Friday, February 15, 2013

NOT A VALENTINE

Well I haven't managed to keep to my three day plan but five and a half isn't too bad. I also missed the opportunity to post something sentimental or silly or sarcastic about Valentine's day but I don't feel guilty about that at all. 

Below is a photo of a construction that hangs on my wall and which I suspect I may already have posted some time ago. If so and if you remember it, sorry for repetition. It's called The Creators in Their Ruined Temple and I'm very fond of it. I love building things out of found or discarded materials and giving them new identities. This scene has all those elements and the title simply suggested itself. I see it as a sort of icon, humorous but also serious. Russian and Greek icons, very early ones, are among my favourite works of art but I've never seen a humorous icon, at least not intentionally. 



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9 comments:

Dominic Rivron said...

Beautiful, witty, wistful, unsettling.

Natalie d'Arbeloff said...

Dominic,thanks. Yes it is unsettling. I'm not sure why but I like that ambiguity and the fact that I don't entirely understand it.

Hattie said...

Love it. Something fresh out of old materials.

addon said...

Nice work! I too like icons. And these "found material" consructions/arrangements.

I was reading last night about an artist (early 1900s?) who used to like making them and he would go round his block (NOT "off his block"!) in the street looking for materiial. If he did not find enough he would allow himself to go round another block, but that was all - he had to find enough each day within these limits.

A fine discipline!

Natalie d'Arbeloff said...

Hattie, I'm always amazed by the power of imagination to find new meanings in familiar things, if arranged in unfamiliar ways. Children do this sort of thing all the time and maybe the secret is simply to allow ourselves to be childlike.

Adam,I think it might be Schwitters you're referring to? He did some marvellous things with stuff picked up on the street - bus tickets, food wrappers etc. And Joseph Cornell's boxes are fantastic - if you don't know his work, Google him - you'll be delighted.

marja-leena said...

I love the male and female figures, they make me smile!

Belated Happy Friendship Day, Natalie! How I wish we could get together to have a gabfest and share thoughts on our artmaking.

Natalie d'Arbeloff said...

And warm friendhip wishes to you too, Marja-Leena. An artgabfest with you would be fantastic - why can't you live around the corner from me? Or vice versa? Internet gabfests are good but will never replace live conversations. I'm not very fond of Skype-talk either.

Dave Bonta said...

Terrific -- I love it.

Natalie said...

Thanks Dave; you can see it live when you come over next time...that should be soon, right?