Peter Callesen

 Peter Callesen, born in Copenhagen in 1967 is a Danish artist and author. Callesen is most well known for his talent in creating paper-cut artworks. His work is renowned for combining simple and accessible mediums, (most frequently paper) with intricate designs of high technical difficulty and deep messages with particular focus on life and death and the relationship they have.

 His work focuses on all aspects and properties of paper in terms of cutting, some works are completely cut out, some are cut in certain sections and placed on coloured paper for a more vivid effect and finally, typically the most artistically successful, is where he cuts out specific sections and allows the cutout to hang, where both the paper and the outline can be seen together. These cutouts challenge Callesen further to carefully and thoughtfully place his cutout in an area that will most successfully convey his message in his work.     

 This piece is named, 'The core of Everything', five words I would use to describe this piece are; dynamic, fresh, simple, powerful and meaningful. This work reminds me of life, with nothing lasting forever and everything eventually decaying. I think this due to the sharp contrast in form between the same thing, one form of the apple is rotting and small, the other form is a quintessential apple shape and looks very pleasing. 

 The artist has used paper to create this piece, I feel he has done this to emphasize just how delicate life is, and how small the gap is between life and death. The elements of this that I most enjoy are how graphic and sharp all the cuts are. The top apple looks very powerful.


 I think the work is relevant to my project as I am becoming increasingly interested in the sub-theme, 'end-of-summer' as a number of things that I have collected in my box and documented in my journal are centered around the summer ending, this transition from summer to autumn is also embodied in this work, as the passage of time eventually results in the rotting of the apple from its former, ripe and alive state. The work is less relevant in the sense that I'm not entirely interested in the them of life and death. 

 Having researched what others had to say about this work I found an interesting post commenting on Callesen and his work, it said,'On top of a story that include various symbols that we recognise from fairy tales and other archetypical storytelling, and thus integrating all those narratives that we know from reading books and watching films about castles and princesses and monsters and darkness and a lot of other things, he also brings in the story of the work itself. This is not just an apple, it is an apple that tells you how it was made. All laid bare, the start, the process, and the final result. In that sense, the work is narrative, but also performative'. This research has definitely changed my view of Callesens work, I used to think it was simply about one thing, in two seperate forms, but this comment has made me realise the narrative nature of his work, by leaving the cut out there he not only creates an interesting shape but shows the origin of the other form, where it came from and how it became this, transitional journey.

 I would like to ask the artist, where he gets his inspiration from, is it from everyday life, or has it sprung from philosophy or some other scholarly activity?

 I think the artwork is about exploring the relationship that life and death have. I know this not only due to the content of the actual work of itself but Callesen has himself stated that he explores aforementioned themes in his work. 

 If I was to name this work, I would call it, 'Organic Evolution' organic as its related to life, and evolution due to the natural transition from life and prime to death and welter.I would compare this work to some of the work by Damien Hirst, Hirst explores the relationship that life and death have in a more elaborate way, by placing dead organisms in special chemicals to preserve them.





 Hirst uses actual organism where as Callesen creates them, typically Callesen doesn't use actual mammals either as his inspiration, but more symbols of life and death, like a tree or a flower, or in my example, an apple. While these two works explore similar themes they're very different as pieces. Hirst has simply the dead form in his work, and no alive one as a comparison, Callesen will almost always create something for both an alive and dead form. 

 The elements that I think are successful in Callesens work above are the clear distinction he makes between life and death. The simplicity of the paper and the lack of colour-diversity ironically help him to illustrate his point in a more, bold and concise manner. I feel the image would be more powerful with a black background instead of a red, it would be easier to make the association of life and death with that colour scheme. Callesens technique of cutting something out and using the cut-out as part of the structure of the other object is something I'd like to incorporate in my work, I want to improve my practical skills with delicate and fiddly mediums like paper and glue. One person said,'I admire the simplicity of his work, riddled with technical difficulty yet message is clear', I agree, what Callesen creates is beautiful and precise, with many obvious hours of work having been put in, but its not over the top, so the message he is trying to convey and themes he is exploring is always very clear as the viewer isn't distracted. 

 I would like to create a response to communicate my ideas from Callesen, I am not overly excited by the theme of life and death however as mentioned previously the narrative and transitional nature of his work is something of great interest to me. I want my work to be about one change to another, a number of items in my box have a connection with the passing the joys of  summer; end of summer festivals, travelcard from the last day of August, sketches from when I walked home and there were these moving sunsets, I would like to create something that is about the seasonal symbolism of Summer and explore the symbolic possibilities of how to present it. 

 I think the idea connects to the project in quite a frank way, as shockingly brilliant as summer 2013 was, it is just a memory now, and through this project I can try and project my memories through as many exciting mediums and techniques as I possibly can. I think this idea uses things I have taken from Callesen, and my other research for a number of reasons; Not only was I planning on using paper for my medium when doing this response

but I have also incorporated the idea of using the remains of the cut out as part of my work. 

 

 
 I created a cutout which is very similar to an image of the flyer of the festival I attended I used my colour theory knowledge and used red to convey as sense of danger an unknowing, combined with excitement and exhilaration, as it was my first festival, I was experiencing all these emotions.

 I am particularly happy with the concise and thoughtful colour choices I have made, I feel Callesens work really suits a lack of colour however the red in this gave it the vivid edge that it needed.

 The areas of improvement are two obvious areas within the work: to have a cleaner cut out (develop scalpel skills further), want to be able to create that same crispness that Callesens apple had. Secondly I want my work to have more of deep connection, maybe explore a sub-theme within summer time symbolism. I need to explore the contents of my box further to establish where I could develop my ideas. I do feel the idea of a festival was conveyed successfully though,  perhaps one more colour would have looked more festival-like instead of the English flag. I will explore what my memory box has to offer and narrow my ideas further still embracing Callesens techniques and approach.