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1/10/2016

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Your comments on the content and the contribution this book would make on understanding how and why artists develop new ideas and make "difficult" work would be much appreciated.

Please let me know what you think about:
1. The title of the book
2. The cover of the book
3. The premise of the book
4. The use of the FROM THIS —to —THIS? feature
5. The content of the sample chapters
6. Please share any ideas you have, you may be candid,
    I am not sensitive and value your thoughts.
    Thank you.

            You may also leave comments at meyerton31@gmail.com

31 Comments

Berna Thom

8/11/2013 11:46:07 pm

I so agree with Carla!

Wendy van Lingen

10/24/2014 03:11:14 am

At last I understand abstract art and will from now and forever more understand it and have a better appreciation for it. As a non-artist I found it easy to read and understand and found the history fascinating.

Hana Horack-Elyafi link

10/29/2014 08:30:36 pm

Your analysis is clear and accessible. I find it resonates with the way I think about art. I am wary of the 'wrong' kind of thinking, because I find that then stifles my work.

RANDEE M KETZEL link

10/30/2014 09:19:51 am

Claude,
It was a great pleasure meeting you today and we all hope that you will be able to 'sub' again soon. I have very much enjoyed reading what you have so far and love the approach of considering such varied influences on the movements and their work. I think it would not suffer at all by the inclusion of a few more visuals--I do love the 'from this--to this' format--and may I offer the suggestion that you consider E-publishing? I don't know the intended scope but I think it may be perfect for you.

Claude van Lingen link

10/30/2014 09:50:36 am

Thanks for your kind words Randee. It was a pleasure teaching you today. E publishing or any other form not possible, will need to pay fortunes for copyright of images. Take care and all the best.

Stephan Erasmus link

11/1/2014 03:50:53 am

Hi (Oom) Claude. I have had a look for the first time. The text reads very well and i love it! I only read the introduction but will come back for more. ( Baie dankie vir wat jy gedoen het vir my en baie ander wat deur jou fak geform is en vir wat jy nog besig is om te doen). Keep on going!!

Claude van Lingen link

11/2/2014 07:15:09 am

No need for Oom Stephan!!, Thanks for your kind words. Never thought the Perceptual (Conceptual) Studies course would be such a success. Proud of those
who have taken it and made a run for it. You are all to be commended for your tenacity and talent. Best to one and all in Sunny SA.

Adriana

12/1/2015 09:49:05 am

Dear Oom Claude, (I too still do the 'oom' thing....*smiling*) - so stunning to read these comments, I still want to sit and read everything - that Perceptual Studies course that you mentioned in this comment, was that the one that my father wrote in the sixties which is still taught today? Wanted to still ask you again which course it was, as I had so completely lost track since he passed.
Lots of love, Adri Botha

Meredith

12/2/2014 06:15:23 am

Professor Claude,
At first I did not know exactly how I felt about the title but then I began thinking more and the title then grew on me. Art, creativity, and controversy is a great title it completely explains the process an artist goes though in three great words.
I enjoy the images for the cover of your book one, because I have studied and learned about each image and two, because every image is created differently which brings out the similarity with the title.
I think the premise of the book is wonderful; you really break down the concept of art and what it’s like to be an artist and why certain artwork may seem strange to some people but completely normal to the artist.
I liked how before each new sample chapter you gave us a quick overview of what you were going to be talking to us about next.
I also really enjoy the objectives you cover in your story because for example The Italian Renaissance and others are areas I studied last year at TCU in my art history class so it is cool to be able to understand what you are talking about in your story.
I think this is all around a great start to your book and I an very glad I got to read a little of your work!

Dawn Albright

1/2/2015 01:03:00 pm

Claude, I learned so much from your slide show on this subject. I think your presentation of the material in any format -- book, slide show, video -- is important. So many non-artists (like myself) could use a more clear understanding of the evolution of art, art movements, and styles. You really explain it well. I like the From This --- To This feature.

I am guessing you are doing all the writing yourself, of course. Have you considered involving an editor to make some stylistic tweaks to attract a broader audience?

Dawn

Claude van Lingen link

1/2/2015 01:21:32 pm

Thanks so much for your comments Dawn. Please email me at claudevanlingen@gmail.com so that we can discuss your suggestion in depth.

Claude van Lingen link

1/3/2015 01:06:06 am

On second thought Dawn, let's discuss your comment here.

As far as a broader audience is concerned the book is written for a very wide audience. This includes non-artists, those skeptical of modern and contemporary art (my child can do better), students, artists "looking for a style"and even academics, teachers and writers of art history books who do not stress the importance of the role played by the philosophy and zeitgeist of a period in the way in which artists develop new ideas.

I have asked many students and teachers if they had ever considered the roles of St. Francis of Assisi, Theosophy, the changing concepts of space and time, Existentialism, etc., and their influence on the way in which art changed over the centuries. In many cases the question met with replies in the negative.

Take any art history book and look in the index for the items mentioned above; in many cases they are not to be found

The book is written in non-academic language so that even high school students can understand what I am talking about.

I would like to find a co-writer to help me finish the book, it is a big burden that intrudes on the time I spend on my own art work. I therefore mostly write at off times. It started while I was traveling by train from Garrison, New York to my day job in the city. Now, while I am having a coffee break at Starbucks, etc., etc.

Thanks for your comment, it's given me the opportunity to explain my intentions with the book. Take care and a Happy New Year to you and yours. Looking forward to seeing you at the Blanton soon.

PAUL STOPFORTH

3/23/2015 07:06:25 am

HI CLAUDE,

I LIKE THE BOOK VERY MUCH, AND BOTH THE COVER AND TITLE ARE PERFECT. THE FROM 'THIS ..TO..THIS; ELEMENT IS VERY CLEAR AND A VERY CONCISE INDICATION OF INTERCONNECTEDNESS THAT PROVIDES A FRAMEWORK FOR FURTHER STUDY.
I DO THINK YOU SHOULD THINK ABOUT TARGETING A MORE SELECTIVE AUDIENCE AS THE BOOK ITSELF APPEARS TO BE MORE DIRECTED AND FOCUSED ON INTRODUCING A FASCINATING MEANS TO THINK ABOUT ART FOR A YOUNGER AUDIENCE, HIGH SCHOOL OR UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGE STUDENTS.
PERHAPS A MEANS OF INTERESTING AN AGENT OR PUBLISHER?

Claude van Lingen link

3/29/2015 04:44:11 am

Thanks for your input Paul, I really appreciate it. Will try educational publishers, but the problem is schools in the US seldom offer courses in creative thinking. Exceptions that I have come across are New Forms (Non-traditional Art Investigations at Pratt Institute's Graduate School and the School of Visual Arts, where I taught within the Graphic Design Department's Visual Communication course.

Berna Thom link

3/31/2015 02:06:25 am

Claude van Lingen
Please let me know what you think about:
The title of the book:
I think the title is very applicable – because that is EXACTLY what art is about! There is usually some controversy about artworks.
The cover of the book
Very good - and I think applicable with the “old” and the “new” – Mona Lisa, Picasso etc.
The premise of the book:
The use of the FROM THIS ¬¬—to —THIS? Feature:
Good idea – most ‘non-artists cannot always understand how, why and what the artist had in mind – especially if it abstract work and the cover reflects that.
The content of the sample chapters:
The content explains the creative process of “how, why and what art works”

Claude van Lingen link

3/31/2015 04:14:47 am

Thanks Berna really value your input. All the besr go everyone in Sunny SA.

Meghan mc knight

5/31/2015 11:45:54 am

Looks great oupa!!

Robert Maddox

6/13/2015 05:20:15 am

The title is intriguing - who doesn't love a little controversy? The cover is lovely, and quite professional in appearance.
The premise seems sound and opens a myriad different topics for discussion. The writing style in the sample chapters is formal enough to pay proper respect to the subject matter, but does not come across as stuffy or pretentious. The "this to this" element is thought-provoking and entertaining. Not to nit-pick, but the last paragraph of the introduction could use a few quotation marks or italics to make it easier to read.

Because the word "style" brings to mind the constant changes that take place in fashion and design, and accentuates the surface changes that take place to make objects more appealing, the use of the terms "directions", "approaches", and "personal vision" are preferred.

All in all I am certainly interested to read more. Well done.

Claude van Lingen link

6/13/2015 06:59:42 am

Thanks so much for your comments Robert, they are really appreciated. Will look into using quotation marks.

Rich Townsend link

7/6/2015 12:26:48 am

where was this book when i needed it? coulda saved me 30 years!
seriously, looks like a very worthwhile read ... gets to the heart of the matter. keep up the good work.

Claude van Lingen link

7/6/2015 01:40:58 am

Thanks for your comment Rich—a great encouragement to keep on going.

davey

7/25/2015 08:15:44 am

Hi, Whatever new things (artworks) people come up with is ok by me, except ...! Shouldn't the new ideas and implementations have some sort of significance to them? I find practically all modern and contemporary art to be insignificant implementations of insignificant new ideas. Why should we bother with trivial ideas and trivial artworks (and why sould we even grace them with the title 'art'). Say I were to display a blank canvas, with the idea that canvases are important for a lot of paintings, and my canvas is intended to bring that to people's attention. My idea and implementation are the sorts of things contemporary artists come up with, that get taken up by galleries and theorists etc. Well, I rather think that the idea and implementation are utterly trivial, and worthless. So, by all means do contemporary art, but try to come up with things worth our attention. Your proposed book might consider the latter. I've not found any other books that deal with the problem of worthlessness in modern and contemporary art. Do you know of any? The worth of any bit of a thing seems to me totally taken for granted by the artworld. Don't you find that strange? Regards, Davey.

Claude van Lingen link

7/27/2015 03:49:38 am

Thanks for your thought provoking ideas Davey.

All depends on what you consider significant? Are the Cubists responses to the changing concepts of space and time at the beginning of the 20th century, the ideas of Theosophy—applied by the early abstractionist and their far reaching influence on architecture and all manner of 20th century design, the reaction against WWI by the Dada artists, Freud’s influence on Surrealism, WWII and Existentialism on the Abstract Expressionists, the Conceptual artists reaction to the Vietnam War, the Post Modernists reaction against Modernism, the influence of Democracy on Contemporary art and the reaction against/acceptance of the current commercialism of art, insignificant/trivial goals for artists to have explored?

Admittedly, numbers of artists have taken the ideas of the originators of movements and turned them into styles, thereby making them acceptable to a broad public but weakening their impact.

Your idea of exhibiting blank canvasses parallels Ad Reinhardt’s Black on Black paintings that he considered to be the end of painting as an art form.
Yoko Ono wrote a statement in which she asked readers to envisage works of art, she didn’t even provide the canvasses. In a gallery setting Andy Warhol presented an empty pedestal on which he had posed for a short period. I don’t think that is an insignificant act, but a powerful statement on the brevity of power and celebrity on life and death.. But, like so much of modern and contemporary artists work, the interpretation is left to the viewer and not to have the “story” spelled out in a narrative form.

I would like to have examples of what you think are significant and insignificant forms of art Davey.

Thanks again.

Claude

davey

7/28/2015 10:23:53 pm

Hi Claude,

Thanks for your reply.

You say: "All depends on what you consider significant?"

Well, not just personal to me.

You say: "Are the Cubists responses to the changing concepts of space and time at the beginning of the 20th century, the ideas of Theosophy—applied by the early abstractionist and their far reaching influence on architecture and all manner of 20th century design, the reaction against WWI by the Dada artists, Freud’s influence on Surrealism, WWII and Existentialism on the Abstract Expressionists, the Conceptual artists reaction to the Vietnam War, the Post Modernists reaction against Modernism, the influence of Democracy on Contemporary art and the reaction against/acceptance of the current commercialism of art, insignificant/trivial goals for artists to have explored?"

Those look too sweeping as 'ideas' someone might have when making an artwork, so don't look to help in addressing the issues. I have noted that 'exploring' is a Contemporary Art buzzword. Generally the explorations amount to no more than if a canvas was displayed with 1+1=2 written on it and it was claimed it was an exploration of mathematics.

Worthless artworks are eg:

Ad Reinhardt’s Black on Black paintings (worthwhile painting has continued since Reinhardt).

Yoko Ono's statement.

Andy Warhol posing for a short period on a subsequently displayed, in an art gallery, empty pedestal.
You say of the Warhol: "I don’t think that is an insignificant act, but a powerful statement on the brevity of power and celebrity on life and death. But, like so much of modern and contemporary artists work, the interpretation is left to the viewer and not to have the “story” spelled out in a narrative form."
Here's a few accounts of the Warhol I found round Internet (I've not given the web addresses of all of them):
http://www.modernedition.com/art-articles/absence-in-art/the-invisible-artwork.html
Andy Warhol's Invisible Sculpture - an empty plinth bearing the label 'Andy Warhol, USA / Invisible Sculpture / Mixed Media' - was unveiled at the New York club, Area, in 1985. It's usually claimed that (in a gesture reminiscent of Yves Klein's exhibition of personal aura) Warhol briefly ascended the dais in order to infuse it with his own creative genius.
Warhol created an invisible sculpture at Area, a New York club: he stood for a while near a wall label, 'Andy Warhol, USA / Invisible Sculpture / Mixed Media 1985', then left.
Andy Warhol, Mr Visibility himself, produced and installed his 1985 Invisible Sculpture at New York’s Area nightclub - a place where people went to be seen - by stepping on a plinth and then stepping off it, presumably leaving traces of his resonant celebrity aura orbiting in its airspace.
Warhol stood on Pedestal for a few minutes and then left.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/blank-canvas-london-gallery-unveils-invisible-art-exhibition-7767057.html
Also in the exhibition (London's Hayward Gallery) will be Warhol's work Invisible Sculpture – dating from 1985 – which consists of an empty plinth, on which he had once briefly stepped, one of his many explorations of the nature of celebrity.

You seem to have said yourself that anybody can put their own interpretation on it, and yours is that it is "a powerful" etc. Well, it does have a title, and stories associated with it, but I suppose some people would just see the pedestal (was there one at the night club? Was the same pedestal used in subsequent art gallery exhibitions, or did Warhol do his procedure again for them? There are pictures on Internet, but it's not clear what the locations are.), though also the label, which label does give a little of a 'story', so it is not totally without story. Without a label (story), why would anyone even take it that in that place something (!) is intended as an artwork?

Tom Friedman staring repeatedly over five years at a blank sheet of paper, entitled 1,000 Hours of Staring.

Your 'Sandy' series.

Your 'Titanic' series.

Your '1000 Years From Now. Red, Yellow, Blue' series.

To think such things as those above are 'powerful', meaningful, significant, valuable, interesting etc seems to be a perversion of our human powers of judgement. I've not come across any studies of how people get to be so misled, but I suppose it ought to be done, then maybe Modern and Contemporary Art can be seen rightly as almost all too trivial etc to be considered as art. And students in Art Schools can have a proper education in art.

Artworks with value are eg:

Bouguereau La Couturiere (http://www.bouguereau.org/La-couturi%C3%A8re-%28Sewing%29.html)
Stubbs Whistlejacket
Millais Mariana
Leighton The Music Lesson
Renoire Dance a Bougival
Millet The Gleaners
Blake Newton
Gainsborough The Painter's daughters chasing a butterfly

Michaelangelo Pieta
Bernini Ecstacy of Saint Teresa
Rodin The Kiss

Regards, Davey.

Claude van Lingen link

8/3/2015 07:43:25 am

Won’t discuss the issue related to the others Davey, but do you think that my "1000 Years From Now" series in which viewers are encouraged to think about the future of our planet, global warming, wars, floods, etc. and interpreted in a way that illustrates the violence of these events, is trivial and insignificant?

You may consider a girl chasing a butterfly, a prancing horse, a couple dancing etc, as more significant than my work —I strongly disagree.

I was trained in the old academic way of drawing and painting and could easily paint realistic images of events I portray in my new work, but so could millions of other artists as well as photographers. My interpretations are my way of showing my concerns, and no one in the history of art has interpreted these ideas in this way. Adventurous artists have been presenting new content in new forms since the Industrial, French and American Revolutions, since the rise of Democracy and the importance of individual thinking and action. All of these were opposed to the control of form and content exerted by religion, royalty and the stranglehold of the Academies on the art of the 18th and 19th centuries.

As far as photography is concerned, what is the difference between—for instance—a photograph and Millais’ sentimental representations? The answer lies in the technical skill of painting realistically; something Picasso could do at the age of fifteen! Technical skill does not necessarily mean that a painting is art.

In many cases the artists you mention are examples of the type of art the Impressionists (Renoir included), van Gogh, Cezanne, Gauguin, the Cubists, abstract artists, etc. rebelled against.

As far as the use of the word “exploring” is concerned artists have been exploring since the beginning of time. They have explored ways in which to portray 3D on a 2D surface—perspective, light and shade—atmospheric perspective, asymmetrical composition, new subject matter, as well as new mediums and methods of interpretation (the van Eyck brothers, da Vinci—oil paints, Frankenthaler—acrylics, and since the Cubists’ use of collage and Dada use of found materials—the field is wide open.

In reply to your statement, “Those look too sweeping as 'ideas' someone might have when making an artwork, so don't look to help in addressing the issues.”

Are the Greeks search for the IDEAL that gave us the ”ideal” architecture, sculpture, political system (Democracy), human body (the Olympics), the Renaissance idea of making realistic representations of Christian subjects (as opposed to Byzantine stylization) and the Impressionist’s ideas of capturing the effects of light, too sweeping??

So, do you advocate going back to a structure like the 18th and 19th century academy’s rules advocating the painting of religious and mythological subject matter in the glazing and blending approach and only using muted brown colors, like that of an old violin (visible brush strokes and bright colors were considered vulgar)?

We live in the 21st century and artists such as the realists, Courbet, and Millais and the Impressionists were among the first to break with the Academy and assert their individuality—the beginning of the democratic right of every individual to express him/herself. This is a process that is evident in the fact that so many artists today do not work in a style, but find the means most appropriate to expressing their intention, no matter what.

In much contemporary art there are no longer groups (religion), or styles that are generally understood that do not need explanation. Nevertheless, there is a “story” behind every work of art, and knowing it adds to its appreciation. So, in not knowing the “story” of Warhol’s pedestal think of someone who knows nothing about the Christian religion and sees a painting of a crucifixion. He or she would think, “Why is that “guy” up there nailed to two sticks?” Just as these individuals would have to get to know the Biblical story of Christ’s life to fully understand and appreciate what is going on in the painting, or Michelangelo’s Pieta, so—in our era the importance of our democratically inspired individual thought and expression—the viewer needs to get to know the individual artist’s intentions to be able to fully understand the work.

As I said right at the beginning, “It all depends on what you consider significant.” You have your ideas and I have mine. Yours are rooted in the past, mine in the present, and “never the twain shall meet.”

That is all I have to say Davey.

Thanks for the discussion. These issues have been and will be addressed in the future.

Good luck

Claude van Lingen link

12/1/2015 12:18:25 pm

Dear Adri,

Thanks for your reply. Your dad, Phil Botha, did not design the Perceptual Studies course. As the head of the Johannesburg College of Art he assigned the task to me. Notwithstanding the resistance to it from certain faculty members he approved of it and supported me in my endeavors. The support of my dear friend, from art school days in the early 1950's, will always be deeply appreciated. His assigning the designing of this course to me changed my life, and that of many leading South African artists of today, and it is still doing so at the University of Johannesburg,

Even though he was a very strict head of the school and teacher he was loved by the students. You can truly be proud of his influence on art in S.A,

Baie Liefde,

Claude

Adriana

12/1/2015 03:10:15 pm

Dear Oom Claude,

Thank you so much that I may ask about so many things I wish now I knew more about - I really miss my dad, and your kind words makes him a little more accessible to me -

Love you lots Oom Claude - Adri

Hilarie V Hawley

1/24/2016 03:58:44 pm

Art is a pendulum that eventually stops to represent the time it is intended to reflect. The speed in which the world is changing is
A challenge for both artists and viewers.

Claude van Lingen link

1/24/2016 05:09:31 pm

The only constant in life and art, is change.

Oscar Coca link

10/10/2016 07:15:06 pm

Hi Claude, I find that the title hasn't enough strength and sonority, but I feel a good line of research and criticism.

DL Newman

3/3/2018 11:30:55 am

Hello, old friend..
Unpacked your drawing the other day, to send to Strauss for possible inclusion in their upcoming auction. It will be a wrench to part with it, so many years, so many memories, way back to that first SAAA exhibition. You taught me so much.
Hope you are keeping well, happy to see how your career blossomed over the years..
Di

Claude
van Lingen

Claude is an artist who has exhibited internationally in venues such as the São Paulo Biennale. His work is in museums and he has taught art for more than 36 years.

This is an excerpt from the book he is writing. It will be updated periodically. Please leave any comments you may have on the blog attached to this site. Your input is much appreciated.

For further information about how he has applied this kind of thinking to his own work please visit his website, www.claudevanlingen.net.

The work of some former students who exhibit internationally and teach in prestigious schools in the United States, Canada and South Africa may be viewed at:
Willem Boshoff     www.willemboshoff.com
Majak Bredell         www.majak@absamail. co.za
Trevor Gould     www.trevorgould.ca
Paula Louw    www.art.co.za/paulalouw
Johann Moolman   www.art.co.za/johannmoolman
Jo Smail     www.josmailartist.com
Paul Stopforth    www.paulstopforth.com
Willem Strydom   www.carvedveld.co.za
Berna Thom    www.bernathom.com