Wednesday, May 30, 2012

LivingSpaces


This is the studio of Francis Bacon, artist, 1909-1992 originally in London but totally moved to the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin, Ireland his birthplace.  The following  wording from the Hugh Gallery is a better description of the relocation activity than I could ever put together:


"The Hugh Lane Gallery removed the contents of Francis Bacon's studio at 7 Reece Mews ,London, in August 1998. This operation was conducted with the assistance of a team of archaeologists who mapped the space, and tagged and noted the positions of the objects. The reconstructed studio features the original door, walls, floors, ceiling and shelves. Over 7,000 items were found in the studio and these were catalogued on a specially designed database before their replacement in the studio. The Francis Bacon Studio Database is the first computerised archive of the entire contents of a world ranking artist's studio. Every item in the studio has a database entry. Each entry consists of an image and a factual account of an object. The database has entries on approximately 570 books and catalogues, 1,500 photographs, 100 slashed canvases, 1,300 leaves torn from books, 2,000 artist's materials and 70 drawings. Other categories include the artist's correspondence, magazines, newspapers and vinyl records."



He was not a particularly neat person and was never married -- big surprise!
I don't much care for his artistic works; they appear to be reflections of the disorganization in his life, or at least in his studio.  More on Mr Bacon  here.



This is one of the more appealing (to me) of his works.  This  could hang on our wall for awhile, probably in a hallway, where it wouldn't become tiring. That criteria seems to be how I would judge an artistic work: how long could I look at it without it reaching the point where I would no longer see anything new in it.



 This sepia photo by Timothy O'Sullivan about 1872 when he traveled with an expedition to document and explore the western lands.  I like the hats they wear (where did those come from); and the bow and arrow of the guy in the front row.


Some libraries I have been in offer "art" on loan.  Seems like a good idea although have never done it. How about a hanging frame which could display selected pictures, or even moving designs as with a fractal presentation ever changing in color and evolution.  Ultimate impermanence . . .  .

I wonder what would be the factors in deciding what to put up on the wall and how long to leave it there?