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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas (well... plasma)

So I stayed up all night Monday reading "Surely you're joking Mr. Feynman".  At some point he starts to talk about his reasons for wanting to learn to draw.

"I wanted to convey an emotion I have about the beauty of the world. It's difficult to describe because it's an emotion. It's analogous to the feeling one has in religion that has to do with a god that controls everything in the whole universe: there's a generality aspect that you feel  when you think about how things that appear so different and behave so differently are all run "behind the scenes" by the same organization, the same physical laws. It's appreciation of the mathematical beauty of nature, of how she works inside; realization that the phenomena we see result from the complexity of the inner workings between atoms; a feeling of how dramatic and wonderful it is. It's a feeling of awe -of scientific awe- which I felt could be communicated through a drawing to someone who had also had this emotion.  It could remind him, for a moment, of this feeling about the glories of the universe."

Every time it's suggested I combine art and physics this is what I want to do.  But how? I don't know if I can make something that can give such a feeling, at least not to me.  The greatest sensation I feel in painting is in the act of doing it.  The discovery and the process of making.  I think it's a similar sense of discover which pulls me to physics.  This feeling might be in the glass, pulling some one into a stranger's twisted reflection, searching for some point of stability, then finally orienting yourself and seeing things as they are.  If I could build a maze into my paintings... Perhaps I could do some physics before making my still life. Figure out what I want something to look like, and figure out a way for the light to bend to my painting. In any case, there are some possibilities to think about.

Feynman did a drawing titled "The Magnetic Field of the Sun".  I like the idea, but it just doesn't feel like me.  As beautiful as astronomical phenomena may be, I think it'll be too easy to unwittingly end up an abstract expressionist.
Epic
On the other hand something simple like this can still be beautiful.  And I've always wanted to bring a kind of wonder to the everyday.  It's simple, yet not.
note: same physical laws as previous picture: mini-epic



Friday, September 24, 2010

Why's it all?

Dukkha (doo-k-kha) : Dissatisfaction with the world.

I was wondering why I paint.  It sounds like a simple question with a simple answer: I like making stuff.  But what stuff? why? The same answer can be applied to any multitude of things I choose to do.  Why do I: fold origami; draw; craft jewelry; program; knit? Why do I feel compelled to take up: glass blowing; ceramics; silk screening; animation; carpentry; engineering; tatting; cooking; ice sculpture; metal working; Celtic knotting?  What is the point behind: bicycling; fencing; unicycling; juggling; aikidou; qi gong; tai chi; Japanese (not to leave out the things I want to to do: rock climbing; swimming; parkour; gymnastics)?  Why have I settled on painting and physics? What about these two raises them above the rest?  Are they fundamental? Are they better than the rest?  Are they just broad?  And why two?  Why not three? Why not one?
I'm already stretched to my limits if these two are to be considered main, and the rest minor. And then I get asked "Do I see myself combining them"? Into what? What could these two possibly become together? Why these two? Why not any other combination of ANY other obsession?
Is glass not good enough?  What does "good enough" even mean?  Must I paint with an agenda?  Why don't I paint free body diagrams on old masters?  Why not the probability distribution of an electron?  Why not atom smashers? scattering experiments? galaxies? the universe?
...And in the comic below I realize I've successful combined physics and drawing. Should I paint comics?  It might be fun.  But then why am I bothering to paint it?  Is that really the right medium?  Does it give my comic historical authority? Do I care about historical authority?
I paint GLASS! It's fun! I like looking at things.  I like observing the world around me, studying it; That's why I'm interested in physics.  Painting about physics may be too self referential. Whatever...
I'd wear it on a T-shirt.
Fun fact: This post has 32 rhetorical questions and 15 statements!

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Comic: Wrong Planet

Wrong Planet Assignment:

Comic: Hellboy, Bechdel, Me

Assignment two.  Picture with Me, HellboyAlison Bechdel.

Comic: Picture-less

Picture-less Comic Assignment:
(note: no punchline, just a story)