Thursday, May 5, 2011

Thanks for all your help!


I don't have any questions about these images but they were the last in the box and I thought maybe after all of this you might be curious enough to keep learning more on your own.


There was a little writing on the back of one of them, these were hung up in a common space at the Maryland Institute Collage of Art. Art students walked past these everyday on their way to and from class.

Rauschenburg seems to have been a pretty influential artist, maybe theres a lot more worth learning from him.

That dripping! That chipping!

In these two photographs I was astounded by the way aspects of the picture mimic the was the paint moves in  "Canyon". There are drips like in the photograph of the window below. It appears to be sunny outside and yet theres something on the window.


Do you know what causes drips like that on windows? I'm curious what it might feel like to make paint drip like that. Do you think it would need stiff or loose movements? 
How do you think it might feel?


It looks like theres a pretty heavy buildup of paint here. It's all the same color even though we can see that the paint is chipped. This probably means its been painted this same color a bunch of times. 

This leaves the painted surface with a very distinct texture. What does this texture imply if it naturally occurs when a surface has been used repetitively and re-painted more than once.

How do you think the concepts of Time and Nature interact with each other?

I'm trying to understand this grit

As you might have guessed, most things are new and chrome and streamlined in the future... SO, all these pictures are pretty foreign to me. Do you think you could identify the origins of these pictures? They look like they're close ups of similar colors.

 Theres a similar red in "Canyon" but this one looks more naturally occurring. What could this be a picture of? What makes that rich red color?

 Theres a likeness to the red here, though it doesn't looks like its made of the same stuff as the first picture. Most of this object looks a little more brown too. What is this, what is it made of?

Could you draw any connections between these two photographs and "Canyon" ?


I think it might be important to think about how the color pallet in the painting is similar to many of these photographs. They also appear to be taken primarily outside.


After looking through these photographs with me, would you agree that Rauschenburg may have been referencing nature both with his paintings title, and choice of colors ?

Theres all this weird writing!


All of these pictures have text in them somehow. Everything is electronic in the future so I'm unaccustomed to printed type. Maybe you could help me learn more about it by answering some more questions for me?

Where do you think you might find a picture like this, I think I see a little green at the bottom maybe its outside?

What kinds of clues do you see that might point us to where we would expect to see it?


This looks a little more official, and like it holds a lot of different papers full of text. 

What kind of information would you expect to find in a place like this? 

The text in the Rauschenburg painting is partially obscured and in a different language. Would it be appropriate to put illegible text in a place like this?


I cant even imagine what any of this could mean! It looks like some kind of code! 

What reasons can you think of for using a code instead of simply spelling everything out?
There are also numbers used, what could they imply about the function of the text?

The text in Rauschenberg's painting doesn't look like its in English, and its partially obscured by paint. Maybe we aren't supposed to be able to read it. Why do you think Rauschenburg might have included this?

Pictures of objects

So, I started sorting those photographs I found trying to think about categories that might help me understand the Rauschenburg painting I found. These photos seem to be talking about materials.






Do you know what made this strange thing? It looks really delicate.


I know what this one is, a human skeleton! In the future we relate them with death and learning. How does this relate with how your time sees them? What do skeletons mean to you?

Here in the future we have very different looking animals, I don't think these bones could have come from any of them!

What kind of animals do you think these bones and wings may have come from? 
Do you have any associations with those animals? Do they symbolize anything?

What could a Crow or Raven symbolize, like the black bird attached to "Canyon"?

Stranger and Stranger....

Today I was snooping around where I found the painting, and I found a box of old photographs! I think they might have something to do with the painting, some of them make me think of it. But the problem is, I don't know what any of these pictures mean! If I were to post them up here do you think you could answer some of my questions about them! Thanks!

I found this painting in the trash?

Hello fellow space cadet, did you know that in the future we can use the internet to send information through time and space? Well It's year 3025 here behind this end of my data input interface and I was hoping I could get some help from someone in the past to help me get more information on this painting I found in the trash incinerator outside my apartment. But before I get going with that crazy story, I should maybe leave a little background information on why I need so much of your help!

Somewhere around 2075 or so its written now in history books there was a great dark age brought about by some computer glitch. It took almost a hundred years for humanity to re-build itself and when they did they discovered new innovative ways of doing things because the earth in that time began to change drastically. Scientists believe the "fall" and the distinct changes in the earth are related, tied to one singular event in the past.

Either way, the earth is no longer green outside, we have gardens in bio-domes everywhere but It occurs to me the world this painting was made in must have a lot to do with what its about. All I know right now, is that it was made by Robert Rauschenburg  its called "Canyon"  and was made in 1959. All that was written on the back. I've taken a picture that I've posted below. If anyone thinks they could help me with my problem please let me know!