I was watching a short biography about French artist Jean Giraud aka Moebius. He grew up in the suburbs of Paris and in his early 20’s traveled abroad for the first time to Mexico. According to the narration, it was on this visit that he experienced the desert for the first time. The heat, the sand and endless blue sky. Quite a difference from Paris. The narration of the video said that “this visit and location deeply inspired his art.”
However, the narrator also had a very heavy French accent and what I first heard was; “this visit and location deeply inspired his heart.” Which I think is a beautiful idea/phrase and would probably still be true for Moebius.
Earlier in the week I read a substack by Anna Wilson (@abottlefullofrain) called “I feel it in my bones…” about being awed by a place so deeply that you feel a profound connection so deep inside of you that the good vibrations resonate in your bones. In the article, Wilson is a self proclaimed wanderer and I identify as that as well - feeling called to explore but never tethered.
Thinking about my misheard Moebius narration, I have places that have inspired my heart and I can think about other artists Gauguin and Tahiti, Van Gogh and Arles, Frida Kahlo and Mexico etc..
Then I started thinking about art and artists that create work of not only a location that vibrates inside of them, but also a time period. This was interesting because it starts to become abstracted due to artists sometimes have a personal connection to the location and time period (Martin Scorsese, 70’s, NYC or Paul Thomas Anderson, 70’s, Hollywood) or a deeply researched idea of the place and time (Quentin Tarantino, 70’s, Hollywood or SHAG, 60’s Palm Springs1)
Then there are artists that hit both Location and Time and live in the present but are CAPTURED and frozen there (John Lennon, late 70’s, 80’s NYC, Marilyn Monroe, late 50’s, 60’s Hollywood)
I think that this is another reason that Urban Sketching as an idea has caught on because it’s not only capturing the present in a diary entry, but also connecting to the past via architecture.
Interesting to think about and apply to your own art making and stories. Your connection to a location and place2. Do you have a connection to one location you feel it in your bones? Is it site specific or is it also connected to a time?
As I mentioned earlier, I feel like a wanderer - not really connected to a place and not yet fully in the present … but I’m trying to be. I have connected to locations via deep research and lived experiences. I was thinking about my article from last week and I do feel a deep connection to 90’s Chicago - but unlike a location (Cornwall) as mentioned in Wilson’s terrific article, it cannot be returned to … but it inspires my heart.
-Chase3
I recognize that I skip from old paintings/painters to filmmakers - but I’m keeping an open historical mind with the idea that these are the populist formats of storytelling media in the time periods they’re referencing. Time change is the Cousin Oliver of storytelling…it throws off the plot very easily. That’s why time travel movies/stories are so rare. Logic.
Here I’m using “place” as a synonym for time…
A nice synonym for “wander,” but more directional + my favorite number
Found you! Lovely piece of writing and thanks for mentioning me :)