MODERNITY IS FALLACY
“MODERN” and “POST MODERN” are not realities they are journalistic entities.
MODERN : of or characters of the present or recent times / not ancient / used to designate
contemporary tendencies / “up to date” not old fashioned or obsolete
Also, the title of an art movement from the Twentieth Century, often confusing people that “MODERN
has already happened.” This is ridiculous, a critical decision, MODERN is a word.
CONTEMPORARY : living or happening in the same period of time /
of or about the age
CON : to trick
TEMPORARY : non permanent
RETURN
Blake Sandberg's "Images and Text"
Paintings for literate people
"It is not a question of 'applying' linguistics to painting, of injecting a bit of semiology, into the history of art;
rather, one must abolish the distance that has institutionally separated painting from text."
Roland Barthes, Le peinture est-elle un langage?"
Sandberg accomplishes just that by placing his texts and images in one space often competing for your
attention or dislodging your reckoning.
1. History
Images and text have long been used together by humans. For thousands of years these have been our
tools for recording and giving something cerebral, a physical staying power, a history of its own.
Images: recognized as representations of objects, drawings, plans for inventions yet to be realized, or fantasies open
for imagination's interpretation.
Texts: perhaps mankind's most treasured and archived achievement(the Bible, Indian manuscripts, the Magna Carta,
Hieroglyphs, countless scrolls, the Rosetta stone, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution....).
The written word facilitates the need to convey a concept, tell a story, write down an event or record one's unique
knowledge. These tools have gargantuan histories yet are still used in archaic ways, perhaps even in regressive
ways. The artist's explorations combining image with text attempt to recreate, and add to, these traditions.
2. Conception
The "Image and Text Series" as the artist refers to it, loosely describes a whole body of work in progress for seven or
more years now. The series was originally experimented with after studies the artist did in museums and galleries in
the mid-nineties. While standing in these spaces the artist observed viewers, "paying more attention to the white
cards indicating artist, date, and title accompanying the painting rather than the painting itself." Realizing this
tendency, Sandberg began to "circumvent this system by painting the title over the image." Having already begun
creating a library or "language of images" placing a label on his carefully chosen imagery seemed a logical way to
add a layer of meanings to his works. Later, he would further extend this by adding "secondary titles," embracing
the extra form of information and sending viewers back and forth to read the texts.
3. Say: Brick
Due to the formation of the concept of labeling the image, the artist began a period of recognized "redundancy." In
early works, Sandberg would depict spaces cluttered with household items labeling every object or space in them in
some attempt to explain what everything rationally "was." This strange attempt seems to coincide with his fascination
with dictionaries and "how things work" books. A seminal work at the time depicts a brick in a simple background
labeled underneath "Brick." Redundancy becomes a major theme for a time, seemingly allowing the artist to create a
base to use as a springboard. This also definitely and intentionally mirrors America's own over produced image and
text media...advertising. Exemplified over and over again in print, the redundancy of a perfume ad swooning girl, the
company moniker, and its catch phrase, "...." Or as seen on TV, the hamburger shown rotating in full spectral color
oozing and melting cheese, suddenly super-imposed by orange text...buy it here, anytime, fresh, hot. Advertising
thus becomes an obvious framework for these paintings, superimposed over American cultural imagery.
4. "Now at this time we must pause for a moment..."
We must consider this obsessive labeling and word infusion in other ways. Overdub: in cinema, a technique to allow
for third person narration during action or to suggest a characters ideas, etc. In this manner, Sandberg' s texts dub
into the stream of the viewers thoughts about an image and carry it another way. Overdubbed texts operate as a
steering instrument to change directions, adding other ideas or references. This overdub could be musical as well,
a way of dropping in another sound or tone into a mix of sounds. When this is considered, the artist becomes a
visual/textual DJ, mixing forms and influences, tones and colors, and sources of opposing origins. If this is the case,
then these works also invoke the "talk-over," reggae's text often total improvisation spoken over DJ mixed music.
The appropriate nature of this apparent technique is seen in Sandberg's references to music, rhythm, and the blues.
Rap artists use words as a way to reference a multitude of ideas quickly through abbreviations and word play. The
word becomes audible naturally when you hear your own voice internally as you read. The painter here seems to
cut this down, simplifying the text into short phrases and often single meaning saturated words. He has crafted a
number of ways to layer and mix his concepts, imagery and texts.
In some works, words jump forward reducing the image to a secondary background. In other examples, words are so
carefully matched in color with the backgrounds, one has trouble finding them. This technique makes the works
seem done in disappearing ink coming into and out of focus. Sandberg's ability to pile up meanings and opposing
references produce a strange sense of humor lodging his images in the viewer's consciousness.
5. Communication
In an interview, when asked "What are you trying to communicate?", Blake responds, " Communication," deftly
saying something so important and nothing whatsoever. This is the nature of his work. For if we could not decipher
images or read and translate words, they would be worthless. This tenuous line of believability is walked, traversed,
climbed over, and sometimes trampled by the young artist. If you note in many of his pieces an odd unfinished
quality, often a corner left unpainted, contradicting the complete illusion of the painting and sometimes hanging it
out to dry. Yet this is a perfect example of his ability to layer his paintings so completely. Chalking them full of
sources, ideas, and nuances. Creating a total communication of image, text, and audible sound bites. The effect of
pairing these forms translated in such a streamlined manner, the artist's paintings seem almost simple. However,
this is where he slips from your fingers and nuances rise from the painted surfaces and these iconic pictures
envelope the viewer in a world of ideas.
- B. Dalton
Paintings for literate people
"It is not a question of 'applying' linguistics to painting, of injecting a bit of semiology, into the history of art;
rather, one must abolish the distance that has institutionally separated painting from text."
Roland Barthes, Le peinture est-elle un langage?"
Sandberg accomplishes just that by placing his texts and images in one space often competing for your
attention or dislodging your reckoning.
1. History
Images and text have long been used together by humans. For thousands of years these have been our
tools for recording and giving something cerebral, a physical staying power, a history of its own.
Images: recognized as representations of objects, drawings, plans for inventions yet to be realized, or fantasies open
for imagination's interpretation.
Texts: perhaps mankind's most treasured and archived achievement(the Bible, Indian manuscripts, the Magna Carta,
Hieroglyphs, countless scrolls, the Rosetta stone, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution....).
The written word facilitates the need to convey a concept, tell a story, write down an event or record one's unique
knowledge. These tools have gargantuan histories yet are still used in archaic ways, perhaps even in regressive
ways. The artist's explorations combining image with text attempt to recreate, and add to, these traditions.
2. Conception
The "Image and Text Series" as the artist refers to it, loosely describes a whole body of work in progress for seven or
more years now. The series was originally experimented with after studies the artist did in museums and galleries in
the mid-nineties. While standing in these spaces the artist observed viewers, "paying more attention to the white
cards indicating artist, date, and title accompanying the painting rather than the painting itself." Realizing this
tendency, Sandberg began to "circumvent this system by painting the title over the image." Having already begun
creating a library or "language of images" placing a label on his carefully chosen imagery seemed a logical way to
add a layer of meanings to his works. Later, he would further extend this by adding "secondary titles," embracing
the extra form of information and sending viewers back and forth to read the texts.
3. Say: Brick
Due to the formation of the concept of labeling the image, the artist began a period of recognized "redundancy." In
early works, Sandberg would depict spaces cluttered with household items labeling every object or space in them in
some attempt to explain what everything rationally "was." This strange attempt seems to coincide with his fascination
with dictionaries and "how things work" books. A seminal work at the time depicts a brick in a simple background
labeled underneath "Brick." Redundancy becomes a major theme for a time, seemingly allowing the artist to create a
base to use as a springboard. This also definitely and intentionally mirrors America's own over produced image and
text media...advertising. Exemplified over and over again in print, the redundancy of a perfume ad swooning girl, the
company moniker, and its catch phrase, "...." Or as seen on TV, the hamburger shown rotating in full spectral color
oozing and melting cheese, suddenly super-imposed by orange text...buy it here, anytime, fresh, hot. Advertising
thus becomes an obvious framework for these paintings, superimposed over American cultural imagery.
4. "Now at this time we must pause for a moment..."
We must consider this obsessive labeling and word infusion in other ways. Overdub: in cinema, a technique to allow
for third person narration during action or to suggest a characters ideas, etc. In this manner, Sandberg' s texts dub
into the stream of the viewers thoughts about an image and carry it another way. Overdubbed texts operate as a
steering instrument to change directions, adding other ideas or references. This overdub could be musical as well,
a way of dropping in another sound or tone into a mix of sounds. When this is considered, the artist becomes a
visual/textual DJ, mixing forms and influences, tones and colors, and sources of opposing origins. If this is the case,
then these works also invoke the "talk-over," reggae's text often total improvisation spoken over DJ mixed music.
The appropriate nature of this apparent technique is seen in Sandberg's references to music, rhythm, and the blues.
Rap artists use words as a way to reference a multitude of ideas quickly through abbreviations and word play. The
word becomes audible naturally when you hear your own voice internally as you read. The painter here seems to
cut this down, simplifying the text into short phrases and often single meaning saturated words. He has crafted a
number of ways to layer and mix his concepts, imagery and texts.
In some works, words jump forward reducing the image to a secondary background. In other examples, words are so
carefully matched in color with the backgrounds, one has trouble finding them. This technique makes the works
seem done in disappearing ink coming into and out of focus. Sandberg's ability to pile up meanings and opposing
references produce a strange sense of humor lodging his images in the viewer's consciousness.
5. Communication
In an interview, when asked "What are you trying to communicate?", Blake responds, " Communication," deftly
saying something so important and nothing whatsoever. This is the nature of his work. For if we could not decipher
images or read and translate words, they would be worthless. This tenuous line of believability is walked, traversed,
climbed over, and sometimes trampled by the young artist. If you note in many of his pieces an odd unfinished
quality, often a corner left unpainted, contradicting the complete illusion of the painting and sometimes hanging it
out to dry. Yet this is a perfect example of his ability to layer his paintings so completely. Chalking them full of
sources, ideas, and nuances. Creating a total communication of image, text, and audible sound bites. The effect of
pairing these forms translated in such a streamlined manner, the artist's paintings seem almost simple. However,
this is where he slips from your fingers and nuances rise from the painted surfaces and these iconic pictures
envelope the viewer in a world of ideas.
- B. Dalton
Pages from Blake Sandberg's note book reprinited in the
PERFORMING ARTS JOURNAL, PAJ 63, September 1999.
"Notes on the ‘Dramatics' or Dynamics of the Object"
(CLICK PAGES TO VIEW)
PERFORMING ARTS JOURNAL, PAJ 63, September 1999.
"Notes on the ‘Dramatics' or Dynamics of the Object"
(CLICK PAGES TO VIEW)
WORDS
1. Blake Sandberg's "Images and Text" - Paintings for literate people
2. Article from Performing Arts Journal, written by Blake and includes pages from his notebook
3. Modernity is Fallacy - Another notebook entry
2. Article from Performing Arts Journal, written by Blake and includes pages from his notebook
3. Modernity is Fallacy - Another notebook entry
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