Showing posts with label Picture writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Picture writing. Show all posts
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Bernard Williams
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
Reflections on a Picture Writing Thesis
Picture Writing was the name of my art school thesis many years back. In the thesis I struggled to express my fascination with everything from Andy Capp to Krazy Kat, and cuneiform to airplane safety instructions. I quickly was overwhelmed not only by the plethora of examples that fit an admittedly broad topic, but also my own visceral reactions to samples that crossed my path. Where words and pictures were required to unfold together I was often irritated. Rarely do the two jive. I'd love the images but would find the writing unsatisfactory. When the two do come together, as they do in George Herriman's Krazy Kat (and I have yet to meet anyone who would disagree with this 'certainty') the results are magical. For further examples of where the low of comics and the high of art are erased, check out the exhibiton catalogue, High and Low, from the Museum of Modern Art, New York. The show featured (amongst others) Philip Guston, Robert Crumb, and (if memory serves) artists from Raw, the breath of fresh air that broke into the comics scene at the end of the 1970s, compiled and edited by Art Spiegleman and François Mouly.
Soon to come: Essays, stolen (with thanks), from the WWW on Frans Masareel, Henri Michaux, Pierre Alechinsky and many, many more artists who fit into my ever widening, ever elusive definition of the pictographic realm.
Phonograph
Phonograph \Pho"no*graph\, n. [Phono- + -graph.]
1. A character or symbol used to represent a sound, esp. one
used in phonography. [archaic]
[1913 Webster]
For example a beetle in Native American picture writing might represent the sound it makes and not the beetle itself.
From Wikipedia:
The famous phonograph was the fourth device for recording and replaying sound. The term phonograph ("sound writer") is derived from the Greek words φωνή (meaning "sound" or "voice" and transliterated as phoné) and γραφή (meaning "writing" and transliterated as graphé). Similar related terms gramophone and graphophone have similar root meanings. The coinage, particularly the use of the -graph root, may have been influenced by the then-existing words phonographic and phonography, which referred to a system of phonetic shorthand; in 1852 The New York Times carried an advertisement for "Professor Webster's phonographic class", and in 1859 the New York State Teachers' Association tabled a motion to "employ a phonographic recorder" to record its meetings.
1. A character or symbol used to represent a sound, esp. one
used in phonography. [archaic]
[1913 Webster]
For example a beetle in Native American picture writing might represent the sound it makes and not the beetle itself.
From Wikipedia:
The famous phonograph was the fourth device for recording and replaying sound. The term phonograph ("sound writer") is derived from the Greek words φωνή (meaning "sound" or "voice" and transliterated as phoné) and γραφή (meaning "writing" and transliterated as graphé). Similar related terms gramophone and graphophone have similar root meanings. The coinage, particularly the use of the -graph root, may have been influenced by the then-existing words phonographic and phonography, which referred to a system of phonetic shorthand; in 1852 The New York Times carried an advertisement for "Professor Webster's phonographic class", and in 1859 the New York State Teachers' Association tabled a motion to "employ a phonographic recorder" to record its meetings.
Ideograph-definition
NOUN (1)
1. a graphic character that indicates the meaning of a thing without indicating the sounds used to say it;
- Example: "Chinese characters are ideograms"
[syn: ideogram, ideograph]
1. a graphic character that indicates the meaning of a thing without indicating the sounds used to say it;
- Example: "Chinese characters are ideograms"
[syn: ideogram, ideograph]
Monday, December 8, 2008
The Labyrinth Wall at Exit Art
www.exitart.org
The Labyrinth Wall: From Mythology to Reality is an exhibition in which 51 artists will respond to the turbulent times in which we live, the complex — and often confusing — financial, military, and cultural crises in the United States of America. Responding to the sagging economy, the continued American presence in Iraq, and the crisis facing ordinary people who are losing jobs and homes, we at Exit Art, as a cultural space, felt the urgent need to present an exhibition that explores these aspects of our country and our cultures. The Labyrinth Wall is an immediate reaction to these issues — as our exhibition schedule was shifted to accommodate this show — and uses the labyrinth as a metaphor for the difficult and tangled problems that the Americas face.
Exit Art will be re-configured into a maze constructed of fifty, 8 x 8 foot panels. Each artist will be given one wall on which to respond to the metaphor of the labyrinth and offer instructions on how to escape the issues we are confronted with. The labyrinth serves as a metaphor for the vexing problems that America, under a hopeful new presidential administration, must now navigate.
In Greek mythology, the labyrinth was an elaborate structure designed to hold the Minotaur, a creature that was half-man, half-bull. Designed for King Minos of Crete by Daedalus, the labyrinth was so serpentine and difficult to negotiate that Daedalus himself could barely find his way out. Today, America seems to have found itself at the center of a metaphorical labyrinth. We’ve become so deeply wound into an economic and political maze that our situation seems impossible to escape.
This exhibition also calls attention to the wall as a representation of a political barrier, used for either fortification or for segregation (such as the Berlin Wall, Great Wall of China or the many walls we are building on our Mexican border), or as a form of communication (such as the activities of Chinese Democracy activists on what became known as the ‘Democracy Wall’).
Responding to these metaphors in 2-dimensional media – such as painting, collage, photography, drawing, and stencil – the artists in this exhibition attempt to navigate the complicated issues threatening the way of life in the Americas.
The process of artists creating the walls of the Labyrinth will be open to the public from Tuesday, December 9 to Saturday, December 13. During that time Exit Art will be open 10am – 10pm, Tuesday to Friday, and 12pm – 10pm on Saturday.
Curated by Jeanette Ingberman and Papo Colo. Concept/Design by Papo Colo.
Participating Artists:
Josh Abram Howard; John Ahearn; Madeleine Arthurs and P.S. 274, Brooklyn; Francisca Benitez; Liz Brown; Luis Camnitzer; Russell Christian; Tyler Coburn; Papo Colo; Ernest Concepcion; Anton van Dalen; Robert Danderov; Iliana Emilia Garcia; Mike Estabrook; Teo Freytes; John Fekner and Don Leicht; Scherezade Garcia; Rico Gatson; Guerra de la Paz; Peter Hildebrand; Vandana Jain and Doris Caciolo; Charles Juhasz-Alvarado; Jayson Keeling; Fawad Khan; Saeri Kiritani; Matthew Kirk; Christopher Knowles; Charles Koegel; Peter Kuper; Nora Ligorano and Marshal Reese; Joan Linder; Miguel Luciano; Yucef Merhi; Bryan Mesenbourg; Paul Miller; Marcus Morales; Irvin Morazan; Rune Olsen; Kevin Pyle; Beau Rhee; Rudy Royval; David Sandlin; Jacolby Satterwhite; Seher Shah; Dan Tague; Seth Tobocman; Lucretia Knapp and Lynne Yamamoto; Heeseop Yoon; Daniel Zeller
MANIFESTO
Chaos is the payback…for arrogance.
Glory is never there…because it is in other places.
So where are we going, with this disappearing wonder,
condescending into a moment of confusion?
What is this state that invented us,
with the collective solitude of patriotism?
What are nations if not walls that become a labyrinth?
-- Papo Colo, 2008
The world economy is in trouble and we have to resolve this
situation from the Americas point of view, collectively and
soon. Nations are dying, continents will be unified, the banker’s
culture will refine its repression and the marginal will grow into
an explosion. And there we are with more time to worry about vanity,
investment and decoration.
-- Juana Gallo, 2008, ‘Loose Thoughts’
The Labyrinth Wall: From Mythology to Reality is an exhibition in which 51 artists will respond to the turbulent times in which we live, the complex — and often confusing — financial, military, and cultural crises in the United States of America. Responding to the sagging economy, the continued American presence in Iraq, and the crisis facing ordinary people who are losing jobs and homes, we at Exit Art, as a cultural space, felt the urgent need to present an exhibition that explores these aspects of our country and our cultures. The Labyrinth Wall is an immediate reaction to these issues — as our exhibition schedule was shifted to accommodate this show — and uses the labyrinth as a metaphor for the difficult and tangled problems that the Americas face.
Exit Art will be re-configured into a maze constructed of fifty, 8 x 8 foot panels. Each artist will be given one wall on which to respond to the metaphor of the labyrinth and offer instructions on how to escape the issues we are confronted with. The labyrinth serves as a metaphor for the vexing problems that America, under a hopeful new presidential administration, must now navigate.
In Greek mythology, the labyrinth was an elaborate structure designed to hold the Minotaur, a creature that was half-man, half-bull. Designed for King Minos of Crete by Daedalus, the labyrinth was so serpentine and difficult to negotiate that Daedalus himself could barely find his way out. Today, America seems to have found itself at the center of a metaphorical labyrinth. We’ve become so deeply wound into an economic and political maze that our situation seems impossible to escape.
This exhibition also calls attention to the wall as a representation of a political barrier, used for either fortification or for segregation (such as the Berlin Wall, Great Wall of China or the many walls we are building on our Mexican border), or as a form of communication (such as the activities of Chinese Democracy activists on what became known as the ‘Democracy Wall’).
Responding to these metaphors in 2-dimensional media – such as painting, collage, photography, drawing, and stencil – the artists in this exhibition attempt to navigate the complicated issues threatening the way of life in the Americas.
The process of artists creating the walls of the Labyrinth will be open to the public from Tuesday, December 9 to Saturday, December 13. During that time Exit Art will be open 10am – 10pm, Tuesday to Friday, and 12pm – 10pm on Saturday.
Curated by Jeanette Ingberman and Papo Colo. Concept/Design by Papo Colo.
Participating Artists:
Josh Abram Howard; John Ahearn; Madeleine Arthurs and P.S. 274, Brooklyn; Francisca Benitez; Liz Brown; Luis Camnitzer; Russell Christian; Tyler Coburn; Papo Colo; Ernest Concepcion; Anton van Dalen; Robert Danderov; Iliana Emilia Garcia; Mike Estabrook; Teo Freytes; John Fekner and Don Leicht; Scherezade Garcia; Rico Gatson; Guerra de la Paz; Peter Hildebrand; Vandana Jain and Doris Caciolo; Charles Juhasz-Alvarado; Jayson Keeling; Fawad Khan; Saeri Kiritani; Matthew Kirk; Christopher Knowles; Charles Koegel; Peter Kuper; Nora Ligorano and Marshal Reese; Joan Linder; Miguel Luciano; Yucef Merhi; Bryan Mesenbourg; Paul Miller; Marcus Morales; Irvin Morazan; Rune Olsen; Kevin Pyle; Beau Rhee; Rudy Royval; David Sandlin; Jacolby Satterwhite; Seher Shah; Dan Tague; Seth Tobocman; Lucretia Knapp and Lynne Yamamoto; Heeseop Yoon; Daniel Zeller
MANIFESTO
Chaos is the payback…for arrogance.
Glory is never there…because it is in other places.
So where are we going, with this disappearing wonder,
condescending into a moment of confusion?
What is this state that invented us,
with the collective solitude of patriotism?
What are nations if not walls that become a labyrinth?
-- Papo Colo, 2008
The world economy is in trouble and we have to resolve this
situation from the Americas point of view, collectively and
soon. Nations are dying, continents will be unified, the banker’s
culture will refine its repression and the marginal will grow into
an explosion. And there we are with more time to worry about vanity,
investment and decoration.
-- Juana Gallo, 2008, ‘Loose Thoughts’
Friday, August 15, 2008
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
Quanson Huts
When I write these rows I do so with no other agenda than to fill the page to my satisfaction. I have to feel a good physical response to what I have drawn. I do not know why the poem works though I do know the balance of marks to the blankness of the surface has to be right just as type on a page has to look right. I suspect what emerges-the subjects, objects, have a resonance in the realm of the shared unconscious, Jung's collective unconscious...
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
Friday, August 10, 2007
A Series of Picture Writings
...or pictographs, or asemic writing, or pictograms, or petroglyphs or hieroglyphs....
Monday, July 16, 2007
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