When watching the video about Ed Ruscha’s work I was impressed by his clean and simple aesthetic with a distinct Californian style. I also admire that while he may ascribe to a simple aesthetic, Ruscha uses complex materials and methods. Something that particularly inspired me was his focus on typography and ability to make simple words and phrases meaningful. For my own work I also wanted to use a phrase that was meaningful to me, so I picked a quote from my favorite book The Sound and the Fury , “and i temporary and he the saddest word of all”. The Sound and the Fury explores the demise of an aristocratic Southern family that struggles with the concept of virginity and time as a social construct.
I noticed that Ruscha has a very hands on approach to his artistic process, and so I also wanted to do that. I took a picture of Santa Cruz at twilight to allude to the suspension of time, made the stencils for my work, and got charcoal and chewing tobacco to convey the quote has two speakers. I chose charcoal to write “and i temporary” then rubbed it to give it a fading quality, and chewing tobacco in connection to this Southern family’s former wealth and prestige. The color of the chewing tobacco did not translate to the poster like I hoped it would, but instead stripped the poster of its color which I found to be fitting for the tobacco’s meaning anyway. This piece taught me that while words may be simple concepts they can be made very complex and the same can be said for the materials you use too.
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