INDECISION

Been experiencing something of a creative dry spell recently; definitely not feeling myself. My stomach is a constant knot of tension and anxiety, and frankly I feel awful. But I can't stop - that's the worst thing to do.

So, if I can't make anything new, I guess the logical next step is to chunk out a cubic shitload of artist research... here's some people I find interesting at the moment.

ROBERT FRANK

This guy has made some pretty kick-ass stuff, working mainly with street photography but also doing some film-based pieces as well. He had the opportunity to work under some seriously big names in photography, such as Diane Arbus and Edward Steichen in the 40s and 50s, and even hung out with Jack Kerouac a few times. Jammy git.

 An example of Frank's early street photography from the series The Americans.

This kind of work made up the majority of his early portfolio, as he documented his extensive travels across America.

Later on in his life however, things did go to shit for him; despite these recent fugs of indecision I have been experiencing, one thing that makes me feel better is that I never had it as bad as this guy. In the space of 5 years, he split up with his long-term wife Mary, and lost both his children - his daughter Andrea died in a plane crash, and his son was diagnosed with schizophrenia and subsequently killed himself a couple of years later. Brutal stuff. 

Sick of Goodby's - Multiple exposures, visible distressing of negatives and ambiguous yet for some reason strangely moving subject matter. Powerful stuff.

As you can see, this definitely influenced his later work; there is a distinct separation between this and his earlier, documentary based work. This piece in particular, Sick of Goodby's, conveys to me a feeling of monumental loss and mourning. This brutally dark style dominated his work throughout the 80s, and he gained a reputation as something of a recluse.

When people look at my pictures, I want them to feel the way they do when they want to read a line of a poem twice.

 - Robert Frank

BARBARA KRUGER

Another artist that combines found image with witty slogans, to make powerful poster-like works that sometimes smack of propaganda. The text has a pithy and aggressive format, often making a commentary on feminism or consumerism and is presented in bold white Futura font on a red background. 

Kruger's work also incorporates a sense of irony; often the images she uses as backgrounds are culled from the magazines that sell the ideas she is disputing. 

Who is bought and sold? Who is beyond the law? Who is free to choose? Who follows orders? Who salutes longest? Who prays loudest? Who dies first? Who laughs last?

- Barbara Kruger

JACK KEROUAC
Well known as one of the pioneers of the Beat Generation and one of the progenitors of the hippie movement, Kerouac was something of an underground celebrity until after his death in 1969, famous for his spontaneous and exhaustively detailed style of writing.

This excerpt is from one of Kerouac's most well known texts, On the Road, an autobiographical novel telling of his road trip adventures around America with Neal Cassidy in the 40s. While drafting the manuscript of this text, it has been said that Kerouac cut up strips of tracing paper wide enough to fit in his typewriter, and taped them into one unbroken roll of paper that measured around 37 metres in total. This allowed him to work in his continuous, stream-of-consciousness style of writing without having to stop and reload the typewriter at the end of a page. This first draft was completed within 20 days of solid writing; Jack kept himself behind closed doors, maintained only by bowls of soup and coffee brought to him by his wife Joan.

“I like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one falling star to another till I drop. This is the night, what it does to you. I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion.” 

 - Jack Kerouac

So there's some of the people I'm looking at currently. Robert Frank's work moves me the most, however I find some of Kruger's work to be slightly cliche - I may work a bit more with text interventions and pick up where I left off last year, but I won't devote too much time to it.
I've also decided I want to develop my writing as well, and try a similar technique to Kerouac's stream of consciousness kind of prose.

Well, that certainly helped a little bit. My mind is somewhat more at ease now - Maybe I'll give these things a try.
I've also just had a random thought - Buy some cheap trinkets from a charity shop, beat the shit out of them, stick them back together and then do it again... Thinking of maybe CREATE, DESTROY, REMAKE, OBLITERATE as a title.
Wow, that idea literally just popped into my head out of nowhere. Huzzah! This is more like it!
Stay tuned for the results of these experiments.

Until then - stay curious.
- Padfoot