Posts
"It seems very pretty,"
Alice said when she had finished the poem of the Jabberwock, "but
it's rather hard to understand!" (You see she didn't like to
confess, even to herself, that she couldn't make it out at all.)
"Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas—only I don't
exactly know what they are!" Through The Looking Glass
(1872) by Lewis Carroll
In
starting this new series, Jabberwocky, I find myself much like Alice lost in
Wonderland, that place where logic and perception are passing states
of mind. As with Alice, I have a head full of ideas but no clue as
to where they are taking me. It's an attempt to take my version of
objet trouve art to
where a logical response is subservient to a whimsical perception. I
must be going in the right (brained) direction as these new creations
certainly appear to be meaningless at first glance. But do they
speak in riddles? Is there some hidden symbolism? The viewer must be the judge, because this artist does not know.
All
the branches of Art stem from the same root. Poems can create an
emotional sensation not readily definable. These rhyming words
bounce off one another creating a rhythm that lures the brain to an
alternate consciousness. The words themselves may be utter
gibberish. This sensation can be replicated with an assemblage of
components that interact with one another based on the principles of
design. When done correctly a similar rhythm occurs visually.
Meaning
is not a requirement in any of the Arts, but some response is
required for a piece to be successful in communicating with others. Logical minds inherently look beneath the surface to find a certain
significance. Thankfully, human perception widely differs thereby
instilling a single work of art with a multitude of meanings. And
the delightful result is that all are correct. Whether the artist
has a preconception or is groping blindly in an intuitive ether,
his/her meaning of the piece is secondary to that of the viewer. For
it is the one who stands before it at that precise moment in time who
finds the true meaning deep within their own psyche.
So
come with me on this journey to a world where nothing is quite what
it seems. If you find “the white knight is walking backwards and
the red queen is off her head”, remember...
There is a fine line between sense and nonsense. Just ask Alice.
There is a fine line between sense and nonsense. Just ask Alice.
