Vacant Mind

Geoffrey Bartlett

I was at Federation Square checking out the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia.

I find it harder to understand sculptors than I do painting, well let me clarify that, I can make sense of most art that is not abstract. You see I’m not really an art fan but I do enjoy it and I will go along to anything that I get a chance to.

Geoffrey Bartlett exhibition was one that I was interesting because while I have seen sculptures I have never heard that artist talk about his own work.

A lot of it I couldn’t hear due to the nature of the room that we were standing in, but there was one thing that he said that struck a cord.

I’m paraphrasing here but it went something along the lines of:

As a sculptor you have to be mindful of space around your work and how it affects it, where a painter can have a frame and canvas to direct his audience to a focal point the sculptor as to know who to use space to convey their message

Once I heard this and I looked at his works again they made so much more sense, not much more than the average person but more that I could begin to appreciate it.

It’s one of the many things that I like about pushing myself to experience new things, I always come away learning something.

Plastic Photo Show

I have a few friends who are rather good photographers and as a result, combined with the photos that I took on the overseas trip, I have become rather interested in the field as well.
While I was at Uni doing my thing I noticed that there was a photo show going on at the Hawthorn town hall, only problem that it was on while there was a class on, which in the end turn out not be a problem because I just skipped it.

The whole premise of the exhibition was to showcase photographs that were taken using low-tech photographic methods such as: plastic lens, vintage, Polaroid cameras, pinhole, alternative processes and antiquarian methods.

Although many of the subjects or objects that were photographed were ordinary the way and perpective that they were taken were different because of the methods used, I probably didn’t get to enjoy as much as I would have liked to mainly because I was on my own and was pretty tired from the week, but still enjoyable.

I did like the fact that I didn’t have to travel far from my normal destinations to get there, I will have to keep my eye out for similar sort of stuff.

Dutch Masters

The National Gallery of Victoria has a exhibition displaying Dutch art work from around the 17th Century.

I was quite amazed at a lot of the work, it was a lot better than I thought it would be, I wasn’t particularly interested in the porcelain, glasswork or pottery, they just didn’t seem quite as impressive as the art work.
Although there was one example of engraving that was extremely impressive, it was done on a blue decanter I think, but it was stunning the detail and the perfection considering that time that it was made when compared to the knowledge and technology that we have available now.

I particularly liked comparing the art works of Masters to Students, one good example was when art was compared between Rembrandt and Frans Hals, it is clear in Hals early career how similar his style was to Rembrandt but then when you see his later work it stood on its own as great art. Even seeing art from Rembrandt early and then later in his career you can see how it has developed and changed depending on where he was and the environment that surrounded him.

There were a few different sections in the exhibition: Still Life (Food, Flora & Fauna), Portrait, Landscape, Religion & Society, there might have been one more but I can’t remember, there was even a table rug.

There are quite a few pieces that I liked quite a lot, but I can’t remember their names, so sometime in the near future I will have to buy the catalogue so I have something to remember.

It’s hard to explain what I like about the paintings the most, it’s the striking clarity, clean lines (some) how the foreground is focused while the background is more muted to focus your attention on a particular subject.
The most fantastic use of light and shadow to give the art a very real 3D effect to the point that it almost jumps out at you, even the black clothes in some paintings.
Something that I did discover was the mediums that they used to paint on ( canvas, wood, and even copper) seemed to allow the artist to convey vivid clarity with colours, shapes and extraordinary fine detail that on occasion I would wonder at the depth of skill, time and imagination it would have taken to craft such a piece. There is a particular painting of a town with the hustle and bustle of people, horses and business that represents this, also the detail in the lace on clothes is quite simply amazing.

The way that some painters had done the landscape art was stunning to say the least, many were like a story, the detail and clarity of the trees looked like a photograph.

I am extremely glad that I did go to see the exhibition, if I missed out I suppose that I really wouldn’t have mattered to me, because I’m not that much of an art connoisseur. I would have to say that going has defiantly raised a certain interest on the subject and I might be checking out other exhibitions either obscure or popular.

I might see if I can grab some examples and put them up there.

That’s all for now.