Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 11/24/2009 - 01:13.
This is very dramatic....I love the scale.
I think it will read well perhaps against snow on the ground. I wonder if bright red posts might have been graphically stronger?
An artist friend of mine emigrated here from South Africa a few years ago. He was describing life there and talked about the barbed wire fence he had around his property which was not atypical. And he talked about the need for guard dogs and how people would distract the dogs and cut through the fence in teams and gain entry.
My dad used to take me fishing up Southern Ontario streams when I was a kid and I enjoyed that 'freedom to roam'.....of course we often got kicked off private property so indeed, we were not really that free to roam. One would think that walking innocently in hip waders along a natural stream bed could at least be accommodated.
How can we ever revere nature if we parcel, privatize and commodify it. Who owns nature?
Submitted by henny linn kjellberg on Tue, 11/24/2009 - 15:25.
Thank you, anonymous, for your thoughtful comment! I agree with you on the snow background, that was my thought all along. Winter won't be that long, I think, and then we'll see what it will look like...
/Henny
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 11/24/2009 - 19:10.
hi there,
I have been thinking a bit about the merits of being very visible and immediately arresting visually, and the merits of more subtle 'attraction'. Personally, I don't believe there is a 'right' answer to, in this case, what treatment the posts 'should' have (ie.the case to paint them red, or polkadotted, or to leave them 'au naturel'). Every choice made, potentially creates a different interpretive response, and a different 'perceptual' experience (if that makes sense). Aesthetic karma....??? Anyhow, I love the idea of red posts too, but would it change the 'feel' of the work (how exactly?) and perhaps take it in another direction. The subtlety of the rails as they are - almost cammoflaged against the field - might possibly be only barely recognized as unusual by the unaware driver passing by. I like the potential for things (be it art, or words, music, relationships) to work on one slowly, and subtley, and sometimes seemingly imperceptibly - depth acccummulating through familiarity/repetitive experience but also by presenting something that is familiar but a bit 'off'. In this case the scale of the fence, and use of different materials might encourage further thought and/or a return visit. Who knows! ...the choices that are made, and how we make them...mysterious and wonderful! - susie
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/26/2009 - 13:07.
Oh this is Real. I didn't put my name originally because I thought you'd be sick of me already lol!! It says 'Submitted by Anonymous' anyway, even if you put your name haha!!!
Perhaps the beauty of the work is that it may in fact be perceived more subtely now and with a bit more visual definition with snow sitting on the ground. Red posts probably would not have such an emerging perceptual effect whether it was intended to have that effect or not. So please post some photos after it snows.
I agree with you Susie, that's the wonder of life, love and spirituality and so far my marriage and kids. There is that slow revelation, the unfolding back of the layers that never seem to end...this is how things grow on us and in so doing, create a depth of meaning that can only develop over time.
I don't feel comfortable commenting too much more without the actual experience of the piece....you and your neighbours are the lucky ones Susie!!
What I do know is that it is wonderful that 'Freedom to Roam' and this blog has stimulated thoughts and this discourse.
If the piece was not created, there would be less wonder in the world.
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 12/01/2009 - 15:42.
Real and Susie, thank you so much for your thoughtful and beautiful comments and appreciation. I believe that artistic decisions happen at different levels at the same time. Maybe half of them concious, half unconcious?
I never considered red post for the simple reason that my work generally tend to be on the quiet side, making impact through number or size rather than colorfulness. Susie knows how drawn I am to repetitiveness, both when it comes to work process and outcome.
With red posts the symblic of the piece would have been a lot stronger, which could be a good thing, but in this case I didn't want to be over-clear, but was rather looking for a "stumble up on" experiece. The subtle, the integrated.
So- in wait for the changes snow will bring, there will soon be more posts from me....!
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 12/02/2009 - 13:46.
Hi Henny,
I like that word repetition and I see it too in this work. It is only recently that I realized that repetition is very spiritual as is the practice of an art or craft.
What I learned is that it is the continued experience of something such as the creation of art or the experiencing of art, or prayer or meditation that brings us closer to an understanding or of the interconnectedness of things.
I guess an artist is very close to this with a 'half conscious' or intuitive awareness, but I think the artist has a fuller but not fully explainable consciousness.
And I like how in your work, their is an implied emergent or growing process.
Submitted by henny linn kjellberg on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 06:44.
I once met a young ceramist from the US who, in a very explicit way, used her craft practice as meditation. She made big installation pieces made from a huge number of smaller clay pieces, shaped by hand. The forming each single piece was part of a mantra meditation. I think of her sometimes when I do my clay work. I am not consciuosly practicing meditation when I work, but the result is somewhat the same. Peace of mind, peace in mind. Alongside with the conceptual basis of my work there is always this process directed component: the repetitive practical work, the work of the hand liberating the mind, allowing it to rest. I love that state.
Comments
Winter 2009 Installation
This is very dramatic....I love the scale.
I think it will read well perhaps against snow on the ground. I wonder if bright red posts might have been graphically stronger?
An artist friend of mine emigrated here from South Africa a few years ago. He was describing life there and talked about the barbed wire fence he had around his property which was not atypical. And he talked about the need for guard dogs and how people would distract the dogs and cut through the fence in teams and gain entry.
My dad used to take me fishing up Southern Ontario streams when I was a kid and I enjoyed that 'freedom to roam'.....of course we often got kicked off private property so indeed, we were not really that free to roam. One would think that walking innocently in hip waders along a natural stream bed could at least be accommodated.
How can we ever revere nature if we parcel, privatize and commodify it. Who owns nature?
Well thanks for this thought provoking piece.
Thank you, anonymous, for
Thank you, anonymous, for your thoughtful comment! I agree with you on the snow background, that was my thought all along. Winter won't be that long, I think, and then we'll see what it will look like...
/Henny
choices and attention
hi there,
I have been thinking a bit about the merits of being very visible and immediately arresting visually, and the merits of more subtle 'attraction'. Personally, I don't believe there is a 'right' answer to, in this case, what treatment the posts 'should' have (ie.the case to paint them red, or polkadotted, or to leave them 'au naturel'). Every choice made, potentially creates a different interpretive response, and a different 'perceptual' experience (if that makes sense). Aesthetic karma....??? Anyhow, I love the idea of red posts too, but would it change the 'feel' of the work (how exactly?) and perhaps take it in another direction. The subtlety of the rails as they are - almost cammoflaged against the field - might possibly be only barely recognized as unusual by the unaware driver passing by. I like the potential for things (be it art, or words, music, relationships) to work on one slowly, and subtley, and sometimes seemingly imperceptibly - depth acccummulating through familiarity/repetitive experience but also by presenting something that is familiar but a bit 'off'. In this case the scale of the fence, and use of different materials might encourage further thought and/or a return visit. Who knows! ...the choices that are made, and how we make them...mysterious and wonderful! - susie
Hello again re Red posts
Oh this is Real. I didn't put my name originally because I thought you'd be sick of me already lol!! It says 'Submitted by Anonymous' anyway, even if you put your name haha!!!
Perhaps the beauty of the work is that it may in fact be perceived more subtely now and with a bit more visual definition with snow sitting on the ground. Red posts probably would not have such an emerging perceptual effect whether it was intended to have that effect or not. So please post some photos after it snows.
I agree with you Susie, that's the wonder of life, love and spirituality and so far my marriage and kids. There is that slow revelation, the unfolding back of the layers that never seem to end...this is how things grow on us and in so doing, create a depth of meaning that can only develop over time.
I don't feel comfortable commenting too much more without the actual experience of the piece....you and your neighbours are the lucky ones Susie!!
What I do know is that it is wonderful that 'Freedom to Roam' and this blog has stimulated thoughts and this discourse.
If the piece was not created, there would be less wonder in the world.
Cheers,
Real
On red posts and the subtle.
Real and Susie, thank you so much for your thoughtful and beautiful comments and appreciation. I believe that artistic decisions happen at different levels at the same time. Maybe half of them concious, half unconcious?
I never considered red post for the simple reason that my work generally tend to be on the quiet side, making impact through number or size rather than colorfulness. Susie knows how drawn I am to repetitiveness, both when it comes to work process and outcome.
With red posts the symblic of the piece would have been a lot stronger, which could be a good thing, but in this case I didn't want to be over-clear, but was rather looking for a "stumble up on" experiece. The subtle, the integrated.
So- in wait for the changes snow will bring, there will soon be more posts from me....!
Henny
Repetition
Hi Henny,
I like that word repetition and I see it too in this work. It is only recently that I realized that repetition is very spiritual as is the practice of an art or craft.
What I learned is that it is the continued experience of something such as the creation of art or the experiencing of art, or prayer or meditation that brings us closer to an understanding or of the interconnectedness of things.
I guess an artist is very close to this with a 'half conscious' or intuitive awareness, but I think the artist has a fuller but not fully explainable consciousness.
And I like how in your work, their is an implied emergent or growing process.
Thanks,
Real
repetition and meditation
I once met a young ceramist from the US who, in a very explicit way, used her craft practice as meditation. She made big installation pieces made from a huge number of smaller clay pieces, shaped by hand. The forming each single piece was part of a mantra meditation. I think of her sometimes when I do my clay work. I am not consciuosly practicing meditation when I work, but the result is somewhat the same. Peace of mind, peace in mind. Alongside with the conceptual basis of my work there is always this process directed component: the repetitive practical work, the work of the hand liberating the mind, allowing it to rest. I love that state.
-Henny