Autumn inspiration 27 October 2007
Posted by pcNielsen in Art, Inspired by, Intentional observation, Personal reflection.add a comment
One of the themes on The Aesthetic Elevator is what I refer to as “intentional observation.” In other words, take time to stop and smell the roses. In the early days of this blog I talked about how walking across campus in college afforded such an opportunity — a built-in time for paying attention to things most of us ignore.
I was reminded of this today as I began to rake leaves in the backyard. I remembered how influential spending time outside, particularly during Spring and Autumn, was to my artwork. And as I thought about it some more I realized how detrimental things like television and automobiles are to this process.
Computers don’t necessarily help either.
Artistic inspiration 11 June 2007
Posted by pcNielsen in Art, Inspired by, Intentional observation, Northwest Arkansas, Personal reflection, Siloam Springs.add a comment
I’ve mentioned a couple times in the past my fascination with thunderstorms. Growing up on the prairie, they are visible from 100 miles away. Here in the Ozarks, the trees and hills make watching such storms form and billow quite difficult.
This weekend provided an exception. A small but drenching squall grew up immediately south of Siloam Springs, allowing me to watch as it expanded up into the blue sky, layers pillowing out like popcorn right over my head. The show was eventually closed up by some whispy gray clouds below the thunderhead, but it has been years since I’ve been able to watch this.
Architect Daniel Lee, and me 25 February 2007
Posted by pcNielsen in Architecture, Artist profile, Inspired by, Personal reflection.3 comments
I milled around last night on architect Daniel Lee’s website:
I highlighted some of Lee’s thoughts from an interview last week. The website is nice to surf around on — although it was a bit sluggish with my high speed wireless. I imagine a dial-up connection would result in a lot of frustration (It seems to me a lot of architecturally oriented websites are sluggish and animation-heavy, another example being Zaha Hadid’s website.).
I began drafting floor plans in, if I recall correctly, sixth grade. I might still have one or two of these youthful drafts, might. I cannot tell of the impetus behind this activity at this young age — it seems like a pretty abnormal activity for a 12 or 13 year old boy to me. But I often spent four to six hours straight putting these scaled drawings to paper. I still liked a regular game of football with my friends, but my passion quickly became traffic flow and proportion.
Not surprisingly I began my college career by studying architecture. However, after two years, I changed my major (as so many students are wont to do). At the time I thought my reasoning was sound: I came to believe that, if I pursued architecture as I desired to, this profession would impede my ability to volunteer at my church and spend time with my family. A couple years after this decision, I spent a night in the home of a Presbyterian while touring Missouri with 50 international students. He told me this conflict did not exist for him or his family — although I don’t know his specific role in the realm of architecture. (And the recent film The Lake House seems to lend credence to my collegiate reasoning.).
All of this to say my time on Lee’s website stirred in me a yearning to return to architecture. The love of spatial design, creation and ornamentation never left me. I did not expect it to leave me. Nor do I expect (I am, however, open to being pleasantly surprised) in this life to act on this love in full.
The first thing capturing my attention on Lee’s website is a page titled “Building to Last.” The many discussions I’ve had with friends lamenting the cheap, unenduring building methods of this present American culture! This section of the website is not as direct as I would hope, but perusing photographs of his work one easily sees a quality not present in the common McMansion.
His houses — it seems he only designs personal dwellings — are palatial. It’s difficult for me to imagine designing such a structure. First off, I likely won’t ever find an earthly opportunity to purchase such a residence (most architects can’t afford their client’s homes). Thanks to my uncle, I once toured a house on this scale. All of its 18,000 square feet included a bowling alley and basement pool with waterfall. Secondly, I’m personally drawn toward a more pragmatic and sustainable lifestyle. There’s nothing inherently wrong with large dwellings, but I personally find a thrill in the design of small spaces, which are also more practical.
The other portion of Lee’s website capturing my attention was called “Next Steps.” From what I can tell, this is a suggested reading list for potential clients. It includes such classics as Walking on Water: Reflections on faith and art by Madeleine L’Engle and, of all things, The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius. The Vitruvius text is from 30 B.C. and is not light reading.
Its inclusion in this list made me laugh.
Barefoot College’s solar engineers 22 February 2007
Posted by pcNielsen in Inspired by, Modern culture, Sustainable living.add a comment
Rocketboom interviewed Bunker Roy of the Barefoot College in central India for today’s program. The program trains rural middle-aged women (who are at least partially literate) to be solar engineers — among other things. The following photograph, from Barefoot’s website:
is of “The first fully solar electrified village in Afghanistan.” This particular project was done in partnership with Norwegian Church Aid.
Kudos to the Barefoot College, which has actually been around since 1972 according to their website. And kudos to Norwegian Church Aid for partnering with such a project.
Entitlement in America: In the media 14 February 2007
Posted by pcNielsen in Affluenza, Entitlement, Graffiti, Inspired by.5 comments
One or two years ago, Kia ran a series of ads “reminding” Americans they were entitled to certain things — things like 100,000 mile warranties. The commericals, as I recall, actually told the viewer “this is your right” and “you’re entitled to.” I can’t find these ads online, although a bunch of other innocuous Kia ads can be seen on YouTube.
What is it that entitles us to certain vehicular features and warranties?
I’m reading a very interesting book right now called Branded: The buying and selling of teenagers. Author Alissa Quart, while talking about the surge in consumerism following 9/11, writes this:
- The Los Angeles Times, in one of its many consumer-as-upright-citizen stories, quoted a Marina del Ray resident who told a reporter that “we need to put more money into the economy now.” The telling detail? The woman was “balancing a shopping bag and garment bag, while trying to stuff cash into her wallet in front of an ATM.”
- The kids got the message. “It’s patriotic to shop,” Amy tells me. Two of the Teen People trendspotters echoed the sentiment. Buying and spending on luxury goods were reaffirmed as the keys to citizenship. It was a message that the adolescents I spoke with in the months after September 11 took to heart. [page 33]
Citizenship tied to consumerism? Patriotic to go shopping? Who are these people?
Or who am I? I fear that me and my friends, most of which would find the above ideas completely absurd, are in a thinking minority. Quart worries in her book that the teenagers of the late 1990s and early 2000s (who she interviewed for her book) are lured into a brand and consumer mentality without any other frame of reference — without thinking about potential repercussions.
And rightly so.
Artist profile: Eddie Dominguez 27 October 2006
Posted by pcNielsen in Art, Inspired by.2 comments
I found this interview with Eddie Dominguez while surfing for one of his works yesterday. Eddie, a ceramic artist, was my most influential college professor at the University of Nebraska.
It’s about 30 minutes and very candid. Eddie has a refreshingly pragmatic perspective on art and is very honest about his own work. The interview is worth watching. His tile below is called “Night Storm” (2001, porcelain 21″ X 21″ X 1/2″).
History and story in daily life 9 October 2006
Posted by pcNielsen in Inspired by, Intentional observation, Restoration, Salvage.2 comments
Recently I’ve become interested in the idea of story. I don’t know what prompted this, and I’m only pondering the idea in very broad strokes. I’m also becoming increasingly interested in how history plays a significant part in our lives.
We live in an older house. We also have a variety of furniture throughout our little bungalow, and occasionally I stop to think about where they came from and where they’ve been. This is a partial list of some things around the house.
Piano: Our piano is a 100 year old Tryber upright. My father bought it at an auction about three years ago. No one in the house played the piano; he bought it because he thought it was a beautiful piece of furniture. It is beautiful, much more ornate than most others, and the original ivory keys are in wonderful condition.
My father didn’t know when he bought it that it was previously owned by his sister’s good friend’s mother.
Headboard: My great-grandfather built two homes on a corner in Grand Island, Nebraska during the Depression. He and his wife — my great-grandmother who just died at 103 — lived on the main floor of one of the homes and rented the rest of the rooms out to make ends meet.
My great-grandmother lived in the house until the late 1980’s, and she kept the next door rental house into the early 1990’s. When the family sold the home, they took a wonderful old walnut headboard out of the basement. Somehow I ended up with it, and it’s now in our guest room.
Marble: I mentioned this in the recent Salvage and restore entry. The marble sitting on top of our coffee table in the living room also came from my great-grandfather’s rental house. My great-grandfather salvaged the marble (about 5 pieces) from a grand old hotel downtown. From what we understand, it was a urinal divider.
Bookshelves: Earlier this year I installed some bookshelves in our living room. I constructed the bookshelves almost entirely of salvaged pine boards from three old homes in town which I helped remodel.
Mirror base: A fundraising garage sale yielded an ornate “mantle” last year. The ladies running the garage sale told me it formerly served as the base for a large mirror sitting on the floor. I bought it for $10, tacked some plywood on the top and screwed it to the wall in our little sitting room. While I know very little of where it’s been and come from, the ornate carvings wonderfully betray the hand-made nature of the work and the style of the rusty old screws suggest it’s had a long life.
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Inspired by: Vertical and horizontal 4 October 2006
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As I pondered things great and small this morning, I came to realize in more concrete terms than before that I am keenly interested in the vertical and the horizontal.
It seems to me an interest in the horizontal stems from my roots, my formative years, living on the prairie. Space is abundant and the horizon easily visible across the plains. And I enjoyed this space.
An interest in the vertical is less obvious to me. It could very well be a compliment to the horizontal. That is, perhaps my visually horizontal roots caused me to take note of the vertical whenever I came across it. Vertically visual elements on the plains can be scarce. When you see the broad and rolling horizon punctuated with a water tower, a grain elevator or a tall cottonwood it leaves an impression.
The only other reason I can think of for my interest in the vertical is the idea of talking to God. Theologically speaking, God is omnipresent. He’s everywhere all of the time, not just up. But the idea of Heaven and God therein being “up” (or outwards from the Earth) is ubiquitous in our culture. Since a lot of my in the past strove to elaborate on difficult character qualities of God (and a lot of it was vertical in orientation and composition), this is a possibility as well.
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Inpsired by: Architecture 29 September 2006
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After wanting to be a geologist in elementary school and then wanting to be a football player into my early Junior High years, I became very passionate about architecture a year or two before high school. I carried this passion for architecture through high school taking as many drafting, architecture and art classes as I could. My senior year of high school I hoped to take the construction class as well — but this would have meant having 9 classes a day with no lunch. I opted for lunch.
I went to college and began studying architecture. However, like so many of my peers I changed my major. I switched to studio art and graduated with a BFA. My reasoning (over which I agonized for an entire summer) may or may not have been entirely informed, but I don’t regret the decision in retrospect.
My passion for architecture has not waned. In fact, it has become more intense. I do think of going back to school for a masters degree in architecture or urban planning from time to time, but this isn’t realistic in light of our (my wife’s and mine) other goals in life. Thus, I hope on the New Earth I can study and practice as an architect and planner — among other things.
My fascination with architecture stems in part from the ubiquitous nature of design, planning and buildings and therefore our daily interaction with these buildings. The need for knowledge in a broad number of disciplines — culture, sociology, psychology, engineering, the arts and crafts, design, even geology in some cases — causes my interest to deepen further. For a building or community to be planned and executed well, this broad knowledge base must be utilized.
As my last Inspired by: post indicated, it’s somewhat difficult to point out in a palpable way how this influences my own mixed media sculpture. As I am able to get back into the studio on a more regular basis and produce work, my passion for architecture may become visible. But even if it does not become visible, it will remain a powerful influence in my life.
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Inspired by: Salvage and restoration 27 September 2006
Posted by pcNielsen in Art, Inspired by, Restoration, Salvage.2 comments
The rest of this Inspired by: series may look different than expected. It will be more difficult for me to put into words why the following ideas influence my artwork. However, if I only included visual artists and works in this series, it would be less than accurate.
I’ll start today with the idea of “salvage and restore.”
I come from a line of builders and remodelers on my father’s side. My great grandfather built and remodeled homes. In fact, if I understand correctly, the slab of marble I used in building the pictured coffee table came out of a hotel he worked on. It was, of all things, a urinal divider.
My grandfather was also a builder and did some remodeling, although he spent most of his years working in mills if I recall correctly. And I myself have spent short periods of time working a lumberyard, framing a house, and building cabinets. More recently, I spent 18 months remodeling houses. Most of the houses I worked on were older, some easily approaching the century mark.
At the same time, I was reading through a book titled Heaven by Randy Alcorn. It was a good book, and worked quickly to establish a Biblical theology of Heaven and debunk all of the cartoonish ideas of sitting on clouds with harps, or being greeted at the gate by a sarcastic St. Peter.
But the most interesting idea in the book, for me, was the idea of restoration. Alcorn shows that a proper Biblical theology of Heaven understands that the the earth will be restored. The eternal Heaven in many people’s minds is an ethereal, other-worldy place out in space. Many Christians are under the impression that this world will be completely obliterated.
Alcorn actually points to C.S. Lewis’ classic The Last Battle, part of the Chronicles of Narnia, as an accurate metaphor. In the scene he references, the characters of the book walk through a door, a freestanding door, from the old earth to the new earth. The old earth is covered in water and darkness and the door is shut. The characters are on the same planet, but the world on the other side of the door is new!
The process of restoring a house is much the same. Most of the structure is left in place, but the building gets a new skin and comes out looking new.
I have been further influenced by the idea of entropy, or the idea that everything tends toward disorder — that everything is falling apart. All of this comes together in my mind, and I find myself reflecting on the idea of restoration regularly. Some of my recent projects reflect this in obvious ways.
But my older work included inklings of interest in the idea of restoration as well. Since high school, my collage and mixed media sculptures have included found objects. Some of these objects were gleaned from nature, but many others were manmade. And even though I did not denotatively “restore” these found objects, I put them to new use in a (hopefully) beautiful way.
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