Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space
Reading/Research: 7 hours
Sketching: 3 hours
New collagraph plate: 5 hours
This past week, I read through The Poetics of Space, by Gaston Bachelard and found it very insightful. I was shocked at how much I agreed with what he was saying. The connections he made between home, memory, childhood and solitude make so much sense to me, and I was inspired by his thoughts on the attic and the basement. I agree that there is something about ascending and descending stairs that creates a familiar and unforgettable connection. So, thinking about my own memories, I made a few sketches about my connections with upstairs and downstairs. I was really drawn to the sketch of the open basement door, so I began making a collagraph from that image.
Next, I plan to continue working on the collagraph and have it printed by Tuesday. I would also like to play around with incorporating text into the prints. I still don't know if I want text to be included with the image, but I think experimenting with it is the only way to decide. I also plan to continue sketching and looking into the books mentioned in class - Landscape and Memory by Simon Schama, Psychology of the House by Olivier Marc, and Life: A User's Manuel by Georges Perec. Hopefully, these books will continue to give me insight and keep my ideas moving forward.
Chrissy,
ReplyDeleteYou seem to be in a good groove, balancing your art making with important reading. Some questions to consider while you work: How does place play a role in the memory of the house you grew up in? Where was it geographically? What type of house? What visual clues show us the house's personalities and those of its inhabitants? In recording the rooms of the house, are you try to immortalize the house itself, the family within it, the essence of home, the feeling of a specific memory? What artists influence you?
Erica