art, etc.: accidental art- art is where you find it

Saturday, January 17, 2009

accidental art- art is where you find it

i've always said that about 90% of what i ever get that is really good- when making fotos or making art- was/is either a happy accident, or luck, or whatever. as i've always said, and my friend edmund says, "art is where you find it"- like found objects etc. or something crazy that catches your eye.

of course some skill is involved, but usually out of a roll of 35mm film, there might be one shot that is truly good, and qualifies as art. i think with film, one tends to be more careful; whereas when shooting with my digital, i shoot ad nauseum, shoot everything [even trash], and then go back and see if there is anything worth a shit; or anything i can manipulate in photoshop to
make better. but, i really hate digital; the only good thing about it is it's immediacy- it's like the new polaroid... but i prefer [and use] old polaroid!

as for collage/drawings/paintings, etc. i find that same prinicple applies: out of doing a lot of stuff, there might be one or two truly good pieces. mais, ca c'est la travail! that's the work. same goes with writing songs; you might write 10 that are really good, but only one that is great. voila!

i am in the process of doing collage... i started in zermatt and am continuing. i was up all last night until dawn doing backgrounds. i like to strat with a backdrop, then add whatever images i find that fit with the scenario. my current theme is conflict/contrast: sort of social commentary; visal journalism.

i also got into using all leftover bits of paper, throwing it onto a big art pad and photographing it, then rearranging and shooting it again and again. so those images only exist as digital photos, which is also kind of cool.

i haven't been working on much photography- only shooting with the digital- because it is so cold here [switzerland] that i dont want to go outside... plus, everything is covered in ice and snow, and everyone is wrapped up. but i've been thinking of doing some crazy self portraits- in various settings and clothes... which might or might not be fun, and maybe interesting; again, that cindy sherman/lucas samaras type thing.

i hope to rig up an old computer and scanner i have in the basement ONLY for scanning. my laptop only has USB ports and the old Canon scanner wont work with it. anyway... back to the work... my pads, scissors, magazines and glue await me.
switzerland- 1.17.2009

i[c] 2009 doug duffey

about this blog

this blog is where i post some of my drawings, paintings, collages, mixed media, photomontage, scans, videos, etc.- all of which i have been doing for as long as i can remember.

i began painting and making collage in the 60s; but even as a child i was always drawing/painting. i've continued doing both 'off and on' [more off than on] since.

i have periods where i'll get into art projects and do them until they run their course; but, as with my photography, i don't really have as much time as i'd like to have to devote to art.

i started doing a lot of brush and ink 'drawings', and pen and ink drawings in the 80s- [none of which have been scanned yet]- i might just photograph them, as they are too big to scan.

i didn't do collage for a long time, but began again in the early 90s in new orleans. i didn't do many there, but rather 'primed the pump' to begin to do them again. i was mostly doing abstract images, with a lot of torn color paper. when i'd leave and go on the road to work for long periods of time, i began doing them daily-as a form of entertainment, as something to fill time before and after shows. i began doing a lot of collages from xeroxed images i'd scan at local libraries, when i was working in towns for weeks... but i got tired of the only b&w images... so i'd do pen and ink drawings in between.

when i got to Europe in the early 90s i was staying a month in Basel- at a hotel on the Rhine. again i began doing collage as a means of entertainment [i was also making a lot of fotos]. i began using bits & pieces of found paper, discarded magazines, ripping paper off posters and billboards, using scotch tape as well as glue-sticks.

i began using small books to do the collages in, as they were easier to transport.
i did a lot of different series when i was spending long periods in brussels, berlin, rotterdam, den haag, and switzerland. some have been scanned and i will post some when i run across them.

most of the paintings i've posted on this site [shot w/a polaroid camera] are the smaller ones. in new orleans i had one big room in my house that i used only for painting- [and one as a darkroom]- i'd paint on 6 foot pieces of plywood, or big pieces of wood. i left most of those in storage buildings or outside [covered] until they ruined- so... some i burned- [i should have photographed them as they burned!] and some are still in my shed.

influenced by dada, german expressionism, primitive art, cocteau, picasso and art brut [outsider art]- i'm continuously discovering and being inspired by little known or unknown [by me and many] artists, thanks to great tv documentaries i see when i am in europe. always a new window/door opens...