Event Info 

French Library Drawing Exchange
1/2/09 Propeller Island 29 Thurloe Place, South Kensington, London SW7

Exercises

Exercises were set around the collection of books that were acquired for the temporary French library at Propeller Island.

1.Voluntary/ Involuntary Memory
2.Fountain
3. Striptease
4. The Daily Life of French Artists

1. Voluntary / involuntary memory.
In Search of Lost Time or Remembrance of Things Past (French: A Recherche Du Temps Perdu) is a semi-autobiographical novel in seven volumes by Marcel Proust. One of the main themes of the novel is Involuntary memory whereby a trigger in everyday life brings a memory back. In the novel a memory is involuntary remembered by a character whilst dipping a madeleine cake insome tea.

So for this exercise can you :
a.  Split your paper in two.  b. On the first side
I would would like us to all volunteer a memory of something, anything. c. On the second side I will use some triggers that may cause you to involuntarily remember something.

2. Fountain
In this exercise we will continue the theme of Proust and In Search of Lost Time or Remembrance of Things Past. The Novel refered to the nature of art, real art and fictitious artists. It is said to have put forward a sort of Art Theory. The following quote references a painting: Hubert Robert “View of a Park: The Fountain (detail)” (1793) Louvre, Paris.

“The eighteenth century had refined the elegance of its lines, but, by fixing the style of the jet, seemed to have arrested its life; at this distance one had the impression of art rather than the sensation of water.”

Draw your imagining of this scene using this painting reference & quote.

3. Striptease
Last night at Propeller Island, Brian Dawn Chalkley did a strip. Inspired by this I would like you to do a drawing to a reading of ‘Striptease’ one of Roland Barthes essays on modern French life that he wrote for Mythologies. Strip Tease.

4. The Daily Life of French Artists
The book by Jacques Letheve The Daily Life of French Artist in the nineteenth century describes exactly what it says on the cover. Again I will read out a paragraph from the book and it is up to you how you interpret this to make a drawing.

Images