Pinterest* has caught fire in a big way, and any current or former art student knows why. Inspiration boards are part of a creatives' conceptualization process. I started thinking about what I was into growing up, and why. As much as I like museums and galleries, they seem remote, distant, cold, and touristy, like large cathedrals, but much more pretentious. I'm not inspired by work for a minuscule group of wealthy collectors. Word to the no. It was always the kind of print material that I could hold in my hot little hands: posters, cards, stickers, books, magazines, comics, newspapers, and record albums—anything that I could study over and over at my leisure, and hand held items afforded me that kind of luxury.
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| Part of a series for SUNY drawing class, age 19 - © Marie Doucette |
For me, there's never been big questions about Art vs. Commerce, because I wanted to make work for people like me, my friends, and my family. If you need to take an appreciation seminar that couches critique in the lingua franca of the privileged few, I'll pass. And it's not like I can't snob it up like any abstract painter with a trust fund, because I scored great grades in fine art classes (Paint whatever I want?! You're friggin' kidding me, right? Easy, man.) But, how big would my influence be? Who am I talking to? Am I changing anyone's mind, making an impact? If it isn't globally large, then I'm just speaking to the same people I didn't have anything in common with back then, and who snub me now. Uh, pass...again. This ain't no cocktail party, or high school popularity contest.
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| "Tattoo You" hallway |
Hence the debut of the new feature Influences, inspired by the old-fashioned concept board, now refashioned for the digital age. Record albums had a big impact on me: they were public art spaces with lots of cool effects, lavish with details that had lyrics and references it takes real time to get into. But oh, once you do, you know that music and art like no one else. The first time I saw the double cover for The Stones Tattoo You, I knew I wanted to do whatever the hell that was. I had no idea what it was, or how to make something that cool, but I knew I would find out. Years later, that album inspired a series of drawings that was part of my entrance portfolio into RISD from my small SUNY teacher's college. Last year, walking around my neighborhood, I found a copy on the sidewalk in a box of stuff on the street, art and album intact. It now hangs in my album-covered hallway. What are some of your biggest influences?
*Check out my boards: http://pinterest.com/mariedoucette/
