Posted by Alpha Auer
Collage: In Profils Perdus Soupault says: "... In the course of our inquiry we had discovered that the mind released from all critical pressures offered images and not logical propositions..." The imagery of collage, its image-work is not amenable to rational control or explanation. André Breton recalls how he used Freud’s methods of investigation, as he experimented in written monologue by throwing out ideas on paper, followed by a critical examination. Breton noted that the writings were ‘strange’, invested with a ‘very high degree of immediate absurdity’. It was out of this experiment with Freud’s method that Breton founded surrealism defining it as ‘pure psychic automatism’, which through the spoken or written word, or some other means of expression, would reveal ‘the real process of thought’.
Collage consists in reassembling preexisting images in such a way as to form a new image answering a poetic need. Max Ernst defined it as "the chance encounter of two distant realities on an unsuitable level", a formula which is an alternate codification of Lautréamont's proposition: "Beautiful as the encounter of a sewing machine and an umbrella on a dissecting table, it gives us a remarkable method of triangulation that does not provide measures, but brings to the surface unrevealed mental images". Aragon states that collage "is more reminiscent of the operations of magic than of those of painting”. Everything hinges on the artist's success in persuading us to recognize as accurate the relationship now established between normally distant realities as well as in making us recognize their connection on the plane of poetry. Asked, whether he thought that his collages were visible poetry Jean Arp replied "Yes, this is poetry made with plastic means".
A conglomeration of protagonists: a bird, a skeleton in a wheelchair, empty chairs arranged in a circle waiting for their occupants, a fiery bathtub, a windmill have been placed in a landscape perfectly gridded by rows of stakes, over which loom a number of ever so graceful Picabiaesque towers. A collage of three dimensions. I do not know what this is. I do not understand it - on a conscious level - any more than I "understand" Max Ernst's collages or Eluard's poetry. However, just as its Dadaist and surrealist predecessors the impact of that what I am looking at (as well as hearing!) is utterly remarkable...
Dekka Raymaker and Penumbra Carter's installation at Burning Life 2009 is one of the most compelling works of art that I have been immersed in in quite some time. Teleport directly from here!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
144/Dimensional Drift Machine: Dekka Raymaker/Penumbra Carter at Burning Life 2009
Friday, October 24, 2008
Dekka Raymaker's puzzler: Skullduggery
Skullduggery or Skulduggery: 1. A devious device or trick. 2. Underhanded or unscrupulous behavior.
It is not a simple matter to reach the point where you are standing in front of this installation in Second Life®, but if you are in the mood for a bit of mystery and deductive reasoning, you are in for a wee bit of a challenge and a treat.
First, teleport from here. You will find yourself in the middle of a field, but if you look behind you, you will see a brown brick building a few meters away. Head towards the front door.
But wait! You need to punch in a code to gain access. Hmmm. I wonder if there is a hint or two (or three) nearby?
Once inside, and at the end of the long hall, there is an apothecary table and shelves containing all matter of turn of the century as well as contemporary pharmaceutical supplies, mixing and writing tools and clocks and... a voodoo doll? Skulls?
Somewhere in this room is a clue that will help you, as its creator Dekka Raymaker, suggested to me, "get it."
"It is there. Obvious when you know," said Dekka, as I fumbled around touching everything and looking everywhere.
"The inspiration of the piece started with a photograph by Philippe Halsman after a drawing by Dalí of a human skull consisting of seven naked women's bodies. Other references include psychological fear, horror, selling one's soul (selling out) and a little bit of subtle recession phobia," added Dekka. Hmmm. I wonder if Dekka's financial advisor had a bad year?
His advice for how to view this:
: Midnight is preferrable for the first look
: Turn off streaming music and video
: The entrance is code activated, 3 numbers
: Some objects can be interacted with, drawers open & touch sound
: Some things are not obviously on view; with a little cam action they can be seen
: I hope you 'get it'
