. scripsit 2.5.4 e - 20070324
. scripsit 2.5.4 e - 20070324
-art
Marco Rump (1971) is an artist currently working in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. www.rump.org Is the main presentation of -art and its public archive. This text, scripsit, is a reflection on western art, 's artistic production, its content and how they were achieved. It is not the basis for the works but sets, in hindsight, a context of ideas and describes the mind-frame of the maker. Not meant as a manifesto it is research that forms a cognitive layer relating the different works to each other.
-art exists in various media:
| . fecit | : furniture design - a style adaptation in applied arts [colour navigation: green], |
| . pinxit | : paintings - the primary art production forming the main body of work [in orange], |
| . digit | : graphic- and webdesign used for presentation purposes [in crimson], |
| . audit | : compositions in sound - experimental exploration of musical concepts [in yellow], |
| . vidit | : film (co-)production and video -based artworks [in naples yellow]. |
Tradition
Today's art has moved beyond the tradition of skilful representation. Artists are not supposed to just show beauty or fascinate with craftsmanship. Freed from purpose an artist can produce anything he or she wants to. After the modernist era the traditional absolute guidelines of appreciation are lost. But the aim of art is not appreciation. It's there, whether you like it or not! It is a person's free choice to ignore or deal with it and trigger a personal opinion.
Art defined
Anything can be labelled art. A work of art is not art because of quality or beauty. It is art because an artist chose to label it as art by prersenting the work in an art-context for instance. This does not mean that it is "good" by any means... It just states that it is available for criticism based on the notion that it has no function other then being art.
Free personal choice is the basic tool in artistic expression. It is formed through opinion, aesthetics, abilities and restrictions of the maker. By making art one develops a personal grammar. This grammar or style is a signature that makes a piece of art unique. It is shown in all aspects of the work: from content to presentation. Quality in profession lies in the continuity of style on every level of a work, showing a clear identity.
The painting idea - this painting
In .pinxit image is completely abstract. Colours, lines and forms have no relation to visual reality outside the painting, they have no figurative meaning, they do not represent. The painting only refers to and presents itself. This is just one of a lot of rules and reasons that lead to a .pinxit painting. The objective is to find harmony, consistency or simply the feeling that what you see somehow fits. The reasons why are not important, you won't have to tally up to reach the result, it should be obvious at once. This logic increases in complexity: later paintings are in composition for instance based on a more puzzling structure but the end-result has the same balance as earlier work. This -grammar is developed in every aspect of the painting, from the conceptual content through the visual appearance to the presentation of the work.
In the phase-series (-.f.-) numerical symbolism and mathematical ideas that derive from the dimensions of the carrier are used to make a grid. These lines echo the shape of the canvas in the composition on the canvas. The areas between the lines are filled with colour to produce a hard-edge colourfield composition. A limited palette of seven, always the same, colours is used to make divers combinations. In the z-series colour saturation is combined with hard-edge colourfields. These are monochromes with a saturation to white.
In a second line the painting as an object is the main theme. Although the identity of the painting as a painting should still be obvious, all elements of the painting are reconsidered. Thick layers of paint show the body and characteristics of the material and give, with their roughness, each painting an unique identity. The 2.3.- series are duos of simular monochrome panels. The description of one is identical to the other but they aren't the same thing. It's like getting to know twins: you 'll have to talk and listen to both of them!
Although the nature of the works is not conceptual, there is a main concept for every series. The mainline is about the awareness of the unique physical existence of a painting and the purity that this directness (or lack of verbal content) brings. Recognition of that painting. The skipping of reading a painting's message and only experiencing carrier, paint, texture et cetera for what they are. This intention can of course not be gathered directly from a painting but is presented in the context of the works like this text.
Painting design
In .pinxit boundaries are used to set artistic problems. Not just in the formal approach of the painting is a chesen limitation, also in the choice of the painting as a medium. Painting is the most archetypical art form in western culture but inherits this reputation from past times. Nowadays the difference between autonomous and applied arts is blurring, as is the position of the artist in society. Designers are artists!
The practical, artistic and aesthetic solutions that derive from the rules, reasons and limitations form a style in everything a person makes. Although this grammar is already obvious in a painting, by designing the context this style is magnified. Broadening the artistic focus on 'a work of art' from the piece to its context, accentuates the idea that the art exists not in a work but can be in everything.
Artistic family
Work of following artists have been an influence on -art.
. scripsit