Going Past Definition
How to let go of this automatic attempt to create something definite, and instead to let the shapes flow into each other without any attempt to affix it to a definition…
n. 1. a defining or being defined 2. a statement of the meaning of a word 3. clarity of outline, sound, etc.
One of the things which has plagued me the most since a while was the inability to render as faithfully as I would have liked, any manifestation of reality.
The thing was that as soon as I got past the raw sketching which was free-flowing and rich in meaning, the rendition and detailing (third meaning of definition) seemed to fall flat and make it loose its substance —that I tried to regain afterwards at the expense of a great deal of efforts.
About that, a dear friend told me this:
When you incorporate a term, a word, you automatically generate an image that correlates with that word. But you also do the same in reverse. When you present an image to yourself, you will automatically attach a word to it, to identify it. And when you attach the word to the image, the image changes to fit the word.
Therefore, the attempt to move beyond the automatic association was the philosophy of the [Surrealists].”
This is indeed the first meaning of “definition”, which is “limiting” for understanding purpose. But here it was becoming stifling.
So what I intended to do for the next painting was to let go of this automatic attempt to create something definite, and instead to let the shapes flow into each other without any attempt to affix it to a definition. In that, the shape of the panorama and of a boundless sphere was of a great help.
And I discovered that the detailing part was no longer a boring process, but a process of discovery, as the eye as well as the hand was modifying constantly the picture.
So, it was no longer adding “definition“ in the strict sense of a limitation, but “resolution“.
It took me about a whole month to complete the picture in a back and forth process between the various projections of the panorama (how to wrap a sphere with a rectangular piece of paper (hints) ?) in files as big as I ever thought my aging laptop capable of handling.
At the end, what I noticed was that this change of perspective helped me to become more involved and absorbed inside this world which in return took a life on its own: I could still find new patterns within it every time I went to see it…
Recent Comments