Picasso's Guernica

O conceito:

The idea of creating a 3D version of an influential artwork came out of doing jigsaw puzzles of famous paintings. When you assemble a jigsaw, you study a painting in great detail and you become aware of the very lines, shapes and colors that the painting is composed of and how these elements merge to create a unified expression. Through the puzzle, you explore the artwork, examining details your eye might not have caught otherwise. Your experience of the painting is intense, aroused by the action of puzzling, but expanded and strengthened by your own fantasy.

This 3D rendering of Picasso's Guernica offers a similar experience. The actual spatial immersion into a painting is a powerful way to prompt contemplation of its many facets. My project is not only a creative piece of work on its own; it stands in a larger context. It provides the unusual opportunity to view the painting from a unique perspective, revealing aspects that would normally stay hidden from the casual viewer. When we discern the original painting in this three-dimensional reproduction, we recognize which features most significantly constitute the painting. Consequently this three-dimensional exploration of Picasso's Guernica is an innovative technique for comprehending and appreciating the original masterpiece.

My primary intention for the project was to create a provoking and deep contemplation of Pablo Picasso’s Guernica. Is my model a true reconstruction of the Picasso’s painting, or is it merely a rough re-visualization? Is it still Picasso’s art or has it, through my addition of third dimension, become something completely different? It is not my place to answer those questions nor to determine the relationship between my three-dimensional reproduction and the original painting. Perhaps this is a question best left in the hands of critics.

Os autores:

After growing up in Osnabrück, Germany, Lena finished a Bachelor in Computer Graphics at the University of Koblenz, Germany in 2004. With the support of a DAAD-scholarship she transferred to the University of Georgia, USA and there she completed a Master in 3D Computer Animation in May 2007. 'A 3D Exploration of Picasso's Guernica' was part of her thesis. Lena loves art and is quite a technical person as well and she is interested in projects that combine those two skill sets. But not only her academic and professional life have led to work like the Guernica animation but also her personal interest in history and politics. Furthermore intercultural learning has always played a major role in Lena’s life; so far she lived for a year in Malaysia, one in Italy and four years in the USA.

Cello

Christopher Johns recently completed a Masters degree in cello performance at the University of Georgia, while studying with David Starkweather. He served as a Graduate Assistant Director of the UGA Summer Music Camps, President of the Student Chapter of the American String Teachers Association, and as a cellist in the UGA Symphony and ARCO Chamber Orchestras, which performed in Carnegie Hall November of 2004. Johns began studying cello at the age of four under the instruction of Jennifer Frisina in Charlotte, NC. (...more)

Guitar

Born in San Jose, California, Matthew Anderson began serious guitar studies as a Presidential Scholar with Mr. John Sutherland at Georgia State University, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude with Distinction from the School of Music. He then continued studies with John Sutherland at the University of Georgia under the prestigious University-Wide Teaching Assistantship in the areas of guitar and music theory. Matthew has also performed in masterclasses with Paul O’Dette, Matteo Mela, Patrick Lui, and Christopher Parkening.