Shimon AttieI very much enjoyed the artist lecture given by Shimon Attie yesterday. I should maybe clarify by saying that I enjoyed his work but not so much his presentation and presence. Of course, the technical difficulties with the slide projector put a damper on the flow of the presentation but his handling of the situation was almost comical. He acted very annoyed and even made a few off-color comments regarding the people's ability to fix the problem. I believe it was something like, "I bet I could come up there and fix that in 2 seconds," followed by "you do know where that piece goes right?" Yes, VCU could use some new equipment perhaps, but seriously, who uses slides anymore!?
Despite his interesting comments, I really did enjoy seeing his work and hearing him speak about it. The piece about the Welsh town of Aberfan, entitled The Attraction of Onlookers, was my favorite, perhaps because of the meaning behind it. I hadn't heard about the tragedy that took place there in 1966 and I was moved just by the nature of the story. (Read about the Aberfan houses here.) I appreciated Attie's efforts to not just make art that exploits the town's pain further but to seek a way to help them blend back in with the all the villages of Wales. I enjoyed the many small elements to the work that were filled with meaning, such as the static nature of the "character's" in their poses, representing a physical and emotional freezing in response to trauma. My favorite quote from the lecture was when he described these frozen poses as "confronting the decisive moment perpetually." Beautiful! That phrase is something that I will look toward often as I seek inspiration. Another thing he said that struck a chord within me was that "the hardest part of art is figuring out what you want to create." I appreciate hearing an established artist be frank about this point. Art is hard. It takes time and persistence and patience... and blood, sweat, and tears. It's comforting to know that great art is a hard fought battle, no matter the level.
Despite his interesting comments, I really did enjoy seeing his work and hearing him speak about it. The piece about the Welsh town of Aberfan, entitled The Attraction of Onlookers, was my favorite, perhaps because of the meaning behind it. I hadn't heard about the tragedy that took place there in 1966 and I was moved just by the nature of the story. (Read about the Aberfan houses here.) I appreciated Attie's efforts to not just make art that exploits the town's pain further but to seek a way to help them blend back in with the all the villages of Wales. I enjoyed the many small elements to the work that were filled with meaning, such as the static nature of the "character's" in their poses, representing a physical and emotional freezing in response to trauma. My favorite quote from the lecture was when he described these frozen poses as "confronting the decisive moment perpetually." Beautiful! That phrase is something that I will look toward often as I seek inspiration. Another thing he said that struck a chord within me was that "the hardest part of art is figuring out what you want to create." I appreciate hearing an established artist be frank about this point. Art is hard. It takes time and persistence and patience... and blood, sweat, and tears. It's comforting to know that great art is a hard fought battle, no matter the level.
Stills from the piece The Attraction of Onlookers
Images from The Writing on the Wall
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