The Object of the Idea

From the outset, I would like to make clear that it is not the idea of painting that interests me so much as painting itself. Objects generally lie at the source of my thinking, and my idea of painting reflects the productions of Eric Cameron, specifically his “Thick Paintings.” These objects allow me to share a few research notes here in the form of a story.

This unique production begins in late April, 1979. An artist selects various objects lying around his apartment — a phone book, an apple, a shoe — and covers them in a layer of gesso. With the application of that first layer, the sacrificed objects’ usual function is obliterated while new monochromes come into being. Next day, he adds a layer of acrylic to each object. The story continues and the layers multiply as the artist takes to this new process. Every day, for ten years, he covers each object. Apple and shoe, soon to be followed by rose, cup, saucer, bottle, gradually take on volume. Eventually, the applied layers submerge surface details. The objects are manifestly changed. Hollows and chinks are filled. Cumulating brush strokes create undulations. Lumps form. Forms are gradually altered. 1,901 layers of paint later, the phone book is no longer the same. Nor is the lettuce or the Danish.