When I decided to do synchretic (and syncretic) paintings, I didn’t know how and where to start. I decided to look at some tutorials on the internet. However, I didn’t have the resources to replicate whatever teachings were on the internet. I didn’t know how and what I was going to paint. I didn’t know anything apart from the aesthetics – abstract. Therefore I contacted a fellow Fine Arts student in her third year at Camberwell College of Arts (UAL), Marta Paula. I explained my project to her briefly in a meeting at LCC. By that time, I explained differently: “implementing sound onto paintings”. One of the references I showed her was Juan Sorrentino‘s audiovisual painting installation SOUND CANVAS (2002):
In terms of concept, it derives from the syncretic relation between sound and image, but it definitely relates to implementing sound in painting. In Sorrentino’s work, the main difference is conceptual – the painting is experienced through listening to other people’s descriptions of a work that is not mentioned by either the creator or the painter.
Another idea I showed was alternating the painting surface – instead of a canvas, opting for different materials that could resonate through transducer implementation. Something that relates to Lucrecia Martel’s haptic experience of sound and image. This haptic relation can be found in Alessandro Perini‘s artwork. The Italian artist combines sound and tactile experience in his installation Tactile Headset (2014):
Paula enjoyed the project and was more than happy to help me out. She also suggested using found materials such as wood and burlap (a surface she is used to working with).
MY FIRST PAINTING SESSION
Marta Paula and I met at CCA in Peckham and spent the whole day at the painting studios working and playing around with different types of painting methods.
I didn’t know none of those materials. She later explained there are various methods and ways of painting and that it doesn’t really confine the usage of a singular format. For instance, one can merge different surfaces, oils, and inks. When painting, there’s this freedom of “speech” per se. Marta, for example, doesn’t necessarily start by painting. She explained that she once painted some pottery and later broke it to finally engrave it onto a frame. Marta knew the expertise I lacked regarding painting, so her induction worked more as a “beginners first painting class” than anything. But, as Dennis DeSantis says, the best of starting is by goalless exploration and experimentation, and that was precisely what Marta taught me that day. Apart from the overwhelming amount of resources, the most important is starting.
Final thoughts
My goal is not exclusively to work on a singular painting. I think that is limiting the possibilities. I intend to continue working with Marta and find a way of trialing and accomplishing more results. Alternatively, this project is aimed to work collaterally in both realms of sound and painting, whereas Marta inducts me into the world o painting, and I reversibly onto the world of creating sound pieces (musique concrete). A topic that I will further investigate. Practice as Research.