{"id":170,"date":"2008-10-21T09:27:00","date_gmt":"2008-10-21T09:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.matthewlangley.com\/blog\/?p=170"},"modified":"2008-10-21T09:27:00","modified_gmt":"2008-10-21T09:27:00","slug":"continued-reading-from-varnedoe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matthewlangley.com\/blog\/?p=170","title":{"rendered":"Continued reading from Varnedoe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.matthewlangley.com\/blog\/uploaded_images\/k8234-716232.gif\"><img style=\"cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.matthewlangley.com\/blog\/uploaded_images\/k8234-716229.gif\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve been re-reading <i>Pictures of Nothing<\/i> by Kirk Varnedoe the last couple of weeks and have been struck by just how well Varnedoe is able to re\/de\/construct abstract image making at almost every level and then is able to describe such an amorphous thing in an almost laser-like directness. <\/p>\n<p>In discussing Minimalism KV sets up a framework that would act as a foil to E. H. Gombrich&#8217;s <i>Art &#038; Illusion<\/i>. Could we ever have a argument for abstraction as compelling as Gombrich&#8217;s argument for illusion? (Gombrich had argued that illusionism &#8211; the depiction of things in a convincing and credible fashion &#8211; was one of the great achievements of western civilization.) This framework (on abstraction) is then put through it&#8217;s paces in minimalism &#8211; from &#8220;High Art&#8221; to popular culture (including <i>2001: A Space Odyssey<\/i> and <i>Mad Magazine<\/i>)<\/p>\n<p>The compelling thoughts that move me to read and re-read these passages is the approach and the encompassing process that carries the movement of Minimalism through KV&#8217;s eye&#8217;s, inside and through the culture of the time in which it was made. This book is starting to become a go-to in my studio practice if for no other reason than the voice of the book speaks so well to a physical and mental approach about making and showing objects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve been re-reading Pictures of Nothing by Kirk Varnedoe the last couple of weeks and have been struck by just how well Varnedoe is able to re\/de\/construct abstract image making at almost every level and then is able to describe such an amorphous thing in an almost laser-like directness. In discussing Minimalism KV sets up a framework that would act as a foil to E. H. Gombrich&#8217;s Art &#038; Illusion. Could we ever have a argument for abstraction as compelling as Gombrich&#8217;s argument for illusion? (Gombrich had argued that illusionism &#8211; the depiction of things in a convincing and credible&#8230;<\/p>\n<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/matthewlangley.com\/blog\/?p=170\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Continued reading from Varnedoe<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[151,159],"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewlangley.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewlangley.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewlangley.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewlangley.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewlangley.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/matthewlangley.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewlangley.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewlangley.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewlangley.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}