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

collage photos 1.17.2009

i spent most of tonight making backgrounds for collage- but, after chopping up tons of magazines and papers i had so much little paper bits left over that i decided to use them to make photos. i threw them onto a large pad, arranged and shot them, then threw them away.
[c] 2009 doug duffey

new [unfinished] collages- zermatt- january 2009

i began these collages tonight- they're not finished-by any means- and because i shot them with no flash with my digital cameras they look washed out and not like they really look. but it was an attempt to prime the pump and begin making collage again, after a long period of not doing any.

[c] 2008 doug duffey

to, in & from zermatt, switzerland

all fotos by doug duffey
video by doug duffey
[c] 2008 doug duffey

swiss train 1

zermatt to visp, switzerland- december 17, 2008

[c] 2008 doug duffey

swiss train 2

zermatt to visp, switzerland - december 17, 2008

[c] 2008 doug duffey

kurt schwitters- dada- collage- etc

dd w/utensils- switzerland 12.20.2008

i've been browsing kurt schwitters online, getting inspired, before i began attacking magazines and newspapers -with scissors, glue, staples and tape- to begin collage mania. he's always been an inspiration... as was dada... [as was german expressionism... as was... as was...]

speaking of dada: i made a lot of fotos of spiegelgasse 1 -where cabaret voltaire was [birthplace of dada] originally- years ago, long before the swiss decided to resurrect/memorialize it. i'd been appalled that such a legendary art birthplace was totally ignored; didnt even have a plaque on a wall outside, etc; even the kunsthaus zurich only had a small section dedicated to dada.

i asked friends to save magazines and newspapers for me before i came over; whatever i dont use in collage i will rip up/recycle and use to make papier mache'- maybe some masks? it is nearing carnival time- why throw stuff out when you can recycle it as ART?

anyway... more kurt schitters and more coffee & cigs.... then onto snipping, ripping, tearing, gluing, taping and pasting....
[c] 2008 doug duffey

billboard collage 12.07.08

this was a section of a billboard/highway sign on 165 North in Monroe. i shot it with my casio w/zoom.
[c] 2008 doug duffey

from the gnostic gospel of st. thomas

Jesus said, "If you bring forth what is within you, what you have will save you. If you do not have that within you, what you do not have within you [will] kill you." - from the gnostic gospel of st. thomas

i've been identifying with that quote for years, but more and more, lately, it really calls out to me... and hits home! for me, it relates to the spirit - and by that i mean the creative spirit. like knowing that you are supposed to be making ART -coming from a place deep within yourself- and yet you somehow get trapped into a commercial money making cycle where you are not only NOT doing "the work" you should be 'bringing forth', but what work you're doing is empty and killing you... spiritually! now can i get an amen, or what?

[c] 2008 doug duffey

art crawl- monroe, louisiana- 10.02.08- redux

bob ward

edmund williamson

allan brockman

brad

typical christian propaganda for this region- the buckle of the bible belt- and typical that they would put it out, in front of the galleries, during the art crawl! god save us from art!

35mm film shots from the art crawl; shot w/ Canon AE-1 and Ilford FP4 B&W film.

[c] 2008 doug duffey

art crawl- monroe, louisiana 10.02.08

some random shots of the "art crawl" tonight [oct.2.08] in downtown monroe. shot w/ my casio exilim digital.
[c] 2008 doug duffey

frames 2003

[c] 2008 doug duffey

memory- stuttgart 1993

untitled- switzerland 1991

[c] 2008 doug duffey

at the birthplace of DADA

[foto by jacqueline trachsel]

a shot of me in zurich- at Spiegel-Gasse 1; the former site of "cabaret voltaire"; the birthplace of DADA

[c] 2008 doug duffey

various collages

entangled

auffuhrung:

visage chinoise- gesicht chinesisch

the top 3 collages are from a series i did in Basel in the early 1990s in a small book. they're torn paper, scotch tape, and [top one] string
the ones below are larger- done in Berlin and NYC mid-late 1990s

the general's indiscretion

the changling

[c] 2008 doug duffey

creation- unfinished collage

i began this last year here in switzerland- and never finished it. i found it today in one of my big sketchbooks. this is a very bad shot of it, done in the bedroom with a digital camera... and i think the flash went off. but, maybe, by posting it NOW, unfinished, it will prod me to finish it.
[c] 2008 doug duffey

april 4, 2008

[c] 2008 doug duffey

scanned polaroid mistakes

two polaroids that got taken accidentally- the button getting pushed in the case or whatever- so no intended image was on them. when scanned/photoshopped they yielded these results, which are rather Rorschach-ish... [what do you see?] they both look rather cosmic/galactic to me
[c] 2008 doug duffey

blue face prague

i shot this image in prague last summer. it's one of hundreds of torn billboards/wall collages i shot. i used my little 2MP casio exilim- [the one whose memory card froze and i almost lost all 500+ images] which didn't do so well in low light- it blurred; but as anyone who reads my blogs knows, i find "blur is beautiful" - lack of zoom [especially trying to shoot the 'infant of prague' in the very low light church] prompted me to buy yet another casio exilim [8MP w/zoom] so hopefully next time i find such 'art' i'll have more options. i've been using it since i got it [last september?] -the only drawback being the lens coming out every time you turn it on. the older one is/stays flat: better for sneaky- and- street shots.
[c] 2008 doug duffey

2 polaroids

moonshadow

prehistoric

[c] 2007 doug duffey