Collage 77

Lucy Arrington
from page 161-162 of original text
collage, acrylic paint
made 4/18/10

One aspect of the project that fascinates me is the connection to the text. I feel very strongly that somehow each image needs to be informed by the words on the page.

As Lulu put it in an earlier post:
"I mean, we’re using W&P, pages with Tolstoy’s words on them, but….why? just because it’s there? Could we just as well be using any other text, Ladie’s Home Journal, Jane Eyre, etc.?"

I don't mean that the images need to slavishly or literally reflect the words on that particular page, but that with each image we need to respect Tolstoy and his accomplishment if the project is to have any real meaning.

In one conversation with Lola, I went so far as to say that to use the physical pages of W&P without some connection to the text seemed trivializing, cynical, destructive, and nihilistic. By destroying an unquestionably rich, classic narrative text to use the pages for our own version of artistic expression could be seen as sinfully self-centered and insensitive. Do I really feel this way? I don't know...

BUT I do know that this is one reason I find the project so fascinating. The struggle to make connections, find meanings, and ultimately to create something of value.

And how does my image reflect the text? In a very trivial, literal way that I leave to the reader-viewer to figure out... or not...
- Lucy A

Collage 76

Emma Rhodes
from page 159-160 of original text
collage, acrylic paint, embroidery thread
made 5/10/10

As a new student in the world of art school I feel incredibly fortunate to be participating in such a great collaborative project.

One of my favorite things about this project is the freedom to play. The most overwhelming challenge in art school this past semester was letting go of all my judgmental tendencies and allowing myself to create freely. I still have so much to learn but this is great practice. Both of the collages that I have done are a result of following my intuition and letting go of fears, doubts, and judgments.

I am so inspired and so happy to be working with such wonderful people! -Emma

Collage 75

Lola Baltzell
from page 157-158 of original text
made 4/16/10
collage, acrylic paint on paper

French Pancakes

Here is a scene with a piece of writing I particularly enjoyed: it's from p. 180 of the translation, which is close in the storyline with this page from the original text. It is a battle scene, one which I believe the Russians eventually win.

Just then they were all approaching Tushin's battery, and a cannonball landed in front of them. "What fell?" the auditor asked, smiling naively. "French pancakes," said Zherkov. "So that's what they hit you with?" asked the auditor. "How frightful!" And he seemed to melt all over with satisfaction.


I laughed out loud when I read this. (So, Laura, look out for those French pancakes!)

This whole scene again, is full of references where Tolstoy is pointing out the absurd situation of the Russians simultaneously being under attack from the French, and yet admiring them for their culture and organization. A few moments after the silly auditor makes the pancake remark, the smoke of the battle clears and

...the hill opposite, with the French moving over it, opened out before them. All eyes were involuntarily turned to this French column that was moving towards them, winding down the terraces of the slope. The soldiers' shaggy hats were already visible; one could already distinguish the officers from the men; one could see their standard fluttering against the staff.

"Nice marching," said someone in Bagrations's suite.


Tolstoy manages to capture the military descriptions and the humanity of the battlefield - not just suffering, but the silly comments, admiration of the enemy, desire to impress one's superiors and look good and fight well, the fear, ambition and egos.

All woven together.

~ Lulu

Collage 74

Lucy Zahner Montgomery
from page 155-156 of original text
collage, acrylic paint on paper
made 4/16/10

*************************
May 28, 2010
Today is Lola's Birthday! I'm hoping that, as I write this, she's sitting with Mark in a funky Paris cafe drinking some slamming cafe au lait, eating nutella crepes and watching the Parisian world go by!

There are so many characters in War and Peace. When I first began reading, I went to the Sparknotes website and printed off the "characters" section. I don't consider this "cheating" - when you go to a play, the Playbill has a cast of characters - and it simplifies the process of becoming familiar with who's who. Through the first few chapters, I referred back to the list fairly frequently. I was trying to figure out relationships, and how much attention to pay to someone's conversation if they were only listed as a minor character - or even, how much attention I should pay to them if they weren't listed at all!

As I read on, I gradually became familiar with the characters through the story, and let go of the Sparknotes list. And now that I'm closing in on page 500, (still not quite 1/2 way through) I have a sense of what characters are at the center of Tolstoy's story, and who is peripheral. And I realize that they're all important - in Tolstoy's world, all the people and their various relationships matter, and are connected somehow; that's why it took him so many pages to tell the story.

One of the many things I love about Lola is that her story also has a huge cast of characters. Since I've known her, she has always found people and their stories interesting, and she has valued and kept relationships with so many people from the various parts of her life, and different parts of the world. And each one of those friendships and relationships is important, unique and valuable.

Now here's the War and Peace Project, which also has a growing cast of collaborators and contributers. Some of us are very close, some of us know each other only slightly so far, and some of us haven't met yet. But Lola and her creative energy are our connection to each other, and our center. And I'm positive that new relationships will grow, and old relationships will deepen. It's exciting to be part of this project, this journey...where will it take us?

So, on your birthday, Lola, I thank you for this wonderful gift!

Much love, Lulu

Collage 73

Lola Baltzell
from page 153-154 of original text
collage, acrylic paint
made 4/16/10

What a great piece to publish today, as beloved Laura is off to Paris for a couple of days! Lynn and my assignment is to publish the blog in the interim.

The interrelationship between Russia and France through Tolstoy's eyes is very interesting - the upper classes speak so much French, that some of them actually speak better French than Russian. There's a scene I read some time ago, where the Russians finally surrendered to Napoleon (in 1806, I think), and in that scene the Russian military leadership seems to be fawning all over the little French general, having banquets together and acting like old friends, while not too far away is a hospital full of lower-ranking Russian soldiers wounded and suffering and getting little to no treatment. We get this scene through Nikolai's eyes. Tolstoy doesn't like war, or hypocrisy.

Well, it's 5:30 in the morning. This blog is like the collage process - I don't know what I'm going to write until I write it. Then the process itself takes you somewhere, and you sit back and look at what you've put down, and say, "oh. now that's interesting!" ~Lulu

Collage 72

This is one of mine. I remember sitting in the gallery upstairs during gallery hours, materials spread out on the floor, working side by side with Lulu. She introduced this rich purple earlier in the series. I like it so much that I decided to use it myself. I also used part of a calendar that I got in India this winter. -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 151-152 of original text
made 4/16/10
collage, acrylic paint on paper

Collage 71

This is a really silly one. Lynn and I were in a playful mood, and it seemed so ridiculous to use this imagery. As far as I know, Tolstoy does not refer much, if ever, to dogs. My birthday is in 3 days so maybe it was an unconscious desire or fear about that?! Only your psychoanalyst would know for sure... -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
page 149-150 of original text
made 4/16/10
collage

Collage 70

On page 182 of the Pevear/Volokhonsky edition, the narrator is describing a battle scene, and Pierre's response to one of the commanders. "Prince Andrei listened carefully to Prince Bagration's exchanges with the commanders and to the orders he gave, and noticed, to his surprise, that no orders were given, and that Prince Bagration only tried to pretend that all that was done by necessity, chance or the will of a particular commander, that it was all done, if not on his orders, then in accord with his intentions." I am no Tolstoy scholar, but I wonder if this is his view of history? of cause and effect? Is it all just random?

That reminds me of our college graduation. Lulu, Lynn and I all graduated the same year. One of my aunts attended, and she asked Lulu, "so, after 4 years of college as a history major, what is your theory of history?". We still laugh about that to this day. -- Lola

Lynn Waskelis
page 147-148 of original book
made 4/16/60
collage, acrylic paint

Collage 69

I'm getting literal. This may be the exception for me. My studio mate Melissa Kulig (one of our guest artists) gave us this image of Napoleon. It just had to go in at some point. On page 172 of the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation is a letter from Napoleon to Prince Murat. He orders, "march, destroy the Russian Army...". Tolstoy took this letter from "The History of the Consulate and the Empire" by the French statesman and historian Adolphe Thiers. It was one of his main historical sources in the writing of War and Peace.

Another interesting point is that in the original text, Tolstoy does not translate the French into Russian. It was assumed that one could read both languages. -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
page 145-146 of original text
made 4/16/10
collage, acrylic paint

Collage 68

I recently read "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers" by Henry David Thoreau. One of the great themes he writes on is friendship: "Of what use the friendliest disposition even, if there are no hours given to Friendship, if it is forever postponed to unimportant duties and relations? .... and even the utmost good-will and harmony and practical kindness are not sufficient for Friendship, for friends do not live in harmony merely, as some say, but in melody. We do not wish for Friends to feed and clothe our bodies... but to do the like office to our spirits..." -- Lynn

artist: Lynn Waskelis
made 4/16/10
from page 143-144

Collage 67

Here is one of Lulu's. I remember watching her put it together as we sat on the floor of the gallery upstairs during gallery hours at Atlantic Works. I loved the introduction of the purple and used the same material myself in a later piece. That is the best thing about working side by side -- to watch what others use, and to riff off it. -- Lola

Lucy Zahner Montgomery
from page 141-142 of original text
collage and acrylic on paper
made on 4-16-10


=============================

I remember this one - this is the day I deliberately tried to get more spontaneous (is that a contradiction?). This was the first time I was tearing the paper into shapes instead of using a small pair of scissors and some tweezers...it was relaxing in a different way, and I remember trying not to think too hard. Keep my mind empty and go with the shapes and the color. Interesting. Now I look at this one and I do like it- the orange shapes look like swimming fish to me, and I like the purple circles. There's still a part of me that wants to know, what does it mean? how do these colors and shapes connect to the text? Well, who knows? Maybe I'm thinking too hard!

This collage is from earlier in the text, and you can just make out at the top Prince Andrei's name. He's going through quite a transformation...he's a real searcher. And, in spite of his macho attitude towards his wife (who, honestly, seemed to be a little vacuous in a high-society kind of way, but really, wasn't that what she was raised and trained to be?)I like him, and can see that he's on some kind of transformative path. (I seem to be repeating words like "transformative" and "transformation"...but Tolstoy does that, so it's ok, right?)

Anyway, here's what I just read last night, Volume II, Part 4, Chpt.1:

"Biblical tradition says that absence of work - idleness - was the condition of the first man's blessedness before his fall. The love of idleness remained the same in fallen man, but the curse still weighs on man, and not only because we must win our bread in the sweat of our face, but because or moral qualities are such that we are unable to be idle and be at peace. A secret voice tells us that we should feel guilty for being idle. If man could find a condition in which, while idle, he felt that he was being useful and was fulfilling his duty, he would have found one side of primordial blessedness. In this obligatory and irreproachable idleness consists and will consist the attraction of military service."

Wow. This passage is interesting - primordial blessedness, idleness and military service? I have to read on to understand what Tolstoy means by this, because in Anna Karenina, the character Levin is clearly happiest when he's working, which is his way of meditating and finding peace and meaning.

Well, there's lots of kinds of idleness, too. Some people might say that reading is idleness, or that sitting quietly and making art is idle - but that's only physical idleness, while your mind and your heart are anything but idle. So maybe the condition of sitting with two loved friends and making art is fulfilling my duty to my soul - and there's a side of primordial blessedness.

Hah! connection to the text! I knew it was there! ---Lulu

Collage 66

Lola Baltzell
from page 139-140 of original text
collage and acrylic on paper
made on 4-9-10

Here is a really strange one. Several weeks ago I decided to use a new material that Lynn brought over -- a lino-cut. Without much forethought, I carved into a piece of linoleum which is about 4" x 6". I then passed it to Lynn and asked her to work on it, too. She also had the special ink which is really thick and sticky. I used it on this collage before testing it. The result -- well, kind of messy looking. I love the freedom to play. That reminds me of one of my yoga teachers, Patricia Walden. She used to talk about experiencing great freedom when you have a structure to work from. This project affords both -- a structure but also a big playground. -- Lola

Collage 65

Lola Baltzell
from page 137-138 of original text
collage and acrylic on paper
made on 4-9-10

I think that this is one of mine, but can't always tell.

We are in a new phase of the project. Lynn and I are going to be in a gallery show in July, so have been preparing artist statements for that. Through the process of thinking and writing for that show, we have been thinking more about this project and trying to articulate: why in the world would anyone get so obsessed with this thing? It's comforting to know that I'm not alone in my madness. Everyone involved has caught the "bug". It is so compelling. The other morning I biked all the way across town, thinking about this. The first thing that came to mind is more of a quip than anything else. One of our most intelligent friends in college, Jenny Taylor, had a ready answer when you'd ask her "why?". Invariably, she would answer "why not?". So my reason for doing this project is, "why not?".

Yesterday I contacted the college which 4 of us graduated from. My query was to see if they would be interested in showing our project at some point. I did it on a whim. I had just received an alumni magazine that featured a story of yoga being taught in one of the galleries. I thought -- give it a shot! I'd sure like to practice yoga, surrounded by War and Peace. -- Lola

Collage 64

Lynn Waskelis
from page 135-136 of original text
collage and acrylic on paper
made on 4-9-10

In Part Two, Chapter XV, there is a description of a military officer: "a handsome man, foppishly dressed and with a diamond ring on his index finger, who spoke French poorly but eagerly...". A few paragraphs later, "Prince Andrei looked once more a the little figure of the artillerist. There was something special in it, totally unmilitary, slightly comical, but extremely attractive." Is this the Russian army version of "don't ask, don't tell"? Is that why he is so miserable with his wife? -- Lola

Collage 63

Lola Baltzell
from page 133-134 of original text
collage and acrylic on paper
made on 4-9-10

These fragments I have shored against my ruins --
The cosmos works by harmony of tensions, like the lyre and bow
And so it was I entered the broken world
Turning shadow into transient beauty
Once upon a time, we knew the world from birth

This is from "Finding Beauty in a Broken World" by Terry Tempest Williams. I think it is a cento, a collage-poem composed of lines lifted from other sources. The first line is definitely TS Eliot. A cento often uses lines, though not always, from great poets of the past. In Latin the word cento means "patchwork" and the verse form resembles a quilt of discrete lines stitched together to make a whole. The word cento is also Italian for "one hundred", and some mosaic poems consist of exactly 100 lines culled by one poet from the work of another to pay tribute to him or her.

So we have just completed our own "cento". -- Lola

Collage 62

Lola Baltzell
from page 131-132 of original text
collage and acrylic on paper
made on 4-9-10

Lynn lent me a book by Terry Tempest Williams, "Finding Beauty in a Broken World". She muses about the workers who built the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy, which was consecrated in 547 AD. "I imagine both the concentration and the wandering of minds as they labored over time in the repetitive trance of craft." I feel like one of those workers -- while working on the project, I feel "in the zone". It is so pleasurable to be there in the studio, working together. It is a meditative experience. -- Lola

Collage 61

inadvertantly switching from Russian to French, out of habit, in the middle of his discourse...

p. 100 in P/V translation

Lynn Waskelis
from page 129-130 of original text
collage and acrylic on paper
made on 4-9-10

pp. 99-100 in Pevear/Volohkonsky translation

Here is one of Lynn's which I particularly like. It has a Japanese feel, I think. -Lola

Collage 60

Lucy Zahner Montgomery
from page 127-128 of original text
collage and acrylic on paper
made on 4-2-10

We hit a milestone today -- we have finished over 100 pieces. 105 to be exact. Our studio mate Melissa suggested that we pin them all up and have a look. It is the first time we've done that. Lots of people were in the building today, each of whom gave us some feedback. More and more artists wants to contribute a piece. We'll send 2 more to Otto, Melissa wants to do another. Moni, Joan Ryan.

Seeing the entire series to date was quite interesting. We are pleased with what we've done, and are more enthusiastic than ever. -- Lola

Collage 59

Lola Baltzell
from page 125-126 of original text
collage and acrylic on paper
made on 4-2-10

Bummer. Another image taken on my poor quality digital camera. Mark somehow missed this one. It is one of mine. I used some text from an old art book about "primitive" art which goes like this: "man hunted in this fearsome wilderness protecting himself from the unknown by the magical powers of art such as this, which embodies so eautifully the world of prehistory, as man then experienced it." I believe in the magic powers of art! -- Lola

Collage 58

Lola Baltzell
from page 123-124 of original text
collage and acrylic on paper
made on 4-2-10

If we were trying to capture the narrative of the story in visual terms, this would have been a great one to use for the death scene of Count Bezukhov. Somewhere along the line I found a stack of postcards with Russian icons. I love the strong red with the religious iconography.

Here's a passage I like a lot. It is describing how a soldier feels under enemy fire. "... this feeling gives a particular brilliance and joyful sharpness of impression to everything that happens in those moments." This is also a good description of meditation -- clear and radiant. -- Lola

Collage 57

Lynn Waskelis
from page 121-122 of original text
collage and acrylic on paper
made on 4-2-10

I love this one of Lynn's!

Here is something that Otto emailed recently: "The map in "Russian" is actually Bulgarian -- an old communist era road map of Bulgaria that I somehow inherited. I started looking for some real Russian maps but didn't have enough time so I had to settle for the Bulgarian. Real Russophiles would probably spot the difference in a flash, but for the rest of us it looks close enough. I will now renew my efforts to find "real" Russian maps, and maybe French maps, for future collages. I love maps and geography and topography and also feel maps fit well with this project. War & Peace not only tells a story that covers a long period of time and involves a lot of people, it also occupies a lot of physical space. Characters are constantly traveling. Scenes are set in places as far apart as Brünn (now Brno in the Czech Republic), Vienna, Berlin and Potsdam, St. Petersburg, Smolensk, Moscow etc."

That's rather embarrassing -- I thought the map he used was Russian, not Bulgarian! -- Lola

Collage 56

Lola Baltzell
from page 119-120 of original text
collage and acrylic on paper
made on 4-2-10

Otto sent the following note when he mailed the collage back. He said, "as for my collage itself... I sort of 'like' it as an object, but it 'means' nothing that I recognize. When I do a representational drawing or painting it reflects an experience from my life -- a landscape, a person, a mood. This collage doesn't contain that connection for me."

Many people have voiced this. We talk about it amongst ourselves. Lulu has asked this.

For me there is something so appealing about tacking such a big project. I love the script itself. That's actually what drew me to the language in college -- I loved the look of the letters. So I still don't know "why" -- I just know that this project is the most compelling thing I've ever done. I'm excited. It has taken on a life of it's own -- I'm just following the impulse. -- Lola

Collage 55

Lynn Waskelis
from page 117-118 of original text
collage and acrylic on paper
made on 4-2-10

Another low-quality image. Sorry. I'll ask Mark to re-shoot these last two.

Lynn was talking about this project with friends the other night, and they suggested that we hook this blog into Facebook and Twitter. Great idea! I am a total Luddite so will need some technical assistance. I will also ask Mark to access Google Analytics -- I'm curious about how many people are reading this.

I am a meditation student and we are working on "wise speech", one of the eight tenets of Buddhism. Tolstoy must have been a student of wise speech, too. At a minimum, he was an astute observer of it. He gives many examples of characters in dialogue who are so deceitful, so dishonest. Here is the narrator's description of Kutuzov:, "as if he was saying: 'you have every right not to believe me, and I'm even quite indifferent to whether you believe me or not, but you had no cause for telling me so. And that's the whole point.'" The narrator goes on, "he said in a peevish and angry tone, quite contradictory to the flattering meaning of the words he spoke". page 122 -- Lola

----------------
Lola, you're right - I have noticed the same thing in certain characters' dialogue. I just read this passage on p. 465:

"He wanted several times to enter the conversation, but each time his word was thrown out, like a cork out of water; and he was unable to joke along with them.

There was nothing bad or inappropriate in what they said, everything was witty and might have been funny; but that something which constitutes the salt of merriment was not only missing, but they did not even know it existed." ~ W&P, p.465

Prince Andrei is seeing some acquaintances for in a new light, and seeing their emptiness and hypocrisy. And the way the passage is described, I can feel his alienation...
---Lulu

Collage 54

I did this one on April 2. I remember finishing it at the end of the day, I was tired, and the piece got a little chaotic. Note to self: stop sooner!

This image and the next are poor quality. They collages got out of order and Mark somehow skipped photographing these two. So I took the image on a regular digital camera. I'll ask him to re-shoot!

On page 122, one military leader is speaking to the adjutant Bolkonsky. They are discussing military strategy, looking at a map. They are getting ready to engage in battle against Napoleon's army. It struck me that the Russians are discussing their battle plans against the French while speaking French!

"... and went on with the conversation begun in French." -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
page 115-116 from original text
made 4/2/10
collage and acrylic paint on paper

Collage 53

Here is one of Lynn's, done on April 2. We had a good day in the studio today -- a fantastic day -- and finished 8 more pieces. We have now completed 99 collages. 650 to go!

Lynn brought in a stack of new source material. A friend of hers is a librarian. She gave Lynn the leftovers of a library sale. I love religious stuff and she found that in spades. Books in Portuguese. Old art books. Fantastic stuff.

We worked mostly in primary colors today, using a lot of the religious material. Lynn also brought in some stencils and thick needles and embroidery thread. I stitched a few of the collages. The choices are endless.

Today in the mail I received Otto's piece. I am tempted to post it but will wait until his turn comes up -- he did #98. It is fantastic -- he used maps in Russian and from Berlin where he lives. It flows right into the sequence. How is this for curious -- I mailed him a page that had a chapter heading so he would know where he was in the book. Coincidentally, the page had a reference to Berlin. He assumed that I selected that page specifically for him. I did not! That was random. Isn't that cool? He also sent along extra materials that we can use in other pieces.

Lynn Waskelis
page 113-114 from original text
made 4/2/10
collage and acrylic paint on paper

Collage 52

Why does War and Peace ramble on for 1215 pages? Here's a clue:

"Zherkhov touched his horse with his spurs; it shifted its footing three times excitedly, not knowing which leg to start with, worked it out, and galloped off, going ahead of the company and catching up with the coach..." page 122.

Exquisite attention to detail, including which leg a horse leads with.

Tomorrow is studio day. I am always so happy to be there, working on this project, enjoying friendship and love of art-making. -- Lola


Lola Baltzell
page 111-112 from original text
made 4/2/10
collage and acrylic paint on paper

Collage 51

At long last, here is Emma Rhode's beautiful contribution. This is the first time anyone has used natural materials. It is quite wonderful. We're looking for another one from Emma in several weeks. -- Lola












Emma Rhodes
page 109-110 from original text
made 4/2/10
dried plants, collage, and acrylic paint on paper

Collage 50

This passage reminds me of what it's been like to be working in the studio on this project with my friends:

"Back at the workshop, I sit down and finish the upper right hand corner of the lilies, cutting tesserae in the shapes of triangles, a new skill I have achieved in the last few days. My eye is more acute in recognizing patterns that serve the whole. I am learning to watch and study.

I am also learning to trust the motion that comes through color and interstices, not in the controlled, static placement of each cube but in the joy of odd arrangements and unpredictable moves of choice.

I believe in the beauty of all things common."

from "Finding Beauty in a Broken World", Terry Tempest Williams. -- Lynn

Lola Baltzell
page 107-108 from original text
made 3/26/10
collage and acrylic paint on paper

Collage 49

"...And high and far he flew
To his own native land..."
Page 121. I can't really figure out why this little line is at the end of a scene in which Dolokhov is speaking with Zhehkov. Dolokhov has sworn off drinking and gambling after the scene where he tied a bear to a policeman's back. For that offense, he was demoted in the army. Zherkhov is offering to help him; Dolokhov wants to do everything for himself with no outside help or influence. -- Lola





Lola Baltzell
page 105-106 from original text
made 3/26/10
collage and acrylic paint on paper

Collage 48

So maybe it's just a family thing. The Bolkonsky's are not happily married men! On page 110, old prince Nicolai Bolskonsky says to his son Prince Andrei,
"A bad business, eh?"
"What is it, papa?"
"A wife! the old price said curtly and significantly.
"I don't understand," said Prince Andrei.
"Nothing to be done, my friend," said the prince, "they're all like that, no use unmarrying. Don't be afraid; I won't tell anybody; but you know it yourself."

Prince Andrei is leaving that very same night to join the army, leaving his pregnant with with his father. In an earlier passage he strongly urges Pierre to never marry.

I'll keep an eye out as I read along for other anti-marriage comments. But then again, in "Anna Karenina", Anna leaves her marriage, and look what happened to her! Maybe it's OK for men to state their feelings, but not for women to act on them. -- Lola

Lynn Waskelis
page 103-104 from original text
made 3/26/10
collage and acrylic paint on paper

Collage 47

This weekend I am participating in Brookline Open Studios. I have given out my new business card (which includes the link to this blog) to dozens of new people. I decided not to show any of the War and Peace Project in this venue, but am certainly talking it up. -- Lola











Lola Baltzell
page 101-102 from original text
made 3/26/10
collage and acrylic paint on paper