Page 119 - The 70s - ABC of the material

circle. The pressure of the litho press remains visible in “I thought by myself: if I have to continue in art, then only
the creases, while the different copies (18) in a formation on my own conditions. But although I intuitively felt that a
of 3x6 clearly show that number 1 is clearly different from different reality existed, I did not know in what form and
number 18. what it looked like. Consequently, I abandoned everything
Like the folding may be considered as a find to emphasise that was familiar and well-known. That I longed for
the fact that a lithograph is a picture printed on a press, consciously. I wanted to get away from the figuration, the
likewise, the circle proved to be the optimal form to do imitative. However, in reality I ended up in a black hole. At
justice to reproducibility, the fundamental property of this point I simply closed my doors. In order to discover my
graphical art. own reality, my own viewpoint, it was necessary not to get
near all sorts of images of which I thought: this may be it.
The success of this, from the essence of an in graphics No, I thought, that way it will be the same as before. I have
born idea, lies in the application of it. As surplus it to be completely on my own and figure it out on my own.
produces both restiveness and monumentality, how To concentrate on the plane, on the meaning of paper and
contrary these two may seem. The visual delight that can on what a line looks like”
be experienced follows according to Van Elk from the
focus on the material. It is 1973. An art historical period occurs to this artist as
“Nothing is added from anywhere else, it is fine because it a personal happening. Her pencil walks over paper and
is good, and it belongs only to itself and nothing is foreign follows the boundaries of the plane, explores the horizontal
in it. I think it is beautiful because it is itself”. and vertical directions and also once leaves the plane
Integrity, it is the fresh air for her artistic breathing. altogether. Next ,a drawn rectangle, or a curved line is
put on a sheet of paper, as a rhyme against the borders.
Close the doors Or a line with a thickened part that functions as a large
That Van Elk was disgruntled with the COBRA-inspired projection of that line which in turn behaves as a plane.
instruction she got at the Academy Minerva in Groningen This way an early series develops. A series in which Van Elk
is precisely in her line. These abstract-expressionistic returns to the foundations, and with which she builds for
paintings are open to all sorts of interpretations, and this herself an insight in the plane and the line. But also a series
vagueness pushed her soon in the direction of a clear which contains the germ that will be more explicit in later
figuration. Not in the traditional way, with oil paint and years.
canvas, but with materials with which she could attend
better the problems of the closedness and delimitation of Studio revolution
colour planes. However, it did not stop at this phase, time At that moment she has freed herself from all images that
and again she felt the urge to push the problem further. could refer to reality.
One can not (physically) enter an image of a landscape. “Now I can discuss more easily the renouncing of citations
Via an environment (a Soft Living Room covered with to anything beyond reality more easily than before.
artificial fur in which one actually could enter and in which Because, if you have not experienced it, it has no form
one could imagine oneself in a landscape) it became and no meaning. In that case it becomes difficult to decide
clear to her that she was not yet on the right track. The what can and what cannot be done. I wanted something
environments were an enormous success, but the public of which I could think afterwards: Yes this is timeless. The
neglected totally what Van Elk had tried to express with moment you remove your own moods, you are left with
these environments. Apparently, in her search for reality something more stable and less subject to temporary
she had not yet found the right tool.This disappointed her preferences”
and she looked for another medium. With language (as
medium) errors would be impossible. She would like to Slowly, step by step, this studio-revolution took place.
have at her disposal pure concepts, and she looked for In 1974 oil paste was introduced, and the pencil lines
these in philosophy. However, forced by circumstances are dominated literally by this oil paste. In Van Elk's own
she had to terminate her studies, and found herself once personal handwriting, the back and forth scratching
again face to face with the visual arts. movement, on which also the time-drawings are based,

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