BBC brilliance.
You will rarely meet a more talented duo than husband and wife team Rob and Lisa Walcott. This December we were lucky to have them join us for our after school workshops. Although their professional and personal work spans a wide variety of mediums (photography, drawing, painting, installation) a strong reverence for the temporal unites it all.
On the first Thursday in December they joined us for a photo-walk and studio tour. Rob opened with a video excerpt from a BBC program (shown below) exploring the four words the Himba (a tribe in Africa) use to describe color. The whole program is fascinating and the accompanying website is worth a read too. Back to the Himba – because of the words their tribe uses to classify color they are often unable to observe differences in certain colors you and I (assuming we grew up with ROYGBIV) can easily recognize. In playing a more elaborate version of “which one of these things doesn’t belong” the anthropologist shows the theory in action.
From here a simple yet profound metaphor emerges: if language shapes what we see, then a camera gives us access to a new kind of language; one that we are constantly submersed in by but rarely notice (or have the words to explain). From mouthes to eyes and back to mouthes again.
After the video we took to the streets like a horde of photojournalists. During our walk Rob, an experienced guide, pointed out often overlooked characteristics of light. Shadows were tinted a cool blue while areas bathed in sun were warm. Rim and fill light brought the two in close contact. Surrounding colors tinted skin tones one way or another. The whole tour made the everyday act of seeing quite magical…which, when you actually think about the act of seeing (a lens focuses lightwaves onto rods & cones that convert said waves into electrical signals that your brain interprets as color) makes it even more so.
Eventually we worked our way to their studio where he used a student model as an example to show how the size of a light source effected the shadow. Larger lights cast a softer shadow while smaller sources cast hard lined shadows.
Praxis. This word contains all that I love about our workshops; it’s the perfect blend of theoretical knowledge and hands on experience. I can’t thank Rob and Lisa enough for giving us a glimpse into their profession and the language they use everyday. Rob is a excellent teacher and it came through in the workshop. Afterwards several students expressed gratitude for how simply he explained the basic concepts of photography. It was quite brilliant to watch and I found myself equally (if not more so) enthralled. Thank you so much, Rob, for exposing us to a language of light that makes our life richer.
Be sure to check out the photography of Rob & Lisa at Walcott Imaging.
In our fourth installment of Five Questions we talk experimentation, parents and the perfect weekend with our visiting artist for November, Chuck Anderson of NoPattern. Heaps of gratitude to him for coming out to Holland and leading an after school workshop. Class act.
You started NoPattern right out of high school. What role did your parents & teachers play in taking the leap?
My parents and teachers were really supportive of me which was a huge blessing and help in the path that I chose. I believe that without their confidence that I’d follow my passions, I would not have had the success I’ve had. The reaction from both of them was quite different however…my teachers were a bit shocked when I told them I was planning on “taking a year off”, as they swore by higher education and thought it was virtually the only way to go, but they still were supportive. My parents completely understood, as my mother didn’t finish college and while my father did, I know he didn’t really enjoy or fully embrace his time there. So while the decision warranted different reactions, the support was still there.
Somewhere in the multiverse there’s a Chuck Anderson whose parents coached him to go to college. What did he study and why?
Probably graphic design and advertising, maybe photography, or something along those lines. Although what I do now I don’t consider to really be graphic design at all, it’s just simply art made on the computer. Probably a more linear thinking person who does sketches and storyboards but ends up with similar results to mine, albeit simpler, where I’m a lot more haphazard and spontaneous in my process.
What contemporary artists are inspiring you / piquing your curiosity right now?
KAWS, Jessica Hische, Deanne Cheuk, Kid Zoom, Dave Kinsey, Craig Redman & Karl Maier…all some of my very favorites.
What was the inspiration for the t-shirt?
I take photos on every trip I go on and this design was composed of images taken on a trip my wife and I took to Tahiti when we went swimming and saw a bunch of sharks. I love tropical weather and nature for it’s beauty but also for it’s somewhat terrifyingly isolated and dangerous (as far as wildlife goes) aspect too, so juxtaposing palm trees, fish, and sharks (while dangerous, still beautiful) into the composition of a skull just seemed like a fun idea to me.
You’re fairly new to Michigan. What’s been your favorite / least favorite thing about the area?
My favorite part has been the extreme variation between the seasons and all there is to do here. I grew up in Chicago so it’s not really different at all in the sense of the weather, but something about the trees in the fall here, the closeness of the beaches to Grand Rapids, being able to drive a short distance for skiing…it’s at the same time altogether different from the Chicago area in some really nice, charming ways.
What role has experimentation played in the continual development of your style?
A huge part. I’m always trying new things and learning new ways of doing things and forcing things to look and act differently in Photoshop simply by experimenting. I think if you just do what you know well over and over again you don’t get anywhere. But if you do what you do well and add some new twists and turns to the process, you find wholly fresh and new perspectives and approaches to things you didn’t see before.
Red Vines or Twizzlers?
Probably Twizzlers, but ideally Sour Patch Kids.
Favorite childhood form of entertainment?
Saying ‘drawing’ would be a little too simplistic for an art-oriented interview, although that is the honest truth. But after that, probably playing stupid video games or running around outside throwing a football around with friends.
Describe a perfect weekend.
(My fall/winter answer): Out with my wife to dinner on Friday night, then the night in just relaxing with some wine and a good movie or TV show (Boardwalk Empire or Breaking Bad ideally). Saturday morning exercise, coffee, lunch with my wife at the bookstore, get some personal work or cleaning done around the office, then out with friends for dinner or just to hang out Saturday night. Sunday? Football. All day. Nonstop.
Chuck Anderson’s client list reads like a who’s who of international brands.
Microsoft. Burton. Lupe Fiasco. Reebok. Chicago Marathon. Target. Under Armour. Kaskade. Vans. Mountain Dew. The list goes on.
But it didn’t start there.
Taking full advantage of an extensive high school art program he was ready when community connections opened doors to start designing flyers for clubs he wasn’t old enough to get in to. He continued to gather steam and started NoPattern when he was just 17. Eventually the time came to graduate high school he chose (with his parent’s blessing) to forgo college to pursue the profession full time.
This past month we were lucky to have Chuck join us for a frank conversation on hard work, color, and experimentation. For this particular workshop the things said in Room 220 are best kept private but we’ll boil down a few of the main things we learned during our time together:
This Month’s Artist Tee
NEIL HUBERT
ADAM WEILER
LISA WALCOTT
CHUCK ANDERSON
OurThreeThirty is an open exploration of the monotony and magic that happens mid-afternoon. Take a photo everyday at 3:30pm and post it here.
