Thank you for the careful consideration, feedback and suggestions.
Mark’s feedback on “Drawing Is Creepy”: The brushstroke is a line. It is the “marrow filled line” of Van Gogh and Rouault, whose acknowledgement and consummation provided fuel for our artistic growth. Verification of an equal standing between abstraction and representation hinges on development of our deconstructive understanding between ‘structure’ and ‘flesh’ relationship. Their symbiotic relationship acknowledges this equality. Perhaps De Kooning's late paintings reveal more about this relationship. Kinnell’s ‘plainspokenness’ is something I strive for in my work. If honesty can only be achieved by breaking the law, break it!
Clarification: “Wanderland” and “Just Between Me and You”[JBYM] will never be presented at the same time. JBYM is a portable format replacing “Wanderland” which was conceived as an idea independent from a specific site. For practical reasons and the desire to create the piece this Fall, I chose the hallway of my home. I will document a person in the installation with photos and video.
KJ’s concern on the placement of “Wanderland”: my studio is in my home. My painting space is relegated to specific areas which are shared with other members of my family. Reading and writing occurs throughout the house. If I had a separate studio space, I might have constructed a structure in which to install “Wanderland”. I built many forts as a child; Alice is a child. Fort building as a form of play informs the development of our sense of space, our occupation of it, and its relation to our personal identity. I view this as an additional access point, not barrier.
Thank you Gabriel for your good suggestion on the moveable clothesline and off-stage-hand. The internal relationship of the experience and the individual is the emphasis, so I prefer keeping outside forces out, for now.
Lindey’s wanting to see the presentation formats combined to one, as well as Mark’s AR “Look In Glass” are responses I’ve received from outside the crit group, too. Possibilities, but given my current boundaries of space, time and resources, only possibilities, for now.
Claire mentioned the temporal as well as the solitary nature. I believe all encounters with art are temporal. I’m just slowing it down and making the viewer more aware of how she is in control of the time invested, or not. I believe all experiences are solitary, even those we believe are shared. This is the nature of Epilepsy, a highly individualized disorder, making it harder to understand and treat, leading to fear and misunderstanding. Societies, despite saying they value the individual, really do not; instead they fear the individual and value conformity.
Thank you O’Neill for suggesting O’Connor’s “The Nature and Aim of Fiction.” Your assessment of the important relationship between the symbols in the pages and the installation is accurate. Installation for me is an extension of the picture plane, therefore the elements flow between.
Finally, to touching the pages: I realized by your responses I did not personally recognize the radicality of this notion; touch is a given for what I want to express. Regarding my art, I tend to not fixate on traditional ideas concerning conservation and preservation of the object d’art, despite having training and knowledge of them. I do hold onto these belief systems regarding the art of others. A painter recently suggested handling the painter’s paintings in a manner that I found cringe inducing. Despite my understanding of the artist’s concept and agreement that the very radicalness of this is was what made it effective, I had reached a personal border, or was I convinced to transcend it?