hg's 5th post

    First of all, Venice was gorgeous and wonderful. Even though at home I'm not surrounded by any body of water besides the Ohio River, I felt very at ease and relieved to be on the Grand Canal. The way the light was hitting the waves and the boats were all cruising by put me at ease. I was a little stumped for my next move last week, but I think stepping away from everything for a few days helped me get back on track. I did a lot of thinking and some drawing during the 6 hrs of traveling by train, and I finally have a solid idea.
    I want to combine theme sequence and drawing to make a more personal and sentimental piece of artwork. Like I said before, I had this dream about buttons--so I’ve decided to roll with it. Regan noticed my attraction to round shapes, and now that I’ve become aware of this, I’ve realize how true it is. I picked up some post cards at the Peggy Guggenheim on Saturday, only afterward noticing that they were rounded compositions (side note: I fell down the stairs on my way out of the gift shop). Peggy’s collection gave me some ideas for future techniques I want to experiment with such as using collaged paper and paint, or making a wire wall sculpture. There was also this great painting that looked like an explosion of paint straight out of the tube. So many artists just load the paint on the canvas, so I think I need to get more bold with that in the future. Another source that was useful to me was the Unmonumental book Jana brought to class Tuesday. It allowed me to see other found work and realize the possibilities with working on or with found items.
    Going back to my project: From this round/button theme grew an idea of putting scaled down drawings into the buttons. The sentimental aspect will come from the personal images I include of people from my own life in relation to the master works of the past. When I was walking around Florence on Thursday night I also found a hubcap that I wanted to use for something, so now I thought about making my piece interactive. I want to build a vanity out of collected trash and let people put on all the jewelry or clothing I make while sitting in front of a mirror. I also want to gather other students’ reactions to the pairs. I think this has really excited me because it has suddenly become more personal. Thinking of people in my life that demonstrate similar qualities or ideals as those in the master works allowed me to think about those who have left impressions on me. This is allowing me to truly transform mere buttons from Piazza Ciompi into jewelry of sentimental value.
    On a different note, I was so fascinated with all the elaborate costumes I saw this weekend. The way they sparkled in the sun and slowly waltzed through the sea of people was mesmerizing. It is weird that it eventually became normal to see a clown, a mouse, and a drag queen sitting outside for lunch together (I caught that on my b&w cam for photo class). I bought a mask and made a trip to Murano to buy my mom some small glass figurines. For some reason the prisons in Doge’s Palace were also one of my favorite things to see. I am intrigued with the stories that lie behind places and objects. I try to imagine what they may have been used for or what kinds of people were wondering the halls or pathways when the facilities were actually being used.

To end: if u have not tried a Fritelle yet, u have not truly experienced the goodness Carnevale has to offer!

Holly

Pictures (I included some from Siena too)