Back to the Roots: MTB jersey

Just a quick reminder of what my project is:

I am working on making a mountain biking jersey that has the aesthetic of action painting.

Below are a couple of action painting pictures.

Figure 1. Lady smearing paint

Figure 2. Example of action painting

The roots of the aesthetic I picked go back to the 1940’s in close relationship with abstract expressionism. The method/aesthetic is to dribble, splash, or smear paint as opposed to carefully painting. This method emphasizes the act of painting itself and the emotion of the application of the paint. The term “action painting” was coined by the American critic Harold Rosenberg in 1952, in his essay “The American Action Painters.” According to Rosenberg, the canvas was “an arena in which to act.” Over the next two decades, Rosenberg’s redefinition of art as an action rather than an object, a process rather than a product, was influential and laid the foundation for major movements to come such as Fluxus and Performance Art.

I plan to apply the paint by dipping an old mountain bike tire in paint and rolling along the back side of the jersey. Then I will splash paint in the same manner that mud would splash the back of a jersey when riding.

Thank you for reading my post!

 

Image References:

Figure 1. https://paintingvalley.com/action-painting

Figure 2. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/521291725607577607/

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2 Comments. Leave new

  • Jamie Frankel
    April 15, 2020 9:09 pm

    I love that your initial idea was a meld of action painting in a way that was reminiscent of mud splatter up ones back. I think that it is a really sweet spot that you have found and I am excited to see how it turns out!

    Reply
  • Zach Aldrich
    April 8, 2020 6:50 pm

    Benjamin,

    I think the action painting aesthetic is perfect for the mountain biking jersey project. What sport or activity is more actiony and rough than mountain biking? I think an artist trying to paint a picture while being jostled around as one would be while biking is in essence the action painting aesthetic. Cant wait to see how it turns out!

    Reply

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