Limitation

Introduction: 

Artists place LIMITATIONS on themselves in order to create are.  This is a form of CREATING A PROBLEM to solve, rather than just waiting for a problem to happen. These could include:

• Material limitations:
• Ex: Only using triangles to draw your subject or creating an artwork made only out of cotton balls or a specific candy)
• Physical limitations:
• Ex: "Drawing" with only your finger prints (using ink or paint), drawing using your non-dominate hand, 
• Conceptual limitations: 
• Ex: Drawing in a way that it can only be viewed from a specific angle or the viewer has to look at it through a small hole; or create a series of paintings about the same subject but using various materials; Create artwork based on other people's stories or contributions.

"Limitation" also means: To Limit, Off-limits, Constriction, Restraint, Hold back.

Questions to Ask Yourself:

• How could I create art using only 1 material or technique that I repeat over and over? 

• How could I limit my mobility (physical ability) in a way that would be an interesting and fun challenge to create art with?

• How do I control or limit how my audience views or experiences my artwork?

• How do I allow other people to create the meaning of my artwork? 

Project Idea Starters:

• Pick an everyday common item (cereal, paperclips, pins, plastic spoons) and create an artwork using ONLY that item. (You might need a few essentials like glue or string, but keep it all about using the one main material)
• Ex: This artwork is made using only paperclips hanging from a ceiling. 

• Limit how you paint!  Use only your finger prints, or a paintbrush held in your mouth, or your toes.  Paint/draw blindfolded. Paint/draw while listening to only one type of sound or music. 

• Make an artwork that has to be experienced in a specific way, like viewers need to be blindfolded and can only touch the art. 

• Ask other people to contribute materials to you (found objects, written words, anything!) and then you must figure out a way to create an artwork from it.

Artists Who Work With This Theme & "Limitation" in Art History: (good artists to research)

Tattooed Banana by Phil Hansen

1. Phil Hansen

• Is a self-taught American artist whose obsession with pointillism resulted in permeant nerve damage.  He was not physically able to draw in the way he wanted and was so frustrated that he left art school and quit making art.

"Bruce Lee" by Phil Hansen

• He eventually went to a doctor who told him to "embrace the shake." So he did and began making art based on various limitations that he set up for himself. 

• Watch his TED Talks video.  Here is a LINK to a Ted Talks Q&A with Phil.   

2. Justin Quinn 

"Twenty-seven times chapter 122..." by Justin Quinn

• Is a Minnesota based artist (and a previous professor of Mrs. Thomas'). Quinn is interested in the difference between "reading" and "seeing" and has long been intrigued by the letter E, for it's prevalence, hierarchy (it's at the top of the vision test charts...why is that, why is it so important?), and because it's the most commonly used letter in the English language.  He has used the letter "E" to create many artworks. 

• A long standing project of his is taking chapters of Moby Dick and changing all of the words in the book into the letter "E".  For example, he would translate the words "Moby Dick" into "EEEE EEEE".  See examples of this project HERE.

• In his concept, he uses repetition as his limitation.     

Sources:  http://philinthecircle.com/; http://www.ted.com/talks/phil_hansen_embrace_the_shake?language=en; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Hansen_%28artist%29; http://www.justinquinn.info; Art of Apex.