Kandinsky

 Wassily Kandinsky, born 1866 in Moscow was an influential Russian painter and art theorist, he is often credited with creating the
first truly abstract paintings. He died in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a French suburb of Paris in 1944. Kandinsky's abstract pieces interest me immensely, I am fascinated by the forms he creates and the spontaneous and impulsive nature of a number of his later paintings(emphasis on later as a lot of his early work was fascinating but not as abstract or analysis worthy for me personally). It is due to this that I have chosen Kandinsky's 'On White (II)' to analyse, this piece was created in 1923. The piece is situated in Paris, in the 'Musee National Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou', I found out about this piece when I was researching famous artists who pioneered abstraction in painting. This piece was one of the most frequently occurring however I did find joy in looking at it so it seemed appropriate. 

 
 If I had to describe this piece using five words I would use; abstract, mathematical, calculated, geometrical and lateral. If I was describing this work to someone who could not see it, I would say it is a work of colliding geometrical forms and shapes of varying intensity and colour, all seem to be exploding outward a towards the edge of a white canvas. At first I only noticed the more apparent shapes, however upon closer inspection I am able to notice the more intricut details . These details include; the square grids of different colours and tones and the smaller lines and swirls.

 The work is oil on canvas, the most interesting feeling from the work is definitely the density and sharpness of it. The bold look is so pleasing to my eye.

 Kandinsky had Synesthesia, a neurological condition due to a miss-wiring in the brain. This can cause 'sufferers' to experience misaligned sensory reactions. One example, listening to a song, and seeing colours and shapes form infront of you, as that miss-wiring causes your brain to perceive it in that way. This was infact the main inspiration for a lot of Kandinsky's later work, he is noted for saying, 'music is the ultimate teacher' and 'lend your ears to music, open your eyes to painting, and stop thinking' the second quotes implies the visual connection between music and art that Kandinksy had, he was trying to create a symphony in all his pieces, visual-audio experiences in one. Music and sound were Kandinsky's main inspirations, I believe this as he also stated that the majority of his work was, 'improvised' . The work and approach of Kandinsky  is immensely related to my project; he recites his audio memories in his paintings, perhaps I could try and project my own experiences of sound through art? My holiday did have a few significant moments involving sound, one I mentioned previously which was seeing the Rolling Stones live in Hyde Park.

 If I had to give a new title to this work, which I would gladly, considering, On White (II) isn't overly exciting; I would call it, 'Formal Explosion'- a play on words,

Form, for the shapes and, well, forms that are present, explosion due to the outward travelling nature of piece, however the forms are very graphic and straight, very formal. The title is actually very influential on the viewers interpretation of the piece. A title is in a lot of cases, the only written information you're going to get on a piece. It is because of this that I think a title is one of the most crucial parts of a piece. Not every title has to be something charming, poetic or eloquent, but have meaning, on white (II) I think is used as a metaphor, people often talk of a blank or white canvas, something fresh and full of possibilities, perhaps Kandinsky wanting people to form their own interpretation when naming it? The work feels like a void or cortex, something that would suck you in then spit you out. This is due to the density of forms and objects in the centre, in comparison to the sparse wastelands of the outer canvas. This work reminds me of, a stage design by British artist David Hockney. David Hockney also,'suffers' from synesthesia, and when he is designing stages he listens to the music that is going to be in the production and his mind does the rest, creating fascinating images and forms, 'the tree just starts painting itself' apparently. 

 The technique, or inspiration for these two works is what draws them together, aswell as the meaning, they're both strongly related to the relationship that visual art and music have and how one can be represented through the other. The contents of the paintings are both inspired by the visual experience that they have when they listen to music, these links, actually make their work very similar. 

 I like the experienced use of colour in this painting, the composition is perfect for the eye aswell. Nothing seems out of place. I honestly can't think of anything particularly wrong with this painting. Curious to see what other thought of him, I searched for scholarly reviews, this is one quote that particularly stood out for me,'Wassily Kandinsky was one of the most original and influential artists of the twentieth-century' I feel they may have this as he is often descibed as being the father of abstraction, a pioneer in the acceptance of abstract work in the art world and one of the first people to attempt such work on a professional level. His work is consistently impressive in its originality, as well as the dynamic compositions. 

 I'd like to create a thoughtful response to Kandisnky in acrylic, acrylic is always my paint preference, I like the low maintence of it, (no mixing medium, quick dry time). I spent a lot of my time in the summer around music, i'd like to try and remember the music I was listening to/heard and using logos or musical symbols associated with that act, create a paint response to them, (I.e. painting the famous lips for The Rolling Stones) in a timeline format! Different music for differet periods of the summer! Fortunately any music that did really resonate with me is noted in my journal. This painting links to my project of memories as I'm creating a visual-audio account of my summer using paint, I unfortunately don't have synesthesia- so I have had to adapt my work according to what I do have, an accurate collection of the time and place that I heard certain songs!

 I sketched out the general idea that I had, upon sketching I realised that instead of trying to mix memories into once piece, to avoid unnecessary complexity- I would create a single piece dedicated to some of my more profound memories of the summer, but still memories cantered around music- I started off with the most obvious seeing the stones, I thought of what made that day special, what colours stood out to me? What I did? I created a sketch of my plan, which in itself was quite successful, if I might say myself! 

 I approved of what I had created and embarked on my piece, I wanted it to look spontaneous and rushed in places, and graphic and thorough in others, I also wanted to include other activities that were involved in that specific day, (this day was the same day that I partook in a painting competition, very significant)

 This piece proved to be a massive challenge for me, it was very out of my comfort zone, tbs difficulty in producing something meaningful and powerful yet abstract is a skill which although I improved in this activity, definitely needs further refining. I like the relevance of everything in the photo, and that it is abstract yet decipherable, I wanted people to feel visually excited yet informed about my memory, hence the iconic symbols and sketches. Watercolour pen seemed to work better for this activity than what the previously planned, acrylic would have. It spread much easier, allowing much more precision and creating vivid colours. I do however feel I could push my ideas further by doing a few more of these based on different memories, using different mediums, (now that I finally have some acrylic paper)!!!