Abstract Expressionism lives!

April 22, 2011 9:55 AM

Meet Carolyn J. Martin. She makes art by igniting gunpowder on canvas.
posted by Afroblanco (17 comments total)

meet Cai Guo-Qiang, he does the same thing
posted by askmehow at 10:09 AM on April 22, 2011 [9 favorites]

Wow! Thanks for the link! His stuff is awesome. Very different style, though.
posted by Afroblanco at 10:11 AM on April 22, 2011

try boarding a plane with your ART supplies, gunpowder and explain
to the TSA.
posted by taxpayer at 10:41 AM on April 22, 2011

Was expecting a flash interface.
posted by hal9k at 10:43 AM on April 22, 2011 [8 favorites]

The idea's interesting, but the images themselves aren't.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:10 AM on April 22, 2011 [2 favorites]

My watercolors 101 class would have been a lot more interesting if they also allowed gunpowder.

Saying that, I like the images. It's the combination of simplicity and randomness that appeals to me.
posted by spinifex23 at 11:17 AM on April 22, 2011

This is a pretty cool concept.

try boarding a plane with your ART supplies, gunpowder

Well, you can bring ammo on a plane (in checked baggage) so I imagine you can bring one of the "parts" of ammo as well.
posted by wildcrdj at 11:23 AM on April 22, 2011

My old landlord used to do this with a router, plywood and gunpowder back in the 80s. He's got a much more refined (but nowhere near as exciting, IMO) medium / method now.
posted by brand-gnu at 11:37 AM on April 22, 2011

She makes art by igniting gunpowder on canvas.

i make art by projectile vomiting on public sidewalks.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 11:52 AM on April 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

i make art by projectile vomiting on public sidewalks.

hey we can sell that to a tourist as a genuine Jackson Pollock
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 1:13 PM on April 22, 2011

I myself prefer to think of our nation's continuing adventures in Iraq & Afghanistan as the best-funded NEA endowment in history.
posted by hincandenza at 1:39 PM on April 22, 2011 [2 favorites]

i make art by projectile vomiting on public sidewalks

Pissed Christ?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:08 PM on April 22, 2011

When I think of art made with fire, I usually think of this.

Thanks for the introduction to Cai Guo-Qiang, askmehow.

Good post.
posted by Minus215Cee at 3:53 PM on April 22, 2011

It's been done before.

My fellow art school alumnus Ana Mendieta was doing gunpowder drawings in the late 1970s. I knew her (she was my girlfriend's roommate) and we studied under the same teachers. And they taught us, the one most devastating critique anyone can give an artist is, "It's been done before."
posted by charlie don't surf at 4:26 PM on April 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

wildcrdj: "This is a pretty cool concept.

try boarding a plane with your ART supplies, gunpowder

Well, you can bring ammo on a plane (in checked baggage) so I imagine you can bring one of the "parts" of ammo as well."

Unlikely with gunpowder or anything else flammable.
posted by bwg at 4:33 PM on April 22, 2011

It's been done before.

I dunno, I feel like you're being unfairly reductive. It's almost like looking at Van Gogh and saying "it's been done before" because he's using paint.

Just look at Cai Guo-Qiang : he's using the same medium, but doing something completely different with it.
posted by Afroblanco at 12:56 AM on April 23, 2011

meet Cai Guo-Qiang, he does the same thing


...but much much much better. These works here seem really unrefined and uninspiring.
posted by Theta States at 8:49 AM on May 2, 2011