[Baren]: The mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking.

Baren Digest              Friday, 31 December 1999      Volume 09 : Number 841

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From: Jack Reisland <reislandj001@hawaii.rr.com>
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 02:53:10 -1000
Subject: [Baren 7382] Re: Digital Dragons 

David Bull wrote:

> I was thinking that I will be the first [Baren] member 'across the line'
> at midnight, but I see that no, some of our Australian friends will be
> there first (the ones on the _east_ coast of Australia, that is).
>
> Write back from the future and let us know what it looks like!

Hey, that's right! The rest of us have a link to the future! Be sure to
tell us if the world is ending...but then, I guess you couldn't , could
you.

Jack

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From: B Mason <bemason@concentric.net>
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 1999 16:59:17 -0800
Subject: [Baren 7383] Re: Exchange #3 

> Although I had to chase him down the street, I was able to get the package
> with prints from Exchange #3 from the mailcarrier today. 

Wow, that was fast! and they told me at the Post Office that 3 day service
could now take up to two weeks because of the Christmas backlog. Guess they
aren't backlogged in Vermont!
Barbara

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From: Gayle Wohlken <blueman@pantek.com>
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 1999 20:40:42 -0500
Subject: [Baren 7384] Re: Baren Digest V9 #840 

Regarding Exchange #3, if anything goes, then why even have a theme?  Am
I missing the point?  Again, I ask Dave to come in and give us some
examples of what this could mean?  It seems to me if there are 30 of us
with different views of a subject, that would go.  But 30 views of "ten
people, ten colors" doesn't connect with me.

Gayle

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From: "Jean Eger" <jeaneger@LanMinds.Com>
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 1999 17:56:53 -0800
Subject: [Baren 7385] hello 

I feeled compelled to share with you, (even though this would probably be
more appropriate on After 5), that I actually did stand in Times Square on
New Year's eve in 1997, on the occasion of a visit to my father.  I stood
there at 5:00 pm and witnessed the myriad (seemed to be hundreds) of
uniformed police, barricades, viewing stands, miles of orange police tape
and the people beginning to fill the area even at that early hour.  At 5:30
pm I left and went home because I could see that if I stayed, I would be
trapped behind a police barricade and not be able to go home, go to the
bathroom, whistle Dixie, or anything.  The next year I watched it on the
World Wide Web, and they showed the true awfulness of New Years Eve in Times
Square, New York.

So if you are going to be there, get out before 5.  It's exciting even at 5,
there's no doubt about it.  One guy patted a police horse and the cop
accused him of hitting his horse, called for reinforcements and was getting
ready to arrest him about the time I left.

Thanks for all the dragons.  With any luck, I will mail mine with a postmark
of year 2000.

Happy New Year!
(sound of firecrackers, neighing of police horses, etc. etc.)
Jean Eger
http://users.lanminds.com/~jeaneger

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From: David Bull <davebull@woodblock.com>
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 11:41:09 +0900
Subject: [Baren 7387] Re: 'Ten People, Ten Colours' 

Gayle wrote, regarding Exchange #5:
> ... if anything goes, then why even have a theme?  Am
> I missing the point?  Again, I ask Dave to come in and give us some
> examples of what this could mean?  

If the theme is turning out to be a bit too obtuse, then I'm sorry. 

Let me explain what this means to me (here in Japan) first, and then you
can think about how it might apply to _your_ life.

As the proverb 'junin toiro' is used here, it sort of expresses the
feeling "Well OK, if you want to do it _that_ way, then it's alright by
me. But I'm going to do it _this_ way, if you don't mind."

I first thought that this was actually most 'unJapanese' in feeling, but
with I discussed it with Sadako-san she didn't think so.  I, as a
foreigner here, tend to see the Japanese in terms of that more famous
proverb "The nail which sticks up is the one that will be hammered
down!", but she felt that both were true. Yes, people who do things
that are ridiculously unacceptable to society will certainly face
punishment, but even here in Japan, where things have been quite
'homogenized' for such a long time, each person does have his/her own
individuality. When you first go to a place like China, for example it's
..."Wow, how do you tell them apart?" ... but of course the longer and
closer you look, the more you are able to see individual
characteristics.

So there is the theme Gayle: things which on the surface might look
identical, but which on closer (and more thoughful) inspection actually
turn out to have an individual identity.

For myself, when I was originally thinking of participating in the
Exchange, I was playing with a few ideas for my print:

- - This apartment building in which I live is made up of 20 absolutely
identical units, right down to the last screw in the window frames. But
the people who live here? Boy oh boy, do we have some characters! Even
in identical 'cells', these 'worker bees' are actually all different. 
Buzz ... buzz ... buzz ...

- - There are so many different tools available for the carver to use, and
each one of them leaves an 'individual' mark on the wood.  How about a
circular 'pizza' with ten slices ... each one a different 'taste' ...
(Hold the anchovies!)

- - The number doesn't of course have to be exactly _ten_.  I was also
playing with the idea of a horizontal print split vertically into two
similar scenes by a mirror up the middle.  'Similar', but not
'identical'.  The difference?  Hey, let's leave _something_ for the
viewer to discover ...

Do I need to continue?

To emphasize: the theme for this exchange is _not_ 'free'! I don't mean
'junin toiro' to simply mean that each of the participants will do
whatever he/she wants to do - 'each person is individual'.  That's no
theme at all. In that sense, _every_ [Baren] exchange is 'junin
toiro'!

What I do mean is for your print to _show_ that theme - to show in an
image that even though we are all the 'same' human beings, we do have
ways to express our individuality. Show us this in a way that a viewer
can understand without being told so in words.  If all thirty participants
do this well, we will have an absolutely dynamite folio here! 

... and to think that I passed up on participating in this! Maybe
somebody wants to sell me their spot?

Dave

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From: "Philip Smith" <smithart@pacifier.com>
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 1999 20:36:50 -0800
Subject: [Baren 7388] Re: Digital Dragons 

I thought with all of the talk , and raised hackles, about a poor little
digital dragon...I needed to say something about art for the new
century,...not being a writer I will quote something from an old illustrator
I found in his book on illustration [and art] ,...this last part goes:

" Let us as artists, then, feel that we have trust. Let us be sincere, if
for no other reason than to give our craft character. Let us choose to
reproduce  beauty rather than the sordid, if only to elevate the standards
of beauty. If we seek an audience to our way of expression, let us make the
things we have to say worth while. When we have a choice, let us build, not
tear down. If we are endowed with the vision to encompass beauty, let us be
grateful, but not selfish about it. To live and work only to please one's
self, using art as a means of display for uncontrolled temperment and
undiciplined license, for devorcing oneself from the normal and ethical
standards of life, to my mind is wrong. Art belongs to life, and essentially
to the common, everyday man.
Art is essentally giving. Ability of high order is rare. The successful may
well rejoice that they few, among the many, have been given the eyes that
see, the hand to set down, the perception to grasp, and the heart to
understand the big truth. What we take in we can strive to give back in
greater perfection. It seems to me that this would not be possible without
patience, humility, and respect for life and mankind.">

A. Loomis

Just a thought people,......Happy 2000               Philip

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From: "Bea Gold" <bnj50@earthlink.net>
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 1999 21:02:35 -0800
Subject: [Baren 7389] Re: 'Ten People, Ten Colours' 

Welcome to every new member and have a wonderful new year, all.  Looking
forward to looking at the Millennium Celebration at the HOLLYWOOD sign that
we see from our house, through a telescope! Bea

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From: John and Jan Telfer <jtelfer@iinet.net.au>
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 99 17:58:26 -0000
Subject: [Baren 7391] Re: Baren Digest V9 #840 

Happy New Year to all Bareners...Josephine and John will be first over 
the line in six + hours then me....we have had over 35o temperatures here 
for over 15 days, and it looks like our New Year may be a Heavenly 
Thunderstorm, so I'm pulling out all my computer plugs...it may hinder 
the little Y2k Bug, too!!!  Ha ha...

Jeanne wrote: " What a fantastic collection!!! Josephine and Julio have a 
wonderful page
devoted to those critters."  I too would like to Congratulate Josephine 
and Julio on their dragon pages.  It is a delight to check them everyday 
I collect my email....I love them all, they are so different, and even 
better when they come personally by post. 

I have already got my "Ju nin, To iro" onto my block....It is a very 
thought provoking proverb, Dave and to portray it pictorially is a real 
challenge.  For those "struggling" with it think of the literal 
translations Dave has also given us:

"There is no accounting for tastes" and "One man's meat is another man's 
poison"

They should help you.   Enjoy your New Year Everyone.  Best wishes to all,
Jan 

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From: Gregory Robison <grobison@swiftuganda.com>
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 12:18:35 +0300
Subject: [Baren 7392] Re: 'Ten People, Ten Colours' 

Kampala, 31 December 1999

Some additions to Dave's useful guidance on the 'junin toiro' theme:

Proverbs or sayings are never to be taken literally.  We don't say 'a stitch
in time saves nine' when we mean to congratulate our tailor on an opportune
sewing maneuvre.  'What's good for the goose is good for the gander' is not
about poultry.  If half the X5 prints come in with images of ten people and
ten colours, however cleverly presented or deftly carved, the exchange will be
a crashing bore and a colossal failure, in my view.  What will make this
portfolio so interesting is the subtle link between what will be otherwise
wildly differing images.  There will be no comprehensible connection between
the images for the viewer without the key: 'junin toiro'.  But with that key,
what a delight it will be to move from one image to the next, then back again
to the beginning.

In fact, this could be such an intriguing collection that I would like to
include it in a show I have been asked to curate at the National Gallery here
in Kampala in May.  I would do this only with the permission of the
participants in X5, of course, and after some details have been worked out in
the months ahead.  The theme of the show will be the relief print or perhaps
the woodblock print (I haven't yet decided), and will include demonstations
and some displays to educate the public on this art form.  There are only a
handful of printmakers in the country, and before I leave here I would like to
give them a boost.  One big boost for the local artists (and part of the
educational side for the public at large) would be to introduce them to the
very existence of Baren.  I am also motivated to follow the good example of
Sarah (and others) in New York, Julio in Chicago, and Josephine Down Under,
who have made or are making the effort to display Baren work in public
venues.  This is very spirited of them and will serve our little group and its
members in the years ahead, especially if more of us find the occasion and the
energy to do it.

A show at the 'National Gallery in Kampala' is less prestigious than it
sounds, believe me.  But I promise you a lot of hilarious stories from the
whole experience, and any industrious and creative author of CVs could parlay
this into something that looks pretty impressive.

Gregory Robison

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From: Gregory Robison <grobison@swiftuganda.com>
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 12:33:32 +0300
Subject: [Baren 7393] Re: Digital Dragons 

Kampala, 31 December 1999

Philip: Thanks for the quotation from Andrew Loomis.  I've got a book of his on
figure drawing, written in the 1940s, full of advice for aspiring young
illustrators.  His humanity and love of art comes through on every page. The
book of his in my library ends like this:

"All the things have not been done in art that can and will be done.  I don't
think our bones and muscles will change much and that light will shine
differently, so all the good rules will still hold.  I can only say that you
must have the courage of your convictions, believing that your way is right for
you and for your time.  Your individuality will always be your precious right
and must be treasured.  Take from the rest of us all that you can assimilate,
that can become a part of you, but never still the small voice that whispers to
you, 'I like it better my way.'"

Junin toiro.

Happy 2000 one and all.

Gregory Robison

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End of Baren Digest V9 #841
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