“Horror Vacui”

[fear of empty space]

In visual art, horror vacui (/ˈhɔrər ˈvɑːkjuːaɪ/; from Latin “fear of empty space”), also kenophobia, from Greek “fear of the empty”), is the filling of the entire surface of a space or an artwork with detail.

Origins

The term is associated with the Italian art critic and scholar Mario Praz, who used it to describe the suffocating atmosphere and clutter of interior design in the Victorian age.[2] Older, and more artistically esteemed examples can be seen on Migration period art objects like the carpet pages of Insular illuminated manuscripts such as the Book of Kells. This feeling of meticulously filling empty spaces also permeates Arabesque Islamic art from ancient times to the present. Another example comes from ancient Greece during the Geometric Age (1100 – 900 BCE), when horror vacui was considered a stylistic element of all art. The mature work of the French Renaissance engraver Jean Duvet consistently exhibits horror vacui.

 

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Daniel Canogar Horror Vacui, 1999
Vacui’s printed wallpaper instillation of repetitive hands invokes the experience of haptic technology through virtual environments that Vacui describes as ‘the obsessive search for the tactile’.
The strawberry thief (flower and bird pattern). Chintz (1884) Design by William Morris

The strawberry thief (flower and bird pattern). Chintz (1884) Design by William Morris

 

Exploration on Horror Vacui coming up on the next post

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“I Just Wait Until It Goes ‘Pow!’”: Abstract Painter Ed Moses on His Methodical and Intuitive Process

(Quoted: http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/821974/i-just-wait-until-it-goes-pow-abstract-painter-ed-moses-on-his#)

(My Inspiration)

“Technique and exploration that creates an art piece.”   Experimenting and exploration…His techniques are intricate in a way that tells everything about the artist himself. I decided to use him as my inspiration because the style of experimenting differently is something different from any other artist.

In-depth research:

For Moses, the act of painting is about action; his process is defined by responses rather than judgments and he’s not shy to admit that frequently, he has no idea what he’s doing.

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The large panels in Green/Bronze are quite successful in drawing attention to themselves in remarkable subtle ways, and it’s as if by a whisper they call out to the viewer from across the room for attention. As non-objective works, the paintings in invite the viewer to simply observe – rather than interpret – the relationships of the web-like fissures, cracks, and colors. Their Rorschach-like ambiguity provides Moses with amusement as viewers ponder forms and search for meaning that is not there. In many ways, he leaves the experience entirely open ended and surprisingly accessible; the viewers take from the paintings what they will.

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Other process by Ed Moses

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Other processes of his art involves three-steps: a single color is painted on a prepared canvas, followed by a mixture of his own “secret sauce.” Once dry, the paint naturally begins to crack and separate. A second layer of color is added and once dry, the cracking is exaggerated by physical manipulation of the canvas (he often punches them) to produce even more dramatic cracking and separation between layers.

Here are some of the other works that are done by the artist. Ed Moses portrays a subtle yet abstract piece of art with creates a lot of feeling into it. The grid, the flow, the lines tells a story as a whole.

(Source taken from: http://www.newamericanpaintings.com/blog/ed-moses-greenbronze)

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Inspired exploration of Ed Moses work technique coming up on the next post...

(Here’s the process of Ed Moses art process which i did a research on while searching for his style of technique)