Experiencing Art in Person - Essay Example

? EXPERIENCING ART IN PERSON Introduction to Art “Release Your Plans” By Daniel Sprick at Denver Art museum A tour of the Denver Art Museum to evaluate the work of Daniel Sprick was enlightening. I was impressed by how he has organized his area on the seventh floor complete with a catalogue to explain his piece as well as available video presentation of an interview about his work.1 This was helpful in providing details of his art work and its intention. A lot of activity goes on in the painting thus demanding patience and a keen study of the art, video presentation and catalogue to make some sense out of the painting. At first glance I assumed it was photography until closer scrutiny of the canvas revealed the brush strokes. Release your plan is a non objective painting because it does not entirely reflect reality in the way objects are portrayed and relate to one another. If taken to represent the real world, I would quickly settle on the word chaos. However, this paper seeks to bring organization and life to the confusion and mortality as seen through the painting. The painting has four distinct sections which include the wall, the rugs, the skull and the table that is wrapped in a white cloth. One cannot also fail to notice the rose and a can for soup included in the painting. The label on the soup can reads “your plan” and it’s next to a beer glass bottle which is broken. The easel and paint in the painting suggests that this must be a studio for an artist. The egg shells on the table beside the broken beer bottle as well as resting on a knife behind the skull and the messed up floor with ends of cigarette butts portray conflict. Pins stick out of the eyes of the skull and the dead bugs add an eerie feeling to the painting. There is a green potted plant behind the table, two suspended Ross flowers and a plate. In my opinion the skull is the centre of the art. The mirror to the right of the skull seems to be strategically placed in order to ask the viewers to take a second look at what is being presented. The few objects reflected in the mirror seem more bright and organized than the real props that are painted. I observed that everything in the painting is dead except for the potted green plant behind the table. Mr. Sprick carefully picked elements in the painting to bring life yet retaining a sense of mortality. Nothing in the artwork seems to be situated I its place in reality. Pins in the skull eyes are weird. The Ross and the plate are suspended which is not natural. How did a broken egg shell get to be suspended on a knife? Why would a soup can and beer bottle be put next to each other for communication? Mr. Sprick’s explanation requests us to try and see his work through his own eyes. Through the piece, he is trying to communicate to us that we need to appreciate imperfections in our daily lives. Things do not always have to work or be the way we are conditioned to see. Flexibility is important if we are to enjoy the beauty in life. Sprick shares with us an inspirational thought which states, when destiny knocks on our door, we need to discard all our plans.2 This is the only way we can fully enjoy the benefit of our calling. Having considered this, I reasonably believe, the skull was the centre of the piece but the desire to expand the message, Sprick introduced the other objects which he arranged in a systematic manner to portray unity. The use of linear perspective gives the painting a three dimensional quality that conveys reality.3 The dominant white color has been cleverly used to spread a feeling of peace and calmness in the painting despite its elements of violence depicted by a broken beer bottle, crashed egg shells, spilled red liquid and the dead bugs. My experience with Mr. Sprick’s painting has made me realize the power art has over life and death. When bugs stand still, one cannot differentiate between live ones and the dead ones because the dead ones retain their form unless interfered with physically. Notable is the seemingly happy face of the skull and the pins give it a penetrating look. I believe one can almost think the skull is an eye of the dead and how they still appreciate the beauty in life. A broken egg shell is supported by the knife, broken beer bottle and cigarette butts reflect violence. Sprick’s has organized the objects in such a way that the skull seems to appreciate life amidst all the violence. The background covered by the tree represents life and the roses depict life’s beauty that prevails even in violence and chaos. I have learnt to appreciate life and beauty irrespective of the circumstances and environment we occupy. Questions What does art and making it mean to you? Art and its making demands pursuit of excellence and I make sure I let people see exactly what I want them to see. What inspires you and what principles do you follow in your trade? I am motivated by all great artists before and in present times that have exposed me to numerous possibilities in art. The main principle in art is I have to show up and get hold of my painting equipment is work has to happen. How long on average does a piece of artwork take to complete? One week but can be less or more because I am never satisfied with my paintings. There are always new ideas that come up which can make them better. How do you expect people to interpret your work? People should see the truth I endeavor to portray and I expect them to see the beauty in life despite our life experiences and backgrounds. Do you ever run out of ideas in the middle of your work and if so what motivates your creativity to finish? Knowing the fact that art cannot happen if I do not pick up my brush, I keep painting and correcting mistakes until I hit the right path. Something always comes up with persistence. More often than not, people do not get to see my errors during my painting and so it gives me enough room to experiment. In conclusion, Sprick’s work is balanced in terms of communication. He relies on his instincts at times to include objects which do not necessarily have a meaning but add to the aesthetic value of his works. He is open enough to admit he does not always know what he is communicating but then hopes his viewers would come up with truthful interpretation. We should not entirely judge artwork from only our perspective, but interaction with the artist can spark some interesting observations that are relevant to objective appraisal of artwork. After going through the video interview and reading through the catalogue, I was able to see the painting through a second perspective which I believe is represented by the reflection in the mirror. The chaos and violence from my initial observation turns to appreciation of the broken bottle, broken egg shells and dead bugs. These are imperfections in life that exist but we have a choice of appreciating them and seeing the beauty surrounding their essence. The skull and the dead bugs based on their appearance seem to suggest life is ironically represented in death. In my opinion, I believe Sprick is subconsciously trying to challenge the living to appreciate the beauty of life more than they actually do at the moment. He seems to challenge our value of beauty through suggesting the dead represented by the skull and bugs, still have an ability to radiate beauty in life. Bibliography Denver Art Museum. Denver Art Museum: highlights from the collection. Denver: Denver Art Museum; London: In Association with Scala Publishers, 2006. Denver Art Museum. Daniel Sprick Interview. Retrieved: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhlhpGsuBU4 Moyo, Okediji. Description of interpretives; Connecting with Artists. Retrieved: http://www.denverartmuseum.org/sites/all/themes/dam/files/newangles_append_new.pdf . Read More