Sunday, February 22, 2009

Invisible Architecture

Well, I think I've set the stage enough that I can now wander up and down the corridors of my library of images and not have to be even remotely chronological. If you've read along, and I'm guessing you haven't, you know my obsession with images. If I had saved everything of that sort that I had ever owned, we could have quite a show here. But time and tide disperse of all things, yet I did manage to keep my sanity and keep a few. And this stuff does help keep my sanity in a world where we all have to die. This stuff has helped me live. The love of imagery has been the invisible architecture of the structure of my life.

"Artist-illustrator Frank Carson, who produced over 3000 constructions in a four year period, proposed that we reinvestigate the whole concept of intuitive, non-linear thinking, what he called, 'nature's own path, the path of least resistance'. Carson opened a window into a math of circles and curves, fundamentally different from traditional mathematics. He developed a new geometry which he declared is a 'new mandala or great key to awakening of these unconscious powers of the psyche.' "
—Architecture / May 1990

Whatever a person's understanding of these concepts, clearly art and science can come together beautifully.




Friday, February 20, 2009

My Little Golden Age

People spend a lot of time naming eras and speculating on their values. The Golden Age is a term that naturally evokes nostalgia—for a time that probably wasn't so great at the time, but in hindsight seems pretty peachy.






The original golden age as seen by Ingres.

Looking at this Disney Golden Book again recently, I was astounded by its Disneyish beauty. A large hardback for $1!

Frazetta covers stirred the depths of my imagination and inspired me to read deeply.

Some covers stirred my imagination more deeply than others.

And Frazetta was even recognizable in other mediums and formats. I was delighted to discover his renderings of Annie.

My Little Golden Age

Frank Kelly Freas

Chesley Bonestell

Bob Peak

detail

more detail

Hidden Forces

There's nothing like a New Yorker cartoon to evoke the pathos of our lives...