Mdes illustration online journal: The Obscure Judegement of The Library

31/01/2014

Blog entry 25:

Depictions of The Last Judgement:

The Last Judgement by Micelangelo Sistine Chapel, Vatican (1508 -1512)

The Last Judgement by Jean Cousin (1560–89) The Louvre, Paris

The Last Judgement Dress Black Milk Clothing

The Last Judgement by Raphael Coxcie (N.d.) Oil on panel 300 x 369cm Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Ghent

The Last Judgement close up by Michelangelo (1508 - 1512), Sistine Chapel, Vatican

The Last Judgement is one of my favourite depictions, similarly to The Last Supper, this particular idea or ideal has been done by a huge range of practitioners, each with their own view attached or incorporated. In The Last Supper Paintings, I have researched for my Extended Essay the trends and similarities in each rendition along with the artistic licence which has set each rendition apart.

To read my Extended Essay The Last Supper: The Intention on a Genius? Follow the link below:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/201232779/Extended-Essay-Helen-Marie-Kelly
(Kelly, 2013)

For more information on my sources for variations of The Last Supper and groupings please follow the links below:
http://www.jaydax.co.uk/lastsupper/lastsupper.htm
(Chapman, 2005)

http://gerhard-hattinghsblog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/last-supper.html
(de Sede, 1967)

de Sede, Gerard (1967). L’Or de Rennes
[online] Updated 21st April 2011. Available at: http://gerhard- hattinghsblog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/last-supper.html [accessed 9th December 2013]

http://www.artbible.info/art/last-supper.html
(Klip, 2005 - 2012)

Klip, Ronald (2005 – 2012). Art and the bible
[online] Available at: http://www.artbible.info/art/last-supper.html [accessed 9th December 2013]

I have added the dress by Black Milk Clothing along with the paintings as I find that taking the imagery which is often seen in situ as a large scale painting or fresco, taking it out of context to fit the restrictions of a dress pattern is very interesting, this makes me consider how artwork can be taken out of the usual or expected context in order to draw more attention as a contemporary piece, and not limit my work to a particular situ. Now considering this I need to think about how my work fits into context and how I can potentially take it out of said context to make it more captivating or interesting. compositionally, I notice that the damnation area is juxtaposed to be around the area of the dress which will cover the female genitalia, (assuming that a woman will be wearing this dress) this might be a comment on how the idea of sex or sexuality is seen in modern day as a taboo subject, especially it would seem in religions such as Christianity. Another reason for this interesting juxtaposition could be a way of rebelling against or commenting on the lack of important female characters in the Bible or how women are often portrayed as having weak or bad roles within Christianity. Ofcourse this juxtaposition could merely be depicting damnation or hell as the lowest possible point of the dress that happens to be over the genitalia. Having noticed this myself I am now able to put into practice how the viewer is free to interpret a visual as they see fit, as discussed in Visual Culture: Debates, and that the intention of what is being represented by the artist can be misinterpreted.

Depictions of Heaven and Hell:

Rosa Celeste (Dantes Heaven) (19th Century) by Gustave Dore

The above depiction of Heaven by Dore, is interesting because it takes the stance of the viewer outside looking in or upon, as the characters are. Does this point of view allow the viewer to feel more involved or feel as if they are experiencing what the characters are. I personally find my prior statement to be true, this view point also allows me to empathise with the characters due to me being on the outside looking in but still wondering what I am looking into - the area of light in the centre is a successful tool in allowing each viewer to imagine what is beyond it, this way Dante is not imposing any systematic belief to Heaven, which will appeal to a wider audience, as they are able to interpret it as they see fit according to their own ideologies and beliefs.

Another interesting point about this particular piece is that Heaven is depicted as an orb like shape, which is described as The Library of Babel as how the "Mystics claim that their ecstasies reveal to them a circular chamber containing an enormous circular book with a continuous spine that goes completely around the walls. But their testimony is suspect, their words obscure. That cylitical book is God." (Borges, 1944). I am also aware that certain Religions such as Jehovah's Witness perceive God as an orb.

Paradiso (Dantes appeal to heaven) Gustave Dore Jupiter Gallery

Heaven by unknown artist (n.d.)

This image I find particularly interesting due to the artist deciding to not depict the unfathomable visual that is Heaven, but rather the Gateway or Stairway to Heaven - which as mentioned in blog entry 24, a meaning of the the term Babel is Gateway or Stairway to heaven, is the above image a depiction of "Babel"?

The Bad Rich Man in Hell (1886 - 94) James Tissot Brooklyn Museum (European Art Collection)
Opaque Watercolour over Graphite and Gray Wove Paper

This image, much like the depictions of The Last Judgement, uses compositional ideologies of Heaven or Earth above and Hell or Damnation below, it also depict Hell as the darker of the two. The juxtaposition of the charters is interesting, because the characters above are all looking down and clearly showing their faces, whereas the character below or in Hell has his back to the viewer. To me this suggests that the character in hell is purposely not given an identity to give a sense of "this could happen to anyone", another reason may be that people are very involved with the idea of identity and to take ones identity away has poses question as to the point of their existence, especially in modern day Western society.

Dante and Virgil in Hell by William- Adolphe Bouguereau (1850) Musee d'Orsay, Paris

Dungeon 3 Concept art for the Game Obsidian unknown concept artist(s) (2010)

Wings, apocalypse by Lynn Chadwick (1914 - 2003) Fantasy Art, Abstract print on Canvas

I have looked at concept art for games because I feel that as a practitioner I should be looking for influence in all visual media, another good reason to research this is due to the gaming industry becoming such a popular culture within visual media, this allows me to research how modern day artists and gamers alike perceive ideals such as Hell or Damnation as a modern day take. An interesting factor for me wham I look at concepts such as this is the figure of the "Dark Angel", as I am interested in how Angels in older art, such as Renaissance are depicted as being Heavenly or Divine, whereas this form has now been utilised as an ideal to portray the exact opposite. To me the dark angel or hell angel is a visual contradiction which has purposely been taken out of context to create a new association. This newly developed association is interesting due to the connotations it now cadres such as the Devil's Discourse: Lucifer was once an angel who was cast out into damnation, who is to say that just because he was cast out of heaven, that he would physically appear completely different. This Dark angel idea also makes me think of deceptive visual forms; because deception and sinning is perceived as 'of Hell', this form could portray how creatures of hell could take a visual form to deceive or pose as something else, in this case a divine being.

As is apparent from looking at the two concept or fantasy art images, in comparison with Bouguereau's work and many other older representations; the colours used to portray Hell or Damnation have shifted from hot reds which describe fire and a unbearably hot temperature to cool blues and blacks, as if to suggest a very cold atmosphere, this is an interesting concept I may consider within my own work should I choose to suggest Damnation - I work with a predominantly older painting inspired style with elements of expression and mark making, could I apply new colour concepts with older painting styles?

My work based on this research and ideas from The Library of Babel:

First rough draft sketch for the composition of The Judgement of the Library (by myself)

Cherub painting experiment in a hexagonal form

(above) The Judgement of The Library pencil outline (Scanned in two halves) (by myself)

I have created the above imagery from combining ideas I have developed throughout Task 1 (See all prior blog entries) and adding aspects of the visual research I have looked at earlier in this blog entry.

Ideas I have incorporated from past blog entries and sketchbook work:

The Fashions of the Library - hexagonal facial hair (blog entry 22)
The Above Average Height Librarian (blog entry 23)
The wise old man - Similar to the narrator (blog entry 6)
The "Bulb" as a Fruit from the trees in The Garden of Eden

Ideas I have taken from the short story The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges:

Hexagonal shapes as divine or trascendent of such
The hexagonal shaped room in the library
five book shelves to 4 of the 6 walls
the passage on one of the free walls of the hexagon
the spiral staircase in the passage way
The suggestive lack of women

Ideas I have Taken from the research I have done (above):

The juxtaposition of the humans or men below and the divine above The Last Judgement
The divine cherub form (shown in some depictions)
When the painting is finished it will be darker below and lighter above (Heaven and Hell)

By adding these elements, I have been able to put together a composition with a multitude of visual information, a little like a fresco such as The Last Judgement or the Sistine Chapel Paintings by Michelangelo. I enjoy working in this way and feel that I should consider working on a larger scale in order to ensure all information is depicted successfully. I have been told in my Ba(hons) by my tutor, that putting compositions together in this way much like the double page spreads from my Heart of Darkness project last semester (see blog entry 3) is very successful and adds layers to my imagery. Along with these large compositions, as I like to produce sets of work that link or are based around a similar topic or theme, I enjoy creating smaller, more simple compositions to add variation and sometimes contrast.

The image itself focusses on depicting the men in the library as in a hell like atmosphere, as the Narrator describes how he feels. I have only added 3 men into the composition as the story states that there are very few humans left and it suggests that humanity might be drawing to a close, which I feel adds to the idea of The Last Judgement and the end of the world. Although the men can see the divine depiction above them, they are unable to reach it due to the ceiling of the library room they are in, which floors and ceilings are described in the book as being see through, this idea is to portray the feeling the story gives of constantly being out of reach of what the characters are searching for. Some of the cherub forms and hexagons in the divine upper depiction have tiny books "Smaller than natural books" (Borges, 1944) as the crimson hexagon is thought to have by the characters, which is thought to be divine or hold the answer (see blog entry 7). Like many of the paintings I have studied in this blog, I have depicted the divine cherub beings as naked and the human beings as clothed, as if to suggest that those who are divine have no need to cover their bare flesh as is it pure and perfect.

As stated in blog entry 17, I was particularly interested in the way that Botticelli's work seemed to be some of the only work I have studied which celebrates the female form. I have often found that cherubs are either depicted with male genitalia, as covered up or with nothing at all, so I have taken the liberty of depicting my cherubs, some with penises and some with breasts and vaginas and some with no genitalia at all. As a contemporary practitioner, I feel that it is important to use my work to convey what I think is important or to challenge preconceptions, such as the gender of a cherub. On the Masters course, I often find that the tutors ask us to consider what we want to say with our work and I suppose this is something I am very keen to "say", I shall look into this idea further.

Screen shots of cherubs with a range of genitalia: