Artistic Process Archives - Greg Mason Burns

Essen Coal #1 is an abstract photo of the Welterbe Zollverein mine in Essen, Germany.

Reception Theory as a Visual Art

Introduction of Reception Theory as a Visual Art Reception Theory as a visual art can be described as thus: Imagine a town, or a village, that does not exist in our reality but we know it is there nonetheless. We cannot visit it or touch the buildings or talk In order for this town to exist, this town must have been created before. And it was, by two entities. Actually, it was not created by two entities, but by the void that exists between the two entities instead. The town exists in the void. One entity (the communicator) provides the information of what this...

March 19, 2022

Greg

in Art, Art Project, Artistic Process, Contemporary Art, Criticism, Drawing, Painting, Photography, Reductivism, Video

First Parish of the Abstract Artist abstract photo using blue, green, grey, and yellow

Redirecting the Message

Redirecting the Message: A Definition Redirecting the Message is an art project that revolves around misinformation and communication bias. I take images, words, and objects and re-purpose them into other forms so that a new message is created from the old one. This is a part of my Reception Theory project, which relates to communication and interpretation. Therefore, the purpose is to show how one message can easily be changed to mean something different. In other words, information is easily re-purposed to fit the communicator's agenda. As a result, the audience must decide what is real or not. What to Look For For instance, if...

March 19, 2022

Greg

in Art, Art Project, Artistic Process, Painting, Photography

Conversations About Art: with Bazévian

[caption id="attachment_3826" align="alignleft" width="186"] Post synthétique I by Bazévian - oil pastel, oil, acrylic, and ink on canvas - 60 x 40cm[/caption] I recently started doing conversations about art and what people in the art world think about their field of work. The first article was about abstract art with Guido Viaro, the writer from Curitiba, Brazil. Today's article is about figurative art, and for that I caught up with emerging artist Bazévian. He is primarily a portrait artist, specializing in capturing the homeless using oil pastel and china ink. Bazévian is originally from the north of France, and he grew up under...

February 24, 2015

Greg

in Art, Artistic Process, Behind the Artwork, Contemporary Art

Conversations About Art: Abstract with Guido Viaro

[caption id="attachment_3837" align="alignright" width="250"] One of Guido Viaro's favorite artists: Kandinsky - Improvisation 3 - Oil on Canvas (1909) - Centre Georges Pompidou[/caption] Guido Viaro and Abstract Art As a writer, Guido Viaro is currently working on abstract short stories, but it's abstract as an idea that influences him. "In my working room I’m surrounded by abstract paintings by Guido Viaro," he says of his grandfather of the same name. "I love all Kandinsky, perhaps for his previous studies of proportions and colors. I love Paul Klee for his fake innocence. I love Jorge Luis Borges for his short story “The Aleph”....

February 19, 2015

Greg

in Art, Artistic Process, Behind the Artwork, Contemporary Art, Criticism

Trust in the Process: Understanding Introversion (because we don’t)

[caption id="attachment_3846" align="alignleft" width="226"] Understanding Introversion: Self-Portrait - oil on canvas (2014)[/caption] Understanding Introversion Part I this series is here Part II this series is here Part III this series is here Part IV this series is here Introversion and being an artist actually have little to do with each other. As much as people would like to pigeon-hole artists into the introversion category, I'm not convinced it's true. There are an awful lot of artists out there who prefer to just want to be out there with other people, attending shows, or generally being the center of attention. As it happens I'm not one of...

December 21, 2014

Greg

in Artistic Process, Criticism

Trust in the Process: The Myth of the Right-Left Brain Mentality

[caption id="attachment_3213" align="alignnone" width="1100"] The Myth of the Right-Left Brain Mentality: City VII - Roses - Oil on Canvas (2014)[/caption] Part I of this series is here Part II of this series is here Part III of this series is here The right and left parts of the brain may do certain things, but they don't operate exclusively. I took this right-brain vs. left-brain test recently and scored 16 out of a possible 21 (there are 22 questions, but one is the same with reversed answers). I'm borderline "moderate" to "strong" right brain, which means I'm supposed to be more creative in my life. There...

December 3, 2014

Greg

in Artistic Process, Criticism

Trust in the Process: Where Does Creativity Come From?

[caption id="attachment_3213" align="aligncenter" width="1100"] Where Does Creativity Come From? - City VII - Roses - Oil on Canvas (2014)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_3865" align="alignleft" width="250"] Igreja Do Cerro Branco - Watercolor on Board (2014)[/caption] Part I of this series is here. Part II of this series is here. Where Does Creativity Come From? Count me as skeptical. But skeptical of what is something I'm not really sure about. Where does creativity come from? I have no idea, except I know that it comes from me. I guess maybe it comes from the universe, or the Universe, whichever you feel better about. Or maybe it comes from within....

December 1, 2014

Greg

in Artistic Process, Criticism

Music and Its Inspiration in the Studio

I'm a big music fan. I couldn't hold a note if you glued it to my hand, but I certainly try when working in the studio. In general I'm most inspired by Indie bands such as The Mars Volta, Cloud Cult, or Sleater-Kinney, among others. I also have a lot of New Wave and Mod-Rock on my playlist. Even Flamenco gets me in the mood more than once per week. For some strange reason, however, I've lately been heavily inspired by outlaw country - mostly songs like Waylon Jennings's Ain't No God in Mexico or Willie Nelson's Pancho and Lefty....

November 25, 2014

Greg

in Artistic Process

Art and Productivity: Trust in the Process

To read the first part of Art and Productivity, click here: [caption id="attachment_263" align="alignright" width="300"] Trust in the process: This painting took time to realize[/caption] In the first part of this series, I mentioned two things. One is how the artist can never shut off the artistic process. And the other is that the artist is just as productive as the normal corporate worker, if not more so. In this part I'll talk about the real reason why the starving artist exists. The Myth of the Starving Artist There is this myth that the starving artist exists because suffering creates great art. There may...

October 22, 2014

Greg

in Artistic Process, Criticism

Art and Productivity

[caption id="attachment_3295" align="alignleft" width="300"] Art and Productivity: when art develops over time[/caption] This has been something on my mind for some time. I wouldn't call it a rant, or really anything new, but it is a reality and I believe an important point to share: that artists are as productive as corporate workers in spite of not being able to show anything at the end of a particular day. Thinking is Working Look, I get what you're thinking - how is it possible that an artist is working when sitting in a café watching the world go by? There's no way to put...

July 23, 2014

Greg

in Artistic Process, Criticism