2 February 2009

etsy:
“Dream Big II” from etsy seller valentinadesign

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16442745

This piece is very geometric, with minimal anti-geometric elements for contrast. All illustrative properties are very stylized in that they are geometric: round, linear, shape-oriented. The foliage of the tree is represented by layers circles superimposed for an op effect based on symmetry and color scheme. The trunk and branches of the tree are also stylized in a simple geometric fashion, as are the birds, which repeat the op art circle pattern. In contrast to the geometric and op art placement and color aspects are the portions of the image rendered as black line. As outline, the black line is uneven if not somewhat selectively gloppy. As text, the black line is emphatic, uneven, and scribbled. The overall contrast of the two dominant design techniques melds together for an image that is modern but retro, and playfully sincere.

available at:
valentinadesign: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=41524

song:
“These Dreams” by Heart, from the album "Heart"
lyrics
watch video

artist: Joan Miro

Joan Miró i Ferrà (April 20 , 1893 – December 25, 1983) was a Catalan artist best known for his paintings. His works are characterized by strong use of color, abstract geometric forms, and a surrealist bent. Miro, however, was never an official member of the Surrealist movement. He had an artist’s mind and a need to be free to explore whatever artistic endeavors and directions he desired. In other words, he was a classic iconoclast, known for his comment regarding the “assassination of painting” and his use of automatic drawing as a an expression of the subconscious. He rebelled against the idea of painting as a status symbol to promote a decorative or social aesthetic and was profoundly interested in the expression of painting as being a pure form of expression.

artcyclopedia
artchive
wikipedia
MOMA

random:
surprise…

26 January 2009

etsy:
“Beached” by Andrea Robin (etsy seller moonindigo)

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19712813

This is a giclee print of a mixed media collage. The composition presents the image of a fish bowl, complete with rocks, foliage, and the stereotypical prop castle, a woman in a bathing suit, seated cross-legged, in a bathing suit and cap, and a goldfish. The fishbowl and seated woman are placed at the bottom of the composition to suggest that it is the ground, in that both objects project shadows (albeit in different directions). The background of the piece is very abstract in composition, it is mostly a muted ecru with a slightly greenish tinge, although is contains scrapes of very subtle pink, blue, and yellow, as well as linear treatments of blue, which occur at such a point in the composition that they appear to suggest the representation of a horizon created by a body of water. Much of the image is based on the suggestion created by the direct significance of the representational images in contrast to abstract elements. This ultimately is surreal, in that the goldfish in the image is placed in the upper right-hand corner of the composition, contrasting the preexisting suggestion of beach, water, and sky, in that it’s position would indicate that it is in the sky. So, the image connotes concepts of home as a small place versus the world as a home as a large place, the idea that the fish in a bowl is apart from the fish in the geographical body of water. It connotes concepts of the woman as an owner, or companion, or liberator, and potentially connotes the concept of freedom as abstract between the graphic elements and the title.

available at: moonindigo:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=66773

song:
“Southern Cross” by Crosby, Stills, & Nash, from the album “Daylight Again”

artist:
Man Ray

Emmanuel Radnitzky (August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976), was an American artist best known for his avant-garde photography and photograms which he termed “rayographs”, who contributed to both the Dada and Surrealist movements.

Man Ray Trust
Artcyclopedia
Artchive
Wikipedia

random:
surprise…

Introduction to the Plasticity of Happiness

Plasticity is defined as: the quality or state of being plastic; esp : capacity for being molded or altered. With plastic being defined as: formative, creative.

Happiness is defined as: a state of well-being and contentment.

This blog will be a demonstration of the plasticity of happiness. A place where I can wax ecstatic about the things in this world that delight and entertain me; and hopefully you too.

Each week a new entry will be posted. Each entry will highlight fours points of interest:
a work of art on etsy
a song
a famous artist
and
a surprise

I hope you come back for the experience, and I hope you experience some serendipity. And may your happiness be plastic.