Laine Donovan / SMP 2010

St. Mary's Project in Studio Art: 2010
Laine Donovan

Annotated Bibliography / download pdf

Art: 21. "Episode, 'Time', Vija Celmins". (Season 2) Dir. Susan Sollins. DVD. PBS Home Programs. 2003.

The episode provides a look at Vija Celmins artistic process, as well as her thoughts on how she views her work and her subject matter. She explains why and how she works, and what she considers important in terms of a studio and studio practice. Additionally, the video presents her works and how they have changed and progressed over time.

Buchloh, Benjamin. Gerhard Richter: Large Abstracts. Ostfildern, Germany: Hatje Cantz, 2009.

Gerhard Richter's Paintings provide examples of how to use color to express mood and time. The way he mixes his palette and moves the pigment across the canvas indicates specific emotions that the viewer is able to connect with, as well as specific moments in time and space that the viewer is able to relate to. Richter often represents landscape through the language of abstraction. His style and the affect of his works provide examples for how one can achieve an emotional connection to nature with purely abstract compositions.

Celmins, Vija and Chuck Close. Between Artists: 12 Contemporary American Artists Interview 12 Contemporary American Artists. A.R.T. Press, 1996.

The interview helps to understand why Vija Celmins makes certain decisions in her work, and how she thinks about those decisions. She discusses why the physical act of art-making is so important. Celmins explains that the decisions that she makes while working such as the type of subject matter that she uses, how she builds the surface of the image, how she uses color, and how she translates forms are evidence of her thinking. The time and thought put into her works reflects the physical presence of the images that she produces. Celmins also explains her use of photographs as source material. She explains that the distance she places between herself and her subject matter slows the way she sees and thinks able the imagery, therefore facilitating thought process.

Conisbee, Philip and Denis Coutagne. Cezanne in Provence. New York: Yale University Press, 2006.

Paul Cezanne's paintings of landscapes provide examples of many variations in composition, form and color palette. His use of grays of different temperatures helps to understand how to create a palette that has a greater depth of color, while maintaining a certain subtlety in hue. Also, the way Cezanne arranges his compositions exemplifies how ideas of aesthetics function to order the landscape. Being able to see variations of methods of representation within a limited visual setting (Provence), allows a person to further understand the affect of the different techniques that he is using.

Coombes, Allen J. Eyewitness Handbook: Trees. New York: Dorling Kindersley, Inc., 1992.

This text provides visual images of the bark, leaves, flowers, and shapes of different trees. The photographs exemplify variations in shape and forms, as well as the more prolific aspects of the different trees. For example, the text displays the bark of the river bark tree and the color of gingko leaves during the fall. The native region and habitat are also included.

Cox, Rupert. The Zen Arts : an Anthropological Study of the Culture of Aesthetic Form in Japan. London, New York: RoutledgeCurzon & Royal Asiatic Society, 2003.

Cox explains the practice of Zen arts as connected to aesthetics and perception. In the text, he describes that the way aesthetic value is placed on something is dependent on a person's experience of that thing. Proper practice of Zen arts emphasizes the importance of awareness of the form in order to embody Japanese spiritual ideals. This emphasis on experience and awareness relates directly to the process of observing moments in nature and representing them through painting and other art-making techniques.

Dufrenne, Mikel. "Eye and Mind." The Merleau-Ponty Aesthetics Reader: Philosophy and Painting. Ed. Galen A. Johnson. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1993. 256-61.

Dufrenne explains Merleau-Ponty's writing called "Eye and Mind." Dufrenne interprets this piece as a phenomenological look at painting. He explains Merleau-Ponty's emphasis on seeing as opposed to the other sensory functions, and elucidates on the way in which the senses and the mind are interconnected. He explains that seeing happens first, and then thought is able to take place. This ontological look at painting and the perception of paintings provides an example of an opinion of how people understand visual stimuli.

Freeland, Cynthia. The Art of Bill Viola, "Piercing to Our Inaccessible, Inmost Parts: The Sublime in the Work of Bill Viola". London: Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2004.

Freeland's article explains the work of Bill Viola in relation to the 'sublime'. She discusses the way Viola's work invokes emotional responses in the viewer. The experiences that Viola creates activate the audience's sense of connection in number of ways including slowing the viewing process, representing something that is emotional as opposed to visual, and relating the theme to compassion and the human conscience. These methods can be applied to painting through use of mark, color, and appropriate subject matter. For instance, by producing variation throughout the surface of a painting, one can slow the way the eye moves around the image, increasing the time that a viewer spends with it.

Grotenhuis, Elizabeth Ten. The Art of Bill Viola,"Something Rich and Strange: Bill Viola's Uses of Asian Spirituality". London: Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2004.

Grotenhuis's article discusses Bill Viola's use Asian philosophy and religion in his works. Viola displays a distinct interest in Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, and Hindu and Islamic mysticism. She explains his practice of Zen meditation, and how he uses art as a way to explore the human condition as well as his own spirituality. Grotenhuis provides example of how Viola references Buddhism, such as his use of the number five. This exemplifies the way that subtle use of philosophical and religious ideas can make works of art more rich, without become cliche or 'oriental'.

Hanh, Thich Nhat. The Heart of Understanding: Commentaries on the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra. Berkeley: Parallax Press, 1988.

The Heart Sutra describes the interconnectedness of all things. Thich Nhat Hahn explains the way that the text does this. Emptiness, as described by the Heart Sutra, is the lack of static and essential quality of all things. Everything is constantly changing and dependently originated. The convention of language makes these principles difficult to write about without negating the openness of the ideas. Art can transcend text, and therefore address these principles more authentically.

Herrigel, Eugen. Zen in the Art of Archery. New York: Random House Books, 1981.

Herrigel's story describes his own personal experience learning Zen in Japan through the 'art of archery'. The text includes his assumptions, successes and failures during his experience, and therefore explains fundamental aspects of Zen practice. Eugen Herrigel is a western philosophy, so the book provides a western perspective on a practice that is inherently rooted in an Eastern way of thinking and acting.

Inouye, Charles Shir?. Evanescence and Form : an Introduction to Japanese Culture. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.

Inouye's text exemplifies aspects of Japanese culture that subsequently translates to aesthetics. He discusses the way that the appreciation of form as changing, unpredictable, and fragile is rooted in Japanese ecology and culture. Inouye provides examples such as the fleeting existence of cherry blossoms and the constantly changing tectonic plates that are quintessential aspects of Japanese ideas of aesthetics. He also explains that the cultural connection to change and nature is rooted in practice and is best understood through personal experience. Inouye references Buddhist writings on emptiness and impermanence (specifically Nagarjuna) in regards to Japanese appreciate of change as well.

Kuspit, Donald. April Gornik: Paintings and Drawings. Manchester, VT.: Hudson Hills Press, 2006.

April Gornik's paintings demonstrate a very specific use of light, atmosphere and scale. Her images 'glow' in a way that dramatizes experiences in a landscape. The paintings also create spaces that a viewer is able to enter perceptually. The large scale of her work, as well as the naturalistic style that she uses makes the impact of the image feel 'real'. Her methods of painting and the appearance of her works make the images easier for an audience to connect to.

Laycock, Steven William. Mind as Mirror and the Mirroring of the Mind: Buddhist Reflections on Western Phenomenology. New York: State University of New York Press, 1994.

Laycock's text examines western writings on phenomenology, and critiques them based on Buddhist ideas and principles on perception. Laycock examines optical understanding based on the way light interacts with objects and space. He explains that perception is based on personal connections to external stimuli which is then internalized. He also compares these principles to dialectic methods used by Buddhist philosophers such as Nagarjuna.

March, Juan. The Abstraction of Landscape : from Northern Romanticism to Abstract Expressionism. Madrid, Spain: Fundacion Juan March, 2007.

The history of the landscape in art provides examples of the way that changes in style, composition, use of color, and abstraction effects how a viewer understands nature. Also, painting as a medium has been in a constant dialogue with ideas about reality and illusion. By investigating changes in technique and overall appearance of works of art allows one to further understand how to address these phenomenological and aesthetic issues.

Marshall, Richard D., Achille Bonito Oliva and Yvonne Scott. Georgia O'Keeffe: Nature and Abstraction. Milan, Italy: Skira, 2007.

Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings are examples of abstraction of forms in nature. Her painting demonstrate different ways that a painter can use color and shape in order to exemplify aspects of nature, and display them in a symbolic or emotional way. O'Keeffe's paintings also demonstrate how different levels of abstraction and magnification effect the way a viewer understands and relates to natural forms. These variations provide inspiration for experimentation with color, medium, composition, scale, and abstraction.

Nagarjuna. The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika. Trans. J. L. Garfield. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Nagarjuna's use of 'reductio ad absurdum' questions ideas about the essential qualities of all things. Through his method, Nagarjuna exemplifies the idea of emptiness. The dialectic way he writes relates to the idea that all things are relative and illusionary. Paintings are involved in a constant tension between what is real and what is an illusion.

Rippner, Samantha. The Prints of Vija Celmins. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2002.

Vija Celmin's prints are immaculately rendered reproductions of images of nature. Her prints provide examples of moments in time captured by artistic processes. The spaces that she creates are vast, although they are unconventional in that they show no horizon line. The viewer is able to enter he space because his/her and the artist's personal involvement with and commitment to the image.

Taylor, Norman, ed. Gordon O. DeWolf, Jr. Taylor's Guide to Trees. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1988.

This text provides visual examples and written descriptions of different types of trees. There are color photos of leaves and bark, and there are diagrams of the shape of the trees with and without foliage. The text also includes written descriptions that provide a brief history, the native location, and the optimal growing conditions for each cultivar. Examples of river birch and gingko trees are included.

Townsend, Richard P. J.M.W. Turner, "that greatest of landscape painters" : Watercolors from London Museums. Tulsa: University of Washington Press, 1998.

This text provides color reproductions of many of Turner;s work's including paintings, drawings, and sketches. Turner's work exemplifies a specific way landscape can be represented. In some of his images the vista becomes abstracted and more ambiguous spatially. In addition, Turner's use of watercolor washes allows his works to create a large amount of transparency and light.

Yamakage, Motohisa. The Essence of Shinto : Japan's Spiritual Heart. Trans. Mineko S. Gillespie and Gerald L. Gillespie. Tokyo, Japan: Kodansha International, 2007.

Yamakage explains many aspects of Shinto in terms of Japanese history, spirituality, and practice. He also explains the way in which Shinto interacts with modern Japanese life. In regards to the St. Mary's Project, Yamakage elucidates on the importance of nature in Shinto, and the connection between the cultural reverence of nature and the creation of Shinto. He also defines Kami (spirit-soul that is sacred, abstract and transient, and produces an awe-inspiring effect), and the way a person should be in order to understand Kami.