On Frivolity

I came across these quotes on frivolity today - on a fashion blog, albeit - and I thought they were interesting. Applicable to the arts in general, the notion of frivolity is one I've pondered in the past. I.E. "Am I wasting my  time by bringing more non-functional things into the world?" I always skate around the question a bit though, afraid that my logical mind will tell me to give up my passion and do something sensible and lucrative. After having encountered these thoughts below, however, I'm quite dedicated to making this work. It's going to be delicious.

“There is always some frivolity in excellent minds; they have wings to rise, but also stray.” (Joseph Joubert)

“You’re considered superficial and silly if you are interested in fashion, but I think you can be substantial and still be interested in frivolity.” (Sofia Coppola)   

“If you compare it with philosophy, [fashion] is frivolous. But frivolity may be something good, something that is part of our lives. So I don’t dislike it. And what I like is the mix — that in your life you can have serious things, more frivolous ones. Fashion is about beauty and the search for beauty, I think it’s a fundamental thing. No one criticizes if you want to do beautiful homes. No one criticizes if you want to buy a beautiful chair. But so many intellectuals still criticize why you want to wear beautiful clothes, and it’s only our body, so it must be important in a way.” (Miuccia Prada) 

“I think here's nothing wrong with being interested in frivolity, so long as it isn't your be-all and end-all. Physical things like fashion, architecture, design are important to me because they frame the life you lead - they're the backdrop and settings that intersect when you form an emotional attachment or memory in association with them.” (Lin, out-of-the-bag.blogspot.com)

(quotes extracted from a fellow blogger here)

what elephant? (I see no elephant in the room.)

 "What Elephant?" - 12"x16" - framed at 16"x20" - gifted to a good friend on christmas

 

I've had this hefalump cutout and the lovely blue wallpaper backdrop set aside for some time now. I knew I wanted to marry the pieces in some way, but didn't really know what message I was going for - if any. Turns out, not a lot of message, just a lot of elephant (for those who didn't get the "hefalump" Winnie the Pooh allusion). What do you think? 

Hope you've been enjoying the holiday season out there. I'm off to clean up the papery residue of a fruitful family christmas... and birthday. Twenty-four and counting...

Cheers. x

So, you want to become an artist?

So, I log-in to blogger this morning and the first thing I see in my 'following' roster is the this: "Want to become an artist? Win your scholarship"

Technically speaking, I don't reckon I'm eligible - and, heck, I don't know if I'd want to live in NYC even for schooling purposes (England is where my true heart lay :) ) - but for any of you eligible folk out there, you must absolutely check this out. Here's what she wrote over on A Matter of Style:

"Today I'm excited to share with you this amazing competition offered by The New School of New York. If you think you have the talent to make the difference as an artist this is your chance to win your dream education in New York City. The New school is seeking for talent and it's ready to reward it with a scholarship valued up to $160,000!

"The challenge is to answer logical reasoning & The New School quizzes and solve a creative case by presenting a video. The competition offers four full and four partial scholarships for Bachelor’s degree within art & design, liberal arts, fashion or music and it's open to high school and college students worldwide. 
Scholarship winners must be a high school graduate on or before June 2013.

"The following four divisions of The New School are participating:
•        Parsons The New School for Design
•        Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts
•        Mannes College The New School for Music
•        The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music


"DEADLINE January 27, 2013
READ MORE  @ http://www.thenewschoolcompetition.com/ "


P.S. Scanner still on the fritz, hence (in part) my lack of artistical postage. Also, I've not been so artistically prolific as of late. Shh - don't tell. I do have some projects lined-up, but am lacking the necessary verve. In time, people, in time.

I'm not dead, I swear. Just sleeping.

I know I've been absent for far too long... I know how many avid followers I have and I'm sure they're keen to know what I've been up to: Not all that much.

But it's not been for nothing. I actually have a couple more collages to add to my most recent series, Phrom Phrazes, buy with my scanner on the fritz, they'll have to wait. In the meantime, I'll post photos of my Halloween project for work. You'll have to forgive the crudity of the model; I didn't have time to build it to scale or to paint it. (That's really only funny if you realize I'm quoting Doctor Emmett L. Brown.) Obviously it's painted - though crudely - but it was only constructed over a couple of days before Halloween. Knowing that it would be broken down and recycled the very same night, I didn't have the heart to create a 3-dimensional masterpiece. So, here's what I came up with:

 

More works shall be forthcoming, as soon as I can get them scanned in. I'm working to turn in an application for a fine arts fellowship on the east coast, so if I disappear for a while, fear not! I've just retreated to get stuff done that needs to get done. Cheers.

UPDATE: No such luck with the fellowship. Let's move on, shall we?

A declaration: shop now open for business!

phrom phrazes (serial collage... as opposed to cereal collage)

when roles are reversed opinions are too           I'll just nod. I've never been so good at shaking hands

 So here is the group of collages I've been working on. I'm calling it "Phrom Phrazes," the explanation for it being pretty simple. All the titles (under each image) are cut up lyrics from the album "Phrazes for the Young" by Julian Casablancas. I've been going through a phase (phaze?) of listening to a lot of the album and certain lyrics just have kept running through my head. Here's what's come out of it. More to come, methinks. Cheers.

once this whole world was all countryside.               but I am only a drop from the storm.

 anything to watch while we are waiting for this apocalypse?       where did you go? you were my ride home

  

we're going nowhere and we're going there fast.               I am at your feet where critters meet.

don't you dare get to the top and not know what to do                  I understand that's how it goes.

            nothing stands still                                 I live on the frozen surface of a fireball.

feels like I'm going left and right in the dark.                   soon I will simply evaporate.

  UPDATE: ...twenty-four and done? See below.

 complicated mammals on the wings of robots           together we'll sing songs and tell exaggerated stories

those who helped me along the way

I smacked them as I thanked them                                     forgive them even if they are not sorry

      but there are some things

     they do not want the answers to                            we're in a race against time and time might be winning

and the ones who deserve it they'll never understand it           and you're watching the time run

soon the whole world will be urban sprawl        it's not gonna take all day long watching the urban decay all around us, oh boy     

UPDATE:  So, here are those last two collages I'd made for my series 'Phrom Phrazes.' The scanner has finally been sorted out.

This brings the count to twenty-six.

 

     you are looking for you own voice but in others
     while it hears you trapped in another dimension                                  that war is over

(all on 8.5x11" printer paper)