Attentive Equations

"Duende"

As an artist, I am familiar with that nagging question that every artist must ask themselves- what is the purpose of my art and why do I do it? Many writers have probed this question- Tolstoy wrote a book called, What is the meaning of Art ?; Emerson dealt with it in his essay on Nature; Solzhenitsyn confronted it in his Nobel Prize essay, A World Split Apart; Dostoevsky touched upon it in his address before the Pushkin Memorial; Gaston Bachelard touches upon it when he explores the phenomenology of the imagination; and it shows up in countless other works by Baudelaire, Delacroix, Robert Creeley, Walt Whitman and Rainer Marie Rilke. It is entirely unavoidable. One is compelled to ask this question. In a sense a painter or visual artist works this out by what they choose to depict and the method used. Monet was intrigued by the momentary flashes of life that came before his eyes. He chose to paint landscapes with a broken sense of color and lack of outline to convey this feeling of transience.  Much hinges on finding the inherent meaning of one’s work and committing oneself to it- letting it become the raison d’être of one’s being.

Rainer Marie Rilke explores the purpose of poetry as well as art. I first fell in love with his writing through his biography of Augustus Rodin. It took me years to find an English translation in a used bookstore. In Rodin, who was working on the Gates of Hell at the time, he found the perfect counterpart to himself- both tireless craftsmen seeking to transform the living vitality of existence into works of art.  In Rodin, Rilke describes Rodin’s Balzac, Victor Hugo and The Burgers of Calais as work “…not to beautify or give characteristic expression, but to separate the lasting from the transitory, to sit in judgement, to be just.”  The process of transformation from the visible to its inner equivalents was the greatest thing this world had to offer (Lemont) and Rilke observed it quite clearly in the work of Rodin.

In Rilke’s, Elegies, he expresses the purpose of his work, “… Everywhere transience is plunging into the depths of Being… It is our task to imprint this temporary, perishable earth into ourselves so deeply, so painfully and passionately, that its essence can rise again, “invisibly”, inside us.” Again he says,” … oh to say them more intensely than the Things themselves ever dreamed of existing.” ( Elegies) To take the visible world and allow it to dwell inside of us and then to transform that world and those things in the most intense way and re-imagine them again is the work of the artist. The image becomes the process whereby the visible world finds its equivalent within our being. In this way the transient visible world is re-imagined through the artist and becomes a transformative force. Rilke, like Emerson, expresses the transcendent nature of all things. Emerson in his essay Nature states the purpose of, “… visual art: striking the viewer so deeply, with such authority, the merely personal is obliterated. Something like an archetypal self is evoked.”

It is easy to ignore the incredible Beauty of all things. “The purpose of art is to express the good, the true and the beautiful” as Dostoevsky expressed it. But Solzhenitsyn believed that possibly only beauty will remain.  The artist’s job is to praise and declare again the inherent value of all things and to say it again with intensity.

“O tell us, Poet, what you do? – I praise.

But the dark, the deadly, the desperate ways,

How do you endure them- how bear them?-

I praise.

Padraic Colum, Rilke, 1945

Finding the Verticals

There are many tools available to the artist to aid him. But one needs to find the tools that really fit one’s way of working- tools that aid and intensify one’s ideas. These tools must remain what they truly are- aids that assist the artist’s creative process. One compositional method that I use pretty consistently is rabatment. It was used broadly in the 19th century by many artist out of the Paris ateliers as well as the academy. You see it in Delacroix, Ingres, David, Degas as well as in the American artists who studied in Paris- Sargent, Henri, Cassatt, Beaux and Thayer. It was later adopted by American students of those that went to Paris- Sloan, Bellows etc.

Rabatment consists of creating a relationship between what lies within the canvas to the proportion of the sides. These two aspects create an interdependent-relationship. The sides of the canvas themselves need not be in any set proportion.  The golden section works the same way, but the sides must be related in a specific proportion regardless of what lies within the canvas. I have always found rabatment a much easier tool to use because of its relative simplicity as well as its flexibility.

Rabatment consists of taking the short side of the rectangle and placing it against the long side (rotate), creating points along the edge that can be connected directly across the canvas as well as a diagonal from these points to the corners. When beginning this process it will appear to be two overlapping squares. David used these verticals to give his compositions a formal look, ie. how he envisioned the classical model of the Greeks. But what I like about this method is that one can achieve an underlying structure of diagonals. Delacroix, who was enthralled with Rubens sweeping curves and diagonals, found this method satisfied all his needs.

The best demonstration I have seen for its use, I found in Charles Bouleau’s book, “The Painter’s Secret Geometry”. He shows a sketch by Gericault for the Raft of the Medusa. It is an initial sketch of his working idea. It is evocative in its own right but not as powerful as after he applies rabatment to the composition. It no longer becomes a historical painting but a painting of man in all his longing and desperation. It reveals his eternal sense of hope. Rabatment takes his idea and gives it force and emotional impact. It transforms the piece through an emphasis on an underlying framework, that is not readily noticed, providing the image with a monumental capacity both emotionally as well visually.

I like to refer to rabatment as the structure of a tree with all its summer foliage. We know that under the leaves there is a trunk that tapers to the top and that there are branches that grow at specific intervals as the tree ascends. And that each of these branches again tappers till it reaches its furthest end. Rabatment is this aspect of the tree. But when we observe it in all its summer fullness we cannot see these underlying things. We only sense them as we observe the leaves. Rabatment should be used as such, as an underlying structure that can be felt but remains unseen. It should only be used after the creative idea is formed. The idea/ image and the inspiration that gave it form should preceed any use of a compositional system. And that any structure must conform to fact and visual phenomena. Theory must be of secondary importance.

Finding the Diagonals

Most times, I use this system to decide the proportions of my canvas and how my figure will appear within it. I manipulate the size of the edges so that my figure falls within a diagonal relationship to the outside edge. I often radiate diagonals from these points of rabatment to achieve a more forceful composition. In a more subtle way, I also include the direction of the gaze of the figure- that this too falls in the proper relationship of diagonals. I also find it useful to break up a large relatively empty space within the background- using it to vary color temperature or value to create a more dynamic sense of space. And lastly, it can act as a tool for giving the color composition its proper relationship and balance- that the most intense colors fall on these lines.

Rabatment has given me another tool for my toolbox. But I am always conscious not to let it enslave me. That would certainly take the “life”out of my work. It is always a temptation to hand over the inherent freedom that lies in the creative act- it would be much easier that way because the journey is difficult. Use only what is necessary for each image and let any system that you use be subservient to the whole.

Dune Shadows

Attempting to identify what exactly is the imagination and what does it look like is like trying to describe flowing water. We have a feeling for it, yet it defies description in so many ways, but we keep on trying because it will always fascinate and tempt us to give it a form.

The imagination rests in the lacuna between conscious thought and feeling. Within this space the creative imagination dwells and allows images to present themselves. Ibn Arabi called this the isthmus between the sensory world, as we experience it, and a mirror image of that world that exists independent of ourselves. Active reverie transforms what is brought to the minds eye as raw material into Poetic Voice and Image. It is a place of conscious activity- a place of interaction. It is only when one brings a purpose to such exploration that one receives direction. One can always tell when an image comes from such a place-it is irrational,yet powerful. It is comprehended on a deeper inner level. Somehow it makes sense in regard to the inner life as opposed to a rational progression of  thoughts. It touches a more universal level within each of us beyond a reflection of its creator.

Ibn Arabi believed in a ” reverie in which the consciousness was still active”. This place of the Mundis imaginalis is where the creative individual finds oneself among archetypal figures who reside within the imagination as well as independently in a world between the sensory faculties and the intellect. It is among such company that the artist receives inspiration and direction in regard to his work. One cannot rationally take the path of one’s choosing. One must be open to the moment and allow things to unfold differently than one had anticipated. Keats called this Negative Capability- ” that  is when man is capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact or reason.”

Keats believed in a ‘heightened receptivity’ in which the artist allowed his imagination a freedom coupled with a consciousness of the creative process- a marriage of reverie and the working of one’s craft. Robert Henri referred to this space as “living in the moment”. When in the act of painting, one opens oneself to a greater force that carries the work beyond what one thought possible and simultaneously one feels a greater awareness of the individual sitting before oneself. These together created the “living moment” as Henri expressed it.

Lorca’s idea of duende seems to be based on a triadic relationship to bring about the “living moment”, the deep connection between the artist, the listener/viewer and the song/poem/painting. It is a triad of desire, emotion and affinity to the world in all its depth. Or as Lorca expressed it-longing, passion and gravitas. Duende begins with longing and desire. This is the necessary first step because it expresses one’s purpose or intent- one’s motivation. Passion or a heightened sensitivity to the emotions allows one openness to the moment, as the poet, Rumi called it ‘the path to the heart of hearts’. And affinity to the world in all its dimensions, including death itself, is where one relinquishes one’s self (ego) and is able to take on the role of the other- people,  objects, events. This positioning allows one to come in contact with a greater self that sees the inherent connection between things. Duende- longing,passion, gravitas- are necessary attributes of the serious artist.

"Duende" - Work in Progress

Late in this cruel season when the sun

scourges alike the city and the fields,

parching the stubble and sinking into slums

where shuttered hovels hide vile appetites,

I venture out alone to drill myself

in what must seem  an eerie fencing-match,

dueling in dark corners for a rhyme

and stumbling over words like cobblestones

where now and then realities collide

with lines I dreamed of writing long ago.

(Baudelaire, “Tableaux Parisiens”)

This poem of Baudelaire’s speaks so much about the need for reverie as an open source from which creative inspiration will flow. Baudelaire ventures out into the world but allows his unconscious mind to take over. He duels with another part of himself that lies hidden until called forth through reverie. This other part of himself presents itself in many forms in his poetry- sometimes a phantom, sometimes a seductive woman, sometimes a malformed dwarf. But in all cases, it is his guide. It is combative and does not always concerns itself with his ultimate good. But it is a passionate relationship that reveals Baudelaire for who he is. He could not write without it because it presents before the poet, not just things on his mind, but things he had yet to imagine. It is this spontaneity that we recognize as genius. It is not rational but surprisingly irrational. And as Edward Hirsch states,” Duende, then, becomes a name for a radically accelerated process of creation in which everything is at stake.” (Edward Hirsch,”The Demon and the Angel”,  P.54)  One gets this feeling in Baudelaire’s poetry as well as Dostoyevsky’s main characters. In “The Gambler”, one cannot help but feel the rapid pulse, the sweat and anxiety of  Alexei Ivanovich as he risks everything to tap into his own version of duende or diamon- a dark force that will allow him to see the right moves in order to become a “big” winner where all is on the line. His flaw is his desire to control this “other” instead of allowing it its own space to speak and inspire. Once one calls up this diamon, one must live with the consequences.

In a sense, all the work one produces as an artist is an image of this “other” self. It is this alternative self- portrait, that in a way, reveals more about oneself than one at first recognizes. In a way, one can only produce one story, one myth in which both oneself and the “other” dwell. This archetype is at the core of our being and it takes a lifetime to uncover it. Yeats believed,”… that for each of us there existed one archetypal story, a single explanatory myth, which, if we but understood it, would clarify all that we said and did and thought.”(Ibid,p.65) It sounds a bit like Fate but one can think of it more like a parallel universe that we have a window into and can draw from to produce work that is more powerful and surprising than if we rationally developed an image. This irrational aspect of ourselves reveals to oneself what we fail to see. This “other” self is like the jester or fool who shows the king the true state of himself and his affairs.

As Baudelaire found out through his own quest for images, once that daimon is out, it must be attended to. It will pursue one until its will is done. Many times when I am working on an image that reaches into that space, the muse or diamon of that piece will not let me rest until I have a grasp of the form it wishes to take. It pursues me in my thoughts and dreams until I make it real, as it wishes to be known. I have to say that in most cases I gladly accept this “possession” but there are many times when I am having difficulty with an image that I wish it would let go of its hold on me. But alternatively, it is only when I am in the battle that I feel myself alive and intensely engaged in the world.

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A reminder that I’ll be teaching “Figure Painting and Palette Development” at the Woodstock School of Art from June 14th to the 19th, 2010, 9am – 4 pm.

Image of color combination used by Robert Henri

During the week of June 14- 18, I will be giving a workshop at the Woodstock School of Art. In my blog I have covered many issues regarding Robert Henri’s use of color and the spectrum palette. I will spend a significant amount of time in this workshop demonstrating these ideas and how to apply them to the figure as well as one’s own work. Each participant will mix the spectrum palette that corresponds to their own choice of colors. Taking this palette we will expand it to a harmonious palette of 12 colors that relate to the spectrum band. This will be the solid foundation on which we will do further exploration covering a set palette; a limited palette based on chords of H.G. Marratta as expressed by Henri; a limited palette of primaries with varied intensities- i.e. Frans Hal’s palette.

In the process of working from the model, we will develop etudes to express our color objective and use these as a reference to enlarge upon our ideas for the image. The model will provide for the concrete application of these color theories and explorations. We will touch upon Cheveral’s theory of harmony of sequence as well as his theory of colored edges. We will also concentrate on color temperature, developing a map that allows us to grasp the variety and unity of temperature and merge this with our observation of the model.

By working through this experimentation with one’s palette, the student will become knowledgeable of all the possibilities that lay before him hidden in his palette. One will no longer have to rely solely on mixing the same phrases repeatedly to achieve a sense of harmony. It will also heighten the students sensitivity to color and increase one’s color memory. Once the student becomes acquainted with this type of working method, he will be able to carry on further experiments in his own studio. The objective is to become familiar with the theory, experiment in several modes and give it concrete application through the use of two models over the course of 5 days. The student will leave the workshop with a chart of the spectrum palette; two studies of a chord palette; Hal’s palette; two or more etudes and two paintings worked toward completion.

I will take any inquiries through the blog or my e-mail: attentiveequations@gmail.com

What is the origin of one’s creative ideas or source of one’s imagery? Although, I myself, am constantly creating new images, I find this question of interest too. Pinpointing the source of images or dwelling on the moment when the image arrives or creating the space for what is calling for expression to rise up are of profound interest to the artist. My blog has sought to focus on this as well with what I feel is a hallmark of creativity- that being attentiveness. In Edward Hirsch’s book, “The Demon and the Angel” he uses Lorca’s idea of Duende as the starting point to locate that inner material or spiritual energy that will transform the artist’s intentions into the poem or dance or painting. Duende is the vital source from which all great work emerges.

Duende could also be described as prima materia in a Jungian sense. This primary matter is described as dark because it is hidden from consciousness and cannot be seen clearly. It is similar to what physicists describe as “dark matter” that exists in the universe- we know it is out there but we cannot clearly identify exactly what it is. There is an earthly connotation to duende because it springs from within or as Rilke describes it, it descends from above to join with earthly matter. Images appear in painting and literature that are direct descriptions of this dark underlying force. In “The Black Stallion” by Walter Farley, the stallion represents that force vividly. In the scene where the boy takes the Black to the race track for the first time, he mounts the horse in the dead of night and races, letting go of the reins and clutching the mane with white knuckles. The boy loses consciousness because of his inexperience and the tremendous speed of the Black.The trainer must mount another horse to bring the boy and the Black to a halt. And he must pry the boys fingers from the stallion as the boy descends into a faint.The Black could be nothing else but duende personified.

Rainer Marie Rilke explains the necessity of attentiveness (for duende) as a ‘consciousness of death’. Consciousness of one’s mortality becomes the impetus for one’s creativity.We must “seize the day”. When one comes face to face with death, not always a literal death, it creates a compulsion within the artist to complete the work and bring it to fruition. Time becomes the chariot, driving one along, the horses moving at break neck speed. One feels compelled to attentiveness and to accomplish the task at hand. Bringing any image to reality in the world is a kind of death to self- where the ego lies. It can also be described as a kind of ‘possession’- the image takes charge as it seeks form. Baudelaire, Delacroix, Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy describe it as such. Sometimes this possession takes on an imaginative form. Baudelaire once described a dream he had where his companion in the dream was a ‘dark figure, almost dwarf like, crude and malformed who followed him, always appearing out of the corner of his eye’.

Hirsch states that Lorca’s poems were filled with what Lorca called “hecho poetico(poetic fact or poetic event), images that followed a strange inner logic ‘of emotion and of poetic architecture’, metaphors that arose so quickly that in order to be understood they demanded a sympathetic attentiveness, a capacity for rapid association and for structured reverie, and a willing suspension of disbelief.” (Edward Hirsch, The Demon and the Angel,p.5) Lorca’s idea of rapid association (or the ability to link objects and ideas metaphorically) relates, I think, to the artist’s sense of intuition. Although, most artist’s work in isolation it is amazing how years later when their work is viewed it is seen as having a direct association to a larger context. Intuition taps into a form that lies hidden under the surface of things. Intuition allows the artist to believe in his own solitary voice and that his voice matters. Intuition gives one a key to embracing a deeper center. It allows the artist to see hidden associations and relationships between things. It allows one to recognize forces that lie outside oneself that are not easily controlled.

Reverie is key to creativity. Bachelard’s sense of reverie as the true source or window which the artist can peer into the world of his imagination and call forth an image that dwells there, has been recognized by Hirsch as well. Structured reverie allows the mind space to flow between one’s inner life and images that reside in the world that surround him. Reverie creates an active and free space open to all possibilities-one’s we have yet to imagine. Duende finds its potential through reverie. Duende in a sense is passion. Passion opens the door for the image to enter.

Drapery Study by Judith Reeve

Yesterday, I completed my workshop on Drapery and the Figure. It was a dynamic group with a range of skill sets. All were committed to the figure and approached their work with serious intent. It is always a pleasure as an instructor to have such students. They excite me as I hope to excite them about the beauty and grace of the figure.

The more successful drawings contained the proper action that identified closely with the model. They also contained a level of emotion that was tactile. The drapery added and brought out these underlying things and carried the movement and composition to a more dramatic closure.

All successful drapery drawings depend on a solid armature. Just as a sculpture cannot be started without an armature that is properly proportioned and contains the right amount of action, drapery cannot be modeled upon a figure that is flawed. The movement, proportions and a sense of balance must be evident prior to designing the drapery.

Memory plays a huge role in successfully being able to compose drapery without the use of a lay figure. One needs to hold in one’s memory the movement of the drapery as the model reveals it through the action of the pose. Each time she takes a break and returns to the pose the drapery will be different. But there will be certain folds that will repeat themselves. These are the folds that one must retain. These repeating patterns re-occur because of the tension between model and drape. These points of tension must be observed carefully. There are also points where gravity acts on the drapery- folds falling from points on the model that are directly revealed through the drape, i.e. the shoulders, hip, elbow, knee etc. Without these two aspects in the drawing the underlying figure cannot be understood- its essence will not be revealed.  Differences between fabric drawn upward and fabric allowed to fall naturally must also be noted as well as differences between types of fabric- i.e. silk or wool. In designing the drapery one must adhere to the underlying forms, eliminating any folds that conflict with the general movement and form of the figure. This is paramount, all else is superfluous.

Workshop drawing by Whitney Prentice

When one reaches the stage of modeling ( that is the rendering of light and shadow), one must be conscious of the figure and how say, the form of the deltoid is revealed in the shadow pattern of the drape. The drape must always be subordinate to the armature.There must be a conscious unity between figure and drape, successfully carrying the patterns of light and shade between the underlying as well as the exposed forms on the figure to the drape itself. One must also note how these patterns of light and shade effect the over-all design. This will affect the larger rhythm of the piece.

The most challenging aspect to rendering drapery successfully is to be conscious of one’s idea of the image. When one has set the idea in memory, one can then successfully compare what lies before one in the form of the model to this idea. Without the idea it is easy to be swayed by the changing aspects of the drape and lose oneself in the process. The idea must be held in memory allowing memory to determine what works. One thing I learned that enhanced the student’s ability to make use of his memory was allowing him to make a sketch of the draped figure prior to working on the larger armature. It was a way for memory to remain conscious and keep the student on the path that most adhered to their emotional center. I intend to keep this as part of my instruction next time.

This week I will be giving a workshop at the Woodstock School of Art on the use of drapery and its relationship to the figure. Very little attention is given to the expressive quality of drapery. In most cases it is a mere still-life within the larger framework of the composition. But when one observes the use of drapery in the masters, one can see how every fold in the costumes and drapery of every sort is given minute attention. The drapery acts as a means to enlarge upon the expression and gesture of the figure. It adds force, rhythm and beauty to the underlying emotions. It intensifies and clarifies the idea of the artist. It also acts as a compositional element carrying one part of the image and uniting it to another. It becomes the music and tone, a stage upon which the figure will act. The figure remains the principle character but the drapery adds grace and dimension to the piece.

Although drapery can reinforce the movement of the figure, it can also act as an independent force- an element of conflict and resistance,  a force to be dealt with. It can also carry the power of an element (such as wind, fire or water) and can act as a source of energy which is difficult to describe. It can also carry more hidden, unconscious or intuitive impulses. It can act as a character in its own right.

When I started to take drapery seriously, it opened up an aspect in my work that was more impulsive- revealing an element or character within myself that was seeking form but was not as descriptive as an object. How does one describe a force that is felt but not seen? The work of Rubens contains this undeniable force. Drapery carries his consuming sense of movement- that which is within the subjects themselves as well as forces that lie without.  The drapery unites these elements tying the serpentine compositions together and intensifying its emotional impact. We are pulled into the image and partake in the action.

When I was a student at the Lyme Academy, I began painting with a set of 8- 10 colors on my palette. This is how I began because it was the selected palette of my instructor. I came about the proper relationships of color by sheer repetition. Repeating the same combinations over and over again. Only through trial and error and a memory for the right combinations did I achieve a painting similar to my subject. There was no basis or underlying structure to the palette. I find this is still the case with students who enter my classes. They have taken many courses with many excellent instructors and have adopted this color from one instructor and this combination of colors from another. I look at the palette that they are working with and  it is chaotic. There are too many colors for one thing and there is a repetition of colors- 2 blues or three reds etc.

“Simplicity is the hallmark of genius”. This should be written on every artist’s paint box. My own search for a palette that was simple and relied on some basic system lead me to one of my favorite artists, Frans Hals. In the 19th century he was hailed by such artist as Courbet, Sargent, Henri and Delacroix. He was admired greatly for his brevity of brush stroke and his ability to produce what appears directly on the retina of the eye. But I began to look at his color. The utter simplicity of his palette was striking. He achieved a full range of values as well as a variety of color temperature  all with a wonderful sense of harmony.

Hals’ palette was based on the three primaries. One of which had a greater intensity than the others. For this palette I used: Cad. red medium; raw sienna deep ( old Holland produces the only raw sienna that is adequate); and ivory black. Although, when researching the chemical extractions from some of Hals’ paintings, academics say there possibly was a green in his palette, I never found it necessary to add one ( I copied “Madam Bodolphe” at Yale university Art Museum and my palette came pretty close to what Hals used- give or take the heavy varnish applied to it and its age. And in regard to the stability of the pigments, it was quite amazing to see very little discoloration or damage to his work).

I took these three primaries and I expanded them to 12 colors, mixing first the secondaries and then expanding my range by  mixing these with their neighbor. This is what it looked like:

R (cad. red med.)              Y (raw sienna deep)              B ( ivory black)

O ( R+ Y)                                     G (Y+B)                            P (B+R)

PR - R -RO - O – OY- Y – YG- G - GB – B -BP -P               [ This is the set palette]

What I found in this simple palette was that it expressed all the inherent potential of each of the colors. And I found that its potential was far more vast than I could have imagined. Part of its expressiveness is based on intensity. Two colors are grave and one color, that being the red ,was intense. This variety of intensity added to its success.

I used this palette exclusively for two to three years. It was some of the most constructive and rigorous work I have done as an artist. It allowed me to see the complex in the simple and simplicity in what at first appears complex. I found it much easier to achieve harmony; greater control of temperature and value; and to use intensity as a key to color composition. There was something solemn and simple yet beautiful about the limitedness of this palette. It expressed many of the attributes I see in Hals work.

Love of Hals lead me to the work of Robert Henri ( although as a footnote, nothing is always clear cut- I was reading Henri and delving into his archive during these experiments and much of his influence can be felt also in this work- i.e.- the spectrum palette). Henri, who himself was attracted to Hals, had a developed sense of color and based the underlying sense of his palette on Hals and the work of H.G. Marratta (color theorist and paint manufacturer). With this basis, I allowed myself to seek color for its emotional impact beyond these initial explorations. Henri became my primary tutor from this point on. His use of color appealed to my modern sensibilities. I wished to transform my work from its academic beginnings to work that tapped into our modern sensitivity to color, allowing the image to speak in those terms.

(image from www.polskina5.pl/data/Motywy/s/hals.jpg)

Sometimes an artist can present an image that carries a deep respect for the individual in such a way that we gain a greater appreciation of man and his inherent value and beauty apart from our own lived experience. We identify a deep bond that exists between ourselves and the other. The film maker, Werner Herzog, has expressed this elegantly. The past couple of years he has focused primarily on documentaries. Thematically they are similar to his earlier existential films with the exception that he seeks the sublime no longer in fictitious characters but in the collective experiences of the individual. This renewed fascination with the inherent value of personal experience resides in Herzog’s search for metaphors that hold meaning.

Herzog’s search for images that speak spring from the artist’s desire to have contact with others, not only to confirm this fascination with man, but also to come to terms with the image that resides within the artist himself. The image becomes the analogy- the bridge-between what lies within that is seeking form and our experience of the world. When an artist re-represents his experience- of what lies before him as well as what resides within himself- he creates an analogical  bond that the imagination can seize upon. When this bond is honest or true the image expresses an inherent lyricism, a blending of experiences through the lense of the artist. This lyricism allows the image to carry a symbolic worth- rendering more impact to the image. Analogical relationships carry their own force and add dimension.

Baudelaire expresses the lyricism of analogy in his poem, Correspondences,

Nature is a temple whose living colonnades

Breathe forth a mystic speech in fitful sighs;

Man wanders among symbols in those glades

Where all things watch him with familiar eyes.

In many ways, art is the only means by which we can expand our own sense of the world and of man. We cannot personally experience all there is to this complex life we live but we can touch upon it through the work of the artist. And in many ways the combined experience of all artists through time enriches our own personal experience beyond what any individual is  capable of. In a sense we have lived more fully because the artists’ experience, through their own means of expression, is deeply felt. They have pursued the image tirelessly throughout their life and we benefit fully by sharing that experience.

Creating an image that can reside permanently with the viewer and have efficacy is the task of the artist. The image encapsulates all experience and re-emerges with greater symbolic value. Through the lyricism of the image, what was an abstract element of thought or mind or heart finds its place in the world among man’s collective experience and natural forms.