INTRODUCTION
An Encyclopedia… a Book of Knowledge… in a Box… whose subject and
source is simply or
not so simply, "the World". Here is a project to meant to
connect, share,
expand; to travel the World...
carrying recognition and thanks... greater than all its parts, with a
life
of its own.
Here is an offering of knowledge presented visually. These are
the
observations, explorations, insights,
musings, commentaries, declarations and revelations of visual artists
as
expressed through their media.
Here are paint, pencils, crayons, chalks, inks, scraps of papers and
textiles,
every sort of
markmaking substance imaginable on a myriad of surfaces... somehow
transferring
onto a square page
what would otherwise remain intangible, inaccessible, unformed,
unspoken or
unknown.
The visual language asserts itself, being direct, insistent,
accessible and pertinent to this precarious instant.
The eyes of much of the World remain shut; in desperate need of
insight
offered by the who look.
"The World"… What does it mean to whom? Throwing the topic out to
artistic
colleagues,
making the proposed subject mighty enough to allow each to interpret
and
do with it what they will.
Whether it be "my world", "your world', "our world", "their
world"; "the world of"... this or that...
now or then... , be it micro- or macrocosm, interior or external,
reflecting solitude or the energy of
the massing populace, turning to forces of nature or the activities of
homo
sapiens, speaking of silence or
twenty-first century cacophony; each artist eagerly seizes the
subject
and makes it their own.
From which vantage point, what philosophical, political, personal or
ontological
perspectives
shall we look? The world changes day by day, minute by minute...
imperceptibly
within ourselves,
with rapid-fire shifts around the globe. Only by peering into,
out
of, and around the world can one
see... comprehend... grasp at vision to attempt the
visionary.
Drastic changes have been taking place since this idea first emerged
like
a fledgling in 1999, after
an inspirational visit to Hungary. The concept of this
Encyclopedia has evolved and taken form;
growing, adjusting, waiting… Funding was, and is being sought.
2000 came and went, the idea was proposed, discussed, envisioned with
colleagues
at the
Hungarian international artists' colonies, over coffee or wine at the
tables
of friends… in the studio.
The first invitations were sent out at the close of 2000.
From that moment the The World Book Encyclopedia had a life of its own.
What is the significance of the Encyclopedia? A collection to
peruse
for one's edification...
presenting through individual pictures a panorama of knowledge... each
part
of equal significance.
Like any encyclopedia, this collection is a reference resource for the
particular,
in simple alphabetical arrangement and current context. On the
other
hand, it presents,
unlike the average encyclopedia, a more holistic context as well.
It
comes alive in its entirety,
finding identity in its ongoing process of completion, in its physical
wholeness,
as an art piece.
It stands as an affirmation of the inherent harmony and power of
the
creative act.
What is the significance of Box? At the core is the concept of
containing,
carrying;
like the valise of the vagrant, the refugee, the itinerant or the
artist whose
home is the world.
It echoes epic movements of the ancient Magyars, the Jews, the Roma...
and
who else?
Which peoples have not at some time, had to pack their stories and
precious
belongings,
hauling them on horses, carts, boats, trains, planes or their own
backs, to
a new home?
This Box, holding sheaves of paper... pages stacked, wrapped, wound and
tied,
like old letters or
a last will and testament, is a treasure chest filled and glowing
inside.
This black Box is like rock, a chunk of comet or lump of coal, scarred
like
the scorched earth.
Its interior emanates molten light from within a dark shell.
Strapped
with linen to keep from bursting,
wrapped in linen like a shroud or bandage holding together this
symmetrically sculpted receptacle -
here is our gasping, dying, living, breathing World.
The flexible Box, transforms itself through invention into a
structure inspired by
ancient Koran holders in the Hermitage, deriving design elements from
the
old-fashioned
Hungarian cardboard collection book, borrowing from the common
dictionary stand…
Here is the challenge of a mysterious Box unfolding and refolding like
the
child's click-clack
"Jacob's ladder" or the Japanese reversing rainbow toy. The Box,
unfolding
like a Bible
into a wide-open Book with palms spread out, offers knowledge… treasure
in
a box to
carry around the world... wisdom expressed through color, texture,
form,
line; the language of
the visual artist. Using every and any combination of media available,
the
only limits presented are
the 30 x 30 cm dimensions of the radiant yellow panels.
A Boxed Encyclopedia, then, containing words of spirit, of
definition, a specimen book...
being filled with pages of the wisdom of visual artists. These
colleagues
from various parts of
the world connect through chance, art, friendship and the thread of the
Hungarian
artist colony,
the mûvésztelep. Wonderful phenomenon! Some of
these
colonies are built on traditions of
earlier times; others, increasing yearly in number are recent
creations
of Hungarian artists themselves...
funded by sponsors big and small. Tremendous organizing effort
lies
behind the continuing existence of
the mûvésztelep and its availability to the artist.
Working alone in silent studios or in shared spaces filled with
activity, talk and
the smell of paint... the atmosphere thick with creativity and
vibrating with
artistic presence...
the world somehow slips away. All that matters is art.
Languages collide in friendship, over lifted glasses and conversation.
The intensity is liberating. Work flows. One goes home
resurrected,
inspired. One is never the same.
Every artist in this collection worked at Hortobágy,
Hajduböszörmény or Vámospércs in 2000...
or has been invited to participate by another colleague who was
there. The initial 30 or so invitations
have passed from hand to hand, increasing exponentially as artist
invited artist.
The Box is not yet full.
As the pages arrived, they arranged themselves on the large table in
spontaneous
groupings...
Those circular, mirroring earth, moon, sun and natural rhythms;
those
geometrical, speaking of structure,
of fragmentation, of construction and destruction; those
atmospherical, describing forces, vapors,
spaces full and empty, rivers of water, blood or life - literal or
allegorical.
On each page, the World... the beauty and power of nature, awesome
cosmos,
details of one's room,
infinite smallness of objects, folk forms and symbols, forms of the
unconscious
(personal? collective?),
murmurs or ragings of accusation - against injustices ancient or those
we
face today.
Pages hold abstractions, faces, objects, tracings of invisible and
visible
energies.
Intimate and celestial views. Chaos and order. Iconic
allusions to God, Love, Death and Life...
The known, the everlasting mysteries. The shimmering simultaneity
of
joy and its antithesis.
Everything human. Every emotion reflected, thematic possibility
represented.
Surface vs. illusion... the continual aesthetic debate appears.
Pages
proclaim the supremacy of surface
in joyous manipulation of material. Pages fool us into belief of
space
and time.
The best proclaim a heady duality of both.
Turning the pages, it is the ultimate simultaneity of truths that
dazzles.
It's all there.
- Diane Sophrin -
Magyarul
(link to Hungarian text)
