v Characters: Edward (Designer)
Bella (Scholar)
Preface
Bella, a normal human girl, is now in love with Edward, an incredibly handsome vampire.
In the meantime, her best friend - Jacob, a werewolf, likes her and treats Edward as enemy.
Today, they meet together because of one reason,
'Should Bella turn into vampire or werewolf?'
J: Bella, listen to me. Vampire is one of the horrible creatures in the world.
E: Ha! Werewolf is not much better.
B: You guys please stop talking for a moment, okay? I’ve just seen something interesting. Look over there. There’s a pool with a lot of green lotuses and a little wave. Also, a girl is sitting on a big lotus flower in the middle and feeding the fishes. But…as I remember, there isn’t any pool or fish.
E: Oh, Bella! You’re so cute.
J: Look, it isn’t real. It’s a painting. You will know what happens if you see in other angles.
B: Woo! That’s……!
E: As you see, it’s painted by chalk.
B: How do you know?
J: There’re a few chalks left in the right bottom corner.
E: Besides that, the painter used a technique, called ‘Anamorphosis’, which is a distorted projection or perspective requiring the viewer to use special devices or occupy a specific vantage point to reconstitute the image. Actually, this name comes from the Greek words meaning ‘formed again’.
B: Aha! I’ve heard that before. There’re two main types of anamorphosis: Perspective (oblique) and Mirror (catoptric) and obviously, this one is an example of perspective anamorphosis.
J: Probably, it may be created by Julian Beever.
E: As I remember, he has said, ‘My art is for anybody, it's for people who wouldn't go into an art gallery. It's art for the people.’ and he has also said, ‘Art shouldn't be locked away in galleries and libraries and books. Art should be for everybody and not just art boffins, historians and so-called experts.’
I really agree with his thought and I think this pavement art is what he’s talking about.
You see, there’re lots of people stand around to see this painting and everyone can even join into this work, like the little girl. Those of them may not often go to see artworks in gallery or somewhere else. It’s a good way to let people know more about art.
J: But I don’t think art should only please the public. Art is also a way for artists to express themselves. Besides the audience, personal feeling is included in an art work. Don’t you think an artist might feel happy or satisfied after he/she finished a work? According to a BBC interview of Julian, he mentioned that he was working towards building a photograph as his end result, and if he got that he was happy. It shows that he creates pavement drawing not only because of the public, but also because of himself.
B: Or we can say both are his motivation and I think there’s one thing else we can’t neglect. That’s the reason why he chooses to use this medium. He draws on the pavement by using chalk with anamorphic technique.
I can understand why he draws on the pavement based on the reason that Edward mentioned before. But why does he use chalk? Is it because painting in chalk is easier to be erased than other materials or because of other reasons?
J: Maybe you’re right. After all, it’s a street and public space so that the paintings will be removed one day. When it comes to, it’s easier to remove.
E: Besides, I think it’s easier to draw by using chalk. Let’s imagine how you can use oil or acrylic to draw on the roadsides?
J: Another reason for this may be because it’s more suitable for creating 3D illusion by using chalk. As you know, it brings different effect or texture when you use different kinds of materials.
B: Okay! So, why does he choose anamorphic technique?
In fact, artists have been using it for centuries to disguise erotic artwork and political propaganda. One of the most famous anamorphic paintings, ‘The Ambassadors’, was created in 1533, by an artist called Holbein. (You may find more details according to the reference website)
Do you think Julian is trying to bring out some messages about something like that?
E: Bella, don’t always see things too complicated. Maybe the only thing he wants to tell us is that sometimes, we should see the world in different angles. This pavement painting as an example, we can only see the impact when we find the right perspective. It just likes we need to see things in different angles until we find the best one.
J: That’s right. Or he may just want to find an interesting way to present his work and attract people on the street rather than just draw in a common way.
Moreover, it’s not necessary to give an exact meaning to an artwork. As I said before, you can just present your emotion or feeling through creating artwork and that can be the only meaning.
E: Yea! In your world, there’s only one thing – expression!
J: Hey! What do you mean?
E: I mean we’re different with werewolves; elegant vampires hanker for beauty and taste but not just express, express and express. I think you guys don't know what the real art is! I’m wondering if you can just see the artist’s feeling when you’re looking at this pavement painting. But let me tell you, there’re few of things you may miss, such as the colors, brightness, shapes, lines and so on. For instance, there is variation of colors. Can you see the water with different kinds of blue, like dark blue and light blue? Besides, there’re differences about the shadow of boarder around the pool. It makes the picture more realistic.
J: Ha! So, let me ask you a question. Do you think this pavement drawing is an art?
E: Of course!
J: How about ‘Graffiti’? Do you think it is a form of art?
B: You mean those images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property?
J: Yup!
E: Well, basically, graffiti is sometimes regarded as a form of art but other times regarded as unsightly damage or unwanted. It is often seen as having become intertwined with hip pop culture as one of the four main elements of the culture. But what’s the relationship between graffiti and the pavement drawing?
J: Sometimes, Julian’s pavement works are regarded as a kind of graffiti. As you see, his work and graffiti are drawn on the street. Both of them are a format of street art. However, not all of the graffiti are perfectly formed. Some are just letters or symbols. They may lack of obvious brightness and colors but the painters or writers, which they call themselves, can freely create and express their emotion without the so-called traditional technique of drawing or painting. Isn’t it better than just stress on the art’s sake?
B: I can understand what you mean. Besides these elements of art and the artists, I think they also show the contemporary culture. About the end of 60s in United States, there’re a lot of problems between the blacks and whites because of the racial discrimination. Therefore, the blacks used a variety of entertainment in order to vent their inner indignant feelings and tell their dissatisfaction. Some tried to use spray paint and drew graffiti on the wall and most of the topics are about ironic language or pictures.
Although I don’t think Julian’s purpose is similar to that, his pavement painting is a culture of street art in this century.
E: But if there’s just one person who does that kind of pavement painting, how can we call it a culture?
B: In fact, street painting has already existed and Julian isn’t the only one who uses anamorphic projection. Kurt Wenner is another example and I believe they won’t be the only two. If there’re people who draw, watch or participate and involve, why it can’t be a culture in our society?
J: Bella’s right. While culture is difficult to define, the word "culture" is most commonly used in three basic senses: (1) excellence of taste in the fine arts and humanities (2) an integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning (3) the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization or group.
Therefore, we can’t absolutely deny that.
E: Alright. You win!
B: Come on! We are just discussing but not having a debate competition, okay?
J: You see. Vampire is so troublesome.
E: Hey!
J: Did I say something wrong?
E: You……
B: Calm down please! Both of you can fight right after I go to the toilet. But before that, do you think this type of anamorphosis seems to make it real.
J: Your meaning is …?
B: What I mean is if those artists, like Julian, would try to recreate the true world by using 3D illusion. Generally, most of the paintings or pictures are 2D but we are living in the 3D world. By using anamorphosis, it gives us an illusion as the picture is 3D.
E: Since photography has appeared, some may think drawing is no longer a tool to record this world. According to what you said, anamorphosis can be a method of recreating 3D world in a different way.
J: It sounds funny. Why don’t we check in detail in library?
B: Never mind. I’m okay.
E: Sorry. I don’t think we’ve time to go. Probably, you may forget why we’re here today, don’t you?
J: Of course I remember! So, Bella, let’s make a choice.
B: To be honest, I don’t know what I’ll become to. If you want to know, you may read “Twilight”. See you then!
-End-
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Reference:
- Wikipedia:
- Julian_Beever: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Beever
- Trompe-l'œil: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trompe-l%27%C5%93il
- Anamorphosis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anamorphosis
- Graffiti: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graffiti
- Street_painting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_painting
- Kurt_Wenner: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Wenner
- Cultur: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture
- The Ambassadors (Holbein):http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ambassadors_(Holbein)
- Artist Profile: Julian Beever (By: Chris Lord, MyVillage) http://www.myvillage.com/articles/51927-artist-profile-julian-beever
- BBC - Birmingham - Entertainment - Pavement Picasso: http://www.bbc.co.uk/birmingham/content/articles/2006/01/27/pavement_picasso_feature.shtml
- MacauBBS - 澳門凸區論壇's Archiver -『街頭藝術』: http://www.macaubbs.com/forum/archiver/?tid-92930.html
- 香港討論區 - 塗鴉(Graffiti)文化: http://www.discuss.com.hk/viewthread.php?tid=6993775&extra=page=3&filter=0&orderby=dateline&ascdesc=DESC&page=1
- ‘The Twilight SAGA’ by Stephenie Meyer
