To survive, each of us has to act.
You must yourself become the author of your environment.
You can not wait for a permit or an authority. â F. Hundertwasser
I have always had great admiration for those artists who are able to find and express their own creative voice in different creative disciplines. In this sense, I understand a creative voice as something beyond style, including also the themes and media that an artist uses to express themselves. Perhaps whatâs more: their higher purpose, the intention of their art, and how they carry themselves into the world. We all know some of these characters who become in a way their own pieces of art.
Born Austrian, Hundertwasser (or Huwa, as how apparently his friends would affectionally call him) was an artist, architect, and thinker who believed in the importance of a close relationship between humanity and nature. He was an activist and environmentalist and most likely one of the very first designers to fiercely promote sustainable approaches such as green roofs, self-sufficient housing, and rainwater system. He spent a big part of his life in New Zealand, making it a second home.
I came across this character so randomly, while going into a rabbit hole of references, and found out that his gallery/museum was indeed in WhangÄrei, the area we were planning to spend some days off. What are the chances? Of course, we paid a visit to the museum (and of course I bought some books đ).
Having your own creative voice becomes an entity that extends beyond your own self. I find these characters extremely interesting: they touch and blend different disciplines with a similar approach, style, and personality. This is what I truly came to appreciate from Hundertwasser: his philosophy of life and his views on the world we inhabit blend into his art. One cannot live without the other and environmentalism per se, is not just a mere artistic theme for him, but a whole way of living.
When I look at Hundertwasserâs works, I can recognise his strong creative voice across all of them but also, an incredibly unique way of looking at the world that we can learn from. These are some of his works where I can see his creative voice shining, and some key ideas that can teach us about creativity and looking at the world with a fresh perspective:
Philosophy of the skins
This a great sketch that communicates a philosophical idea on the different layers human beings inhabit (architects, take notes!). Think about it: imagine the author sharing his profound thoughts on just bullet points, they wouldnât be as powerful as communicating them on a sketch. Everything is in there, in that drawing. No need for more words or further explanation. And I wonder, what comes first? Sketches are such a great tool for thinking.
Doodles
I am extremely captivated by these suggestive and simple compositions. Because they are abstractions of his thoughts, they contain the fundamental elements of Hundertwasserâs work and the iteration of colours and patterns. Doodling abstract thoughts is a great tool to bring up unconscious ideas. The result is creative and suggestive: they could be maps, motives, systems⌠I love how some of them resemble city plans or building sections to me. Truth is in the eye of the beholder.
Abstraction
How do you draw time on a 2D surface? How do you represent emotion and space at the same time? The only way to break with the constraints of reality is to remove perspective, to draw in plan and section at the same time, to place things at different scales, and to bring in colour, patterns, simple shapes, marks. In other words: to abstract the content we are representing. This is the type of artistic abstraction I find interesting: abstraction as a way to convey a message or to represent a reality or emotion that canât be represented in a literal way otherwise. The type of abstraction that is the means to get to the real thing we are telling, not the (empty) end itself.
Each of these ideas would require a long essay to dive into (which I might write someday!), however, I thought it might be better to just give a glimpse of why these pieces are relevant regarding creativity. Take these as a starting point - I recommend, dear reader, that you do further research on this special artist if this sparked your interest.
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Happy sketching!
Ana
đ These are the two books I bought in the museum and would recommend (also mentioned in the previous What Iâm Reading post):
Hundertwasser. For Future by Hundertwasser himself and Pierre Restany and Carolin Wurfel as contributors is a collection of his provoking and ahead-of-time thoughts and manifestos on sustainable design and the environment.
Der Unbekannte Hundertwasser (The Yet Unknown Hundertwasser)Â is a compilation of all his works and writings on the different disciplines he practiced.
I had heard of Hundertwasser having seen some pictures of his architectural work, which is fantastic and magical. But I don't know a great deal about him. You have re-sparked my interest. Thanks for sharing. I love his doodles.