Inspired by Chinese and Japanese art, Art Deco is an eclectic merger of art and craft characterized by intense, rich and bright colors, sharp outlines, rectilinear or zigzag patterns, sun-ray representations, angularity, streamlining, bold and symmetrical geometric shapes with imagery of mass production; and often has simple, yet decorative or stylized abstractions.
The movement was born in 1925 at the great Paris art exhibition (the L'Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes) which was held to showcase the industrial and futuristic beauty of the modern world. A celebration of luxurious glamour and high technology in the machine age, its popularity started to wane after the Second World War in 1945.
Art Deco Matrix is my new invention that seeks to rekindle the glory of Art Deco using everyday images to form interesting and beautiful images in typical square blocks. The patterns are usually formed from a single initial picture modified by techniques of repetition, distortion, rotation, miniaturization or enlargement, grouping and cross-patterning. Its purpose is to make art accessible to all with the message that art is neither privileged, troublesome nor expensive. Art is actually about life, and it has social and political overtones in it.
Wow! Daniel, you are pretty creative. Luv to hear from you about Creativity & the Arts.
ReplyDeleteAre there any linkages between the two. If there were, please expound on them.
cheers! Richard Mak
Dear Richard,
ReplyDeleteThere is a definite connection between creativity and art. As you know, creativity is about the inclination and ability to continuously come up with new ideas or new ways of looking at things with a view of making things better or fresher.
Art, well, art is a little more troublesome to define as there are as many definitions as there are artists. Personally, I think whatever that has artistic merit must satisfy 3 conditions: 1. It must stimulate the senses of the perceiver. 2. It must provoke the perceiver into some kind of thinking. 3. It must constitute a kind of commentary about some aspect of life.
So, creativity is a pre-requisite in the creation of new artworks. In order to overcome the jaded minds of over-stimulated digital netizens, creative thinking is needed to provide the novelty, freshness and surprises to captivate their curiosity. The old stuffiness of conventional and classical art may consign them to mere auction houses, old museums and the speculators' warehouses!
Reciprocally, creative thinking is also needed to fully appreciate artworks.
Best regards! Daniel Lee