Paul Rumsey - His own flare on the macabre

Paul Rumsey, a surrealist artist that caught my eye recently, reason being his style revolves around the darkness of macabre, quite similar to the late medieval paintings, but with a distinct edge that makes it completely new and unique.

A fine example would be this piece (fig.1), which unfortunately, is untitled, or at least I wasn't able to obtain it through my search. The picture depicts rounded skulls flying through the air on streamline bodies made up of their own spine...that would be a rough interpretation in my opinion. These skulls are likely to represent actual sperm cells making their way through the female system, thats the physical interpretation. A deeper meaning to this piece would be, although death ceases life itself, it seeds and grows into the everlasting afterlife.

This way, Paul Rumsey is portraying the same themes associated with Macabre, but also developing deeper meanings to it. 

'Untitled', Paul Rumsey, ND
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/423322_306741632719210_871964871_n.jpg

A particular decoration in the Sedlec Ossuary.

During my research, I came across this photo of this chandelier completely composed of human remains. I find this very ornate, interesting and most importantly, macabre. Something to note in regards with transformation, would be that something useless and rather disturbing to the average person, was transformed into a beautifully macabre chandelier that is very complex yet beautiful to the eye. 

The main chandelier in the Sedlec Ossuary.
Untitled, Anonymous, ND
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sedlec-Ossuary.jpg

Alien (1979) - Xenomorph concept applied to furniture

This is a film I've seen countless times and never got bored of, especially the initial trailer of it. The trailer is a long, sweaty build up of tension and fear, with alien like howls and heart beat sound effects to reinforce that building tension.

This trailer is portraying the helplessness of one trapped in the vast darkness that is outer space, and the climax of the trailer, is the final sentence.


'In space no one can hear you scream'

Side note. The actual aliens in the film were designed by H.R Giger himself, a previously mentioned artist in this blog. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEVY_lonKf4

With the trailer to get you into the mood, especially to obtain the feel of what the Xenomorph menace really look like, I would like you to notice how Giger took the same design of the Alien, and transformed it into a stable desk chair. I edited two images together, the original concept art of the alien and the actual chair that was designed.

A side by side image of the Xenomorph art, and the desk chair that was developed from it.

As you can see, you have very similar elements between the two images, namely the ribbed areas forming the back of the chair, the 'vents' which can be seen below the seating as well on the concept art as well.
The most important part would be that although the chair developed from the Alien concept, they retained many features, like the combination of Organics and Mechanics.


Giger's furniture gallery can be viewed by following this link:
http://www.hrgiger.com/new_chairs.htm

H.R Giger's take on the Macabre

H.R Giger is a surrealist artist and sculptor who personifies true terror and nightmarish entities on canvas. His all round theme is monochrome, preferring to make use of the airbrush.

His influences include Macabre, which can be seen in his work, but in a different aspect. A common trait in his work is the manipulation of the human body, giving them mechanical attributes, also, all his work surrounds itself around Lust. 

The use of bare bones in his work is very minimal, taking Macabre in a more new, and transformed approach. 

In this piece, Giger has managed to combine the organic with the mechanical, creating a hybrid creature that manages to invoke uneasiness, something that Macabre paintings from the 1400's were very well known to do. 

Giger was influenced by the Macabre, and from that, came this xenomorphic style that portrays the inner workings of his mind.  

I feel the need to immerse myself deeper into every possible sub-category of the macabre, Giger's work is partially why I chose this title for this assignment, due to the fact that the human body is one of the most diverse canvases one can work on.

H.R Giger, 'Xenomorph', ND
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-usf6j-wVz6MkxR-vmY9BhAimIsrvxLc3uCseTG2a04hyphenhyphenbXssZsZtiZJtlpHhUFm6ePmZg0k6TvFRNWe0afn9x8rFvI22NUs3NXyUEiGdpMz2-6lDwfc9w3xZp1DHoJFFKu7HgtGXy0LR/s1600/hr+giger.jpeg

Calavera

Further research into current day art related to Macabre, I discovered a particular genre known as Calavera. Calavera, in a nutshell, is any artistic interpretation of the human skull. This is mostly used in the traditional Mexican holiday, known as 'Día de los Muertos'.

As far as artistic interpretation, candy is moulded into the forms of skulls, then decorated as to serenade graveyards along side freshly picked Marigold. 

What interests me is the use of stark, uplifting colours on skulls, in contrast to the dull, neutral tones used on the medieval paintings. I consider this proof that not all that has to do with the Macabre must be dark and drab, but can be spontaneous, something it has slowly transformed into.

  

Calavera Skulls, Anonymous, ND
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF7VniRFaQ_y5Fdj5TkUzbmLLaX6fVNNg544PXZwEg-7pxcXTQIC1i7RJ3WBzjlaLc7SPLr_JKe_-OTyc8tLzYrN_XO2jtjNB66E7zkqf1T5ifwm22NVWYtg6COyRDi0j8DcCaELXEOeI/s1600/las-calaveras-cancun-mexico+1152_12926867816-tpfil02aw-26286.jpg

Macabre - An introduction

Macabre - An introduction

Macabre, also referred to as Momento Mori, (which translates into, 'Remember your mortality') is an art genre or style, which originated in the late Medieval period in the 13th century. The first ever documented pieces making use of this art style were illustrated Sermon texts, found in the Saints Innocents Cemetery (Wikipedia, September 2012).

Saints Innocents Cemetery, Paris

An important 'foundation' to the Macabre art style (Wikipedia, September 2012) was the painting known as 'Danse Macabre', more commonly known as 'The Dance of Death'.
It was to remind people of life's fragility and to acknowledge the importance of their daily privileges. The subliminal message behind the paintings were that, no matter the circumstances with every individual, the dance unites all in death, and the afterlife.

'Danse Macabre', Bernt Notke, 1463

Bernt Notke, self portrait.

 Although a vast collaboration of artists during the late Medieval period devoted themselves to this art style, Bernt Notke (original artist of the painting above) was amongst the most important artists in Northern Europe. 

Throughout the course of this blog, I shall demonstrate the transformation of this art style, and how it has adapted to various modern classes, such as film, design, art etc, from a previously feared symbolism of death.

Sources :

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_mori>
Accessed 3rd October 2012

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danse_Macabre>
Accessed 3rd October 2012

<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04617a.htm>
Accessed 3rd October 2012