11 August 2009

"Imagined interiors"

Not much is getting done on the summer homework. I keep finding images and having thoughts that relate to my theme, but can't focus on any drawing at the moment.What is there to imagine about the interior here (found in a magazine, source lost, photographer unattributable)? I'm intrigued by how the exterior - or the moment in time - shuts out the contemplation of what might be going on inside.

Are the open doors inviting us in - or telling us to get out? Perhaps there's a fire inside - what's the viewer's job here?

And the pale sky - is it really night? The words "a trick of the light" come to mind - which leads to this painting by Magritte, called Empire of Light (painted in 1953-4) -
The Guggenheim museum website says of this picture: "With no fantastic element other than the single paradoxical combination of day and night, René Magritte upsets a fundamental organizing premise of life. Sunlight, ordinarily the source of clarity, here causes the confusion and unease traditionally associated with darkness. The luminosity of the sky becomes unsettling, making the empty darkness below even more impenetrable than it would seem in a normal context."

You're drawn in to start imagining what's going on - is something about to happen in the empty street, is there something going on in the quiet, shut-up house....

1 comment:

Béatrice, décoratrice à Lausanne said...

The Guggenheim museum ! My favorite is in Bilbao. Some pictures, in the blog ( biggining ).

But, even if I have been to Venise to buy some glass beads for my necklace, I never sea the Guggenheim' museum there. The city is a museum by her slelf.

In New York, it was so many people at the door ! I just look inside the *escargo* and loose patience. So many good museum in New York ! Do you klow the Indians ?one ?