Hands engaged in Frottage:
Frottage (from French frotter, "to rub") is a surrealist and "automatic" method of creative production. The artist takes a pencil, graphite stick, charcoal stick, or some other drawing tool and makes a rubbing over a textured surface. It was developed in 1925 by Max Ernst. He was inspired by an ancient wooden floor where the grain of the planks had been accentuated by many years of scrubbing. The patterns of the graining suggested strange images to him and he captured them by laying sheets of paper on the floor and then rubbing over them with a soft pencil. Think what he would have done with a stick of graphite!
Can't remember who belonged to these hands, but they made some great shots.
ReplyDeleteI'm second from the bottom!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed doing this! (Btw I’m the hands in the middle photo). It was just so much more fun to incorporate ‘discovered’ items into the creation process. It allowed for more spontaneity than that which comes from sitting and staring at a still object. I feel much more creative when I’m able to be interactive and 'free to roam' in a classroom. I'd love if we could do it more often. Maybe we could pick the still life to draw one evening?
ReplyDeleteI like that idea, Sadie. Although tonight we're going to take a look at drapery which isn't so much about still life subjects. Look back at Friday, February 25, 2009 to see some of the examples of what we'll be exploring tonight. I'll have special paper for this project. After we get through the crits on Thursday, and the midterm crit on Tuesday, you all can do the Thursday, March 4 project.
ReplyDeleteFrottage would be fun to try at Cave Hill. Wonder if they mind fondling of the statuary?
ReplyDelete