cathyclarke.com

A Look at Artist Robert Irwin

Cathy Clarke — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:00:36 +0000

In a college contemporary art class, I was introduced to the work of artist Robert Irwin. I was drawn to not only his work, but also his approach to creating art and the evolution he has gone through. Then after all that, there was something so relate-able that I saw in him; he reminded me of my Dad (if my Dad had been an artist!).

Reading about Robert Irwin has given me a lot to mull over and reflect on, but I can’t begin to try to summarize any of that now, so I’ll just make a couple of recommendations and highlight some quotes. In 2001 I read this book, and a few weeks ago I read it again. It’s short but deeply fascinating. If you’ve ever looked at modern art and said, ”I don’t get it”, read this book. If you’re an art lover and don’t know much about Irwin, read this book!

Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees, by Lawrence Weschler

A few favorite passages:

“Strength was a big word in abstract expressionism; you were trying to get power into the painting, so that the painting really vibrated, had life to it. It had to do with getting a real tension going in the thing, something that made the thing really stand up and hum…” (p.60)

Along with his growing conviction concerning the impossibility of a neutral gesture, Irwin began to think of his paintings as having a double nature. “At this point,” he continues, “I began to recognize the difference between imagery and physicality, and furthermore that for me, the moment a painting took on any kind of image, the minute I could recognize it as having any relationship to nature, of any kind, to me the painting went flat. Now, I don’t know where I got that idea, but there it was. Imagery for me constituted representation, ‘re-presentation,’ a second order of reality, whereas I was after a first order of presence.” (p. 60-61)

One morning our conversation drifted into the area of teaching…”You want to give them a real historical awareness, not in terms of names and dates but rather in terms of a progression of ideas, leading to an understanding of why certain questions are now being asked by their contemporaries.”

In order to foster this awareness, Irwin would attempt to recapitulate in his students the process through which he himself had progressed. He would begin by challenging them to render an exact realistic depiction of a still life subject and then press them, through continual questioning, to find some way of including all the things that were being left out, thereby forcing them to invent cubism, expressionism, minimalism, and so forth for themselves. Once they had achieved that organic comprehension of the succession of approaches,they were free to locate themselves anywhere within its sweep or at its frontiers; but Irwin was insistent that they first experience the historical roots of their activities. (p. 119-120)

In addition to the Weschler book which is mostly text (the new edition may have photos–at the time it was first published, Irwin didn’t think a photograph could accurately represent his work), there is a great book featuring photographs of a lot of Irwin’s work (as well as his writings) called Robert Irwin: Primaries and Secondaries by Hugh Davies.

The hour long film that served as my introduction to Robert Irwin is “Robert Irwin: The Beauty of Questions”. Give yourself a little art education, I hope you will be equally charmed, impressed and inspired by this thriving modern artist.

Here’s a nice video of Irwin in 2009:

Image Sources:
http://slowmuse.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/image0013.jpg
http://artweek.la/upload/2654/6a00e54f9f8f8c883400e550169d408833-800wi.jpg
http://dben.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/blueyellowred.jpg

Ways of Collecting Visual Imagery, from Cutting and Pasting to Digital Scrapbooks

Cathy Clarke — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 17:48:36 +0000

I’m having trouble coming up with a title for this post. It’s about collecting sources of inspiration, but honestly I’m getting sick of that word! It’s just become totally overused. With that being said, I really do love to see where creative people find inspiration and how they tuck it all away.

I have been saving stuff since I was a kid–clothing tags and cards and all kinds of little things. When I was applying to colleges, I kept all of those cool promotional books that the art schools sent out to entice you. A few years ago, I started saving interesting images I found online to a folder on my computer. Then I’d print them out, cut them up, and paste them into a sketchbook. This I lovingly called my “pastebook”. When I felt a little stuck, I’d flip through the book and just let my mind go. That method was satisfying, but time consuming. Another problem was if I wanted to know where something came from, I had no way of knowing. Then Evernote came along. It was one of the first iPhone apps and I got hooked on it that way. The desktop version and browser extensions allowed me to quickly and easily clip anything and save it to a notebook. The URL was automatically saved, and I started tagging images by color, media and subject matter. If I saw something interesting in the real, non-internet world, I took a picture of it and saved it to my notebook.

For a while, I still printed out all those things and pasted them in the book, because I do love to flip through a physical book. Lately, though, I am ok with viewing it all on my computer, or phone or iPad. It’s taken quite a few years, but now my digital devices feel as natural as pen and paper once did. It works just as well and I’m not wasting paper and spending hours cutting things out and gluing them down. I’ve tried other apps and tools to collect these findings, but none of them have ever fit into my workflow as seamlessly as Evernote. Plus, I use Evernote to collect all kinds of things, it really is how I remember everything. Pinterest is huge right now, and I created an account and followed some users, but I haven’t logged in or added anything since! When you find something that works, just stick with it. It’s not easy to wedge another tool into our our already clogged up workflow.

My Evernote “Pastebook” notebook is public and you can browse through it here: https://www.evernote.com/pub/cclarke4/pastebook. Bookmark it for the next time you need some, umm…visual inspiration!

One more thing, my number one source of interesting images is FFFFOUND! (that’s 4 f’s). It’s random and endless in the best way. For curated and stunning imagery, the inspiration stream at Veerle’s Blog is unmatched.

Happy Holidays!

Cathy Clarke — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 17:43:34 +0000

Cut-out cookies are a huge hit! My mom and I decorate them together every year.

Christmas time is special because of the little traditions we have. I love to decorate the house and the way it feels so cozy and warm. This year we’ve barely had any snow and unusually warm temps, but most years the cozy warmth of the tree, garlands and decorations throughout the house at Christmas time is so welcoming after coming in from the cold and blustery snow!

Our tree, fully loaded! Find the blue pedal car, the first in the series from my Dad.

Giving ornaments as a gift on Christmas eve has always been one of my favorite traditions. We each give and receive an ornament, either marking some event or activity, or just really beautifully made keepsakes. Now, my boxes of ornaments tell the story of all the things that have happened in my life, from pets to high school sports and beyond. My Dad collected pedal cars and every year, he gave my sister and I pedal car ornament. They are now undoubtedly the most treasured. These days, our tree is absolutely loaded with beautiful shining ornaments; I think we may need to add another tree eventually!

Wishing you and Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and here’s to a wonderful New Year!

Save 13 Cataract Street!

Cathy Clarke — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 06:32:31 +0000

One of Rochester’s historic buildings, once home to Standard Brewing Co., has been slated for demolition to become a parking lot. If you’re into history, I recommend driving down to High Falls and checking out this building (not to mention the stellar views of High Falls and the Rochester skyline). The architecture is really unique. This is the kind of building that would never be built today. The roof and the ornamental towers are so visually interesting. Not to mention, Rochester has a rich brewing history and this building is a major part of that. You really have to wonder why we haven’t learned our lesson about ruining an iconic part of our history to save money and take the easy way out.

I’m only jumping on the bandwagon here–others in Rochester are making a serious effort to preserve this building. There are still hurdles to overcome before demolition, so it’s not too late. Chris Schiffner started a petition, and it needs your signature!

Sign the Petition

Chris also wrote a post with the building’s historical background, the current plans for the site, and a ton of great photos at Schiffner.com.

RochesterSubway.com also has a great post about some proposed solutions and development plans for the building and surrounding area.

Where did that idea come from?

Cathy Clarke — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 06:31:27 +0000

When I interviewed for my current job, part of the process was a one hour presentation to the department to showcase my work and skills. The audience was a mix of creative types—photographers, videographers, designers, programmers and instructional developers. I showed a poster I designed that was part of a campaign to encourage sign language use in public spaces. During the question and answer session, I was asked where I came up with the idea for the poster. It is so rare that I am ever asked that question—usually a client is focused on their reaction to the work. Even in design school crits, I rarely recall my peers taking interest in where the idea came from. To me, that is the most fascinating stage of any creation. Back to my presentation and this great question—I was so pleased that my future colleague asked me that, for a few minutes I forgot that every word I spoke was being judged and analyzed.

Rand's logo for Wallace Puppets, 1938

I went on to explain that the poster was to remind people that when in public, you should respect the communication preferences of others, and in this particular place, that was American Sign Language. Initially I was thinking about the message—remember to respect others, and possibly using hands or a sign to illustrate this. I was flipping through a book about the designer Paul Rand, and I happened to see a logo he created in 1938 for Wallace Puppets. He used a simple line drawing to write out the name, mimicking the bouncy string that animates a marionette. The idea was in my head immediately—a hand making the “r” handshape in sign language, with a string tied around the finger to serve as a reminder. The string spells out the rest of the word “respect”.

In terms of impressing the group—this question was great for me because it was sort of a fun process to explain and I was enthusiastic about it (and the fellow designers in the audience were encouraged to hear me bring up Paul Rand).

Some of the books I keep in my office for inspiration...

I have a large collection of books that show artists and designers sketchbooks. Deeply intrigued reading about the creative process of others, sometimes for me that is more interesting than the final piece. Not just designers or artists, but inventors, engineers, architects, industrial designers, the list goes on. What better insight could there be into the creative process than going on that journey from start to finish?

Personally, I start out writing down long lists of words to describe the project. Then, I go straight to my books. I have the problem or goal or message in my mind, and I nearly forget about it but keep it somewhere at the back of my mind. Pulling out whatever seems relevant, I page through and stop on whatever looks intriguing. Usually, something will catch my eye and that will be the spark I need. Next is sketching out the idea and seeing if I feel it’s going to work. It’s not like that every time for me, but when everything lines up just right, that’s the perfect process. I have other sources of inspiration too, other methods of collecting thoughts and ideas in a way that I can go back to them in the future and pluck out some little spark.

What inspires you? When you are trying to think of an idea, where do you go to spark the creative process?

First!

Cathy Clarke — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 06:30:31 +0000

It’s been almost ten years since I bought this domain for a senior design project in college—my first personal website. So much has changed since then (I wonder if that old version is still around somewhere on a hard drive or even zip disk?). That makes this new version timely, albeit long overdue.

What I want this to be is a place that I might stop at and take a look if I were to stumble upon it. So if I happen to have an identical twin out there somewhere, perhaps she will be my faithful reader.

I’m a web designer and developer, so I like great design and typography and some coding and development stuff too. My favorite section of the app store is productivity—like Evernote and to do lists. I love music and think everyone would be better off if they listened to the same bands as me (The National—my favorite band of all time). Especially at this time of year, I am hooked on watching hockey (Let’s go Amerks!)

So…the kind of things that I expect will show up on here will probably be a mixed bag, but I’ve never been good at sticking to just one thing. Looking forward to the journey!