...and a bit more from Supermundane

Art and the sublime

In ‘Andrea del Sarto’, one of Robert Browning’s many dramatic monologues, the poet and playwright writes: “Ah but man’s reach should exceed his grasp. Or what’s a heaven for”. Like any great maxim in English literature Browning’s words have challenged critics over the centuries, causing them to question the artists’ meaning and its relevance.

Browning seems to suggest that man should strive for ‘more’ than he can achieve and get lost in the belief that anything is possible. The process of ‘over-reaching’ is likened to the creation of heaven, a perhaps fictitious idyll at the forefront of the collective imagination of man. In trivial terms it would appear Robert Browning is saying “shoot for the stars”.

As an English graduate in the crux of the worst economic crisis since the 1930s it seems people are no longer willing to believe in such optimistic musings. Rather, man should be ‘realistic’ and take whatever job or opportunity may come his way. After all, we are in a ‘recession’ don’t you know!

But Robert Browning’s words re-iterate two main Romantic school’s of thought that should not be forgotten. He is referring to the creative imagination, expressing the typically artistic notion that man’s vision tends towards the beautiful and he should strive to exceed the banality of ordinary life through art. The image of reaching can be seen as the creative process, in which man’s mind transcends the material world. At a time when cuts are being made to the arts Browning’s statement seems to be one that has got lost in a climate of facts and statistics and limits. But this is dangerous.

For me, the second relevance Browning’s words have is in how they can be reflected in our everyday lives. The importance of attempting to achieve something that is maybe unrealistic is what makes man a creative animal. It is what inspires, and ultimately gives our lives purpose. Every time we dream and attempt to better ourselves we are endorsing Browning’s Romantic ideology.

For Browning’s contemporary, Keats, it was the ‘striving’ after what can never be attained that became the true poetic task. In his sonnet ‘Bright Star’ Keats said he wanted to be “Awake for ever in a sweet unrest, Still, still to hear” his lover’s “tender-taken breath”. For Keats the breath must be forever ‘taken’ and not released because he longed for the moment just before completion, a moment full of ‘potential’. Whether the goal is achievable or not it seems that it is the reaching or striving that really matters because it is creative vision itself that makes life beautiful and gives it meaning.

So, let’s make sure that we nurture potential and do not forget what the Romantic’s taught us about the sublime and hope and flight of imagination. It is easy to get bogged down by the increasing ‘realism’ that seems to define the 21^st century, an age of technology and science and factoids.

In the words of the great Percy Byshhe Shelley, “Poetry lifts the veil from the hidden beauty of the world, and makes familiar objects be as if they were not familiar”. I am not suggesting everyone should become a poet but the basic principle stands. Let us embrace concerns with love and beauty and ‘over reach’ in our daily lives because life is nothing, if not full of possibilities.

Supermundane!

A few weeks ago I lucked out in getting an internship at the art agency Skinnydip and one of their clients is illustrator and graphic designer Supermundane. His work is, to put it bluntly, a lot like a doodle...a very good doodle. He has a simplistic style but his work is vibrant, busy and all in all incredible design.

Some of his recent projects include work designing the flyer for the Big Chill festival. He has also does some pretty funky animations, and his blog is worth following!

Here are some examples of his work. His next show is in LA if you happen to be about...

LCD Soundsystem make a video...WITH A ROBOT!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53yEyj0mjfo


(decent song too)

Andrew Hem.

This picture above is called "This Womans Work" and was done in 2010.

Check out the work of Andrew Hem ( http://www.andrewhem.com/). He was born in Cambodia but fled with his family as a child to live in L.A. His work mixes both South East Asian and American cultures to produce powerful, colourful, urban and rural dream-like pieces.

His work is diverse, some pieces are tight but others are lose. Andrew also shows the influence of his graffiti background as he sprawls graphic text through some of his canvases. His sketches are also pretty powerful! His website has his full portfolio and is well worth a look.

Brighton Illustration Degree Show

I went to the Brighton graduate illustration degree show last week at the Rochelle school in east london (shoreditch of course!). The show finished on the 12th of July and I was really impressed by the work displayed. There was a particular artist I wanted to blog about, a girl called Daphne Christoforou.
Apparently her boyfriend is a programmer and she did some illustrations that he then made into an animated programme. You clicked on her work and different clips were played out with soundtracks. Most of them were pretty hillarious. She did one piece about political figures and showed hitler dancing with barney.

(The above picture is of her animated interactive piece. If you click on the people they open up animations that played for a few minutes with different sound tracks. Although this is a bad analogy it reminded me of the casper game I used to play when I was a lot younger- you clicked on casper or other things and they spoke or opened up little, entertaining skits!)

I heard she got quite a good response for her work and was even offered 600£ for one animation but she declined because she could probably get more sold elsewhere.

It's nice to see work that is funny, political and also well drawn. If you type that artists name into youtube you can see some of the artwork she entered into an animation comp in 2009.

So I have been doing very little since I finished Uni. I think being there has taught me bad, lazy habits!

I found some really cheap clogs in primark they are 20££ but incredibly painful. I've been out in them a few nights in a row and by the end of the evening I was staggering or walking bare foooted.

However, saying that, I am not the best at wearing heals anyway and another friend who borrowed them said they were comfy. The quality is a lot better than what Primark usually has to offer! So I would recommend them if you want to buy some...

Apparently lace is where its at now in fashion! I also recently bought the most amazing nail polish from barry m. It is lilac and super cute for the summer!