Seana Reilly : Graphite Works

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“I make this work because I am intrigued by the play between the loose organic line and the tight architectonic line, the natural world and the intellectualized account of the natural world, the fact and the symbol for the fact, the life of the body and the life of the mind.” ~ Seana Reilly

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‘ThriceSurfeit’
Graphite on paper
Seana Reilly
8” x 8”
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‘InviolateRush’
Graphite on paper
Seana Reilly
8” x 8”
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‘ResolvingKazimir’
Graphite on Dibond
Seana Reilly
48” x 48”
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‘Spillway’
Graphite on Dibond
Seana Reilly
12” x 12”
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‘ThermalRise’
Graphite on Dibond
Seana Reilly
12” x 12”
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‘FractureGradient’
Graphite on Dibond
Seana Reilly
12” x 12”
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‘SecondaryVenting’
Graphite on Dibond
Seana Reilly
30” x 30”
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In my current body of work I am pouring a graphite preparation onto a non-porous surface, then using the same forces that shaped the earth to shape my imagery – gravity, fluid dynamics, sedimentation, and erosion. My use of graphite in these works speaks to both the arts and the sciences; it simultaneously references the artistic practice of drawing, vast geologic processes, and the carbon-base of all life forms. While pouring the liquid graphite, I restrain parts of the organic flow through architectural interventions or impediments. These constraints draw attention to the discrepancy between the natural physical properties of earth-based materials and the forms of control, both physical and mental, that humans routinely superimpose over them. The creation of the graphite ground is an exercise in giving up control, letting nature take its course. My interventions allude to human efforts to understand, classify, and mentally subdue those acts of nature. Semiotics, science, and Buddhist philosophy are all source materials for my work, which is a further exploration into insights gained during my years practicing Vipassana meditation. Through this practice I became aware of a break between the physical world and my mental perceptions of that world. I was able to experience the physical without attaching emotional or mental constructs to it – to separate the sensation of an itch from the urge to scratch it. The making of these works also allows me to experience vast geologic processes on a more intimate scale. It is my way of participating in this humbling immensity, a way to hold a small piece in my hand. It is the Tao’s world in a blade of grass. It is Joan Didion’s sense of belonging and purpose in an earthquake… ~ [ Seana Reilly : Artist Statement ]

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Seana Reilly : Website

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Susi Sie : ‘Black’ (Motion Graphics)

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‘BLACK’ focuses on our fear of the uncontrollable,
which goes hand in hand with our fascination of the unfamiliar.

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Susi Sie : Vimeo

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Zak-fx : Black Liquid (Video)

video design by dmitry zakharov
sound design by coresplittaz

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Zak-fx : Vimeo

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Richard Wilson : 20:50

Created over 20 years ago, this spectacular waist-high reservoir of recycled sump oil, one of

Britart’s most iconic installations and has been exhibited at his various galleries in London.

Installed at the new Saatchi building in Chelsea, the timeless work is well worth another look …

The artist Richard Wilson poses with his installation,

a vast tank made out of sheet metal and filled to the brim with thick sump oil

Wilson has become renowned for his site-specific installations. Of this work he says:

‘It can be applied to any internal space … and in each space it will be radically different

because it will reflect it and adapt to its parameters’

The work, in the basement of Saatchi’s new gallery in Chelsea,

reflects the architecture of the room, seemingly doubling its size

A walkway invites visitors directly through the tank,

so that they are surrounded by the reflective plane of oil

The installation contains 8,000 litres of sump oil 20:50, from which the work takes its name

[images and text : guardian.co.uk Tuesday 12 January 2010]

Richard Wilson : Saatchi Gallery : Sump Oil and Steel : Video

Richard Wilson’s 20:50 is truly a contemporary masterpiece. 20:50 transforms the gallery into a site of epic illusion. Viewed from the entrance platform 20:50 appears as a holographic field: simultaneously a polished floor, infinite clear pool, an expansive and indefinable virtual space that clinically absorbs and mirrors the gallery architecture. The room is in fact entirely flooded in oil.

Visitors are invited to examine the piece close-up via a walkway that extends into the lake, placing the viewer, waist deep, at the centre of a perfect mathematically symmetrical scope. Through this altered perspective 20:50’s phantasmical aura is enhanced, amplifying the disorientating and mesmerising experience of the space, and further confounding physical logic.

20:50 takes its name from the type of recycled engine oil used. It is thick, pitch black, and absolutely indelible: please take extreme care with your clothing and belongings, and no matter how tempting, please do not touch. 20:50 often has to be demonstrated to be believed: the liquid can be seen by blowing very gently on the surface. [extract : Saatchi Gallery]

Richard Wilson : Saatchi Gallery