I'M NOT DANIEL BUREN

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Comment by Charles Dunbar on October 29, 2008 at 4:38pm

Why give this Daniel guy more exposure by naming the discussion group after him? He looks to me like an exterior decorator for really big garden parties. The car dealerships that sit hip to hip for miles along Lomas Avenue show just as much creativity arranging their flags and stripes over their shinny unsold cars and trucks as Buren does.

Comment by Charles Dunbar on October 13, 2008 at 4:58am

The image . . . Courbet’s or the one shown in the discussion - I’ll call the “copy” - or the photo? A few observations about compostition. Courbet's painting, "The Origin of the World," is more dynamic in its movement than the "copy." The thigh to our right leads the eye upward and to the left, then makes a turn to the right to the navel, where there is more gentile turn to the breast and nipple. Courbet has hidden the breast to the right to avoid distracting the eye. The thigh to the left serves to reinforce the movement up the torso. Once the eye has moved to the nipple-topped breast, Courbet gives a restatement of the genitals with the fabric. To the right the fabric and shadow lead downward to make the circuit again. To the left, the top fold points directly to the genitals. If anyone one missed that marker, the two fabric folds farther along also point to the genitals. Finally the fabric line moves over the line defining the thigh to the left and the torso keeping the eye from wandering away. The eye of some viewers may want to do just that, pretending not to have seen what it did, but Courbet's composition relentlessly controls the eye, returning it to the subject. The torso's edge is beautifully painted with a technique that puts it in and out of focus. How Courbet frames the subject matter is interesting and original for Western painting. The “covers” have been thrown back to reveal the female genitals. They are absent in Western art until this revelation.
The "underpants" seriously damage the composition in the "copy." They cover the strong dark lines where the gluteal muscles join the relaxed abductor muscles of the thigh and the crease leading to the vaginal opening. The copy misses Courbet’s understanding of the dimple to the right where the rib cage presses into the full belly. The photo is more successful, although it misses some of the compositional details of the original Origin. The photo's model is more athletic than Courbet’s is. Courbet’s model is fleshy with a protruding belly, which puts the navel higher in the picture. The photo’s model has a flat stomach. Where Courbet’s model is relaxed, the model in the photo tenses her thigh abductor muscles as if she were in the midst of rising or lying back. This adds an interesting dimension entirely absent from Courbet’s image. It is as though the photo has captured Courbet’s model the moment just before or after she has relaxed. In the photo the lines formed by the meeting of the gluteal muscles and the thigh muscles is clear. They point directly to the twelve star circle on the underpants. The photo more clearly raises the issue presented by the underpants and its twelve star circle.
The number twelve is found in every culture. It is symbol of perfection, the product of three, often interpreted as female number, and four, a number associated with the male. A few other associations connected with twelve: 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 hours on a clock, 12 months in a year, 12 apostles, 12 articles of Christian faith, 12 tables of Roman Law, and 12 starry crowns of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. However, there is another association that I was totally ignorant of - the European flag. Here is a quote from website, Europa, the European Flag, [http://europa.eu/abc/symbols/emblem/index_en.htm].

“The Council of Europe was considering what symbol to adopt for its own use. After much discussion, the present design was adopted - a circle of twelve gold stars on a blue background. In various traditions, twelve is a symbolic number representing perfection. It is also, of course, the number of months in a year and the number of hours shown on a clock face. The circle is, among other things, a symbol of unity. So the European flag was born, representing the ideal of unity among the peoples of Europe.”

Using the symbol of the European Union provokes some interesting ideas. Does putting underpants with European Union symbol on Courbet’s image suggest Europe appropriates the idea of the origin of the world for itself? (Then there is a Union Underwear, a subsidiary of Fruit of the Loom, a real unionized, American business that produces underwear, but the image’s creators may not be aware of that.) Does the idea of the female lie beneath the European Union’s twelve starred underpants? Does wearing European Union underwear protect Europa from rape by a Mediterranean Zeus, a god of a more southern climate? Does the Catholic religion have a new and hidden relationship with the European Union? Is the European Union perfect whereas the thirteen-starred array associated with the United States represents the imperfect - and unlucky? Do the European Union undies hide a messier, more primitive unifying principle? Is this the introduction of a new line of men and women’s swim wear?

What kind of cover-up is going on here. I will stay tuned.

Comment by mike hinc on October 11, 2008 at 12:01pm

Don't thank me for Tanya as it's not Tanya - she's up above. I think the issues area all european but about time, cultural standardization and bowdlerization - rather than geo-ethnic.

Comment by Lola B on October 11, 2008 at 12:22am

J'adore ton ptit clin d'oeil.
Merci Mike pour Tanja.
Lest talk about this painting now...What do you think of it? L'origine du monde...c'est l'Europe? Je croyais que c'était l'Afrique, si ce n'est l'Australie, les aborigènes sont le peuple le plus ancien sur terre... Courbet s'est planté... voilà tout hehe très belle peinture cela dit.

Comment by mike hinc on October 10, 2008 at 10:16am

I'm not Daniel buren....and this isn't Tanja Ostojić....

Comment by Lola B on October 9, 2008 at 8:59am

Bien vu le visuel, c'est de qui? Super idée ton groupe!
I am not Jean Nouvel either!
This is a fucking good contest against the french market and art world...and no hierachy in your group ok my love?