VAP peer review 1
Reminiscent of Hunterwasser in terms of simplified shape within shape, repeat linear pattern and harmonious colour, these elements combine, creating a dreamlike quality to this painting. Naive yet complex, on closer inspection one can distinguish the figure. This image is of a city, in any country, one which we may have inhabited or still might. Bachelard talks about the places we live in and memories contained there-in, safe childhood memories.
‘Through dreams, the various dwelling places in our lives co-penetrate and retain the treasures of former days. And after we are in the new house, when memories of other places we have lived in come back to us, we travel to the land of Motionless Childhood (p.6)
Bachelard, G. and Jolas, M. (1994). The Poetics of Space. Boston: Beacon Press.
VAP peer review 2
This strong composition draws the viewer in, to both the landscape/seascape and the intimate group huddled on the beach, sharing their findings. Within Jokela’s ‘A Wandering Landscape: Reflections on the Relationship between Art and the Northern Environment. In Art Community and Environment’(2008) Yi Fu Tuan discusses topophilia ( the study of belonging to a place, love for a place’ and Edward Relph’s ‘studies of place, which look at the bond of person and place and local identity ’. This photograph captures this rich sense of belonging to a place and the bond between people at one with their environment. It makes me think back to another image within this peer review which I intend commenting on which contains a huddled pair sharing an intimate moment.
Jokela,T (2008) ‘A Wandering Landscape: Reflections on the Relationship between Art and the Northern Environment. In Art Community and Environment’ (ed Coutts and Jokela) Bristol: Intellect
VAP peer review 3
The ordinary kitchen chair has often been the focus of artworks. In deed in 1913 Marcel Duchamp produced the first of a series of readymades, at times mass produced or manufactured objects.
“I had the happy idea to fasten a bicycle wheel to a kitchen stool and watch it turn.’
‘The Bicycle Wheel’ an assisted readymade, made by combining more than one utilitarian item to form a work of art’, has since been reproduced many times as the original is no longer available.
This chair, in my opinion, takes on a different form by the addition of the front leg which is reminiscent of a wounded animal’s leg. Perhaps this chair has been wounded by negative comments from those who pass by. Is it abandoned in this empty room, broken? A chair is a resting place, a place of comfort and support. It is undoubtedly a ‘physical object, with presence within a physical space’.
The Bicycle Wheel was an unintended piece of art, a chance happening, rather an experiment by Duchamp, as many works in progress are.
VAP peer review 4
‘I am on a journey of discovery and critical reflection. I am ‘fumbling about, not always knowing where my goal is; and when I reach it I may not necessarily be able to describe the path I took to get there’, Jokela (2008).
This image leads the viewer along a path to the unknown beyond, partially hidden from view. The bright glowing yellow holds a feeling of hope and welcome.
Jokela,T (2008) A Wandering Landscape: Reflections on the Relationship between Art and the Northern Environment. In Art Community and Environment (ed Coutts and Jokela) Bristol: Intellect
VAP peer review 5
It depends on those who pass
Whether I am a tomb or treasure
Whether I speak or am silent
The choice is yours alone.
Friend, do not enter without desire.
Il dépend de celui qui passe
Que je sois tombe ou trésor
Que je parle ou me taise
Ceci ne tient qu’a toi.
Ami, n’entre pas sans désir.
This is one of a number of verses by Valéry inscribed on the walls of the Palais de Chaillot, Paris http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=87323
