It would seem ironic that the small objects that can free minds and bodies and promote justice are at their best when bound tightly, chained together in rows in a galley and forced to pull together.
Galley:
Nautical.
a seagoing vessel propelled mainly by oars, used in ancient and medieval times, sometimes with the aid of sails.
Or: (formerly, in the U.S. Navy) a shoal-draft vessel, variously rigged, relying mainly on its sails but able to be rowed by sweeps.
Printing.
a long, narrow tray, usually of metal, for holding type that has been set.
A pair of hands types on an old-fashioned keyboard. An inkwell is open and papers with love poems lie strewn on a tabletop. The inventor of the Cherokee alphabet, Sequoyah, points to his letters –writing was referred to by the Indians as “talking leaves” - on a sheet of paper which billows away from the typist like a sail on a ship. A Naval report from the 18th century is printed in the newspaper of the day. Rowers bend to their task as they traverse a world map and rough seas. And an invisible Printer pulls at the handle of his press as the rowers pull at their oars.
These are the Men of Letters.
Acrylic on paper and silk with coffee, lead letterpress type, decals, glass beads and yellow metal. 37.5 x 41 cm.
4 comments:
Very nicely done and thought provaking, nice colors.
I think I can see St. John hospital from my study windows (but when I;'m in there, I don't actually look out the window much, LOL.
I walk by the sledding hill almost every day and often twice a day walking to and from my studio etc.
I looked at places in that area (behind the sledding hill).
The Rolandale house is not in terrific shape, though we've been working on it all spring and summer--much remains to be done. I hope to build a better studio out back.
I don't do a lot of looking out my windows either, as I am usually very busy at the studio. But it is interesting that we both have studios in Detroit and in that particular area. I think it could really be an up and coming art scene, if we could get others to move in. I've had that studio since 1994.
Okay, when even my own mother doesn't quite grasp my intent, then it's time to clarify...
This painting is really about the value of writing and print media, more than it is about any individual. It is about the idea that when letters are - quite literally - pressed into service, when they all "pull" together as in an old-fashioned printing press, then hearts and minds and bodies can be freed from their bonds. The irony comes because letters and words must be strung together in order to make us more individual - to preserve our personal liberties.
It is perhaps a difficult concept to put over visually, but I can only try. I am also very concerned that art be as fully regarded as speech as is any book or newspaper. It is as communicative as any book or newspaper, or political pamphlet and has been called "a short cut from mind to mind" by no less an authority than the US Supreme Court. Obviously, given recent events in my life, this would be a concern of mine.
Here is an artist who took it into the same direction out of necessity. Paul Smith is no longer with us, but his work is the perfect example of what I am talking about in this painting.
Typewriter Artist
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