6 September 2017. I was delighted to find Vik Muniz (*1961, Brazil) on TED talks, a site I love for the creativity of the contributing people. He talks about his development as an artist and the vital differences between creation and creativity, something he, without doubt, will address daily while producing “Art with wire, sugar, chocolate and string” (Muniz, 2003). His talk was everything I had hoped for, seemingly casual, highly intelligent making fun of himself and the tragicomedy of us all. I am convinced that it is greatly unimportant, which media and materials people choose to express themselves in, if they are able to transport messages with such subtlety and love for the world. I do not really want to start repeating here what he says in his talk, because that would be spoiling a treat.
The talk introduced me to the “Stieglitz equivalents”, a world-famous series of photos of cloud formations done by photographer Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946, USA) during the 1920s and 1930s. Equivalence is a theory promoting the idea that abstractions may correspond to inner states, emotions and ideas (american art @ The Phillips Collection, n.d.). This insight I can only agree to, my Assignment 2 umbrella was nothing else (Lacher-Bryk, 2017). So from now on I will go out into the rain protected by a set of Stieglitz equivalents. Don’t know how many people can say that of themselves.
Also, and most importantly, I just realized that, since I am a person who shares Muniz’ view of the world, I am determined to continue my studies with the OCA in exactly that light. No matter what the result at assessment.
References
american art @ The Phillips Collection (n.d.) Alfred Stieglitz – Equivalent Series, 1925-1931
[online]. The Phillips Collection. Available from: http://www.phillipscollection.org/research/american_art/artwork/Stieglitz-Equivalent_Series1.htm [Accessed 6 September 2017]
Lacher-Bryk, A. (2017) Assignment 2: “An Umbrella Project” [blog] [online]. Andrea’s OCA blog: Understanding Painting Media, 17 August. Available from: https://andreabrykocapainting1upm.wordpress.com/2017/08/17/assignment-2-an-umbrella-project/ [Accessed 6 September 2017]
Muniz, V. (2003) TED ideas worth spreading: Vik Muniz, Art with wire, sugar, chocolate and string [online]. TED talks. Available from: https://www.ted.com/talks/vik_muniz_makes_art_with_wire_sugar#t-42109 [Accessed 6 September 2017]
ANDREA's OCA BLOG: Understanding Painting Media 