After thinking a lot about archives, anthologies, and jumbles of stuff, I've spent some time working on pages for a giant book of imagery.
Temp name:
the
Book of Things.
Here are some early sketches...
I don't know, though...
------------------------------------------------
 |
| From Kalman's The Principles of Uncertainty, a book (journal? collection? archive?) chronicling a year in her life through thoughts, observations, and photographs. |
I'm not happy with what I've been making, though. While sort of promising, these drawings feel uninspiring... I'm going to leave them posted here, though, along with the ideas I was thinking about. Am I just being impatient? Do I want a three-hundred page volume but lack the discipline to actually go through with it? I try making one page at a time, but then I think of the 800 unmade pages and the ceiling caves in. Sigh. Get stronger, Steph!
------original post--------
I'm aspiring towards a combination of Maira Kalman's The Principles of Uncertainty and a Medieval bestiary. I like Kalman's contemporary themes and her journal-type mixture of thoughts and beautiful (guache?) paintings. I've been obsessed with mythical beasts since childhood and have resolved to learn more about the artists who paint them, and some of the psychology behind these creatures. I've also been struggling with wanting to create something 'big', with quantity, with dissatisfaction, with questioning the worth of my constant need to document (and validate) my existence. I thought a bestiary might be a good way of mushing it all together, of finding a common way to express an experience.
My favorite thing about medieval bestiaries (besides the endlessly imaginative details) is the lack of differentiation between 'real' animals and 'fantastical' ones. The author of the manuscript had never seen a manticore or a hydra, but then again he had never seen a rhinoceros or whale before, either. These creatures exist on the pages right next to each other. I think my brain functions in a similar way-- there's some kind of filter or hierarchy missing, so it's all a jumble at the same level-- hipster cartoon characters are right there next to NStar and Comcast bills and merge with school obligations and guilt about my cat's weight and freestyle rapping and tea.
There's a lot going on there... it's probably too much to chew. I'm getting overwhelmed just thinking about it... So I started from the safety of my bed, cataloguing favorite objects in my room and other things I can see. Eventually I want to include feelings, imaginary creatures, specters and ghosts, and include them indiscriminately amongst the more tangible objects.
Inspirations:
- Mythologies by Roland Barthes-- it comments on the mythical qualities of everyday things, like wresting matches and detergent.
- The Principals of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman
- Here Be Dragons: a Fantastic Bestiary by Ariane and Cristian Delacampagne
- Hieronymus Bosch, biography
