Thursday, April 28, 2011

Meg Hitchcock's Visual Mantras


Meg Hitchcock's reassembled text collages serve to illustrate how obsessive a devoted book altering artist can be. I just discovered her work while following up on ACA Galleries' advertisement for their upcoming show Fragments: Modern and Contemporary Collage (April 30 through June 11).

On her Art Blog, Meg reveals a bit about her method: "Briefly, my creative work goes like this: I cut up sacred texts letter by letter, disemboweling the word of God, and then reconfigure them letter by letter to create another sacred text." Visit her website to see her lovely paintings (in three series: Gates, Totems and Knots) and more collage work.

There is also a clip on YouTube featuring the artist talking about her installation in process, re-writing the Koran as the Book of Revelation. She is a wizard with that x-acto knife! I found the viewer comments, which discuss the distinction between art and religion, to be interesting as well.

And, in postscript, I want to mention that Tony Fitzpatrick, my favorite collage artist from Chicago, will also be showing work in ACA's Fragments show.

Monday, April 25, 2011

New on Anita's Bead Blog


I usually don't cross-post but I am so proud of myself for my accomplishment today that I am making an exception.

I've been making up for lost time over on my neglected bead blog today. I am adding information about the properties of minerals in a category titled About Stones. As of this posting there are twenty-five descriptions with photographs all of which are indexed on the sidebar for easy retrieval. This information has been buried on both my Anita's Beads and Toad Hollow Mineral sites so I hope that getting it up on Anita's Bead Blog (which receives a surprising amount of traffic considering how infrequently I have been posting there) will help it find a wider audience.

Pictured above are free-form cabochons of Beryllium Opal, also called Bertrandite or "Tiffany Stone."

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Brian Dettmer's Book Art

Brian Dettmer is known as "the Book Surgeon" for his technique of carving up old volumes to create beautiful sculptural art. Taking collage to the next level, he neither adds nor rearranges, only removes using scissors and surgical tools transforming dictionaries, old medical textbooks, and out-of-date encyclopedias into mind-boggling dioramas.

My Modern Met features fifteen illustrations of Dettmer's bibliotransformations as well as an exclusive interview with seven more photos. Visit the website of Brian Dettmer to view additional work dating from 2005 to 2010. Recent press includes an article on The New Yorker's "Book Bench" titled Postmodern Deconstruction. A solo show is scheduled for May 19, 2011 – June 11, 2011 at Kinz + Tillou in New York City.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Finding Frantz Ferdinand


I just discovered the coolest animated collage in a music video by Franz Ferdinand called Take Me Out. It was brought to my attention by the Yahoo Group of artist Cecil Touchon. Due to my propensity for living with my head in the sand, I was never exposed to Franz Ferdinand back in 2004 when the video came out. That's OK. Their music is not my cup of tea but I love the animation which as described on Wikipedia was inspired by Dadaism, especially Max Ernst's collage novels Une Semaine de Bonte and The Hundred Headless Woman (La Femme 100 tetes) with a little Busby Berkeley and Russian constructivist design also thrown in.

The video was directed by Jonas Odell, who also did the "Window in the Skies" music video for U2. I found more of Odell's work on YouTube: Revolver, Body Parts, and Lies. And here's a short trailer for his 2010 film, Tussilago. I could really get into YouTube in a big way if I wasn't on slow dial-up!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Metamorphosis

I have three collage pieces on display through May 27th in an art show in North Conway, New Hampshire at the Mt. Washington Valley Arts Association: Divination I, Landscape for Fossils, and Yellow Dots - My Paper. The show is titled "Metamorphosis: An Exhibit of Works Expressing Transformation and Rebirth." The gallery is at 16 Norcross Place in North Conway Village and the hours are 9-3 Monday through Friday, and 10-2 on Saturdays.


Works by the following MWVAA artists are on display: Peter Abate, Peggy Brewster, Karen Brisbois, Elise Edgerton, Jan Eskedal, Jessica Fligg, Kathleen Gilligan, John Girouard, J. P. Goodwin, Valentina Kobilansky, Heather MacLeod, Barbara McEvoy, Frank McLaughlin, Anita Muise, Dick O'Brien, Carl Owen, Sharon Soule, Cindy Spencer, Sean Stull, and Elaine Woodbury. For more information, visit the MWVAA website.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

In Progress For Emily


I have recently blogged about the experience of loneliness over on The Temporary Blog, having been inspired by a marvelous book by Clarke E. Moustakas. Check out The Best Books Are Thin and Loneliness: Part 2 to read some passages from this inspiring book.

To me, the most important premise of the book is that the condition known as existential loneliness leads directly to creative expression. Moustakas uses the secluded life of poet Emily Dickinson as an example, and reading about her reminded me of this lovely triptych which has been languishing in my Archive of Indecision. It may be time to dust it off and move forward with it!