The Abstraction of Humanity Art Series - Working Notes (Updated 09-11-19)

THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED FREQUENTLY. PLEASE GO TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE TO FIND THE LATEST UPDATES

At the request of several of my artistic colleagues, I've decided to post my working notes for the summer body painting series here as we proceed through the series. With that in mind, I'll update the page each time I add new notes to it. Please feel free to comment or place questions at the bottom of the page.

Background

For those who have not either participated or seen photos of previous sessions, I'll give you a bit of background. 

When a body painter works, their focus is traditionally only on the painting in front of them. Some painters create abstract body art, others create elaborate creatures, or designs upon the human form. 

For me the process is a lot more complex. The painting of the body is only one step in a long process. 

I can break down that process into four stages. 

Burning Man 2019 - Low Res Art Project

You can see other Burning Man art at: The Ghosts of Burning Man's Past. These are a work in progress for 2019. New work will be added when its ready.

These images are not for sale and are open source. For more information please contact the website.

Hurricane Katrina - One Artists Journey Towards Landfall

In 2015, I wrote the article below on the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina as an hourly journey of the night before landfall and remembrances of what many of us in New Orleans were going through.

Now that it is four years later (2019) I find that many have completely forgotten. Even though there have been tragic storms in the past few years with thousands of deaths, we still choose to ignore what is right before our eyes. 

But a lot can in 14 years. 

Even though the threat of Climate Change has been upon us for many years, I think I can say that 2018 was the first year that its really struck home to people. Its no longer just a talking point between the left and right. Its real. From the fires in California, to the heat in the Europe, to the melting ice in the Arctic, things are changing and will continue to do so. I cannot help but think that there may come a time when I am on the other side of this calamity, where everything has changed. Ours coasts are gone. Many of our cities have vanished and we are either shivering or melting in a world that humanity made.

Where will you be? 

~Grey~

The Abstraction of Humanity Art Series (Session #3)

The Abstraction of Humanity series is an exploration of humanities interaction with art. This conceptual art project is conducted in sessions involving body painting, abstract art and graffiti balanced. This is session #2. 

All art is the creation of Grey Cross Studios unless otherwise designated as the work of one of our collaborative artists.

The following links will take you to other areas of the project and its working notes.

The Abstraction of Humanity Series - Working Notes 

The Abstraction of Humanity Art Series (Session #1)

The Abstraction of Humanity Art Series (Session #2)


Session #3 - Model: Jeff K.
New Orleans, Louisiana 

The Changing Faces of the Evolution Cube

The Evolution Cube was first created as a single wall backdrop for the Abstraction of Humanity series. As its name states, it quickly evolved into something different.

Every day since its creation a month ago it has gone through a slow change, where some elements are added and others are removed.

In its current state it now has 4 graffiti covered walls, as well as a graffiti covered floor and ceiling. The cube is bigger than it looks, stretching 7 feet in width and depth and height. When the fourth wall is added, it creates a completely enclosed space.

The purpose of this strange metamorphosis is to still function as a staged setting for the body painting series, but also to stand alone as its own unique piece of art.  At some point in the future the cube will be dismantled. But then it will transform once again. As the walls are made from canvas, they will eventually be cut into sections and mounted on multiple frames as wall art.

But for the moment the cube will serve multiple purposes. I think its most important function will be to serve a point of inspiration. It is its own environment.

I would like to see other artists working within the cube to create their own unique art either on their own canvas, or directly onto the walls of the cube or even by staging still life within it, such as the photo below. Whatever its use, it is a multi-faceted object which is both art and a place for art. We will see what its future brings.

The Abstraction of Humanity Art Series (Session #2)

The Abstraction of Humanity series is an exploration of humanities interaction with art. This conceptual art project is conducted in sessions involving body painting, abstract art and graffiti balanced. This is session #2. 

All art is the creation of Grey Cross Studios unless otherwise designated as the work of one of our collaborative artists.

The following links will take you to other areas of the project and its working notes.

The Abstraction of Humanity Series - Working Notes 

The Abstraction of Humanity Art Series (Session #1)

The Abstraction of Humanity (Collaborative Artist)


Process Photos - The Abstraction of Humanity (Session #1)


Session #2 - Model: M. White
New Orleans, Louisiana 

The Work of Artist & Photographer XXX Zombie Boy XXX (New Work Added 08-22-19)

To bathe in venom

Love the reptile

Embrace of fangs 

Drift as Lilith 

Shadow play in the void

Labyrinth Project Creators Journal - Jerry Randolph Gilmer

Poet: Jerry Randolph Gilmer
New Orleans, Louisiana USA



08/22/19

LYRICS

I woke in the middle of a string of lyrics.

Nattering on and on.

Simplistic imagery describing the architecture of troublesome experiences.

I had to write them down.

Tracking them by the circles they were racing around me.

Vainly attempting to pin them in place.

Practicing the last impossibility: The uncensored, not reflected upon intact retelling of a Dream.

You know Precisely what I mean.

In this, possibly Only this, does all sentience collide.

We've all been driven to frustration by the idiosyncratic recounting of a Dream.

We've, each of us, stood on either side of this the most inaccurate, and therefore infuriating attempt at communication.

Because we Want to communicate it.

It Is important.

It Is a message.

It is most decidedly not Just a Dream.

Artists are our pinprick glimpse of this.

At best a keyhole view.

But people fear this.

"Lest Ye Be Vexed."

What a stupid fucking warning.

Life is vexing.

I haven't the foggiest idea what I'm doing when I'm awake.

When I sleep?

When I sleep Everything is compelled to follow my whims.

And my whims are legion.

It's at the crossroads where it all goes to Hell.

And not the groovy, chaotic Heironymous Bosch version.

Not even the vaguely frustrating order implied by Dante.

No.

It's the path leading out of wondering at it into floundering about in it.

Those whisper thin threads of symphonic sanity into the iron bars of inanity.

I spend a great deal of time pretending I can't find my passport.

Stalling.

So as to covertly scribble down all I can.

The sly shorthand of a poet on the move.

And more often than not I cock it up.

Witness:

The Work of Artist David Hanson (aka RAGZ)

AFTER DARK I SEE YOU
Tempura paints on 11 x 15 cardboard

Part of a series of my work I call SHADOWGIRLS. Haunting images of strange ghostly girls who I hope sparks one's imaginations on what their stories are. This is my favorite piece I've ever done.

HORNED SHADOWGIRL
Acrylics on 18" x 24" cloth. Enhanced in Photoshop. 

Another in my SHADOWGIRLS series where I take a more fantastical approach to, instead of horror.

Emotional Art and the Psychology of the Artist

"Home to Some"

How we deal with emotional subjects in our art says a lot about who we are. 

I am reminded of a white artist a few years back who painted an image of black 14 year old Emmett Till mutilated and lying in an open coffin. There were massive protests about that piece of art being displayed in the Whitney because it was a white artist who did the painting. 

Whether you agree or disagree with the artists choice of subjects is not what this article is about. This is about emotions. The one thing that I never saw brought up was how the art personally affected the artist. I don't mean how the artist was affected by the protests, but how they were affected by the creating the painting in the first place.

WARNING: Your Virtual Life May be Destroyed

In 2015 I wrote an article called "The Artists Virtual Life Destroyed". It outlines problems I'd had with Facebook claiming I was not me and asking for license verification that I was a real person. As a result they had locked my account out and effectively locked out 7 years of my online life. I wrote at this at the time:

For those that will come after this poor artist and see a gap of seven years in his life, know this. Those seven years counted for much of who I am today and who I will be tomorrow. The information contained in each of those posts include:

- my failing health to HIV and how I crawled back from near death to vitality again- my mothers last words to me before she became sick and passed- the first days when I fell in love with and discovered my partner in life and love Billy Martin- the first pieces of art I created after I retired from photography- the photos of thousands of you taken over the years

We do not realize how much of ourselves we place out there on social media and what we can potentially lose. I stayed off Facebook for about six months in stubborn reaction to being forced to prove I was me. But finally weighing the fact that I had to have access to local people in New Orleans, I bowed to the authorities and proved myself and got my account back, restoring the lost information contained on Facebook. 

Labyrinth Project Creators Journal - Diana Whiley

Author: Diana Whiley
Adelaide, South Australia


08/15/19

I have just finished reading my latest copy of the magazine “Heavy Music Artwork.” 

I started reading the magazine a few years ago, first hooked by the artwork then by the artists’ creative processes.  

Many of the artists are also members of the band and the songwriters. The way they translate their ideas and values into the visual, reflect the mood and content of the music is both enlightening and empowering. 

Their philosophy on life is an intriguing mix of thoughts on rituals and myths, religion and big themes like the state of the world, the Universe and our place within it.

In many cultures animals have been used in ancient ritual and ceremony. Totems and shaman spirit walking to name but a few. A way of infusing the attributes of the animals into our body, linking us with the primeval. It can be a twice edged sword. 

I thought about that and how it pertained to my life. The part music has played in it and converged. 

A Piano Solo 

Fingers traced the polished octave of ivory ghosts, 

the hot winds of the dark heart connecting to my childhood 

where I drifted across red hills to the ancient call to water; 

river reeds a dangerous slither against skin. 

Above, white corellas danced the blue sky layers into night 

And the intimate grotto of constellations; 

Music of the spheres reaching past injustice and cruelty 

To immortalize majestic, lost spirits. 

In the Heavy Music Artwork magazine, the duo, “ Mothmeister”  make their own tribute to animals through taxidermy and ritual. They create surreal photographic images with these animals and paired with individuals who are masked. Despite the suggested anonymity, the portraits are intimate and posed very theatrically and with intensity.  

I’ve felt that same sense of intimacy at the theatre seated twenty feet from Shakespeare’s Hamlet as it unfolded. The body language as much as the voice of the actors stayed with me long afterward. Potent. And like being a part of, and listening to the bards and performers in the time of travelling shows. 

I shared that experience when I learnt contemporary dance. 

With body and mind I sought to interpret the meaning behind the choreographer’s story. Inevitably included my own point of view – which was also The Point. 

A duality that can cause tension.  Like a metaphor.       

Arms pivot to the gilt edge 
Of a finely wrought blade slicing through air
 Make music of their own  
Fly in their own sky, arc and extend toe to toe,
Vibration moving from the floor 
In waves up through my poised backbone
A delineation; life or death.  


Tension often causes conflict. An essential ingredient when novel writing. 

The inner conflict of the characters being as important as conflicts brought about by outside influences. 

I write up detailed backgrounds for each character. Won’t always use all of it, but it’s there and I can mix up what happens to them. Bring out their fears; push them into situations contrary to what they’ve experienced or have hidden. 

In books I’m reading I want to see into the characters mind. To move with them as they evolve. How they cope.  How they are challenged and wait for their philosophy on life to be revealed. 

Absorb and appreciate their differences. 

Note:  Heavy Music Artwork   #10 Vol 3   April 2019.  

The Abstraction of Humanity (Collaborative Artist)

We often invite guest artists to the studio when we are doing large projects like the Abstraction of Humanity series. Its amazing to see how others interpret what they are seeing. 

Here is a different view of Session #1 as seen through the eyes of XXXZombieBoyXXX. Click his photo above to view more of his visionary work.

To view other areas of the Abstraction of Humanity Series, click any of the following links:

The Abstraction of Humanity Series - Working Notes

The Abstraction of Humanity Art Series (Session #1)

The Abstraction of Humanity Art Series (Session #1)

The Abstraction of Humanity series is an exploration of humanities interaction with art. This conceptual art project is conducted in sessions involving body painting, abstract art and graffiti balanced. This is session #1. 

All art is the creation of Grey Cross Studios unless otherwise designated as the work of one of our collaborative artists.

The following links will take you to other areas of the project and its working notes.

The Abstraction of Humanity Series - Working Notes 

The Abstraction of Humanity Art Series (Session #1)

The Abstraction of Humanity (Collaborative Artist)


Process Photos - The Abstraction of Humanity (Session #1)


Session #1 - Model: Debanair
New Orleans, Louisiana 

Pain, Struggle & Surrealism - Conceptual Art Project (NEW WORK ADDED 08-05-19)

Last year I did some experimental work on converting screen captures of the California wild fires to surrealist art. My goal was to show the pain of the event, while at the same time casting it into the realm of surrealism.

I watched countless live feeds of the fires, having in some cases to distance myself from what I was seeing. I was not just watching from afar. I was trying to place myself in the shoes of those watching their homes destroyed by the flames. After several dozen decent screen captures, I set to work with just a single image to experiment with the concept of pain and surrealism.

After I was through, I set the experiment aside to consider its impact as an art form and also its impact upon me the artist. Was it something worth pursuing? Was it too painful for myself? Was it too painful for those intimately involved in the events? Was I walking on ground that was too treacherous to be on?

Then I thought about Van Gogh. Settings aside his genius as a painter and his craziness as a man. He was able to capture the anguish of men and women and cast that anguish into a surreal beauty. "The Potato Eaters" done in 1885 showed peasants around a rickety table, sharing a meager meal of potatoes and tea. It is strikingly real yet surreal. He did not fear showing the pain and struggle of those around him.

Then I considered another artist. Picasso. Picasso. In 1937 Picasso created one of his greatest works "Guernica". In his amazingly complex and unusual style, he portrayed the bombing of Guernica, Spain during the Spanish Civil War. But he did so in the surreal style that he was so well known for. But the pain is still there. The anguish still remains.

There are many more examples of this need to cast the atrocities of man into surrealism that allows us to see the pain, while stepping back from it.

So with that thought in mind, I decided to begin a new series "Pain, Struggle & Surrealism", using the tools of today's media saturated art world to tell the tales of today's anguish.

The wild fires were experiments. They've taught me a lot. Now I watch the world.