Phil Hansen: Embrace the Shake

Hey all! It's been a spell but I am back and ready to rumble.. or to write. Either way, I am ready!

Last Tuesday I had the great pleasure of listening to and meeting Phil Hansen, a contemporary mixed media artist and storyteller. Hansen was invited to my university by a group on campus and MAN did he have a lot of positive insight to share with us Wildcats!

For starters, Hansen shared with us how he became interested in art -- of all things, Pointillism was his inspiration and means of expression. (Specifically La Grande Jatte).

By utilizing pointillism and 'dot density drawings' (which I love but also hate with a fiery passion) Hansen explored gradients and creating brightness changes, or shading. His story took us through his childhood and into the reasoning for the title of his talk, "Embrace the Shake".

Hansen has irreparable nerve damage from all those years of pointillist.. point-making. His efforts to create clean, clear dots were creating too much tension in his fingers and hand, which led to a tremor.
Hansen and I have common ground; I, too, have unsteady hands. Whether it is from nerve damage or just not having enough waffles for breakfast (acute hyperglycemia) is hard to say, but for many years I have struggled with shaky hands and unruly nerves. I have to steady my hand when painting or drawing precise lines - it's a definite problem sometimes, but one I have learned to live with. As did Hansen! He shared with us the long road to his self re-discovery, as it were. Going from the very precise, delicate, and measured dots of pointillism to experimenting with scribble pictures, painting with his feet, 2D and 3D experimentations and video accompaniments to artwork. One of the coolest ideas he mentioned was "Goodbye Art" which were pieces that were destroyed after their creation. "Destruction brought me back to a neutral place... I had to let go of outcomes, failures, and imperfections.." I kind of ADORE this idea.

Jimi Hendrix, 2007 - matches

Having students create work only to destroy it and start anew on a different project is a HUGE risk to take with kids. Sometimes they get so attached to their work.. can you imagine? It would go a long way in discussing waste, reuse and the beauty in the breakdown.. I am getting tingly just thinking about it. And I really like breaking things.

Hansen is currently pursuing 'text art' in many forms. I remember some of my peers in high school doing a project similar to Hansen's text portraits but instead of changing the size or boldness of the font they had to follow directional lines to create images. There is so much to be said about process in Hansen's work... I really enjoyed learning more about this talented individual. He takes a very genuine interest in the stories of others and creates beautiful renditions using line thickness and type as media.

Quotes:
“How we see a limitation determines how it affects us”

Made me think of when I work with the students with special needs and even the kids who are just suffering from learned helplessness. He emphasized the need to evaluate limitations and if they ARE actually limitations at all. 

His classification (as re-stated below): Limitations are from an outside force or action or situation. Self-limiting beliefs (learned helplessness or 'giving up') are something we have manifested or put in our own way which stops us from asking 'what if?' EXACTLY! Such powerful and simple statements can make all the difference with students.. or people in general. It definitely made me think about how I limit myself from completing or accomplishing what I want in my life... that was a very cool and very honest realization.

Influence, 2007 -- painted onto Hansen's body/animated

“We need to first be limited in order to become limitless”

Limitation: something that has been put in our way

Self-limiting belief: something we have put in our own way

“How can I ____ with ____?”

This was an important idea that has also come up with students with special needs and especially handicaps. Hansen provided an example of a friend of his who plays guitar:

“I can’t play guitar loud enough and no one has amps”

“Are there small amps?”

“Would people really care if I plugged in?!”

-- If we are so inhibited by what we think we cannot do we will never realize what we CAN do -- I think that speaks volumes for students, teachers, and people in general. I loved the analogy :)

Daudi, 2007 - Starbucks coffee cups

Other memorable quotes:

“If we only do things logically we are only going to get logical results” 

Have the materials inform the subject. Work in iterations.

20% unexpected actions

 “We can’t always predict how people will respond to our work”

And I think one of my other favorites was:

The secret of being an adult is: “we don’t know anything”

1400 Celsius -- 2x4s blow torched

I am a pretty nosy person sometimes so, naturally, I had been visiting Hansen's website before the talk began. Art Educators Wanted! I'm not sure how much I am allowed to say about this plan buuut.... Hansen is working on a sort of Khan Academy for art! (If you are unfamiliar with KA, you should probably check it out. It is doing WONDERS in changing instruction for both educators and students.. I AM SO EXCITED). You know I signed up for that... but here's the simple breakdown:

Khan Academy for Arts will include:

- artist biographies

- art history (background)

- creative confidence (brainstorming, ideas, planning)

- overviews and 20-minute (in-depth) walk-thrus on projects and lessons

I can't wait to see what else Hansen comes up with in the years ahead... such an inspirational, original, and approachable artist. Check him out when you have time! (He's also on Twitter!) I have so many new ideas and questions because of his talk and his work... Already brainstorming lessons and themes, because I am a huge nerd.

Back to the books and probably some ice cream,

Ms. K

**All images borrowed from http://www.philinthecircle.com/index.html **