Thursday, March 24, 2016

microwave porridge


The fish is a symbol of faith, an archetype of Christianity. A fishman is not. I think some would even say it's unholy.

What do you see in this picture? Does it have a fish or human brain? The fish brain would explain why she's walking funny. The head saved this drawing from tedium, but there's really nothing to say about it. Art can be interesting without meaning anything. Sometimes, evoking a feeling is enough. But I'm not sure this does. It's just another sketch from a busy Wednesday evening. It doesn't amount to anything more than the work put in, and the passing interest of a meaningless motive.

One thing that without fail becomes more than it seems is microwave porridge. It requires so little, just water and a bit of oatmeal. Give it a boil and a sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar, and voilá. It's porridge. It just IS so much more than the ingredients that make it up.

I'm going to have some microwave porridge now.

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

unexpected budget cuts




The message from the government to students across Finland is that we have to work harder and graduate faster. So I won't be having time to write this entry. I'm sorry. I'm not going to take a loan just to afford the time, however good the terms may be. I hope you enjoy this picture.

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Not art

In an expanded sense of the word, I guess you could claim this to be art. But that's a waste of good words, isn't it? We could just have some other word for it. We probably do have a word that would better describe it, I might just not know it. But by trivializing the meaning and content of words, as one might when one would pass this as art, we reduce the need for having a broad vocabulary. And that's the true shame. Words will disappear. And how might I impress people if I don't know bigger and fancier words than they?

... Fluorescence luminescence condensation perspiration idiosyncratic synchronisability hypervitaminosis...







In the end, words will be but words. But I always wanted a party trick. You know, art is so slow. It may not be unimpressive or even undramatic, but drawing is all about the results. Results that take time. This spinning thing, with these so-called poi, is impressive in the process itself. Like singing, it only exists while you do it. People don't wait until you're done to be in awe, and you don't have to spend a long time in order to accomplish something neat. And as a practitioner of slow art such as drawing, I find that very charming.

I have always been a bit jealous of musicians. Not, like, a lot, but you know, it's annoying. With practice, they can just pick up an instrument and go - instant spectacle. I have to sit down and be calm and tedious for half an hour before I have anything to show for. But, I guess, us canvas artists have the benefit of our work actually staying around. Music literally disappears into thin air, and my canvas will remain to be viewed later and again. I can see how the jealousy would work both ways.

But poi are fun. It's a bit addicting, and I have blisters on my fingers from spinning so much in the past few days. The GIFs are ~realtime. Everything looks just a bit faster because of the low framerate. I have to apologize for the limited range of contrast. I swear it was a limitation of my software, not of my will to produce decent material. GIMP doesn't have a sane way of editing animations or applying filters to multiple layers, which is quite the disappointment.