Painting Melody: Research

During the creative development of Painting Melody, I immersed myself in slow looking, art philosophy, art history, the anatomy and physiology of the eye, Stendhal Syndrome (a psychosomatic condition characterised by intense emotional and physical responses to art), and some wonderful facts like the average museum visitor spends four times longer looking at the label than at the artwork, and understanding barriers to accessing visual art such as the idea there is one true way of looking at a painting and if you don’t “get it”, you’re somehow failing. I borrowed boatloads of art books from libraries and visited galleries all over south east Queensland where I spent many happy hours gazing about with a dopey look on my face. Throughout this process of exploration, I wanted to develop my own eye, to honour my intuition gain a deeper appreciation of my personal way of looking at art and what I’m attracted to in visual language and painting.

One might be tempted to think that after all the above I might feel a little more educated about art but nope, I feel like a kitten with barely opened eyes! This project has planted the seeds for a lifetime of rich study, new learning, and enjoying art and culture on a deeper level :)

Some of the best books and articles I read during the creative development period are below:

How to Look at a Painting - Francoise Barbe-Gall
How to Look at a Painting - Justin Paton
Reading Pictures - Alberto Manguel
Art Rules - Cassie Packard
Living, Thinking, Looking - Siri Hustvedt
Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency - Olivia Laing
How to Enjoy Art: a guide for everyone - Ben Street
Get the picture: a mind-bending journey among the inspired artists and obsessive art fiends who taught me how to see - Bianca Bosker
Wendy, Master of Art - Walter Scott
Ways of Curating - Hans Ulrich Obrist
How to see: looking, talking, and thinking about art - David Salle
How to be an artist - Jerry Saltz
Daily rituals: how artists work - Mason Currey
Making a Masterpiece - Debra N. Mancoff

______________________________

I also watched a bunch of films and plays about painting or inspired by painters, and documentaries on contemporary artists and art history. Hannah Gadsby's Nakedy Nudes is a great introduction to art history and The Louisiana Channel, an endless source of inspiring artist interviews. A small selection of other video and theatre I enjoyed are below.

Red - John Logan (2009)

This play explores the world of abstract expressionist painter, Mark Rothko in conversation with his studio assistant. Ambition and vulnerability collide as Rothko prepares work for the biggest commission in the history of modern art.

Siri Hustvedt Interview: Art is a Memory

It's True, It's True, It's True - Breach Theatre (2018)

Based on 300 pages of the surviving court transcript from 1612, this play dramatises the seven-month rape trial of the painter Artemisia Gentileschi and asks how much has changed in the last four centuries.


______________________________

The Regional Arts Development Fund is a partnership between the Queensland Government and City of Moreton Bay to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.