I went to animal drawing class afterwards at the Natural History Museum and drew a taxidermy Okapi. John Horn came by and demonstrated some hatching and said, “there are no concaves in nature”, and “I don’t know if its true or not, but I think it’s true”- this in relation to hatching; no ‘u’s only n’s? I was zonked from the 24 hour event. I said thank you and that it was important advice earnestly, and snuck out of the museum to go home from there.
Walked through the Moore College Galleries, of some Guerilla Girls show. Students were on the floors, drawing from the show, which was curious to see, drawing from Guerilla Girls posters- maybe it was a graphic design class.
A classmate suggested that PAFA replace the Chuck Close show with one from a female artist. I would like to see a Cindy Sherman show there, sure, and the Guerilla Girls posters got me thinking about PAFA’s curation. I bet that Chuck Close show was relatively affordable, being that it was largely his process work, reified. I hope for PAFA’s curation to get a little bolder than to tote big-timers along (and again, I presume at bargain)- I’d hope for, well, that WWI show was good. . I’d hope for the contemporary wing to hook it up for artists, and not the other way around contractually.
Went to the UPENN museum with a class, and filled a couple large pages with thumbnails for projects- mostly ceramics. Went to the PMA this evening, saw porcelain works that inspired me.
Here’s some ideas:
David and Goliath with David as the mystic artist. Satirical and ironic, David assumes an occult posture, maybe with a foot atop a football helmet- standing in for Goliath’s head. The artist stands in this fashion before an easel, and two options here:
A. Paints a cup, like as a still life object, atop a table. The whole thing set into a 15th C. Background-type landscape painting.
B.) Paints himself, a little more handsomely, and maybe with a halo too, as a self portrait, same background-type setting. He paints from a standing mirror. He’s atop a hill, and the crowd (of mouthbreathing sports fans) are down below.. He still stands on the football helmet. Maybe the receipt for the football helmet hangs out of his back pocket.
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Yesterday looking out the window of PAFA’s 9th floor, I saw thousands of sports fans- eagles fans, out for to see the hometeam parade down broad street. It was about 11AM, and there was much alchohol. Teenagers climbed atop Trash trucks and shouted in symbolic conquest. I thought, ‘God, sometimes I wonder if I’ll be able to paint-cups my way out of this.’ I thought it was funny. Paint apples out of this, etc. . There’s a funny saying that crazy is trying the same thing twice and expecting a different result- it’s just a saying- what of practice- makes perfect-and perfect what? - more just sayings.
I’m thinking of this sculpture of a hello kitty that’s Jesus Christ with a blessing mudra.
I’m thinking of a sculpture of a saxophone pipe- maybe painting it and calling it ‘this is not a saxophone’, how nerdy, maybe it could be a bass saxophone and it says ‘this is not a tenor saxophone’
Another sculpture, same prettymuch, lucrative, a trumpet one-hitter, or a clarinet, (though I imagine less lucrative)
I read the order-of-operations version of cave painting centered rituals, where the hand prints go after the stabbing of the painted symbolic elk or whatever. I saw at the PMA tonight still life paintings depicting a kind of ‘this is what I have’ kind of thing, and, I don’t know if it’s the same but I thought about (well, first a painting of all of this, but paint can get clunky sometimes), so, I’ll write it here- posting say a pile of money on social media or any material possession, then go the gratuitous ‘likes’, in red hearts etc. blessing the ritual, and hoping too for a successful hunt, however abstract that may be. So, I think that concept is consolidated herein, unles I want to get into Pieto-type contrivances. I did think from this though, that it would be worth painting a dollar bill. I’m also seeking top legibility. What says dollar more- a symbol like ‘$1’, or a painting so real it fools the eye- of a dollar bill, or a dollar bill? How about ONE DOLLAR.? Kind of gets back to the question what’s the value of a dollar doesn’t it?
A modernist corner is entered when upon approaching acknowledgment of the object, the subject becomes self referencial and withers into itself. Be careful with symbols, and be impeccable with your word. More sayings.
