It’s done. Yesterday was knot tying day!
I had a hard time keeping it this simple, but the alternating, argyle pattern of criss-crossed strings does so many awesome things with shadows that I would have messed it up if I added any more string. Also, the black strings disappear over the black painted areas at the right distance. You’ve kind of got to be in the room with the piece to get it, but it’s got some nice optical tomfoolery going on. If you zoom into the image below you can kind of see what’s going on with the shadows. I love how the shadows on the floor look, too. That was a happy accident.
There are other artists in the show, too…
Above – Patrick Merrill, Whore of Babylon (being installed). Patrick Merrill’s work is raw vision. His 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse piece has gotten out there quite a bit, and the amount of detail he’s capturing in his massive woodcut telling of the Book of Revelations is completely, admirably, intimidatingly insane. I am in awe of this man.
Above – Detail from Whore of Babylon. I could shoot detail shots of this work all day, and still not comprehend how he’s doing it, and doing it so well. This is one of the heads of the scarlet beast, “having seven heads and ten horns”, from Revelation 17:3.
Above – More detail from Whore of Babylon. The whore herself, holding a chalice with nuclear trefoil. The clean, crisp detail on the chalice, which sits at near the exact center of the print, just draws your eye. Everything seems to radiate from the chalice.
Above – Angie Bray painting. Angie makes installations with these motorized long plastic tubes. They rotate and are unbalanced, they move against one another like grass moving in the wind, they scrape against walls, they fill the space with organic actions and movement, and they are simple machines. She was still installing when I finished, so I shot her painting one of the tubes. These pieces really deserve close-up, long term, contemplative viewing.
Above – Connor Everts. Connor has a connection to El Camino, and I presume these pieces came out of the college’s collection. This is one of a series of ten prints that are on view in the gallery, which were made in 1970.
Above – Mariona Barkus, The Zen of Terminal Waiting. Mariona’s work, especially this piece, often pokes fun at the absurdities of “modern life.” I like how this piece brings together the unrelatable flavours of the “airport experience” and contemplative religion.
More photos are in the Flickr set. In Black and White opens August 25, and the reception is September 2. I will also be taking part in an artist talk on September 9.
Technorati Tags: In Black and White, El Camino College, art, Marshall Astor, Angie Bray, Patrick Merrill, Whore of Babylon, Mariona Barkus, Connor Everts, contemporary art, woodcut, installation art, art exhibition
I like the string. Mmmm, string art…
[...] probably couldn’t get the print, too bad. But The Omega Man is Charelton Heston (currently appearing as Moses, filling in for God in my new installation, part of In Black and White, which opens Monday…) at his brutal best, and cannot be ignored. [...]
I’m bringing back the 70′s one fad at a time…
I love the Omega Man- especially the Christ in the fountian pose. I think I first saw it on late night tv when I was about 14. Anthony Zerbe as a crazed mutant- it’s a post-apocalypse classic! I think I first saw it on late night tv when I was in jr high.
You know, you could have a perfect end of the world movie festival with 70′s Heston movies: Omega Man of course, Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green. You would have to throw in Silent Running, just because it’s the perfect blend of evil government 70′s fear along with environmental doom, even though no Chuck.
Oh, duh, bad edit on previous post. It was the pockyclipse making my brains soft.
[...] – The Whore of Babylon – Detail 1 Image by Marshall Astor – Food Pornographer Read my spiel about install day 2 here. Tags: Black, BRAND, Classic, FILM, Foma, Fomapan, Negative, Print, White Posted in Black And [...]