Anatomy and Art

Last week I made another tree painting.

I took a few cell phone shots along the way again.

I kept adding branches, and refining, until eventually I got this.

Lately I’ve been giving some thought as to what makes a good creative environment.  About a week or two ago, I had one of those rare surges of creative energy and I knew there was short window on when I could start something and really get a good run on it.  But my place was a mess, and I had too much to do, and I just couldn’t go for it.  I’ve been lamenting that loss ever since.  And while I’ve gotten things picked up now, I haven’t quite regained that sense of inspiration.

I’ve also been looking into making a move lately.  I’m staying in Austin, but this apartment can’t be my home forever.  One of the things I have to ask myself when I look at all these spaces though, is how would I create there.  Space and privacy are big factors in that for me.  Lately, I’m also finding that basic digital resources are factors too.  I use the internet a lot, and in the past few years it has become my television and phone as well.  Being cut off from basic services that one has learned to take for granted, can be a real block in trying to get more creative endeavors done.  It doesn’t always have to be, when you plan for it (who hasn’t thought about going out to a cabin somewhere with no phone or internet and just making things for days?).  But realistically, when you count on something, and then it doesn’t work, it affects your sense of control over your environment.  And what is art, but an ultimate exertion of control over some physical ground?

Anyway, these are just things that I’ve been thinking about lately.  And I haven’t been writing here as much, so I thought it was time to chime in again.  If any of you reading have thoughts or stories to share about what makes a space work for you, I’d love to hear them.

I have been meaning to post this one for a while now, but the holidays got away with me. Sofia Wraber and Nanna Kereutzmann first put together a documentation of 101 men from ages 0-100 as a class project for the Danish School of Media and Journalism.  They then went on to create the same style of series with 101 women.

http://www.onehundredone.dk/about.html

The effect is that you get a really interesting portrayal of the aging process, from birth to old age.  At one point I read that the models used were all from the same family, but I haven’t been able to find that tonight, so I can’t be certain about that.  You don’t see any ethnic diversity though, so the emphasis remains on the aging process rather than individual differences.

I encourage you to check out both series in their entirety at the link provided above.