I have been mulling over a series of pieces that I want to call pundits. They are inspired by all those talking heads in media who reduce the news to shouting matches and name calling. These are the roughs I have been working on (with a nod to russian constructivism). Next step, narrow these down to one and then try to figure out how to construct it.
Pundits, ©2014, Paula Kovarik
On a recent trip to New York my friends took me to Jones Beach. It was a cool and cloudy day and noone was there. We saw these trash bins set out in a grid on the beach ready for the future crowds to fill them up (and, my friends informed me, to overfill them up).
Jones Beach, 2014
I spent the day preparing the studio for new work, setting out my own trash bin in the center of the floor. Some test swatches went in there as well as some well intentioned scraps. Now the deck is clear for new ideas.
Maybe I'll do something with a stitch pattern that mimics these bins in the meantime...
I loved this fountain in a park in Madrid. The woman seems to be saying "Wait, wait! let me explain!" It has a background of stone with carved letters in Spanish. Someone took the time to underline the word "catolica?" It intrigued me enough to try to translate it via Google Translate (always a fun experiment). I got this:
Everything passes, one thing you will be told and it is your job well done. Noble is the man calls and just who every day renveva her. Excitement, wise, to discover the order of the world, including the irony is responsible father, and service mission patricia, political, must be Catholic. That is, universal, apostolic, ie chosen, Roman, ie one. Also a culture free state of solidarity in space and continuity in time that everything is not tradition is plagiarism sin nature, are sickly leisure and solitude. Let each io cultivate that angelic graces him in friendship and dialogue.
Admittedly a bit foreign, eh? Love that phrase:
"Let each to cultivate that angelic graces him in friendship and dialogue."
Maybe I need to get a real translator to help me understand. What kind of animal is that exactly?
Sky roof, Madrid
I love how the architect of this art museum remembered that the most beautiful visions can sometimes be over our heads. Seen in Madrid at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, devoted to modern art. The museum was brimming with some of my favorite artists: Miro, Picasso, Gris, Calder and Braque.
Trust the scrap heap composition
I spent the last couple of days exploring a new concept for a piece about urban sprawl. Where to begin? What does it look like? I was stumped. So, instead, I decided to just play a game with myself that would hopefully crystalize some of the vague notions I had about the construction of the piece. I played the TRUST THE SCRAP HEAP game. I emptied a bin of scraps onto my worktable and chose any solid scrap that was under 10" square and no smaller than 2". I then cut each scrap into a 1.5" strip and randomly sewed them together. Good thing I only emptied one of my scrap bins because I would have been at the cutting table all week.
Strips all put together, I then cut them into 1.5" units and arranged them into a grid.
Now the revelation. You know those beauty sessions where they tell you what season you are? I am definitely autumn. This scrap heap showed me that I am drawn to neutrals and dirty midtone colors with an occasional spark of lime green or white. The composition worked because, even though I sewed the colors together randomly, I was able to rearrange the grid to play off the neutrals. Would I have chosen this set of colors for a piece without this random exercise? No. But, it has some validity since I chose the colors in past projects and they are all a piece of my aesthetic.
And now I know where I want to go with that urban sprawl piece.
