Am I real yet?

As a figurative formalist project...for Art 505/590

Figurative, meaning: representing the figure, the realistic world (actuality). As Pearlstein says, the "human being, a profound figure, must be represented." In Art 505, we studied the "lie" or portraiture. I've come to realize that a realistic (a completed/lifelike photographic image of an individual) is somewhat boring (at least to me) because there is no nuance to suggest interest (the idea of art being worthy to warrant more than a passing glance). The more I worked on this piece, the more I realized that I couldn't make this piece work in complete realism. I had to represent the figure. It had to be my statement, and at the same time posit different dimensions for examining the figure. Which, is why there are words! (And, an image.)

Formalist, meaning: the value of a work determined by form, or the way a composition is crafted . . . its visual and medium aspects. The emphasis is on texture/line/repetition/the two-dimensional paper. Basically--how you organize visual information. Formalism, at once, is a school of thought for critiquing art--where everything important is in the artwork itself (instead of the context, the intention, etcetera).

Division of space (how the subject is oriented in the space, etcetera), rhythm (patterns that move the eye and make it jump as in the division of space), dominance/subordination (the importance of elements), and form (the use of light and dark to create space and subject) are all important.

I chose to focus on the readability of the figure--the words (representing the conscious process the artist goes through when trying to "capture" the human body). For instance, the things that popped in my head while drawing him. Yes, his skin is made up of words (and bits of the background).

Pearlstein says that "the character of a work of art results from the technical devices used to form it" and "regrettably, we cannot transmit the whole experience." But, I don't think it regrettable at all, actually. Quite a fortune. "This experience is seeing," he goes on to say. And, I think him right. So, most of the words making up this model's body deal with seeing. And, how to see. And, where to see. And, what to see. And, who. The words are both legible and illegible. But, it beckons the viewer closer . . . to see.