Thursday 15 March 2012


So I have been obsessed with this flat for some time now. It is decorator David Collins' London apartment and I love everything about it. If you click on the link above you can see more. What really captured me, though, was the artwork. I have spent way too much time and brain power trying to figure out how that giant purple piece was created and if I can in any way reproduce it.

And tonight, success! Well, in one respect. Found out who did it, and am fairly certain I'll never be able to reproduce anything like it. Grrrr. It wasn't until I figured out who did it that I could even figure out what it was. I was about to go sourcing large pieces of silk to dye because I thought maybe that's what it was. Turns out it is a super secret photographic process developed by photographer Wolfgang Tillmans.

I really hate discussing art because I spend huge amounts of time thinking about it but any time I try to put thoughts into words, they seem to go through a process that sucks any intelligence out of them and the resulting words are kind of like talking to O. Random ramblings that may or may not make any sense and may or may not express what I'm thinking. So all I can say about this series by Tillmans is that I am fascinated by how familiar something so foreign appears. I've noticed this theme come up other times with other artworks I fall asleep with swirling through my brain.

Any ideas how I can recreate these?

2 comments:

alison giese Interiors said...

Hi Marie:
I think you actually COULD recreate something with a similar vibe using a think silk (dyed), and somehow worked under an acrylic frame or box. Might require more patience than Job, but could also be very evocative. I say go for it!

Also, wanted to thank you for the lovely comment you left me the other day regarding my post on the loss of our baby. Sadly, more and more women I meet know someone who has had a similar loss. It's more frequent than we ever know - until it happens to us.

Please keep in touch - I'd love to hear about your overseas challenges (uh, I mean ADVENTURES!)

Best,
alison g.
MyLittleHappyPlace

Andrew and Marie Benson said...

Thank you so much, Alison. I was thinking the same thing. I'm afraid of the patience of Job part but I'm seriously obsessed with Tillmans pieces. I can't figure out how I could get some of the streaks in there. Hmmmmmm.

I agree, too. Loss like you experienced is much more common than most people realize. I was shocked to learn that something like 1 in 120 births is a still birth. We feel so invincible when eradicate things like polio but are helpless sometimes with these delicate tiny lives.