ESSAY | SELF-OBSERVATION | ART
Just One Small Thing
How even the simplest of things can have a huge impact on life
I recently read about the German artist Josef Albers who did a series of paintings with squares. I am fascinated that he took one small thing — the square — and did a complete study about it. So what was his angle for doing so?
Though these geometric, abstract works are now regarded as highly influential — sometimes viewed as precursors to op art and minimalism — they began as an investigative exercise for Albers, as they “confronted a problem that had long exercised him, both in his writing and teaching,” explains Morgan Falconer in Painting Beyond Pollock, “the interaction of colours.”
“Each square canvas in the series consists of a sequence of nested squares of different colours that seem to advance and recede according to their positioning and their adjacent colours. The series was motivated by a spirit of research and enquiry that was typical of the Bauhaus and its legatees.”
Albers was experimenting with this before the Minimalism movement began and many critics praise him for creating that movement. However, he wasn’t interested in minimalism, he was curious about colors and how they affect the observer.
…in 1963 he published his influential book, The Interaction of Color, and remained intensely interested in the way humans observe — and sometimes confuse — the colour spectrum. A knowledge of the slipperiness of colour was vital for an artist; as he once said, “to educate the eye one must fool the eye.”
“Above all, he demonstrated the relativity and instability of colour,” writes Stella Paul in her book Chromaphilia: The Story of Colour in Art. “‘In order to use colour effectively,’ he once stated, ‘it is necessary to recognize that colour deceives continually’. He celebrated colour’s power of illusion and transformation, showing that the same colour will look different depending on what surrounds it; that different colours will appear the same depending on adjacencies; that colours can be made to advance or recede, vibrate, pulse or metamorphose.”
Although Albers’ true intention was to work with color and observation, he could have chosen anything as a theme for his research. He chose one small thing though — the Square. This got me to thinking about how in my writing, I have often chosen certain words as themes — bones and darkness come to mind. Two small simple words that run through my writing like Albers’ squares through his art.
Bones have often denoted abuse, hardship, and the bending of my will. Whereas, darkness has always held a dual meaning for me — a means of being hidden away from the world, but also as my only safe space.
As I continue my journey through self-discovery and making peace with my past, I am in awe of how just small simple things have huge impacts upon my life. Like Albers, I could use anything to begin my journey, to focus on it so intently that it begins to hold other meanings for me. I now see how there is strength in bones and beauty in darkness. Neither need to denote negativity for me now. And just like with Albers and his squares, I can continue to study these small words (and others), observe their influence and come full circle as I draw new meanings from them into my life.
© 2021 Lori Carlson. All Rights Reserved.
Thank your for reading these jumbled notes and observations. I will likely continue to write these kinds of essays as I explore why I do what I do.
Lori Carlson writes Poetry, Fiction, Articles, Creative Non-Fiction and Personal Essays. Most of her topics are centered around Relationships, Spirituality, Life Lessons, Mental Health, Nature, Loss, Death, and the LGBTQ+ community. Check out her personal Medium blog here.
