Friday 14th October 2011

Influences:

Reading (again) the brief it states "Taking inspiration from the history of art" "using a visual approach, employed in traditional still-life painting construct an image" etc

I've been taking notes and looking at various painters and various styles and genres of painting since joining the course.

Still Life: Research

The term ‘still life’ derives from the Dutch ‘Stilleven’ and was thus coined in the seventeenth Century. During this period in Western Europe the painted still life was a very popular genre. Before still life painting would have been titled and described by the contents of the image (I.E. Painting of a flower etc). As artists started to build more complex images where the inter relationships, meanings and narratives became more important the use of the still life generic term came into popular use.

In photography due to the nature of the earliest cameras still life was the subject of necessity. Pioneers such as Nicephore Niepce: Jacques-Louis-Mande Daguerre; and William Henry Fox Talbot experimenting with the new technology of photography using this genre.

In 1829 Niepce and Daguerre initiated a partnership to further their experimentation by pooling resources, but Niepce died soon after in 1833. Daguerre was left with the daguerreotype to perfect, which he did. Some of the earliest surviving Dagereotypes are in fact still life's.

It wasn’t until 1841 when advances in chemistry advanced the sensitivity of photographic light sensitive materials, and exposure times shortened considerably. The popularity of photography spread and it ability to capture a greater range of subjects made it a far more versatile medium. But the love of still life and its creative possibilities mean that its popularity remains strong even to this day.

Information sourced from: Still Life in Photography, Paul Martineau

Vanitas

Having decided upon a concept and a narrative for my image I've been looking for an inspiration from the history of art.
The obvious inspiration for my narrative would be 'Vanitas' and based on my initial research it seems appropriate. Vanitas as a genre comes from the quote "'Vanitas vanitatum... et omnia vanitas'" which translates to "Vanity of Vanities, saith the preacher, all is vanity" a quote from the New Testament (Ecclesiastes 12: 8- http://bible.cc/ecclesiastes/12-8.htm ) It refers to the transient nature of all human actions such as seeking pleasure, attaining wealth, in comparison to what is to be gained from seeking faith. A Vanitas painting was a still life with a strong moral message warning of the pit falls of ownership of belongings, wealth and the pursuit of pleasure and the foolishness of human ambition.

Vanitas is connected in the art world to ‘Memento Mori’ a latin expression for ‘Reminder of Death’ The basic underlying principle that death is the greatest leveller and a reminder of our mortality. Skulls were frequently being used in European art work in the 16^th and 17^th century for symbolic reasons

(Information sourced from: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/glossary/vanitas)

Since we work in order to gain financial stability and wealth, as well as belongings, status and pleasure (via money). It fits perfectly with my narrative about the effects of redundancy upon the individual. It's the old adage "The higher you go, the further you fall"

In this day and age we live a very materialistic lifestyle, society is considered in some peoples views as dysfunctional. We have a financial crisis in the economy, political crisis and major religious and moral issues with society. As a nation we are at war in Afghanistan, and economically and morally our status as a country has been eroded.

It is not my intention to do a direct pastiche of a known Vanitas painting, but I will use the strong symbolism, and apply that thought to my items.

As for "using a visual approach, employed in traditional still-life painting construct an image" I intend to use the lessons from today's lighting workshop on the'Chiaroscuro' 'light and dark' (a concept created originally for painting). I want to create a strong contrast between light and dark to symbolise the fact that life isn't always black and white. Using a white symbolise calm and order. sterility and order, contrasted against the black of the bin bag I intend to have my objects spilling out of. The blackness symbolising the darker sides of the situation and life, the chaos and instability

Examples of Vanitas Images: