Okay - I've got a couple of conceptual calibrations to throw your way in addition to what you've developed here. Firstly, Lewin's work is actually about structure and reduction - in other words, she's really interested in the frame works underpinning things, and pattern and repetition. She is interested in the underpinnings and structures of the plants and forms, with a strong emphasis on line and block colour. When I look at your thumbnails, I'm not really seeing this - what I am seeing is highly organic forms, but I'm also seeing a lot of asymmetry and 'irregularity' and I don't think Lewin's work reflects this. Yes, she's interested in the natural world, but she's primarily interested in structure and pattern - which are more graphical, more architectural ideas really in the context of this project - let me see if I can make a helpful comparison:
Okay - so many of your thumbnails have this kind of quality - as if the buildings are carved out of something or represent the natural irregularities we might associate with 'raw nature':
But Lewin's work is must more stylised than this: she is installs order and symmetry and repetition and pattern into her visualisations - so she's much more this:
I think you need to think much more about what Lewin does and what preoccupies her - really look at her work. I think you've picked up on the 'organic/plant' thing, but that's where your relationship to her work has stopped. Remember, you have to ask yourself a simple question: it's not 'what does Lewin's work make me thing of...' it's 'if Lewin was designing spaces, structures and buildings, how would she bring her preoccupations and influences to bear on that brief?'
Your travelogue to me seems 'not associated enough' with Lewin - again, it feels a bit 'nature/spiritualism/mother nature' etc - and I'm just wondering if this has as much to do with Lewin as it should?
The other issue for me is one of regionalism - Lewin's work relates very strongly to a sense of place, and therefore to particular sorts of plants that come from that region, so I think there should be a stronger relationship between your ideas and her sense of place: this from her website:
"Inspired by both the clifftops and saltmarshes of the North Norfolk coast and the Scottish Highlands, I depict these contrasting environments and their native flora in wood engraving, linocut, silkscreen, lithograph and collage. These landscapes are often glimpsed through intricately detailed plant forms."
For me, everything you need to think about more is contained in this single paragraph: place, specific types of shape and nature (native flora) and 'detail' corresponding to structure, pattern and symmetry.
Go back to your artist, Divine - her work is so about strong form, structures and shapes, she's a gift in terms of the built environment - it's also strongly about a specific location and I think you could and should do more with that.
OGR 02/11/2017
ReplyDeleteHey Divine,
Okay - I've got a couple of conceptual calibrations to throw your way in addition to what you've developed here. Firstly, Lewin's work is actually about structure and reduction - in other words, she's really interested in the frame works underpinning things, and pattern and repetition. She is interested in the underpinnings and structures of the plants and forms, with a strong emphasis on line and block colour. When I look at your thumbnails, I'm not really seeing this - what I am seeing is highly organic forms, but I'm also seeing a lot of asymmetry and 'irregularity' and I don't think Lewin's work reflects this. Yes, she's interested in the natural world, but she's primarily interested in structure and pattern - which are more graphical, more architectural ideas really in the context of this project - let me see if I can make a helpful comparison:
Okay - so many of your thumbnails have this kind of quality - as if the buildings are carved out of something or represent the natural irregularities we might associate with 'raw nature':
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/08/d8/ec/08d8ec8705afb9a4c394fa9a8bca88a0--tree-chair-tree-stump-chair.jpg
But Lewin's work is must more stylised than this: she is installs order and symmetry and repetition and pattern into her visualisations - so she's much more this:
http://www.gardenartandsculpture.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Garden-Sculpture.jpg
http://gradschoolhub.aly2ctnzw.maxcdn-edge.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/21-Little-Seed.jpg
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5581cbebe4b049fb26833239/55847941e4b0029d5f190fde/559edae2e4b09e5256110940/1436474084655/WTARCH_CAGE_CORE-VIEW_1207241.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Beijing_national_stadium.jpg/1200px-Beijing_national_stadium.jpg
http://www.landezine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Pod_Playground-by-Taylor_Cullity_Lethlean_Landscape_Architecture-18.jpg
https://kiddcath.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/mudskipper-pod.jpg
https://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/02/Lair-Nouveau-de-Paris-by-Planning-Korea-2.jpg
I think you need to think much more about what Lewin does and what preoccupies her - really look at her work. I think you've picked up on the 'organic/plant' thing, but that's where your relationship to her work has stopped. Remember, you have to ask yourself a simple question: it's not 'what does Lewin's work make me thing of...' it's 'if Lewin was designing spaces, structures and buildings, how would she bring her preoccupations and influences to bear on that brief?'
Your travelogue to me seems 'not associated enough' with Lewin - again, it feels a bit 'nature/spiritualism/mother nature' etc - and I'm just wondering if this has as much to do with Lewin as it should?
The other issue for me is one of regionalism - Lewin's work relates very strongly to a sense of place, and therefore to particular sorts of plants that come from that region, so I think there should be a stronger relationship between your ideas and her sense of place: this from her website:
"Inspired by both the clifftops and saltmarshes of the North Norfolk coast and the Scottish Highlands, I depict these contrasting environments and their native flora in wood engraving, linocut, silkscreen, lithograph and collage. These landscapes are often glimpsed through intricately detailed plant forms."
For me, everything you need to think about more is contained in this single paragraph: place, specific types of shape and nature (native flora) and 'detail' corresponding to structure, pattern and symmetry.
Go back to your artist, Divine - her work is so about strong form, structures and shapes, she's a gift in terms of the built environment - it's also strongly about a specific location and I think you could and should do more with that.