About the Physical in Painting

Abstract

The author believes the issue in painting is no longer abstract versus figurative and that a new era is in the making callingfor a re-definition ofpainting. It is in the tools and their manipulation that the source of new expression in painting will be found. He reviews the use of the brush during the past and the introduction of the spatula or pallet knife as a 'painting' tool by artists in the nineteenth century. He next considers the physical aspect of making a 'classical' type painting and makes a comparison with the greater utilization of the capacities of the human body by the instrumental musicians. He asks whether in the art of painting a way can be found to involve to a greater extent man in his totality. He believes that this 'totality' can be approached through the greater mobilization of the body's resources and the invention of new tools. He gives as examples ten methods of producing a 'painting' ranging from simultaneous ambidextrous brush manipulation to the transfer of paint to a canvas with the tires of an automobile driven by the 'painter'. The results he has obtained with some of these methods are shown in the article. In an appendix some observations by the author illustrate the tribulations of an outdoor 'painter' using unorthodox techniques of painting.