Daily.Phirebrush

Written by Nate Cavanaugh

“Thesis + Antithesis = Synthesis”

With that ridiculously simple version of the Hegelian Dialectic, I begin my discussion of where the current graphic community / industry is at, where it has been, and where I see it going.

For the past few years there has been a few popular styles of art in the commundustry, two of which I think are theoretical opposites.
Grunge vs. 3D Abstract.

Grunge

Grunge, arguably, could be traced back to it’s primary founding father, the godfather of grunge, Dave McKean. Dave McKean’s artwork exemplifies the core of grunge artwork, which are emotional themes, collaged elements, photo manipulated pictures, rough textures, earthen tones, and and typically dark topics that combine to create evocative imagery.
Some would say that grunge artwork is generally very negative, very pain concentrated. It is beyond a cliche for dark pieces to sometimes be no more than a disfigured face, a heavily textured eye, or somebody screaming in anguish with various body parts tearing through other various body parts.
Now while this has become fairly status quo, there are still those who, while generally keeping in those main features, still push boundaries.
While most grunge work uses photos of live humans, David Ho uses predominantly poser models, different textures, lighting, and various themes. Derek Lea uses a wide array of inanimate objects to create stunning compositions. Scott Hansen uses various images of animals and people, and combines rainbows and patterns to give a distinctly grunge feel, but uses textures and effects to generate a different response than what most grunge pieces evoke. Pascal Tremblay does what I would consider grunge, but he does texture for texture’s sake. He uses composition, color, and typography to communicate what many try to and fail with typical photo manipulation methods.
To get to the essence of grunge, one word to describe it would be organic.

Now, the problems with grunge are as mentioned above. Too often they become infantile emo pieces that are meant to communicate some “deep emotion”, but end up having the emotional impact of “The Bride Of Chucky” .
Why?
For a few reasons. One is that pain is not just expressed through screaming. Many times the greatest emotional pain is the kind that grinds away at your soul on a daily basis, wearing you down bit by bit. It’s not lighting and thunderstorms that turn mountains to sand, it’s gentle rains, breezy winds and time that bring them down.
Another reason is that one can only dwell in misery and negativity for so long. Pretty soon the mind goes numb, and just cant handle it any more.
One major reason is that there is a vast lack of creativity when it comes to grunge pieces. How many times can we disfigure the human body before we realize that it’s not really saying anything?
I suppose self-pity is popular right now. But is that the only emotion we are capable of? Is the only thing we can do is try to scare or torment the eyes of people who view our art?

3D Abstract

3D Abstract art is probably the most popular of these two sub-genres, and probably the younger of the two. It’s hard to pinpoint who the main founder or originator is, but many would probably include Anders Schroder, Jens Karlsonn, Mike Young, and/or Nathan Flood.
At the beginning of the trend, most pieces were abstract to the extreme. Pieces we’re hardly more than composited renders of deformed 3D solids, with a few smoothing modifiers, and some transparency adjustment. As time has gone the 3D Abstract has become much more involved. The use of vector and typographic elements has become more and more a part of the essential design. The sub-genre is one that isn’t about any one area of design, but rather depends on the use of composition, color, atmosphere, and typography to present an alternate view of the world inside the mind.

Lately, 3D Abstract has began getting complex in an area that was a bit slow to catch up to the rest of the piece, which is the 3D render. More and more, the complexity of the model has grown. No longer is it simply a modified blob overlayed and soft-light-ed on each other, but rather has grown into enormous megaliths of complex architecture, and world shaking engines of creation, massive in proportion, and mysterious in function.

And while this is in varying levels of skill in the commundistry, as a look over at Depthcore will reveal, there are the masters who push the boundaries. Jens Karlsonn is always reliable in creating amazing atmospheres and generating worlds that make you ache for not being able to live in them. Mike Young is able to take preconceived ideas and turn them on their head. Per Gustofson also manages to create an atmosphere of menacing forces of un describable character, but also thrill you in their scope.

A concept that is continually being pursued is of form and function. As time has gone on, the forms have grown more complex, but with that complexity, the implied function has grown more mysterious. The machines of grandeur appear to serve some grand purpose, but the more one explores, the more possibilities one is left with, along with more questions.

In general, a wonderful strong point of 3D Abstract is that at their best, they fill the viewer with a reverence, a certain perspective. They remind us that we are not the be all and end all of existence. They fill us with a combination of awe, fear, and joy, akin to what one feels when looking at the night sky, or a vast ocean, or a roaring inferno.

I have a bit of a personal theory that most 3D Abstract artists are Star Wars fanatics and science fiction buffs, which would make the 3D Abstract sub-genres true founding father George Lucas. But I digress…

Getting back, this area of art also has some shortcomings as well. First, is that there is no real emotion in the pieces. With a majority of the pieces, it seems to be pretty pictures for pretty pictures sake.
Now, I’m not some pretentious art critic who is using my own preferences as the ultimate criterion of art. I don’t think that emotion, originality or creativity are the summum bonum of art.
However, I do think that they should have some part to play, some of the time.
Also, like grunge, the sub-genre of 3D Abstract is inundated with amateurish poseurs that while their pictures may look nice, they obviously have no creative thinking behind them.
Technical ability is the key ingredient for most 3D Abstract pieces, which is great, but it leaves out other important elements out of the equation.
Also, there is no real connection to natural life as we know it in most pieces. Contrary to belief, there are not gigantic squares of metal floating through the galaxy, at least none that we’ve yet discovered.
For the most part, these pieces focus on inanimate objects as the primary object, rather than what could more likely be found in nature, which is the organic.

Where We Are Headed
Now, this leads me to my next topic.
Where we are going with all of this.
As I stated at the beginning of this article, thesis + antithesis = synthesis, repeat. I personally believe that we are going to see the merging of both of these fields. We can already begin to see some hints of it.
People like Kerry Roper, who mixes grunge-like collage with vector abstract elements, John Leigh who uses scans of literally organic objects to create abstract pieces that use texture, color, and and various elements to give a unique spin to abstract artwork in general. Scott Hansen has been doing the same, with his vivid use of color, his unique patterns, and his wonderful textures. Asterik Studio has also been combining the use of grunge with very non-typical grunge topics. My favorite work of theirs, by far, has to be their CD packaging work for the band, Brand New.

Now, let me explain a bit exactly what I mean about these sub-genres combining.

I believe we are going to see the combination of explosions of energy and light, in side of atmospheres and environments of textured ambience. I think we will see more organic forms of machinery.
I don’t think smooth, curved pieces of metal are considered “organic machinery”, nor do I think that we will have giant pieces of tree bark floating through space with energy trails.
The Japanese have an amazing grasp of organic machinery. The use of mecha in anime has always amazed me, because here are these wonderfully large pieces of machinery, yet they appear to be what machinery would become if it were alive, and evolved over the millenia.
They introduced organic concepts (gills, musculature, skeletal system, etc) to very non-organic objects. The great H.R. Giger has also for years been exploring the concept of organic, textured machine/biological creations.
I feel that grunge will reach out and touch 3D Abstract, and impart on it a sense of realism, a sense of the tactile, and a feeling of being alive.

But I feel that this communion of sub-genres will go both ways. I think that 3D Abstract will reach out, and impart on grunge the feelings of grandeur, awe, even, dare I say it, happiness.
I think grunge pieces will begin to use more vector abstraction, as well as more architectural and machine based elements. I think that the emotion of grunge will be infused with the scope of 3D Abstract.

And with the combination of these two sub-genres, there will be dozens of other sub-genres split off, which will have their antithesis, which will undoubtedly combine to make a synthesis, and a new thesis.

About the Author
Nate Cavanaugh is a wanna be artist/designer with a paltry 4 years in the art/design community. He also runs alterform, shift22, and aeon366.