As I was working through the process of finishing a necklace, something struck me yet again that I've been thinking about for a little while now. I think it has carried through in my own work and in my admiration of the work of others, and would like to explore it further:
- density,
- repetition,
- the neurotic and tedious production of many iterations of the same thing
Whenever something is wildly dense in repetitions, especially if in a layered, slightly indiscernible way, I'm affected by it. Observing it can absorb me and producing it can bring me to that ever elusive state of 'flow.'
To show what I mean, I've taken a photograph of a necklace that I finished recently. While I'm glad I worked through it and have already worn it out, this necklace is not... compelling.
Another necklace, however, that I began as a much needed respite when I was still studying for my final ARE (which, as an aside, I have successfully passed all 7!) ... IS compelling.
What is the difference, I wondered?
This got me thinking about some work I was recently admiring at a show in the Arts Council for Wyoming County by Mike Sparling, aka Mr. Scribbles. There was a piece on the wall that was literally a page full of scribbles. And even though I'm not usually moved by the type of art that appears to have been created by a rioting pack of kindergartners... I loved it! What is so great about a series of overlapping, growing, moving lines? I realized that I would NOT have loved it if the drawing had been merely a few lines on the page. It was the density, the layering, the all-encompassing nature of the lines taking over the page that captivated me!
Does any part of this relate to the awe-inspiring understanding we have of the compulsion it must have taken to produce? Or are children also more mesmerized by unending combinations and piles?
More on this later, but am I alone in deeply enjoying the catharsis of producing this type of work? Are there other examples out there of work which has moved you that is all about reaching a critical mass of iterations? (I'm thinking Andy Goldsworthy's ... and Maya Lin's ... )
