Comments on: Photographs of Paperclips

Photographs of Paperclips

twoleftfeet — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:36:02 -0800

Photographs of Paperclips

By: Chocolate Pickle

Chocolate Pickle — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:42:02 -0800

Boy, there sure are some narrow-interest blogs out there, ain't they?

By: 2bucksplus

2bucksplus — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:42:47 -0800

Well don't get all bent out of shape about it.

By: june made him a gemini

june made him a gemini — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:47:40 -0800

Best of the web.

By: evilmidnightbomberwhatbombsatmidnight

evilmidnightbomberwhatbombsatmidnight — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:55:11 -0800

15 yard penalty... clipping...

By: Tomorrowful

Tomorrowful — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:57:12 -0800

Honestly, though, this is why I love the Internet: It doesn't have to be obvious, or popular, or easy. It just has to be conceivable within the human mind and bam, there it is, somewhere. I don't really care about this blog. But I am thrilled and excited and proud as hell that I live in a world where it exists.

By: blaneyphoto

blaneyphoto — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:04:08 -0800

Its a boring, pointless idea and its not even decent photography.

By: fifthrider

fifthrider — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:04:13 -0800

I'm... not sure what I expected.

By: SLC Mom

SLC Mom — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:29:41 -0800

Sorry . I gotta go with Snowshoe Guy.

By: MrMoonPie

MrMoonPie — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:16:50 -0800

Missed one.

By: dr. boludo

dr. boludo — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:20:13 -0800

Hey look, Bert went to art school.

By: drjimmy11

drjimmy11 — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:22:05 -0800

Well. That is certainly a thing that exists.

By: littlesq

littlesq — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:27:11 -0800

@Chocolate Pickle Yup

By: Flashman

Flashman — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:36:10 -0800

It looks like you're exploring a new city. Would you like help?

By: newdaddy

newdaddy — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:43:02 -0800

Wished I'd thought of this first, I do.

By: bunglin jones

bunglin jones — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 21:18:05 -0800

Having left the city more than four years ago, I wasn't at all surprised to find that paperclips are still more interesting than anything else in Perth

By: kozad

kozad — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 21:49:32 -0800

If you can find better paperclip art on the Immense Internet, I would be surprised. Considering the ubiquity of these implements in our lives, the guy has fulfilled his destiny, as far as I am concerned.

By: Houyhnhnm

Houyhnhnm — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 01:27:34 -0800

I'm just finishing Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, so this means something else to me right now.

By: fearfulsymmetry

fearfulsymmetry — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 03:55:08 -0800

I'll pass this on to my Melbourne living Aussie friend... he's always tell me how interesting Perth is.

By: twoleftfeet

twoleftfeet — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 06:52:36 -0800

I thought his Vancouver series was better than the current Perth series. You can see a progression of artistic development in the 76 paperclips of the Vancouver series. The first paperclip is, of course just a paperclip; a simple expression of a new medium. The next bunch are hesitant beginnings in the new medium. To my eye the first really new creation doesn't appear until the tenth paperclip. Often artistic innovations are ridiculed for being either outrageous or banal. But influential trends in Art don't come from some kind of one-off trick pony but rather from the communication of a general process which leads to new expressions. For this reason it is important to consider some of the later paperclips in this series of photographs of paperclips within the context of the natural historical development of the artistic process. We see that in some way there is a duplication of the usual academic notion of the history of artistic development. It begins with tracings of crude geometric forms. Then there are attempted depictions of animal forms. Some mysterious religious symbolism follows, and eventually an exploration of perspective. This part of the process creates object definition. After object definition, the artistic development process typically produces a reflexive loop of self-examination. This is clear in Paperclip 25 and Paperclip 26 which, in their adjacent sequencing, clearly portray a tumultuous internal dialectic for an artist grappling with the novel socioeconomic realities of a new art form. By Paperclip 28 the evident frustration of the artist is expressed within the metaphor of a paperclip in jail. Paperclip 30 displays the ultimate downward spiral of the artist - tormented by self-doubt and conflict over the meaning of a new way of conceptualizing the world. The artistic process typically continues with an opposing cycle of redemption and hope, and this too is evident from an analysis of the paperclip photographs. By Paperclip 36 the artist has turned thoughts toward Love. Perhaps a courtly Love, perhaps a supernatural Love of God; it matters not. The artist's soul is on the upswing, and by Paperclip 38 is ready to escape. In Paperclip 44 the artist has moved to the next level of abstraction, and has begun to explore the relationship between the canvas and the thing depicted on the canvas. Which is the image? What is it an image of? The uncertainty of the ultimate reality of one's own perception produces another cycle of despair as the artist wonders "am I alone?", "am I the only one perceiving what I am perceiving?" Paperclip 45 neatly symbolizes this particular epistemological step. This is the point where many artists go crazy. The stereotype of the impoverished half-insane starving artist pursuing a vision no one else shares could hardly be better expressed than in Paperclip 46. Any true artist - any person truly exploring the potentials of a new medium - who has made it this far and continues on has made it more than half way. The next phases in the artistic development process expresses increasing levels of psychological depth and spiritual nuance. The bow and arrow are not to be interpreted literally as weapons... they stand for the trajectory of consciousness as it arcs between subject and object, attempting to express its Heart Nature. The last phase of the artistic development process happens when the artist returns from The Edge and brings the totality of the experience into an Earthly and Otherworldly embrace. Also, if you unbend some of the paperclips you can use them to hold sheets of paper together.