Evidence » course: design1

ct

thanks for posing this question
i have been thinking about it all day

i think what draws me to this scenario is a shape which is at once highly specific and also very ambiguous
the schoolbus shape is both of these things
i think barbara has talked about this aspect of abstraction
i am also drawn to the history of this shape
also this shape was found
picked up from the detritus of the world
and kept intact
it has been discarded from its original function
the tape on the back was put on without any aesthetic consideration ( i assume) but was executed perfectly in terms of a dynamic composition
there is also a subtle color relationship which i like

more generally, i think specificity of a shape is really important
a silhouette
a tracing
a doppleganger

i thinks of duchamps glass

the shape must also be appealing
there is an intuitive response to the right shape
i'm not sure if im being clear
or if im answering the question
let's continue this discussion
i think the potential of multiple meanings is relevant
also i think about printmaking-
layering, transparency, building an image
often when a print is made there is a specific shape either dropped out, or printed in another color behind a key image
when this run is isolated, you are left with this specific/ambiguous shape
some of my favorite drawings from intro is the straight-up contour
especially when the entire still life becomes one shape
you know what i mean

This one reminds me of when I was little. I was actually happy about going to school. The first day of school is always the best. This picture symbolizes just that.

as i scrolled down, i saw a cardboard shape that said "schoolbus back" over it (i hadn't yet scrolled down to see the front of this shape) and i imediately began imagining the back of a schoolbus that would fill in this shape. i imagined the back bumper and unseen tires that were present just below the bottom of the scan. it seemed that the pieces of tape might somehow be representative of the back bus windows (okay i admit that it wasn't perfect but the bus in my mind was a very exagerated, cartoony sort of bus.) when i scrolled down a little more a saw the front of this piece and it bore NO resemblance to my imagined schoolbus. i think it's interesting that our minds can create such visceral images in order to make sense out of shapes. i can remember, as a little kid, see shadows at night that i was 100% CERTAIN were the shadows of monsters lurking just outside my window waiting for me to close my eyes. looking back on it 20 years later, i'm pretty sure that they weren't really the shadows of monsters; it's fascinating, though, that something as simple as unidentified shapes can evoke such a powerful emotional response.

The cutout is awesome. I think if you looked at it long enough so many more shapes would emerge because your mind plays tricks. I wonder if you didn't see the pic underneathe the cutout, if you would have assumed it was something else. I know I did--I didn't think it was a bus but instead a big poofy cloud...