Nick Bockwinkel on Facture as Touch

Here's my newest attempt to get RS in a good old Chinese Sleeper.
–MH



Re: PAINTING

by maxherman, 07.29.02 03:40 pm

The RS article, as my hero thingsthatgo said, is sorta feel-goody, a way to=

pass a day.

But in the end, she gives it up—markmaking, touch, and "geniuses."=


"Facture" doesn't precisely/only mean "touch", imao, if you check the
"faktura" link I posted earlier. In my US heritage dictionary facture means=

"1. The fact, process, or manner of making something; 2. that which is made=
."
"Facture" bleeds into techne, as words tend to do with each other.

I always thought facture meant "the putting on of paint" like brushwork, th=
e
brushing on or putting on of pigment to wood/canvas/papier.

Titian's facture for example is marvelously fun to enjoy—a nice man=
told me
once "in front of a Titian, looking at the brushwork, you can almost feel h=
im
painting over your shoulder." I think the man's name was Hamburger (?!).

Am I wrong here, or does facture really just mean "touch"? The problem I
recall being posed to me as a 13th grader was whether Degas thought he was=

actually "touching" the ballerinas, i.e. his matter, in the true deep art=

kind of way.

So there's the touch of the brush to canvas, and the broader touch of the=

artist's brain to her subject.

Assuming the two are the yolk and white of the one egg, the egg being Art,=

that's what came under fire at some point I think. TheChamp's pissoir being=

an example, or even Warhol's alienated appropriation of inky matter.

Another good NN idea of touch is "spooky action at 01 distance," a ref to=

Einsteinstein and hence to RS's blabber about points and mapping and moving=

and all, the darn old rookie.

NN>RS.


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