Wednesday, March 5, 2008

The New Abstract School

Student Center Mural application, project description: Jenn Bakalar and Bret Slater (we didn't get the job)

The mural Bret and I plan to paint for the student center will be a large-scale version of the work that he has been exploring this semester in the study of painting. Research on Alber’s color theory as well as the mechanics of figure/field relationships has developed into a design aesthetic with an overall balance through the arrangement of forms. A limited color palette allows for delicate harmonies between shades and a “hard-edge” painting technique showcases color and placement relationships. The nature of the work is based on precision and champions many historical art concepts, such as those realized during Futurism and Minimalism. We will work with the entire area of the canvas, addressing the horizontality of the field by approaching the composition in three linear sections.
Each of these three sections will subtly interact and connect with each other, maintaining cohesiveness. The resulting image will symbolize the complicated duality of life as well as the natural relationships between positive and negative, or yin and yang.
The three sections will be arranged in two symmetrical pieces on opposite ends. The remaining space in the middle will be a transitional area between the two. The two bookend panels will be balanced areas, and explore the play of flat color on a painted surface. Each square will be a complete and stable composition on its own, but they will reflect each other like mirror copies. The middle section will be a stable and transitional location between the two “opposite” ends. The ambiguous space that exists between opposites is representative of the abstract synapse in which intuition and creativity resides.
The figures within the painting will be reminiscent of the Purchase campus architecture, or geometrical formations in a void. Through their shape, position and color, the forms will relate to one another and interact according to an invented system of order within the world of the painting. In the same way that the law of attraction is present in all things, they will attract and repel from each other like the poles of a magnet.
Color will be a predominant feature of the work as per its ability to universally evoke feelings, emotions and the majority of a visual “mood.” Flat paint will be used, as shine causes glare and takes away from the consistency and quality of color. Intuitive color choices will symbolize emotions like anger, love and loneliness. The piece will serve the Purchase College community as a visual meditation on spirituality and the thought process, as communicated through the very personal tools of painting: color, shape, proportion, position and scale.












Materials needed:
Gesso
Rulers, pencils and erasers
Outdoor enamel spray paint with a matte finish
Masking tape

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