Control? (Prologue)

Ahh – I’m undertaking something new.  I’ve moved materials and food into an underused room in our house, and will sequester myself for three full days – I’ll have a bed, bathroom, phone, and computer, but no caffeine nor alcohol, and no commitments to do anything at any time.  (I realize that some folks have faced this for months now, and that others could never do this because of childcare or eldercare requirements.) 

My main task is to try to figure out how to need less of a sense of control – maybe figure out why control is so important to me.  Less control would make me less “high-strung,” would reduce my (I think normal) fear of death, and would probably help my art work.

"My life right now"

I’ve just recorded my first video clip — readers can actually hear the voice that my students suffered under for 40 years of lectures! This PBS resource is a great source of inspiration: PBS American Portrait. “Everybody has a story. Tell yours.”

“The conversation we didn’t have”

(Cross) cultural appropriation in the arts, 3

The arguments favoring versus condemning cross-cultural appropriation grow from very different conceptions of art, artists, and cultures.  Legal scholar Rosemary Coombe [1993] has identified two seemingly opposing bases for the defense of and arguments against intangible cross-cultural appropriation, which she calls “possessive individualism” versus “cultural essentialism.”  

  “Possessive individualism” is the Western Romantic ideal of the artist (writer, composer, choreographer) who takes all ideas to which “he” has been exposed, and through force of will, discernment, and creativity brings forth a new work.  If the work becomes highly regarded, it is a result of “his” genius.

                   “Cultural essentialism” implies that each person belongs to a single cultural tradition from which that person draws most of their identity or “voice,” and that the strength of their identity, the integrity of their voice, is diminished when others use elements of that tradition in their own voices.  It relies on the equally Romantic ideal of a homogeneous “people” or “culture” which jointly create and own artworks, stories, and styles. 

 There are important reasons why members of less-dominant groups (and I don’t necessarily mean ethnic minorities – this could pertain to women in our broader current culture) may use themes or styles from the dominant culture without causing harm.  The most fundamental is this:  The dominant culture is promulgated broadly – in some cases, has been forced on Native Americans and Australians, or on Africans brought to North America as slaves – and members of these less-dominant groups also belong to or “own” elements of the dominant culture.

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Coombe, R.J.  1993.  The properties of culture and the politics of possessing identity: Native claims in the cultural appropriation controversy.  Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence 6(2): 249-286.

Painting news

As I’ve admittedly procrastinated in composing an update on my painting, things to share have piled up.  But I haven’t procrastinated in painting!

My primary current series is titled The Impossibility of Knowing.  The works share an attempt to capture a moment (for those that are representational) or a set of shapes, and to indicate the passing of the moment or the absence of those shapes, usually by an outline of a mirrored image of the subject.  Each is on a muted background, usually graduated from light to dark.  Here’s one example, The Impossibility of Knowing (16).    Each of these is acrylic paint on a 16”x 24” canvas.

This summer, I’m also fascinated by creating an illusion of depth within a composition.  Here’s an example, in which I challenged myself to maintain a distinction in the apparent distance from the viewer to the various features, and to provide enough detail to hold the viewer’s interest.  

I’ve not abandoned my abiding interest in visual abstraction.  Here’s one of my favorite paintings, Reach (40”x 30”).

One major development has been joining the cooperative gallery Collective Visions.  It’s at 331 Pacific Avenue in Bremerton, WA.  What attracted me to the gallery is the quality of the artists, the diversity of the work, and the space being large enough for each member to have an area for display.  We rotate our exhibits at the beginning of each month, so there’s always something new, and always some works by each of us.  For those of you in or near Seattle, it’s two blocks from the ferry terminal.  Bremerton’s worth a visit:  there’s been a lot of redevelopment on the waterfront, and of course, the ferry trip is magnificent.   For those of us in or near Tacoma, it’s only a 25-minute drive beyond the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

I’ve also been accepted into the art-rental program of Ryan James Fine Arts, a commercial gallery in Kirkland, WA.  They currently have four of my pieces, for rental to commercial or individual clients.

This month (August), 13 of my small works are on display at Bluebeard Coffee Roasters at 2201 Sixth Avenue in Tacoma (standing at the east end of the Sixth Avenue collection of shops and restaurants).  These include the entire Faces of Evil series, which didn’t scare away the shop owner, and bring quizzical looks from the café’s patrons.

As always, I invite you to visit my website, jwharrington.com, to see what new things I’ve completed!