Copy Paste

Sorry, or maybe not, the images on this blog are mostly stolen as they include visuals taken from other sites (without permission), photocopied or scanned – probably in breech of international copyright laws.

However, should you have been directed to this blog it means that  you have been invited to look into a private visual process, a non-public virtual sketchbook.

The Creature

Dorothea Tanning, Birthday, 1942

Dorothea Tanning on her 30th birthday painted her self-portrait “Birthday” in 1942.

Her fascination of the endless openings of doors depicts a surrealist’s image of the labyrinth, the ‘rooms’ of the unconscious mind. The winged creature in front of her is a nocturnal animal called a Lemur from Madagascar, usually associated with the spirits of the dead and the night. The theatrical purple jacket and the human-shaped roots skirt express the conflict and contrast of nature and culture.

Siren

Siren, The J. Paul Getty Museum, ca 350 - 340 BC (Late Classical)

THE SEIRENES (or Sirens) were three sea nymphs who lured sailors to their death with a bewitching song. They were formerly handmaidens of the goddess Persephone. When the girl was secretly abducted by Haides, Demeter gave them the bodies of birds, and sent to assist in the search. They eventually gave up and settled on the flowery island of Anthemoessa.

The Seirenes were later encountered by the Argonauts who passed by unharmed with the help of Orpheus, the poet drowing out their music with his song. Odysseus also sailed by, bound tightly to the mast, his men blocking their ears with wax. The Seirenes were so distressed to see a man hear their song and yet escape, that they threw themselves into the sea and drowned.

The Seirenes were depicted as birds with either the heads, or the entire upper bodies, of women. In mosaic art they were depicted with just bird legs.

Process

The process

I don’t know how this is going to end up – exploration will give some kind of result – perhaps my virtual sketchbook will end as several collections /visual stories/ on different themes – hopefully a way to produce more concrete art pieces which are non-virtual, ie material – which are then also put on the Virtualities blog in more than just sketch/idea form – should not forget to mention that the aim of this space is also to establish some working continuity in my artwork.