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Saturday, March 20, 2010
Tomer Hanuka Artist Interaction
These are excellent questions my students posed to Tomer Hanuka, accomplished Israeli artist. Hanuka responded with insights and thoughtfulness that will inform our writings.
What was it like growing up in Israel (a past that has shaped your art? similar to New York in any way? Crime = constant threat of annihilation?)-and did this upbringing inspire you to become an artist of images from novels like Life of Pi?
I grew up in Israel where the sun bleaches out the color out of everything, and early on got hooked on comics where, mostly for production reasons the colors where pumped to the max. I want to say it was escapism, but i had a terrific childhood. comics was exotic, the whole idea of superheros, visual icons, worlds within panels. But it was also seductive in reaction to a reality that existed under a threat that seeped into the daily routine through hourly news cast, and the knowledge that at some point before your twenties you will too join the cause. years later, when i started working as an editorial illustrator in NY I've gravitated towards scenes where everything is in place but is about to explode. the line work and setting is comics-esq, but the atmosphere is heavy, at times tragic.
As an artist, is it easier for you to paint about things that have been created already (like certain images/scenes in Life of Pi)-is it easier for you to create your own original images largely based on your childhood/upbringing in Israel-how/why?
I can remember only a single incident of creating art based on my childhood, and at that it was based on what it FELT like being there rather than the way it actually looked like. that is the key for me-- if i can connect to an emotional truth within the narrative it propels the creative process. the work i'm creating is always story based-- I'm looking for a single frame where the disparate elements of the drama interacts in a way that is both symbolic and narrative, where the image works as an 'abstract', but also there is a presence of the cumulative story tensions that happened outside of the moment being described. for this to work i have to literally get in 'the moment', to see it from the inside, to be on the ground.
How do you hope your artwork helps the reader better understand the messages of/from the novel?
I'm not sure it does, or that it should. the novel stands on it's own and is a complete and whole creation. the illustrations are a personal interpretation/reaction to the text. i see them more as a companion piece, a subjective expression based on what i've experienced while reading the book. being a visual person i enjoy exploring content though images, and hopefully this exploration can enrich another reader's experience as he/she contemplates their own correspondence with the story.
Why do you think we need art; how would the world be different without art?
the truth is we don't need art to survive. but it keeps things interesting. life is often random and chaotic. Art uses elements from life and re-organize them into structures that elevates the spirit through meaning, identification, pure esthetics and other channels. the list keeps evolving. art helps us process and find meaning in an existence that can get pretty cryptic. it effect us in an opposite manner to the way religion does. it give us questions.
Tomer, Thank you very much for your insights and thoughtfulness. The students will use your words in their upcoming essays. See the blog address below for our upcoming work, and take good care.
Appreciatively, Matt Christensen
thanks for inviting me join the discussion-- it was a challenge and a pleasure to wrestle with their tough question.
5 comments:
5th Hour
What was it like growing up in Israel (a past that has shaped your art? similar to New York in any way? Crime = constant threat of annihilation?)-and did this upbringing inspire you to become an artist of images from novels like Life of Pi?
I grew up in Israel where the sun bleaches out the color out of everything, and early on got hooked on comics where, mostly for production reasons the colors where pumped to the max. I want to say it was escapism, but i had a terrific childhood. comics was exotic, the whole idea of superheros, visual icons, worlds within panels. But it was also seductive in reaction to a reality that existed under a threat that seeped into the daily routine through hourly news cast, and the knowledge that at some point before your twenties you will too join the cause. years later, when i started working as an editorial illustrator in NY I've gravitated towards scenes where everything is in place but is about to explode. the line work and setting is comics-esq, but the atmosphere is heavy, at times tragic.
PS: NY is so crime free.
T. Hanuka
www.thanuka.com
1st Hour
As an artist, is it easier for you to paint about things that have been created already (like certain images/scenes in Life of Pi)-is it easier for you to create your own original images largely based on your childhood/upbringing in Israel-how/why?
I can remember only a single incident of creating art based on my childhood, and at that it was based on what it FELT like being there rather than the way it actually looked like. that is the key for me-- if i can connect to an emotional truth within the narrative it propels the creative process. the work i'm creating is always story based-- I'm looking for a single frame where the disparate elements of the drama interacts in a way that is both symbolic and narrative, where the image works as an 'abstract', but also there is a presence of the cumulative story tensions that happened outside of the moment being described. for this to work i have to literally get in 'the moment', to see it from the inside, to be on the ground.
T. Hanuka
www.thanuka.com
3rd Hour
How do you hope your artwork helps the reader better understand the messages of/from the novel?
I'm not sure it does, or that it should.
the novel stands on it's own and is a complete and whole creation.
the illustrations are a personal interpretation/reaction to the text. i see them more as a companion piece, a subjective expression based on what i've experienced while reading the book.
being a visual person i enjoy exploring content though images, and hopefully this exploration can enrich another reader's experience as he/she contemplates their own correspondence with the story.
T. Hanuka
www.thanuka.com
7th Hour
Why do you think we need art; how would the world be different without art?
the truth is we don't need art to survive. but it keeps things interesting.
life is often random and chaotic. Art uses elements from life and re-organize them into structures that elevates the spirit through meaning, identification, pure esthetics and other channels. the list keeps evolving. art helps us process and find meaning in an existence that can get pretty cryptic.
it effect us in an opposite manner to the way religion does. it give us questions.
T. Hanuka
www.thanuka.com
Tomer,
Thank you very much for your insights and thoughtfulness. The students will use your words in their upcoming essays. See the blog address below for our upcoming work, and take good care.
Appreciatively,
Matt Christensen
thanks for inviting me join the discussion-- it was a challenge and a pleasure to wrestle with their tough question.
t
T. Hanuka
www.thanuka.com
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