflect
and think deeply
so what you
say really
is TRUE
and REAL...
thank you
for sharing-
i so need some
inspiration...
and you are
so good
at inspiring.
xoxo
Love the sneak peeks, so truly lovely... the blue flower so evocative of mid summer in full flower...
brilliantly crystal clear words.
wonderfully evocative sneak peek!
thanks lisa.
your new work looks divine.
and i love what you say about talking about your work - about reinforcing themes, about how saying things out loud makes them true (or is it that they have to be true in order to say them out loud - or is it both?). lovely food for thought.
I LOVE the stuff for the new show! The blues are really striking - there's just something about it that I'm connecting with right now...really really love!
:^)
Tiff*
"academically aware," "flies all over the world;' hmmmm, sounds like another artist i know! another art rock star in the making.
While you may not yet be a mega rock artist star, you are doing some traveling and shows around the world. You are a budding rock star already! I LOVE the peeks, too. Can't wait to see more of what you are cooking up for Nashville.....
it's that time of year. busy, busy. your sneak peeks leave me wanting more. i suppose that's what they're supposed to do! lovely work again, lisa.
i just went to a two day training where they trainers left out tons of toys for us to play with and i noticed that it waas actually easier for me to pay attention while i was also playing with something. what does that mean? what kind of learner does that make me? a lisa s. learner? now i won't feel as guilty when i doodle in meetings.
the sneak peeks, the doodles, the notes from the talk....all so lovely. but what i'm really looking forward to is nashville!! i'm behind on my emails and i know i owe you one. missing you. xox
doodling helps me concentrate too, so does making lists. im always a little nervous that the person im supposed to be listening to will be offended
I'm so glad that I've at least seen one of your pieces in real life.
hi everyone... i'm so touched by what you say....
also glad there are some other compulsive doodlers out there!
:)
Isn't it wonderful when other artists inspires the way you think about your own work? Yes, I agree on the budding rock star and I love the sneak peeks :)
those sneak-peaks look gorgeous!!
looking forward seeing the whole project :)
One of the greatest gifts you can have is the power of speech. Unfortunately many people in the design industry don't capitalise on the ability, and strength of the spoken word to captivate. I have been incredibly disappointed in students who cannot articulate their design or process through the spoken word. I think it is so important to get artists and designers to speak, and explain, and be critiqued on their words - to strengthen their meaning, to find those lost or hidden connections and to tie the threads that will subconsciously run through their work. Wonderfully said!
Alison - 6.5st
the way you speak and think of julie mehretu is the way i speak and think of you...i often wish i lived near so we could meet in person, but i'd crumble like an old cookie in your presence! awe can be such a good thing though, it makes life so exciting. i'd love to see the talk you did for your students, any chance one of them caught it on camera and posted it on you tube? no need to reply, i will do a search :0)
l-o-v-i-n-g the sneak peaks - esp over the blue one! and your plates, how cool are they...very cool, and readymade, even cooler. i'm feeling the awe again.
hope teh sale went well, and that your purchases, of which i am sure there are many, will be enjoyed to the full over the hols. and as far as posting goes, we all enjoy your posts, but we we will savour them all the more for their sporadic nature in this busy holiday period.
hi my friend... catching up :) loving the sneak peeks, the textures... really beautiful.
and really enjoyed your thoughts on the artists' talks... i think about this a lot, how articulating something out loud is often the point for me when i really get it. too often i feel like it is just a muddle in my brain until i try to explain it to someone... so much that way with writing too. e always gets to a point in a writing project where he has to talk it through, and just talking about it seems to clarify so much.
thinking of you as you grade... hope it's almost over! xoxo
i'm so interested in what you have to say about artist talks. i definitely learned a lot more about your art when i went to hear you talk, and i generally think that listening to an artist talk about their work is helpful to understanding what the work they're trying to make - but sometimes i wonder if the artist is making connections or meaning when it's not there, or just not evident. does that mean they're not successful? not that i've been to tons of artist talks, but sometimes i can't help but feel like the speaker is full of it.