Idea 058 - In a million parts

8 minute read

This post is part of the 100 project ideas project. #The100DayProject. I am looking for feedback. Comment below or DM me via social media Instagram, Twitter.

One Line Pitch

Transformative art series based on quotable lines from books, movies, or songs. Nnamdi Brat as Blown ink and watercolor paintings

Description

When looking for a project I tend to look for ideas that have many iterations that combine into a single larger project. Where the individual parts are interesting but more of a learning experience. When all the individual parts are combined into a larger project the sum of the parts are greater than the individuals.

I work best in iteration, where I can produce something and show progress every day. Make tweaks to the idea and build upon the foundation of yesterday’s iteration.

Many of my past projects are rooted in this idea.

ink-tree

This idea is based on the idea of reparation and iteration on smaller parts then combining them all together into a larger project.

Find a book or movie or song writer or any media, where every line is quotable or has some meeting to the largest group of people possible. Split the works up into a bunch of small quotable sections.

Books - Each paragraph
Movie - Each scene from the movie or a section of dialog.
Songs - Every line from a song, or each line from all songs in an album.

Create a transformative piece of art for each section of the work, in one large series of work.

Using generative artworks (Mid journey) is the obvious choice when dealing with a very large body of work as an input but I feel that cheapens the value of this project. These artists spent the time and their soul building out a beautiful section of work only to have it split up and carbonated copied into a million parts. I think you need to add something to the work, add your soul and respect to it.

Choosing something that has a small count of subsections would make it easier. Preferably something in the range of 100 or less. More sections are more impressive but I think it has dimensioning returns after you hit triple digits.

Preferably we would publish a new piece of work on a regular basis. This helps reduce the need to create the perfect artwork for each and every section. Instead it’s about the process more than the end results. Maybe once a week or something like that.

Social engagement. Publishing the artwork online, in a regular schedule should help get momentum on the project over time. This also allows for others to share the artwork when they want to quote from the original work.

Do an art show at the end of the project to show off all the smaller parts in one large installation as a whole series. Then sell off the parts to individual people to take home. Each part is part of a larger story.

We shouldn’t have to worry about copyright issues, as this new work should be acceptable under fair uses for transformative works. The small sections of the original work that are used can’t be used to replace the original. No one is going to view a series of paintings and say it’s a replacement for a book. Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music

Example of transformative works

There are many examples of how to transform the source artwork into something else. I am going to use “this idea (058)” as the basis for the next couple of days of ideas.

Day 059 - Alices Adventures in Wonderland in a million parts - Stained glass windows for each location in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Day 060 - The Little Prince in a million parts - Layered paper craft light boxes of the different chapters of The Little Prince
Day 061 - The Dark Side Of The Moon in a million parts - Generative line drawings in sand based on the album The Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd

Idea 058

ink-tree The album BRAT by Nnamdi is one of my favorite albums of 2022. It’s basically been on repeat for 12 months. It’s poetica and easily quotable. The song Flowers To My Demons

Turn each verse into a series of blown ink and watercolor paintings. On top of the paintings use ink wood block stamps that post key words from the lyrics. The wooden block stamps could be created with the XCarve CNC

Example source material

Selecting the right input body of work needs to be carefully thought about as we will be spending a lot of time intimately working with it. We don’t want to select something that you are going to hate after the first few weeks. Selecting something that has a dedicated fan base that loves all transformative works is also important. We want a market for these artworks at the end. Think cult classic, or very relatable.

This is no way an exhaustive list, just what I could think of off the top of my head. Open to suggestions.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland - Classic and whimsical, and has a lot of depth. This would make a good choice. The original Intaglio prints were wonderful.
The Princess Bride by William Goldman - Huge cult classic, infinitely quotable, Beautiful themes and ideas. Both the book and the movie are masterpieces. “I do not think that word means what you think it means”, “Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die”
On the Road - Jack Kerouac, 1957 - Very quotable, A book that has been on everyone’s bookshelf but no one reads. The dream of hitting the road and running away is a strong culture these days. People would but transformative artworks based on this martial to sound smart. I don’t think it’s for me as I feel the people who read and quote this book are not the people I want to be associated with. Its the Rick and Morty problem, the show is good but the fans are assholes. “The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.”
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson - Wonderful verse and gripping text. Every word that comes out of Hunter S. Thompson feels meaningful. Heavy drug presence in his work that is very relatable to people that might buy the transformative artwork. “We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold”
The Little Prince - I have wonderful memories of this book as a child. A book that formed my childhood and outlook on society and life. I have very strong feelings about this book and I assume others do as well. I would find it very hard to make transformative works that are “worthy” of this source material.
Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut - Quotable, weird and interesting, Cult classic with a dedicated fan base. Easy to make transformative works.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Infinitely quotable, cult classic, dedicated fan base. I think there are enough transformative works for this source material already. It would be hard to stand out in the crowd.
Airplane! - Quotable, inside the crowd will know where the quote is from but the general public might not. This has the advantage of secret knowledge, being part of the inside crowd. “Shirly you can’t be serious”, “Looks like I picked the wrong day to give up sniffing glue!”
Monty Python and the Holy Grail - Infinitely quotable, cult classic, dedicated fan base. Over done in the same way that Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is. “Who’s that then? I dunno, must be a king. Why? He hasn’t got shit all over him.”, “Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government”
Nirvana – Nevermind (1991) - Very few albums can say that they defined a generation, and Nevermind is absolutely one of them. I don’t know if I could do justice to this album.
Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon (1973) - Amazing lyrics and influenced many other artists for generations to come. Made before I was born, I don’t know if I could do justice to this album.
BRAT by Nnamdi - Is one of my favorite albums of 2022. It’s basically been on repeat for 12 months. It’s poetica and easily quotable.
Radiohead - OK Computer (1997) - Wonderful lyrics, and one of the most innovative bands of the 90s. Huge influences on who I am today. Cult following. Same with In Rainbows
Daft Punk - Discovery - Very influential, and I have listened to it over 1000s times (according to Last FM). Not many lyrics but could be transformed in other ways.
Portishead - Dummy (1994)
Aesop Rock’s songs from the None Shall Pass (2007) album.

Prior art

Art inspires art. I gotta assume that this has been done dozens of times before. Maybe not as literal as I am planning on doing it.

Market

People who love the source material, people who love art, Art enthusiasts, people looking for unique and meaningful decor.

Steven Smethurst