Today's drawings were all done with wood carving tools-- knives, gouges, and one hard-working tiny veiner. I'm working on a large block (8 " x 36") for a book for an art exhibit in Barcelona in April. The intriguing topic of the exhibition is "Blackout Books" or "Books Without Electricity." Needless to say, all the artwork has to be made without the use of electricity; but also the concept of the book might deal with any number of ideas springing from the topic. I'm fascinated by the history of how people lived their lives without electric lights and other high-speed technologies that interrupted their natural diurnal rhythms. My idea for the book is to show what some studies show were natural rhythms of sleep and wakefulness during the dark hours of the day. Arching over everything is the Egyptian goddess of the night, Nut [Noot}, who was believed to swallow the sun and heavenly bodies at twilight and then give birth to the sun each morning at dawn.
To see this whole piece you should swipe across. This is a rubbing made from the carved block. The colors are nothing like what they will be in the finished piece. I will do more carving, too. This first rubbing is to show what needs more work. I spent so many hours carving this week, and today I articulated all of the figures, so I counted all those knife drawings as part of the 10,000. I'm curious to see how this comes out in the blog, whether or not you can see the whole thing. In the preview it all showed at once, but it covers part of the page not normally covered by an image.
Love this piece. I had to scroll across to see the whole of it. I am looking forward to seeing the completed project. Even as I become more and more reliant on technology, I keep a part of my psyche separate for the possible time when the screens no longer respond.
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