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Description
60"x46" Acrylic and gesso on canvas

Intro to painting assignment:
"There is no such thing as solid. Even metal is made from atoms that are formed by combinations of protons and neutrons and electrons, all of which are in perpetual motion and are separated by large gaps of space. As humans, we are always in the process of generating and regenerating. Ideally, we will gain new experiences at a faster rate than we forget old ones. How about buildings? Buildings are specifically built to be permanent, but as soon as you start to believe that, think about Rome. A car looks solid, but what happens to it over decades? The sky is full of stars, but many of them burned out centuries ago. The exact seat that you are sitting on will vanish one day. Liquid evaporates; plants wilt; shoelaces tear; fingernails grow; books warp; rocks shift; even plastic—the plastic that we are told never breaks down—will eventually break down. “All that is solid melts into air.”

THE CHALLENGE: How can you respond to the idea of a traditional “still-life” by creating a painting that represents the dynamic nature of real life, where every tangible object and intangible relationship inevitably exists in an ongoing process of shifting, transforming, generating and degenerating?"

on tumblr

artist statement for show:
The piece contrasts landscape painting tradition with computer-generated digital elevation maps and compares how both endeavors approximate the reality of a landscape. The contrast serves to show that both landscape painting and digital elevation maps attempt to capture the reality of a landscape, but both ultimately fail as they are abstractions of the complexity of the actual place. Landscapes cannot be "captured" in any sense, and are constantly changing as atmospheric and hydrologic processes sculpt them. The piece points out the usefulness of digital elevation maps for human understanding of environments so that they can be worked around or exploited, but also advocates caution towards the mentality of absolute control over the environment that comes with excessive anthropocentrism.

Description
60"x46" Acrylic and gesso on canvas

Intro to painting assignment:
"There is no such thing as solid. Even metal is made from atoms that are formed by combinations of protons and neutrons and electrons, all of which are in perpetual motion and are separated by large gaps of space. As humans, we are always in the process of generating and regenerating. Ideally, we will gain new experiences at a faster rate than we forget old ones. How about buildings? Buildings are specifically built to be permanent, but as soon as you start to believe that, think about Rome. A car looks solid, but what happens to it over decades? The sky is full of stars, but many of them burned out centuries ago. The exact seat that you are sitting on will vanish one day. Liquid evaporates; plants wilt; shoelaces tear; fingernails grow; books warp; rocks shift; even plastic—the plastic that we are told never breaks down—will eventually break down. “All that is solid melts into air.”

THE CHALLENGE: How can you respond to the idea of a traditional “still-life” by creating a painting that represents the dynamic nature of real life, where every tangible object and intangible relationship inevitably exists in an ongoing process of shifting, transforming, generating and degenerating?"

on tumblr

artist statement for show:
The piece contrasts landscape painting tradition with computer-generated digital elevation maps and compares how both endeavors approximate the reality of a landscape. The contrast serves to show that both landscape painting and digital elevation maps attempt to capture the reality of a landscape, but both ultimately fail as they are abstractions of the complexity of the actual place. Landscapes cannot be "captured" in any sense, and are constantly changing as atmospheric and hydrologic processes sculpt them. The piece points out the usefulness of digital elevation maps for human understanding of environments so that they can be worked around or exploited, but also advocates caution towards the mentality of absolute control over the environment that comes with excessive anthropocentrism.