The Origin of Painting

The Origin of Painting

"The Origin of Painting" is an interactive luminous graffiti, shadow wall and electromagnetic sound installation created and exhibited by art group Disinformation. The installation is titled after "The Maid of Corinth, or The Origin of Painting" depicted by the painter Joseph "Wright of Derby" in 1782 (Paul Mellon Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington). Joseph Wright depicted a theme suggested to him by the myth described in William Hayley's poem "An Essay on Painting", in which a woman sketched around the outline of the shadow cast by her departing lover in lamp light against a wall... "Inspired by love, the soft Corinthian maid, Her graceful lover's sleeping form portray'd..." (William Hayley 1778).

The resemblance of its imagery to silhouettes left by the atomic flashes at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the image of mortality that visitors see reflected in the act of separating from their fading shadows, cause "The Origin of Painting" to function as an active contemporary equivalent of traditional Vanitas painting.

Critical reaction

Sci-Fi author Jeff Noon wrote in The Independent that "people are fascinated by this work - it brings a shiver, a sudden recognition of death, as though we have seen or heard our own ghost". The Financial Times described the exhibit as "actively thrilling". "The Origin of Painting" was described as "visually stunning... daunting yet engaging" by Rachel Dybiec in The Metro newspaper. Jessica Lack wrote in The Guardian that "Disinformation combine scientific nous with poetic lyricism to create some of the most beautiful installations around". Paul Clarke wrote in The Metro describing Disinformation as "the black-ops unit of the avant garde".

References

* David Toop and Fiona Bradley "Sonic Boom" (exhibition catalogue) pp. 26-29, The Hayward Gallery 2000
* "Disinformation - The Analysis of Beauty" (exhibition catalogue) Arts Council National Touring Programme 2003

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1o-_CsoQAs "The Origin of Painting" on Yorkshire TV]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-DnH0EU0mc "The Origin of Painting" at Fabrica]


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