Matthew Drobny

As a conceptual thinker, I wanted to experiment with materials in a physical medium. Typically, I write or speak about thrilling ideas and relationships. I pondered what would happen if I chose to communicate my thoughts differently. I own a pair of beloved jeans about ten years old and brought to life by being worn a thousand times. After reading John Cage’s “Changes” (Composition as Process), I became enraptured with the paradox that is one’s attempt to manufacture anything as it exists naturally. Thus, I wanted to create another pair of my destroyed jeans. Then I thought about Jean Tinguely’s kinetic sculptures, and I desired to combine Cage’s and Tinguely’s ideas. While Cage experimented with a kinetic energy form, sound, it is invisible and without tangible form. The dynamism in Tinguely’s works is the opposite. Using jeans to apply Cage’s ideas to Tinguely’s, Cage’s ideas are arguably better represented than in his works, as the article of clothing experiences a random set of events each time it is worn. An element of unfabricated spontaneity is applied to the piece as it moves and is subjected to the wearer’s unpredictable inclinations.

Another idea I had was to create an interchangeable abstract painting with multiple panels. In the spirit of Marcel Duchamp, I chose to fuse these ideas into the piece presented. The decision for jeans instead of canvas to serve as the medium incorporates the satire of Duchamp’s Readymades. The jeans can hang on a wall or be worn as mundane clothing. The medium illustrates that art is not elitist, that anything can become art, and that art is not sanctified. Another of Duchamp’s concepts that inspired me is that he used old methods applied in new ways. If I only painted a canvas using abstract expressionist techniques, it would be boring. If I apply those techniques in conjunction with Cage’s obsession with manufactured chaos and Tinguely’s kinetics, the outcome is entirely new, for it is a mutation of multiple philosophies.

The artist’s ideas that have proven the most influential are those found within Sol Lewitt’s Sentences on Conceptual Art. The rules he articulates contain paradoxes that serve as the foundation of this project. The painted jeans are the product of following irrational thoughts completely and logically. My concept was that I wanted to paint; my subsequent ideas taught me how. The creative process was not linear; new ideas inspired those that would have been expected to arrive earlier in the process. The process of inspiration requires a shared concept, although the ideas need not. I resonated with the concepts of Duchamp, Cage, and Tinguely, though not their ideas.

Lucio Fontana, John Cage, and Sol Lewitt spoke about rational and subconscious, method and structure, and logical and irrational, respectively. I wanted to explore the execution of the subconscious using the rational. Thus, the final idea of my concept appeared. I chose to use abstract expressionism to relay the mental state not actively aware. Brushes and colors became extensions of the subliminal. The result is not merely painted jeans; it is a visual representation of the subconscious as it exists independently and the manifestation of many ideas.

Reflection:

I just finished painting the jeans, and it was a shockingly cathartic experience! The aggression, freedom, and creativity experienced during the event were more than I imagined. I prepared my area, materials, put on a Metallica album, began painting, and time stopped. Pollock’s Action Painting technique is immersive and a surprisingly athletic endeavor. For forty minutes, I was focused, my thoughts entirely dedicated to casting my subconscious state at that moment on the denim. As I am writing this, I feel a state of relief. Creating abstract art is a state of absolute freedom; I was not concerned with assignments I have to complete, thinking about making dinner, or how I have to begin preparing for the GMAT. I was lost in creating the piece. It was lovely. While thinking about what I want to write, I cannot move past how emotional the experience was. Everything one feels is expressed. Abstract Expressionism genuinely is as its name implies; one communicates their soul at that moment indescribably. The piece is electrified. Similar to Frankenstein’s creation, I have zapped the jeans with the happiness, gratitude, anger, worry, fear, excitement, and sadness that I have been experiencing during the past few months. I think I will begin painting because the experience is euphoric and cathartic in a much different way than racing a car, waterskiing, and cliff-jumping. Those activities have a hint of worry that the pursuit could end terribly, but not painting. There is no wrong answer; no incorrect way to liberate the subconscious. One can run free. I had a BLAST!

To learn about Jackson Pollock and his techniques, I watched the following videos: How to Paint like Pollock; The National Gallery of Australia’s Pollock/Blue Poles Documentary; and Action Painting Footage. The National Gallery of Australia has a terrific documentary about Pollock and his creation of Blue Poles. My only complaint is that it is far too short! Seeing Blue Poles in person is now on my bucket list.