Today's Kandinsky

In today's computer generated world, I wanted to see what could be created by starting out with a Kandinsky and moving it forward as the source of inspiration. Where could it go, and what would it look like if a Kandinsky itself was the basic beginning model for a work of Digital Art. Taking all of Kandinsky's knowledge, wisdom, composition and color sense, where could it all lead up to?

In the Digital Age, the eloquent word of "appropriation" is used. In music it would be "sampling." Starting with a source and "re-purposing" the initial creation. In our legal world of "intellectual property" the creation has to be removed several times from its originality. Forgetting all legal mumbo-jumbo, and getting to the final result, we see how no matter how we try to distort, abstract and enhance, Kandinsky's influence is ever present. Perhaps in some way, we want it there. We read reviews of artists all the time stating that the work "resembles, or influences." We draw analogies to fit artists of merit to those that wish to be there. Good name recognition gives hope. But in the end, we go back to Gauguin, "Is it new or is it plagurism?"
In this case, I will let you decide.

The Multiple

We all associate the multiple image, the repeating pattern with Warhol. But is that really where it started? We take a look at Kandinsky's Concentric Circle and we see the contemporary image being repeated, stepped, and altered. Few really think of Kandinsky for repeating anything because his palette was so complex. Each image a symphony. However when we compare Kandinsky's Circles to Warhol's Marilyn's we see a very similar occurence. Can Kandinsky be responsible for every single work of modern and contemporary art. - One has to actually stop and wonder.

The Title Fight

In this corner Kandinsky (1866-1944) - vs. Motherwell (1915-1991)

GAME OVER. - Kandinsky Wins by a Technical Knock Out.

Why paint the same picture as Kandinsky in 1957? None of this

makes any sense.

Is Everyone Kandinsky?

I had no idea starting out where this would all lead. I did know that I loved Kandinsky's work from the time I was a very young artist. There was just something so lyrical (I keep going back to the same words) but it is true. It speaks to the inner child, and if you were a child at the time, it spoke directly to you. I was puzzled therefore how a major artist could be speaking directly to a little kid? It took a lifetime to realize that the genius of life is to never loose that youthful spirit.

In any case, in examination and discovery it was my intention to look at Kandinsky's work and draw some parallels in tools to how he worked. Never did it dawn on me to truly see the enormity of influence, Kandinsky had. (As in E - V - E - R - Y - O - N - E). While people salute Picasso for his genius you can see where Kandinsky's influence just permeated everyone. Its kind of funny actually when you see a painting of expressionists and say, "Why bother?" when you have Kandinsky. It is a poor regurgitation of the master. While copying is a form of flattery, where is the imagination and originality? By this time, its starting to get annoying to discover that the new idea of brilliance started with one man.

For this exercise I discovered a painting by Clyfford Still that is in the Albright Knox Gallery in Buffalo New York. I took a Kandinsky, cut the painting and turned it into black and white. I subsitituted some of the white area for the same color as Still and added just a few white gestures. - "Voila once again....." No originality.

Presto-Change-o instant Jackson Pollock

If you have ever been to Paris and gone to many of the famous museums, you surely have seen painters standing outside with easels copied almost exactly some of the most famous works to mankind. For a few dollars they will reproduce any painting imaginable. (Mostly the famous ones though).

In this instance, it is not a matter of forgery, but it is a matter of understanding that with a few movements of the computer keystrokes you can change a Wassily Kandinsky into a Jackson Pollock. The question beckons the viewer: Did Pollock copy Kandinsky? It surely looks that way.

Take any color Kandinsky, reduce it to black and white, then add a little bit of color and "voila,"

you have a Pollock!

Its beginning to become apparent that Kandinsky influenced just about every single artist that came after him, along with his colleagues. He bred new influence of creativity into the world.

While I don't take credit for every artist on the planet today doing what I started 35 years ago, it sure looks like the entire world went digital!

Observe the Original Kandinsky, then its rotation horizontally reduced to black and white. Then slight color added. Notice the close comparison to Jackson Pollock.

Watercolor Delight

Kandinsky's magical works involve a soft background of color which seems to be a repetitive theme and technique. Brilliant because he adds strong lines on top and directors the viewers eye with his dominant sense of color. His paintings are truly orchestral. He leads with a wave of his hand and your eye moves with his gestures.

The computer can imitate these watercolor backgrounds by having rims on the edge. The stronger and more frequent the brush is pressed down the deeper the color becomes. Like traditional media, the color below interacts with the color painted. Different colors have different reactions. Kandinsky surely would have used this technique to create his backgrounds. Let the foreground dance as it may.

3D - A New Frontier

This section should probably be talked about thirty pages into this BLOG. However, the frontier has opened. There is much to talk about and many areas to explore. Let's consider this a preliminary. First there is the shape creation. How big the form should be. What should the form look like? In the case of Kandinsky his paintings while very rigid in style were very loose and gestural as well. This is just another reason why we call him a genius. Most artists like Mondrian were strict. There lines were defined. Kandinsky was able to break all molds and bring in a playful presentation along with his lines that acted more like rhythm than anything else. Hence moving into the 3D world the forms have to compliment his sense of fluidity. Here then is a jump to another dimension which could not have been thought about at the time of his creations. The computer age has ushered in another dimension and thus another set of forms for the mind to ponder. How a shape is then wrapped, how its color falls, its resolution will also contribute to the final look of the form. - What happens next will be discussed later on down the line. For now, lets consider this a new discovery.