Seen/UnSeen: Stories into Creativity (13 minutes, 2018, Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties, CA) is a film by Wallace Boss. He is a seasoned documentarian whose career has focused on creativity.
The artists in Seen/UnSeen: Stories into Creativity are Doyle Foreman (sculpture), Edward Ramirez (photography) and Claire Thorson (painting). In Seen/UnSeen you will get to hear each artist explore their studio or “in the world” process and how it shapes an artwork coming into being.
A project of Museo Eduardo Carrillo, Seen/UnSeen: Stories into Creativity is part of a Santa Cruz County wide initiative titled Spoken/Unspoken. Museo is committed to sharing the art and voices of contemporary artists.
The Spoken/Unspoken countywide collaborative venture was organized by Cabrillo Gallery and fueled by the generosity of a donor-advised grant from the Roy and Frances Rydell Visual Arts Fund at Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, which allowed this project to come into being. Find out more here: www.spokenunspokenart.com
Through a myriad of practices, artists give voice to a broad array of ideas, feelings, and concerns. They invite us to think, to feel, to wonder, to question, to act and react. Through art, artists can shout dissent, rally for a cause, incite action, and foster community. Art can inform us, speak unspoken secrets and give a voice to the silenced. Art can offer comfort and a platform to communicate grief, anger, or injustice for those in difficult circumstances. Art can delight us aesthetically and touch us emotionally. It can express deeply personal thoughts and desires. Art can present puzzles to be solved or ambiguities to ponder.
Discover, through Wallace Boss’s film how Doyle Foreman (sculpture), Edward Ramirez (photography) and Claire Thorson (painting) bring the Unseen into the Seen.
A free film screening of “Seen/UnSeen- Stories into Creativity” (16 minutes) and panel discussion with the artists and film maker will be hosted by The Sesnon Gallery in the Porter Faculty Gallery – Porter College at University of California, Santa Cruz on March 14th at 6PM. Come early for best parking. Please email betsy@museoeduardocarrillo.org for more information.
Seen/Unseen Gallery
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An interesting glimpse into the three artists with thoughts that can be absorbed into me.
Dear Peter,
I am glad you saw our film. I think knowing how artist’s discuss their process is so fascinating. AS a film maker you probably can appreciate the editing and the Unseen portions that have not made it into the final piece.
Thank you again,
Betsy
Dear Peter,
I am glad you saw our film. I think knowing how artist’s discuss their process is so fascinating. AS a film maker you probably can appreciate the editing and the Unseen portions that have not made it into the final piece.
Thank you again,
Betsy
Loved learning more about these artists in our community and their thoughts, their process and their work. Thank you.
Very thoughtful discussions about how artists inhabit their own creative process and the aesthetic impact that viewers may experience.
This film does a great job showing the different ways artist portray people in their art. They use different mediums to showcase humanity and their role in society. Also, the artists talk about how their art can be interpreted differently by different viewers, proving that not everyone thinks alike.
In addition, this video made me see that the at process can be strange. For instance, many artists start with a vision, but at the end of the day, they end up with something way different. Just how Claire Thorson said, “what happens is unknown until it starts happening in a piece of paper in a canvas… that’s the adventure.”
In my perspective, it is good to look at art becuase art allows artists to show different cultures and different people; most importantly by adding meaning to it. They take current events and situations and put it in art in order to portray a message for others to see, hence getting an insight of what’s going on.
This film does a great job showing the different ways artist portray people in their art. They use different mediums to showcase humanity and their role in society. Also, the artists talk about how their art can be interpreted differently by different viewers, proving that not everyone thinks alike.
In addition, this video made me see that the at process can be strange. For instance, many artists start with a vision, but at the end of the day, they end up with something way different. Just how Claire Thorson said, “what happens is unknown until it starts happening in a piece of paper in a canvas… that’s the adventure.”
In my perspective, it is good to look at art becuase art allows artists to show different cultures and different people; most importantly by adding meaning to it. They take current events and situations and put it in art in order to portray a message for others to see, hence getting an insight of what’s going on.
Noelli
This film made good points on how people look at art. The idea that people who look at a painting or something else for a few seconds compared to at least ten or fifteen minutes is an activity that I think people should consider. If one views the work for a few seconds then they will only absorb basic information from it, while taking the time to analyze the work for even a few minutes can help bring in even more attention to finer details within the work. It can help art viewers improve their perception on what ideas are trying to be said from what is made on the canvas, even if one person may get a different idea or message from the work compared to the other.
And the photographer is also interesting, because he is serious about sticking to his ethics on how he approaches his subject in his photography. He is someone who wants to know people at a certain level by spending some personal time, so he could show the true form of other people at their discretion. This is one of the ways he uses to tell stories of subjects in his photos to his audience.
Art overall can be expressed in different ways. No matter how similar or different the artist sees things compared to the viewer, we can say that the world and experiences we perceive through art has a certain uniqueness to it as it tells a story of what we hear, feel and see.
The film does a great job portraying the approach two different artists take towards the same subject matter – people. Through oil paint, the figure and form of the human figure are shown, while through photography the political and societal aspects of human life are portrayed. An overall beautiful job on both parts!
I resonate deeply with views of the artists. Perspective when making a piece versus when it is done can be very different for the artist. Seeing a finished product can bring through the emotion of a piece, but it does not truly capture the journey of making it. Art is a process that can take a very long time, and the artist may see a product of a marathon of work, but viewers may only see the surface. So what a work means and what is seen can vary greatly between artist and outside observer because they each carry their own experiences and feelings that can impact what they see.
This film was great at portraying how the artist can see their art differently than the viewer. I think it was interesting to see that the art made can have a totally different meaning to the viewer than it gave the artist. What this mean is that art is based on perspective and cannot be put into a specific category. It was also very interesting to see how the art is made and how it differs from the starting idea of the product to the actual final product.
This video gives an incredible peak into the mind of an artist and why they do art. Each artist begins the process of making art with a simple vision in mind that goes through a whirlwind of adjustments, cover-ups and additions. The final product, once completed, may or may not be what they had originally intended. Also, what they created may not be what you see. Interpretations of art can be varied depending on the individual. The maker may create something completely different than what the viewer perceives. Although miscommunications are inevitable, the maker and the viewer interact through the artwork. Whether it was intended or not, the maker portrayed something to the viewer that the viewer then interprets into their own meanings. This is why art is important; it causes people to sit back and open up their minds.
This video gives an incredible peak into the mind of an artist and why they do art. Each artist begins the process of making art with a simple vision in mind that goes through a whirlwind of adjustments, cover-ups and additions. The final product, once completed, may or may not be what they had originally intended. Also, what they created may not be what you see. Interpretations of art can be varied depending on the individual. The maker may create something completely different than what the viewer perceives. Although miscommunications are inevitable, the maker and the viewer interact through the artwork. Whether it was intended or not, the maker portrayed something to the viewer that the viewer then interprets into their own meanings. This is why art is important; it causes people to sit back and open up their minds.
After watching this short film, I appreciate more not only the artists’ aesthetic skills but also their creative sparks with cultural, intellectual, and emotional characteristics. I like the title of the film “Seen and Unseen.” The title itself helps me to know more about the process of art. I also like each artist talking about the process of how art opens the world to something bigger than themselves or the viewers. I am grateful for the opportunity to see this film and recommend it to anyone who begins to study art like me.
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