A Peaceful Escape - Prompt #3

This afternoon, I experienced the most peaceful moment I’ve had since arriving at PSU.  Around 11:00 I grabbed a to-go lunch from Irving’s Bagels.  As I was heading toward Willard Building, the Hintz Family Alumni Center’s beautiful gardens caught my eye.  I entered a small, iron gate next to the colorful Secret Garden, a gift from an anonymous donor, which led down a small dirt path and to the soft, green lawn.  I crossed through the moist grass, passing the duck pond to the Ridge Riley’s Bridge.  It seemed like a great spot to sit and eat, study or relax. It was full of natural sounds, much different than the normal sounds of campus.  The ducks’ quacks were the most evident sounds I heard.  The ducks ran around near the pond, chasing students, or launching into the water.  I listened to the occasionally stirred water below and the rustling leaves above.  A massive tree seemed to lean over the bridge resembling a green rooftop, providing shade and concealment.  Today was a great day to visit, with the slight breeze that passed through, I sat very content on one of the cool stone benches of the bridge.  I enjoyed my savory bagel sandwich and sat still; just experiencing all that surrounded me.  I realized today how much I loved it there because it was an escape.  It created a feeling of peaceful separation from the busy bustle of campus life.  It allowed time for quiet reflection and most of all, comfort.

The Palmer, my first visit.

          While meandering through the beautiful Palmer Museum of Art, I came across a wonderful piece of artwork in the David and Gerry Pincus Gallery that had appealed quite rhetorically interesting to me.  It’s title is a date, 4.11.2007.  To me, this was a surprising title for such a piece of art, nonetheless it is quite simple and perhaps that was the artist’s goal.  The artist then, is Mark Sheinkman.  He is an American artist born in 1963.  The materials used for this brilliant piece are oil, alkyd, and graphite on linen.  It was made in 2007.

            I sat on a wooden bench in front of the piece to observe it and to create a thorough description, attempting to capture its essence in words.  The best descriptions I came up with were as follows:  The piece hung as a rectangular shape on the wall with a very dark background, almost black but not quite.  Its color scheme was made up of every variation of black and white, including every shade of gray in between.  The brightest white parts appeared the closest to me, while the soft grays seemed to hang in the air behind the white, reminiscent of mist, or smoke.  The entire picture conveyed the concept of smoke.  It was made up of soft, swirling motions that seemed to hang in the air.  It appeared to me whimsical yet ominous, both somewhat evil and yet very pure.  The “smoke” as you may call it took every possible movement through swirls, curves, turns, twists and circles, intertwining within one another’s rungs.  It seemed not as one definite wisp of smoke, but many that each started and ended on different parts of the linen canvas.  They spread out along the sides of the canvas but all clustered together in a diagonal across the center of the painting, leaving the bottom left corner and top right corner mostly empty.  The entire painting just radiated delicateness to me.  It seemed as if you were to move too quickly past it, or to reach out a hand and touch it with the tip of your finger that the entire picture would disintegrate.

            The rhetorical situation of the piece is that it is quite secluded.  I have researched to attempt to find a reason behind the title of Sheinkman’s 4.11.2007, but found no answers.  To me, this made the piece even more rhetorically interesting because it’s place/time of creation is not very precise.  I know that it was created in 2007, which matches the year in the title, yet I was unable to find any further explanation as to why it is a specific date. Perhaps, that was the date that he created the idea for the piece, began working on it, or maybe the finish of it.  I also know that Sheinkman has done various pieces that are part of an exhibition called Leaded, in which his pieces seem to imitate each other and are made of the same materials, and color scheme that go along with graphite.  I do not believe it belongs to a historical moment exactly, but rather Sheinkman’s own cultural moment in which he creates these similar pieces of artwork.  To me, the piece is very much in conversation within the moment, being so comparable to his other works such as Audobon, Chisum, Twelfth, and many others.  One other factor that may influence his work through this cultural moment is the fact that he resides in New York.  New York is a very busy, inspiring city and to me, the piece 4.11.2007 incorporates some qualities of the city such as the smoke that obviously comes with the pollution from any city, especially such a large one.  Another idea could be the evil and purity that radiate through the piece, like different parts of a city.  There are countless interpretations that can be composed from a viewer’s aspect.

            The piece involves pathos, especially to me, because it evokes certain emotions within me.  I found the piece very inspiring and peaceful, ominous almost.  It captivated me and I was forced to sit and stare at it for quite some time.  I felt at ease just looking at it, trying to formulate ideas behind Sheinkman’s purpose, and his strokes that seem so life-like.  Considering myself a very amateur artist, I felt so inspired by his painting because it speaks directly to the values I have, and the type of art that I yearn to be capable of creating.  To me, it connects to my values of passion and drive, to inspire people, and create art that can be interpreted in so many ways.  More than anything the beautiful painting just captivated me in every way, drawing me close and I believe that is it’s most powerful aspect in which I could not escape.  Also, a little personal fun-fact: My favorite colors are black and white.  They are so classical, and appeal to me more than most colors.  I have my entire room at home done in black and white, with silver and gray accents.  I think this is another reason why 4.11.2007 appeals to me so much, it is a piece of art that I would never even hesitate on having in my future home if I could.

            The artist establishes his credibility because immediately upon researching him, I found various pieces of artwork that match the style of 4.11.2007 which easily showed his passion for this type of art, and also his talent.  One thing I noticed about this piece was that along the sides of the canvas’ edge are his fingerprints that are left from the residue of the graphite.  I find it interesting that he left them there, giving the piece such a personal touch and credibility all in one.  He is an established artist in New York, and as I mentioned a few paragraphs ago, has many creations that are comparable to the one at The Palmer Museum of Art.  Here are some links to other works of his, as well as an article in which 4.11.2007 was used:  http://www.vonlintel.com/Mark-Sheinkman.html

http://www.marksheinkman.com/press/pressimages/sheinkman_2008Artpapers.pdf

I am unsure whether Mark Sheinkman is making any direct claims through 4.11.2007, but if he is, one that I may consider is simply the idea of inspiration.  To me, that is the largest standing aspect of the painting.  I feel as though it is meant to evoke emotions, as it did to me, in all viewers, whether the feelings are of mystery, or fascination, fantasy, or realism.  The piece can be interpreted in so many ways that I feel that is it’s ultimate claim, to be interpreted.  This also fits in with the fact that there are no words in the title, because the words may distract the viewer from formulating their own ideas of the piece.

            Finally, to reflect on my overall experience at The Palmer Museum of Art, I loved it!  I realized that I am a definite newly discovered museum-goer.  It was my first time at The Palmer, and I would love to go back to just spend some more time mulling over the beautiful pieces!  I was fascinated, specifically by the upper-level, with all the variations and varieties of art.  I love art, and I now know that art museums are a wonderful pastime for myself.  I have been in several museums before, but none close to home.  I recently was in the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. but our schedule lacked time and I was robbed of the overall experience.  This summer was my first real-loving museum experience at The Louvre, in Paris, France.  It would take months to go through everything in The Louvre, and although I only had a couple of hours there, I was in love!  So to experience, on a much smaller scale, such a wonderful, serene place so close to home was something that I will definitely continue to do.  Thank you Sheila, for the assignment. I loved it.