Untitled 200414, Untitled 220314, Untitled 070514 - 2014 - William M Boot If we are to look at paintings in an intelligent way then the first thing to consider is, "what are we looking at?" and second, "what is the painting(s) saying to us?" The first question deals with the form, or "mode" of presentation of the work. The second deals with the content or meaning implicit in the artists' intention for making as well as meaning arising from the elemental structure of the work whether 2 or 3D in format. To look at a work of art and simply say "i like it" or "it makes me feel good" or "it's exciting or boring" is simplistic and naive at best. It is incumbent upon the viewer to seek out in an intelligent fashion "what is going on here?" The onus is not on the artist to provide all manner of explanation about the work but on the viewer to engage further with the work and do some thinking. This does not absolve artists from responsibility to intelligently frame their work, when asked, on multiple levels. A painting will "speak" to our emotions at an aesthetic level but to fully understand the work we must get past the "clever technique" and peel back the layers of the work compositionally and conceptually.
Paintings are constructed using a visual language code and this functions in a similar fashion to the "codes" used in speech, music, dance or film. Language requires the use of symbols and images to create shapes and patterns which when combined give birth to meaning and understanding. Meaning is implicit in the compositions created by the artist whether with sound, movement, text, images or a combination of any of these. A failure to recognise or read the "code" results in a simplistic experience of the artwork and usually at an emotional level only. Language is "complex" and demands "attention" and "effort" by the viewer to crack the code (s) and get the correct "meaning."
There are essentially two ways in which these codes are shared. Joseph Greenberg in his "Essays In Linguistics" states, "language can be approached as a set of culturally transmitted behaviour patterns shared by a group or as a system conforming to the rules which constitute its grammar." Essentially this means, people learn and understand (make meaning) from what they have learned from their group (society) or skilled arts practitioners using the rules (grammar) of creative systems such as (sound, images, text or movement) devise objects (works of art) that conform to their own internal code. These codes must be grasped in order for the viewer/participant to receive multiple levels of meaning. Failure to engage at a deeper level renders the power of the art object impotent, unable to mediate deeper truths to the viewer.
There are essentially two ways in which these codes are shared. Joseph Greenberg in his "Essays In Linguistics" states, "language can be approached as a set of culturally transmitted behaviour patterns shared by a group or as a system conforming to the rules which constitute its grammar." Essentially this means, people learn and understand (make meaning) from what they have learned from their group (society) or skilled arts practitioners using the rules (grammar) of creative systems such as (sound, images, text or movement) devise objects (works of art) that conform to their own internal code. These codes must be grasped in order for the viewer/participant to receive multiple levels of meaning. Failure to engage at a deeper level renders the power of the art object impotent, unable to mediate deeper truths to the viewer.
Having provided a basic background to the essential working of language i want to introduce here the notion of "seriality" and its opposite, "asynchronicity." What is meant by the first term is, "artworks created in a "series" or "group" where the subject or central idea is developed through multiple works and conversely, in the second, artworks created as one off, "standalone" works. Serial "praxis" is not a "stylistic phenomenon" but a "methodology" where rationale is employed to tease out the deeper implications in an idea using a body of works. These works if executed skilfully form a powerful statement concerning a core idea and sub-grouping of associated ideas.
Not all arts practitioners work in serial fashion for various reasons but i wish to demonstrate that "asynchronous" artworks usually curtail the cohesion of a lifetime body of paintings. The final judgement of an artists oeuvre may in fact be judged as "eclectic," "indiscriminate," "conservative," or worse "substandard" and unfairly relegated to obscurity with relation to art historical "significance." No artist welcomes obscurity after a lifetime of contribution to the arts. Recognition, reward and success are sought to varying degrees by all arts practitioners. The obscure, wilful genius in the attic pumping out asynchronous "masterpieces" with no desire for recognition would be an "extremely rare" phenomenon these days with so many avenues open to artists to make their work known, although the "gifted savant" regarded by most as an anomaly, sometimes makes an appearance.
Not all arts practitioners work in serial fashion for various reasons but i wish to demonstrate that "asynchronous" artworks usually curtail the cohesion of a lifetime body of paintings. The final judgement of an artists oeuvre may in fact be judged as "eclectic," "indiscriminate," "conservative," or worse "substandard" and unfairly relegated to obscurity with relation to art historical "significance." No artist welcomes obscurity after a lifetime of contribution to the arts. Recognition, reward and success are sought to varying degrees by all arts practitioners. The obscure, wilful genius in the attic pumping out asynchronous "masterpieces" with no desire for recognition would be an "extremely rare" phenomenon these days with so many avenues open to artists to make their work known, although the "gifted savant" regarded by most as an anomaly, sometimes makes an appearance.
32 Campbells Soup Cans - 1962 Andy Warhol Okay, what does this "serial" methodology consist of?, you ask. Firstly, it is not "modularity," which is "the repetition of a standard unit." This means that all the pieces in a set are the same size, colour and shape etc. According to Mel Bochner, serial art occurs when a group of works are constructed that follow 3 basic rules.
Firstly, "the derivation of the terms or the interior divisions of the work is by means of a numerical or otherwise systematically pre-determined process (permutation, progression, rotation or reversal).
Secondly, the order takes precedence over the execution.
Thirdly, the completed work is fundamentally parsimonious and systematically self-exhausting."
What this means is, the serial work of art is pre-planned using predominantly numerical systems to set up the interior components of the work. The individual works are usually distinct as works in themselves but are also distinctly synonymous with the group they belong to. This is different to "repetition" which is synonymous with "sameness."
Firstly, "the derivation of the terms or the interior divisions of the work is by means of a numerical or otherwise systematically pre-determined process (permutation, progression, rotation or reversal).
Secondly, the order takes precedence over the execution.
Thirdly, the completed work is fundamentally parsimonious and systematically self-exhausting."
What this means is, the serial work of art is pre-planned using predominantly numerical systems to set up the interior components of the work. The individual works are usually distinct as works in themselves but are also distinctly synonymous with the group they belong to. This is different to "repetition" which is synonymous with "sameness."
Modular Four Panels #1 - 1969 Roy Lichtenstein Serial methodology is concerned with the "plan" rather than the "obsession with technique" and the idea of "clever" or "genius!" This doesn't mean that the serial artist isn't interested in "technique," it simply means that "idea" or "concept" has usurped prominence in the artists' strategy for "making" or "inventing" new forms of artwork. The serial artist pursues pictorial strategies that enable a deeper coherence of a theme and a robust poetry that develops out of the multiplicity of angles afforded by the grouping of works. Quite simply, one painting is a paragraph but ten paintings comprise a book with each work playing the part of "chapter." The power of "seriality" shouldn't be underestimated and the potential for innovation and invention multiplies with the different facets that a serial group of works brings to the viewer.
Untitled Painting (In 9 Parts) - 1988 - Cy Twombly Mel Bochner titled his informative essay on this subject, "The Serial Attitude (pdf)" because he recognised that this method of working is first and foremost a "way of thinking." Many modern artists have adopted this approach to invention but we can see the precursors of serial thinking going back to the renaissance. Maybe the first modern serialist is Claude Monet who would furiously paint a number of canvases simultaneously in order to catch the changing light conditions from minute to minute. His more than 30 "Rouen Cathedrals," the "Haystacks" or "Water Lilies" (see L'Orangerie) all demonstrate beautifully the power of serial painting. Other painters of note include Thomas Eakins, Alfred Jensen, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Larry Poons, Cy Twombly and Robert Rauschenberg. There are also artists working in a 3D format like Donald Judd and Sol LeWitt who created powerfully visual art using serial methodology. Maybe Edward Muybridge was the first to introduce the possibilities of the serial image using photography. His experiments with multiple, parallel strips of time-lapse images greatly influenced other artists and musicians such as Arnold Schoenberg and Milton Babbit and later John Cage and Philip Glass. If we go back a few centuries earlier we find Bach and later Beethoven using serial compositional devices to create music that is now universally acknowledged as "classic" and "timeless." Where would we be without Bach and his timeless inventions?
Serial thinking is a big part of how i innovate and construct paintings. I am greatly inspired by artists who have invented "timeless" works of art with serial thinking strategies. There are so many creative people who employ this way of thinking that it is impossible to mention them here as the list is extensive. Seriality has proved to be an iconoclastic mode of thinking and making that has widened the fissure between traditional (archaic) and contemporary perception and indelibly changed the face of modern art.
