Assignment 4

For this assignment, I have chosen to examine Portrait of V.I. Lenin in the Style of Jackson Pollock, 1980, by Art & Language.

As the topic of this essay is difference, I found I was drawn to this painting in particular above other subjects. The portrait grabbed my attention initially, as a sort of pareidolia, where the painting was quite clearly abstract, but at the same time a very clear image of a portrait could be identified.

Defining the question with which we are tasked to answer is the best starting point. “Explore [it’s] possible interpretations in terms of difference”. There are two types of difference to be considered here. One; the traditional, common idea of difference where two items of the same category are compared for contrasting detail – these are both horses, but one is coloured black and one is coloured white. In such cases, the identity of the items has been established before the comparison is made, in other words, “identity comes first” (Cubitt, 2019). Two; the more detailed, philosophical idea of difference as an aspect which comes before the identity of the object; before I can establish that one horse is black and one is white, I have established that they are horses as opposed to Ducks. This essay shall discuss both, resulting in a conclusive paragraph on the nature of difference in itself.

Art & Language is the name of a group of artists in a collective, which also became the title of a conceptual art journal. Art & Language developed the work started by Duchamp and others, into critical and conceptual work in the arts. They produce work in written text, stemming from debates between members as well as visual and physical art. Publications, such as their journal, were key to exploring and communicating their ideas, and often the title of artwork is intended to be considered part of the work – as with Portrait of V.I. Lenin series (Bbc.co.uk, 2019). The combination of style and textual information is intended to inspire the thought process of the observer, for the observer to develop their own critical conception of the work rather than just “appreciate” it for aesthetic style.

To understand the concept of such a painting as Portrait of V.I. Lenin in the Style of Jackson Pollock, we should understand something of the men within the title itself, and then view them as Art & Language did.

Jackson Pollock was born in 1912 in Wyoming, the son of a farmer. He grew up in Arizona and California, experiencing Native American culture while travelling with his father in his later job as a Government Surveyor. Pollock studied in New York, working in several styles of painting including Regionalist, Muralist and Surrealism. In 1939, following a Picasso exhibit, Pollock recognised the power of European Modernism and he began a new style of abstract compositions. Following World War Two, and the beginnings of Abstract Expressionism, Pollock began to express his feelings about society and his concerns. In the mid 1940’s, he introduced his famous drip paintings. These paintings were unlike anything to come before them – allowing paint to drip from the can directly to the canvas, separating line and colour. Based on comments from interviews, it appears that he felt the paintings brought themselves to life, through him, and he had very little control. He allowed paintings to emerge, successfully or not, with no fear of destroying the work or failure.

“When I am in my painting, I’m not aware of what I’m doing. It is only after a sort of ‘get acquainted’ period that I see what I have been about. I have no fear of making changes, destroying the image, etc., because the painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through. It is only when I lose contact with the painting that the result is a mess. Otherwise there is pure harmony, an easy give and take, and the painting comes out well.”
Jackson-pollock.org, 2019

Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov was born in 1870 into a well-educated family. He went to university to study Law, where he became involved in radical thinking and revolutionary groups. After completing his degree in 1891, he became a “professional revolutionary” and was exiled to Siberia along with other revolutionaries of the time. Here, he adopted the pseudonym “Lenin”. After World War One, he returned to Russia – now leading the Bolshevik faction of the RSDWP and led the “October Revolution” which led to years of civil war. He was found to be disregarding of the suffering of his countrymen and a ruthless leader, however he was also known for introducing the New Economic Policy which attempted to transform the economy in Russia. He died two years after an assassination attempt, in 1924. (Bbc.co.uk, 2019)

“Every question “runs in a vicious circle” because political life as a whole is an endless chain consisting of an infinite number of links. The whole art of politics lies in finding and taking as firm a grip as we can of the link that is least likely to be struck from our hands, the one that is most important at the given moment, the one that most of all guarantees its possessor the possession of the whole chain”
Marxists.org, 2019

Difference

It is tempting given the course of study to focus more on difference in itself, or “type two” from my first paragraph. This concept seems much more detailed and scholarly than the simple difference of everyday speech. However, the merits of general difference should not be overlooked, specifically in this case. While it may be possible, and increasingly more likely as time progresses, that people are unaware of who Lenin was, right now it is likely that observers of this artwork are knowledgeable enough of Lenin – so that his inclusion in the title of the painting would draw the eye and the memory back to his historical reference. Since, in order to discuss the idea of difference in the “common” sense requires two similar items, let us look at both Art & Language’s portrait versus an original image of Lenin:

Seen side by side, the differences can be listed quite easily:

Colour; the A&L piece appearing in white, black, yellow and red. The original image in black and white only.

Style; the A&L piece appearing much more loose and active, with swirly paint and movement. The original image rigid and simple.

Image clarity; Art & Language clearly trying to make the image part-of or contained within an aesthetic image. The original image is simply that; an original, clear image of the man himself with little aesthetic appeal

This kind of difference is important and I feel that Art & Language would have accepted that it was; they expected and prepared for all types of observers – those who knew Jackson Pollock, those who knew of Lenin, those who knew of one but not the other and those who knew nothing of either. Their inclusion of such detailed titles shows us this, and leads us to believe that they expected different interpretations by different types of observer. This is quite an interesting aspect of the work to note and highlights to us that this collective of artists had such expectations of their work as to include very detailed information to help us establish meaning. (Cubitt, 2019)

““Difference in itself” is difference that is freed from identities seen as metaphysically primary.”
Plato.stanford.edu, 2019

Having established this “common” type of difference, we then turn to difference-in-itself. At this level, we are more interested in viewing the work as being attributed to Pollock, and an image of Lenin, and the meaning of that combination, before we are interested in the simple difference discussed in the previous paragraph. We are interpreting difference at a conceptual level.

From an interview with Art & Language “About Portraits of Lenin in the style of Jackson Pollock (Art & Language, 2013), Art & Language were quoted “we were bringing together two things which could not coexist”. The painting incorporates two radically different concepts who we would expect to be opposed and incompatible, but at the same time, this particular painting could not exist without both Lenin and Pollock, they must coexist in order for this painting to be.

The basis for the painting itself came from “the title’s ‘linguistic description, an ironic proposal for an impossible picture, a kind of exasperated joke’” (Tate, 2019). As discussed earlier, Lenin was (and is still seen as) the symbol of revolution in Russia and the leader of the “Bolshevik” faction of the RSDWP (Bbc.co.uk, 2019). This powerful, controversial figure symbolises power, revolution, war, cruelty, pragmatism. His image was often used in propaganda pieces, promotional works in favour of the Bolshevik party, and is included in history textbooks in schools worldwide.

Pollock, on the other hand, has a style that is synonymous with creativity; creation of the new, embracing seemingly imperfect formats, allowing images to appear from the paint as opposed to preplanning, enjoying and embracing fluidity in art. (Homepages.neiu.edu, 2019)

In fact, it quite goes against Pollock style to have a portrait within the painting at all. To have the stern, political portrait of Lenin but painted within the loose, abstract style of Pollock is in itself a contradiction.

This experience allows us to apply and develop new meaning from the work. We can approach it as a portrait, we can approach it as a commentary, we can approach it as a humorous colliding of symbols, we can approach it as an aesthetic piece, we can approach it as a pareidolia. The possibilities are endless. And in this way, we are discussing the various differences of this one piece – not as a painting – but at a conceptual level, before we even discuss the painting itself.

In conclusion, it is the very difference within this work that brings about it’s complexity and it’s relevance. The many aspects of the painting, the many different viewpoints it can be discussed from, the detail of the inspiration for the painting and how we view it today all combine to make an incredibly interesting work of art. Part of the question brief for this assignment mentioned that “we can show that some works invite a differential interpretation more than others.” (OCA Assignment Brief), I hope that I have shown the differential interpretations of Portrait of V.I. Lenin in the style of Jackson Pollock clearly in my writing.

References

Homepages.neiu.edu. (2019). Available at: http://homepages.neiu.edu/~wbsieger/Art201/201Read/201-Pollock.pdf [Accessed 31 Oct. 2019].

Bbc.co.uk. (2019). BBC – Coventry and Warwickshire Culture – Art and Language. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/coventry/culture/stories/2003/04/art-and-language.shtml [Accessed 31 Oct. 2019].

Bbc.co.uk. (2019). BBC – History – Historic Figures: Vladimir Lenin (1870 – 1924). [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/lenin_vladimir.shtml [Accessed 31 Oct. 2019].

Cubitt, M. (2019). [ebook] Available at: https://megcubittvisualculture.files.wordpress.com/2018/06/assignment-four.pdf#page=6&zoom=100,0,140 [Accessed 30 Oct. 2019].

Plato.stanford.edu. (2019). Gilles Deleuze (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). [online] Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/deleuze/ [Accessed 31 Oct. 2019].

Jackson-pollock.org. (2019). Jackson Pollock’ Biography. [online] Available at: https://www.jackson-pollock.org/biography.jsp [Accessed 31 Oct. 2019].

Marxists.org. (2019). Lenin Quotes. [online] Available at: https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/quotes.htm [Accessed 31 Oct. 2019].

Portrait of V.I. Lenin in the Style of Jackson Pollock. (2019). [image] Available at: https://www.artsy.net/artwork/art-and-language-portrait-of-vi-lenin-in-the-style-of-jackson-pollock-vii [Accessed 31 Oct. 2019].

Reflection on Section 4 and Assignment

I struggled with this section quite a bit. The idea of difference in itself is something that I do understand, but I found very difficult to locate a concise definition of the term in my research. Reading Deleuze in order to find this definition turned out to be near impossible and so I turned to the Student Chat rooms for assistance.

A lady from the OCA library helped me to locate some relevant research material and other students encouraged me not to give up! This was a lovely surprise when I initially considered that I would not be able to write anything at all for this piece.

In my honest opinion, I think that this level of philosophical inquiry is too much in module 1 of year 1 – especially without the benefit of an actual lecture on the subject, any actual workshops where we can ask questions and get clarity, some kind of discussion group. With all the students being at different stages in each module, it’s very difficult to get together with someone at the same stage as me. I am looking forward to section 5, but I am apprehensive. I feel that the OCA should review the content of this module and consider splitting it across two years rather than one, broken up with making in between. However, I did get to the end of it eventually and I look forward to my feedback from my tutor.

Exercise 4.5

Apply the Dialectic diagram to Barr’s. What could count as a thesis, an antithesis and a synthesis. You will need to refer to images of art works for a pursuasive answer.

THESIS: Cubism

ANTITHESIS: Expressionism

SYNTHESIS: Dadism

The Cubism movement was embodied by the abandonment of perspective which had been important during the Renaissance period. Cubism involved the blending of the background and the foreground, using sharp, pointed figures rather than realistic models and often using non art materials such as cloth, cardboard or newspaper. There was often a focus on current events, with the use of newspapers and article clippings later in the movement, which historians believe showed that the work was made with the artists opinions on current events to the fore. There was a clear unity between the scene and the canvas, with emphasis on the texture of the canvas to become part of the scene itself.

An example of Cubism that embodies all of these main points would be Man with a Hat and a Violin, Pablo Picasso

Man with a Hat and a Violin, Pablo Picasso, 1912

Expressionism on the other hand was quite opposed to Cubism in it’s style and palette, but it did hold some similarities for us to investigate.

Expressionism, in contrast to Cubism, focused on the artists emotional state in relation to the scene, rather than the emotions embodied by the scene itself. The emotional state of the artist is conveyed through fluid, swirling brushstrokes and bright palettes; embodying the scene but considered to be filtered through the artists emotions at the time of painting. Figures were often based on current events and involved social criticism – similar to Cubism – however their style differentiates them from Cubist commentary. Expressionist social criticism often involved rendering serpentine figures and bold colours, as opposed to sharp shapes and readymade materials of Cubism.

An example of Expressionism which shows us the comparison to Cubism in terms of colour and brushstrokes would be the most obvious, The Starry Night by Van Gogh.

The Starry Night, Vincent Van Gogh, 1889

Dadaism, which emerged around 1915 seems to be a melding of the two previous movements; incorporating elements from both, while remaining an individual movement in itself. Dadaism was a criticism on art itself; opposing the norms of traditional painting by incorporating ready made, non art materials with very little manipulation by the artist which are then presented as Art. Social criticism seems to focus more on criticism of the previous art movements and is distinctly not focused on aesthetics of art making; this could be considered similar to Cubism and Expressionism, which both rejected traditional figurines for more abstract versions. Dadaism also rejected the concept of planning and meticulous work, allowing the art to speak for itself. I found this to be similar to Cubism & Expressionism, in that the shapes are dictated by the interpretation of the scene rather than the intended aesthetic result. What makes it different to both previous movements is the focus on art itself, rather than social criticism.

An example of Dadaism would be The Art Critic by Raoul Hausmann

REFERENCES:

The Art Story. (2019). Cubism – Top Paintings and Sculptures. [online] Available at: https://www.theartstory.org/movement/cubism/artworks/#pnt_5 [Accessed 24 Sep. 2019].

Tate. (2019). Dada – Art Term | Tate. [online] Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/d/dada [Accessed 24 Sep. 2019].

Google Arts & Culture. (2019). The Starry Night – Vincent van Gogh – Google Arts & Culture. [online] Available at: https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-starry-night/bgEuwDxel93-Pg?hl=en-GB [Accessed 24 Sep. 2019].

NOTES ON EXERCISE

While I felt I understood the concept of the exercise, I felt that it was a little too wide-reaching for just an exercise. Quite a lot more could be done with this exercise as a larger piece of work, which I think I would actually find quite interesting and extremely useful in terms of understanding art movements, but I simply didn’t have the time to give to it at this stage of the coursework.

I may return to this as research and reflection later in the term, it seems like a wonderful way to understand the relationships between the art movements, which can at times seem like an endless web with no beginning or end!

Exercise 4.3

There is first of all the pure impulse or élan of creativity itself, the affirmation of being conceived as a sort of primordial energy or constituent power, the inexhaustible potential or transformation.’ (Hallward, 2006: 37)

In your own words (one brief paragraph) say why you think creation and affirmation are linked here.

I take the meaning of this paragraph to be that the very instinct of creativity, of creation, is a positive, not just the act of creation; creativity is unique in it’s power to bring forth that which was not there, or to restructure what already exists. It is a making force. It’s very existence as a force to inspire creative works means that it is not based upon the idea that difference denotes an absence. I find the word “affirmation” to be a positive rather than a negative, and I think it applies perfectly to the creative process which develops art from the world around us in order to enrich our lives.

Notes

I did attempt to do some background reading on this piece, but I found it an overwhelming volume of information that I couldn’t quite grasp at this stage.

Exercise 4.4

Say to what extent Giotto’s painting can serve to illustrate the quote by Deleuze. (200 words)

Let us imagine something which is distinguished—and yet that from which it is
distinguished is not distinguished from it. The flash of lightening for example, is
distinguished from the black sky, but must carry the sky along with it. . . . One would say that the bottom rises to the surface, without ceasing to be the bottom. There is, on both sides, something cruel—and even monstrous—in this struggle against an elusive adversary, where the distinguished is opposed to something which cannot be distinguished from it, and which continues to embrace that which is divorced from it.
(Deleuze, 2014, 361)

Bondone de Giotto, The Kiss of Judas, 1305

The subject of this painting can be almost perfectly illustrated in Delueze’s quote; the Kiss of Judas. The act itself is a betrayal of Jesus by his apostle, Judas. Just as Judas wishes to be distinguished from Jesus – in his act of betrayal – he can never be distinguished from Jesus – who would Judas be to us had he not acted this way? His betrayal by kiss is a betrayal by love; one cannot experience betrayal without the existence of love, one cannot commit betrayal without distinguishing it from love. I feel that this concept is illustrated by Delueze’s words “Let us imagine something which is distinguished—and yet that from which it is distinguished is not distinguished from it.“

The light portrayed in the piece is distinguishable only as different from the darkening sky in the background. The glowing figures of Jesus and the disciples only distinguishable by their difference from the men behind. These attempts to make the light and glowing figures “different from” is only possible by the existence of the “dark” behind, the “dark” figures.

I also feel that they style of painting really emphasises the flatness of the surface that it is painted on, while also attempting to show depth in the figures clothing. The image would not be possible without the flat surface, and it cannot ever be a three-dimensional object; it’s depiction of depth is to differentiate it from a flat surface, but it cannot escape the fact that it is flat.

Exercise 4.2

Read the text of Newman’s essay in Art in Theory and write a short summary (200 words)
http://art310-f11-hoy.wikispaces.umb.edu/file/view/The+First+Man+was+an+Artist

*Note – the link provided does not work any longer. I googled, and found the essay here http://courses.arch.ntua.gr/fsr/142087/Newman,%20The%20sublime%20is%20now.pdf – I can only hope it is correct.

This essay is an argument for the existence of artistic impulses before utilitarian needs; it is very convincing.

The essay begins by explaining the position of the author, and providing an explanatory line for those who are reading the essay from a scientific perspective (as opposed to an artistic): “In the language of science, the necessity for understanding the unknowable comes before any desire to discover the unknown”. When it is written in this way, it does seem supported by logic – one cannot look for something without first conceiving of the existence of said “thing”.

The author makes statements relating to mans first speech; how it was made in response to emotion rather than to communicate something to someone. He discusses how language is actually universal to all animals, not just humans: “if language is to be defined as the ability to communicate by means of signs, be they sounds or gestures, then language is an animal power”.

He raises the doubt that the existence of God came about from a desire for communication, but rather from a desire to understand the beauty of the world around him.

The essay sprouts the idea in the reader that we are not simply here to work and consume, but that our natural origins are to feel, to see, to express and understand. The idea of the evolving man often shows early man to be an ignorant, unintelligent, worker. How could it affect our society now if we were to reimagine early man as the intelligent creative, the artistic poet and creator, the builder and idoliser of nature? It is a very interesting concept.

Exercise 4.1

Look again at Alfred Barr’s chart for Cubism and Abstract Art and say briefly how it might be understood as information in a system. Briefly compare it to Minard’s map (previous).

Barr’s Cubism and Abstract Art chart is a visual representation of time, art movements, geographical locations and external influences (external data). While it is visually interesting, it is most definitely a system of information for the observer to understand. It is different from a “simply visual” image, in that it dictates information to the viewer rather than transmitting information for the user to observe – we are “given” information, rather than “interpreting” an image.

It is of vertical orientation in terms of time, with some lateral movement of influence between movements, for example “BAUHAUS” to “MODERN ARCHITECTURE”.

We can say that it is a system of information, because of the limitations prescribed in the chart; specifically between 1890 to 1935. Also the use of specific symbols; such as red/black arrows for us to interpret as movement of time and influence.

Minard’s Map is also a set of information within a system, in that it visually displays information relating to a specific event, with specific symbols to represent different sets of information.

As a statistical chart, the map unites six different sets of data. • Geography: rivers, cities and battles are named and placed according to their occurrence on a regular map. • The army’s course: the path’s flow follows the way in and out that Napoleon followed. • The army’s direction: indicated by the colour of the path, gold leading into Russia, black leading out of it. • The number of soldiers remaining: the path gets successively narrower, a plain reminder of the campaigns human toll, as each millimetre represents 10.000 men. • Temperature: the freezing cold of the Russian winter on the return trip is indicated at the bottom, in the republican measurement of degrees of réaumur (water freezes at 0° réaumur, boils at 80° réaumur). • Time: in relation to the temperature indicated at the bottom, from right to left, starting 24 October (pluie, i.e. ‘rain’) to 7 December (-27°).
(Jacobs, 2019)

While the use of symbols in both charts is a similarity, the type of symbol and what they mean in each case is different, based on our expectations of the information being provided as well as our interaction with the descriptive legends provided in each.

One obvious difference I notice is the orientation of the charts; Minard’s being horizontal, Barr’s being vertical. While they both contain some movement in the orientation of the other, they are generally in opposing orientations but both representing time. Could this be called a different similarity? Since both reference one data type, but display it differently. It’s an interesting thought.

REFERENCES

Cubism and Abstract Art. (1936). [ebook] New York: MoMA, p.page two. Available at: https://www.moma.org/documents/moma_catalogue_2748_300086869.pdf [Accessed 22 Aug. 2019].

Friendly, M. (2019). English Translation of Minards Map. [image] Available at: http://www.datavis.ca/gallery/re-minard.php [Accessed 22 Aug. 2019].

Jacobs, F. (2019). The Minard Map – “The best statistical graphic ever drawn”. [online] Big Think. Available at: https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/229-vital-statistics-of-a-deadly-campaign-the-minard-map [Accessed 22 Aug. 2019].

Exercise 4.0

Look at the two paintings above and account for their similarities and differences in three columns – one for each artist – Millet and van Gogh – either side of a column for similarities. Indicate the differences by underlining the appropriate description in the outer columns

MILLET, THE SOWER, 1850	SIMILARITIES	VAN GOGH, THE SOWER, 1889
Oil on Canvas, 105.41 x 85.72cm	Both artists use the same materials; oil on canvas.	Oil on Canvas, 80.8 x 66cm

A young man with a bag of seeds across his chest in extreme foreground of the canvas throwing seeds with his right arm.	Both paintings show the figure scattering seeds and holding a bag to his chest. Both figures are standing almost identically, although this is not surprising as Van Gogh was copying Millet’s work.	A man holding a bag of seeds, to the fore of the painting, scattering seeds with his right arm.

The detail of the painting includes small seeds, individual blades of grass – although the texture of the ground is quite smooth – the flock of birds quite prominent in the background.	Attention to Detail	Van Gogh’s style is quite dominant, where each brushstroke is defined and deliberate, allowing great detail to be included in the painting – for example the texture of the ground which appears covered in vegetation. The flock of birds in the background could easily be mistaken for rogue seeds.

Millet’s colours are focused on warm terracotta browns, reds, yellows and earth tones, bringing about the calming feeling of late evening.	Vibrant use of colours to create atmosphere and suggesting time of day	Van Gogh’s palette is very cool, with blues, greens, yellows and dark strokes of colour, suggesting evening time or sunset.

Reflections on this exercise:

After starting what seemed like a very simple exercise, I realised that it was much more difficult that I had anticipated. I can see more differences than similarities, and so I found it hard to create a similarity in order to highlight a difference on the side. I feel I could have written more on the differences that I saw than the format of the answer allowed.