Rob MacKillop
Edinburgh Correspondent
LeicaQ. Modern Art Gallery, Edinburgh. DxOPhotoLab2, LR6, Elements 11.
Inner Nature
- Thread starter Rob MacKillop
- Start date
LeicaQ. Modern Art Gallery, Edinburgh. DxOPhotoLab2, LR6, Elements 11.
Dave Farnes
Well-Known Member
Hmmm... I do try to understand modern art, but that is just a dead sapling.
Rob MacKillop
Edinburgh Correspondent
No, it's a chair 
Most art (sweeping generality coming up!) is about tension and release. I hear it mostly in music, but I can see it in art, whether a painting on canvas or an installation.
So here we have a sapling inside an art gallery - clearly there is tension. What's it doing here?
Then you notice the floor boards - made of trees. Big increase in tension. Questions, questions.
That was the art work. My photograph is another work of art. By bringing the chair into view, more questions are asked. Is it part of the installation? Is it there for the public or the attendant? Why is no one sitting in it? No observer. What's the relationship between the chair and the tree. Am I meant to be looking at the tree or the chair, or both? Tension.
I tried to give it a Kubrick-like feel, a bit of alienation. It reminded me of a "negative" of the apes meeting the black monolith in 2001, with the roles reversed. Now it is the technological mind that looks in stupefaction at nature.
But where's the release? Ah, you have to supply that...
Most art (sweeping generality coming up!) is about tension and release. I hear it mostly in music, but I can see it in art, whether a painting on canvas or an installation.
So here we have a sapling inside an art gallery - clearly there is tension. What's it doing here?
Then you notice the floor boards - made of trees. Big increase in tension. Questions, questions.
That was the art work. My photograph is another work of art. By bringing the chair into view, more questions are asked. Is it part of the installation? Is it there for the public or the attendant? Why is no one sitting in it? No observer. What's the relationship between the chair and the tree. Am I meant to be looking at the tree or the chair, or both? Tension.
I tried to give it a Kubrick-like feel, a bit of alienation. It reminded me of a "negative" of the apes meeting the black monolith in 2001, with the roles reversed. Now it is the technological mind that looks in stupefaction at nature.
But where's the release? Ah, you have to supply that...
Rob MacKillop
Edinburgh Correspondent
There are other currents...such as the electricity current signified by the socket...the "force that through the green fuse drives the flower", as Dylan Thomas said, is absent from the dead sapling.
And the light from the window illuminating and warming all, yet there is also an electric heater.
Questions, questions
And the light from the window illuminating and warming all, yet there is also an electric heater.
Questions, questions
Dave Farnes
Well-Known Member
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, very interesting.
Yes, I can see where you are coming from in that, the chair does add a number of questions and you have got a Kubrick-like feel to your picture. Maybe my observation software need upgrading, I am noticeably lacking in mojo this year.
I do like the contrasts and tensions in modern music. I am a fan of symphonic metal, the combination of a trained operatic voice, a growling death metal voice and crashing drums and guitars all work together and counterpoint each other so well in my opinion.
Yes, I can see where you are coming from in that, the chair does add a number of questions and you have got a Kubrick-like feel to your picture. Maybe my observation software need upgrading, I am noticeably lacking in mojo this year.
I do like the contrasts and tensions in modern music. I am a fan of symphonic metal, the combination of a trained operatic voice, a growling death metal voice and crashing drums and guitars all work together and counterpoint each other so well in my opinion.
Rob MacKillop
Edinburgh Correspondent
symphonic metal...
Dave Farnes
Well-Known Member
It works for me. Have seen Tarja Turunen live, seen Epica 3 times, all great gigs.symphonic metal...
Rhonda Smith
Well-Known Member
Certainly raises a lot of questions...More tension ! Well shot, however. Less is more.
Pete Askew
Admin
Or has the person who normally sits in that chair been off sick for a week and no one else watered the plant?! 
Or were you hoping for a serious comment?...
I like this image very much, and your interpretation. There is certainly a very strong feeling of isolation in the image - Kubrick did not spring to mind, but I like the comparison, also the wood, energy part too. Bringing a dead sapling into a gallery an intriguing idea (or was it alive when it arrived?). An object that would normally be overlooked or lost in its normal environment suddenly gains so much meaning, whether that be a comment on the environment in general, pollution, climate change or a more complex philosophy. Interesting and quite compelling.
Or were you hoping for a serious comment?...
I like this image very much, and your interpretation. There is certainly a very strong feeling of isolation in the image - Kubrick did not spring to mind, but I like the comparison, also the wood, energy part too. Bringing a dead sapling into a gallery an intriguing idea (or was it alive when it arrived?). An object that would normally be overlooked or lost in its normal environment suddenly gains so much meaning, whether that be a comment on the environment in general, pollution, climate change or a more complex philosophy. Interesting and quite compelling.
Rob MacKillop
Edinburgh Correspondent
A balance of serious and amusing suits me just fine
I'm reminded of the old Zen story about the student contemplating a tree. At first it is just a tree. Once you start on the path towards enlightenment that tree becomes a whole world of possibilities and associations. But once you are enlightened, it's just a tree.
I'm reminded of the old Zen story about the student contemplating a tree. At first it is just a tree. Once you start on the path towards enlightenment that tree becomes a whole world of possibilities and associations. But once you are enlightened, it's just a tree.
Pete Askew
Admin
The speed at which my enlightenment progresses, that tree is likely to become a coffee table!
