Same Boat
/As Above. (c) 2014 Diane Reardon
As mentioned last post, a group of my pieces about whales will be shown at a local invitational art show.
Art Depot, 611 R Street, Anacortes WA
Saturday, April 11th
9am – 2pm during the Farmers Market
6pm – 9pm Evening Opening
April 12th - April 1 8th Daily 11-4
Serial Art
The series is called Same Boat to underline the fact that both we and the whales depend on the state of our oceans to survive. I set out to include some of the same elements in each piece: a whale below the waterline, a boat above, and some scientific element about the state of the shared ocean.
The fact that these pieces have been chosen for an exhibit may signify that they are successful. I leave it to each of my viewers, to have their own reactions to each piece.
From the artist’s view, however, the success of a piece is often complex. In As Above, for example, I was not so thrilled with how the three white circles of science facts are simply placed into the scene. They do make the invisible science elements visible, but I wanted a more subtle effect. I’ve included a slide show below for those who can’t get to the exhibit; although the photos don’t catch all the detail you can catch how the science elements change as you click through each piece.
Artspeak
For another way of looking at art, I’m including some thoughts about As Above that are like what you sometimes see in fancy galleries. They are an example of ‘artspeak’ or as my husband, says artsy-fartsy talk, so please take them as such.
“As Above. The boat and whale inhabit the same space and are the same color family but are separated by the waterline. Questions about how aware they are of each other arise. The lower circles note the underlying state of the ocean that supports them both, but again, neither is clearly connected to these facts nor to each other. Symbolically, this state of affairs might be considered a usual state of what is above and below the surface for us all, individually and collectively.”
Thanks for taking the time to view the art and maybe think about the whales, us, and the oceans in any way you wish.
