#bill armstrong

[miamaimania]

The tender gaze of Bill Armstrong's Portrait #302, of introspection and raw vulnerability

[guy60660]

Bill Armstrong | Clamp

[chaplinlegend]

Charles Chaplin, Billy Armstrong, and 'Snub' Pollard in "By the Sea" (1915)

[nununiverse]

Bill Armstrong Mandala

[stereax]

[homeisaplaceinthehills]

Bill Armstrong - Renaissance. 2007 "Renaissance is a portfolio of photographs in the ongoing Infinity series, an extensive body of work I have been photographing since 1997. Renaissance is made using my unique process of photographing found images extremely out of focus, with the lens set at infinity. In this case, the source materials are reworked master drawings, mostly from the Renaissance, but some from other periods. The many layered process of reproduction and blurring, appropriating an image and subjecting it to a series of manipulations (photocopying, cutting, painting, re-photographing) transforms the original images, giving them a new meaning in a new context-a renaissance of the Renaissance, if you will.

The original drawings were attempts to capture the human figure in a specific action, either from Biblical, mythological or historical scenes, but the rough sketches were removed from the milieu of the larger whole. My process accentuates that extraction, removing them further from their context and adding a new psychology of color to the achromatic drawings. Extreme blurring erases features, dissolves identity and obscures individuality, while retaining the essence of the original gesture, so that a 15th century religious figure can have secular relevance today.

The themes of the images in Renaissance move in opposing directions. Some of the figures seem to be ascending-flying, floating, or otherwise suspended in ether-and represent man's aspirations toward freedom. Or, conversely, they may seem to be falling, or doomed, as the crucifixes and divers become oddly interchangeable. Others are bound, bent, tethered or twisted and appear to be struggling against the frame, representing the limits and agonies of the human condition. At the same time, the photographs may be seen as motion studies of dancers or athletes, reminiscent of Isadora Duncan's search for a Hellenic ideal, ironically fluid and active for reproductions of action frozen.

I spent a year in Italy in the late 1970's, so working with Renaissance imagery has allowed me to return, in spirit, to a favorite time and place. These images are meant to be meditative pieces (like all the work in the Infinity series) transporting the viewer to another world, human-centered like the civic humanist ideals of the 15th century, but ethereal and luminous-an exaltation of the spirit."

[sarah-lyse]

Bill Armstrong , Apparition , 2005

The photographs are made using Armstrong’s unique process of re-working found images and photographing them extremely out of focus. In this case, the original source materials are reproductions of Roman sculpture shot with the camera lens set at infinity. What began as collages now appear seamless in the final photographs—integrated images which hover between the real and the fantastic in a world just beyond grasp.

The meanings underpinning Apparition radiate in a number of directions. While many of the images are dark, ghoulish visions, others are hopeful spiritual presences. For Armstrong, the ghosts of ancient Rome represent particularly appropriate messengers for our time, as we contemplate the fate of our own empire and whether its inevitable decline has already begun. The powerful features of these Romans—emperor and soldier alike—bear witness to the eternal truths of the human condition as fear and hope jockey in a headlong race. On another level, however, the work resonates personally for Armstrong, as he made these images shortly after his father’s death from cancer. While it was only later that he understood the photographs as attempts to communicate with the dead, the evidence of the power of the subconscious was a revelation. In this sense, Apparition is also an artist’s quest to come to grips with the horror of death and the hope of redemption through image making. -source

[moisessierra]

Artist Research Entry 6: Bill Armstrong

Once again, I found an artist with a consistent trend with their work. Bill Armstrong is a fine art photographer with work that appears less like photographs and more like abstract portraits that are found in art museums. For over thirty years, this New York-based photographer has been shooting in color and his work has been displayed in museums and galleries across the country. His work mainly consists of blury silhouettes of people against a myriad of colored shapes. From what I could conprehend, they are apparently part of series that is a meditation of identity and the psychological state of being "in-between".

For me, I'm indifferent about this. I can certainly see where people come from when discussing these photos. They are well done and have intreguing messages behind them that keep viewers thinking. But on the other hand, this is the type of art work that I'm sad to say that people think all artists shoudl create. How each and every piece they conceive should be abstract and have deep, thought-provoking themes. That is all well and good, but I argue that sometimes, art should just be enjoyed with having to think too much about it. Regardless, I shouldn't judge this piece based on what I want it to be, but rather what it is. And these photos are excellent for what they are.

Link:

Bill Armstrong: Partial Appearances - LENSCRATCH

[disney-daily]

"I can stand the sight of worms, and look at microscopic germs. But technicolor pachyderms, is really too much for me"

-Dumbo (1941)

Directed by: Ben Sharpsteen, Samuel Armstrong, Bill Roberts, Wilfred Jackson, Norm Ferguson, Jack Kinney, John Elliotte

[nigesakis]

bill hader writing barry: the dialogue has to sound real. if you can't imagine a real person saying this, its out

jesse armstrong & succession writers: youre like a grilled cheese with a sucked dick

[sesiondemadrugada]

Fantasia (1940).

[moss-on-a-pebble]

Whiteboard Fox doodles with the homie 🙏

(Context: some dude started smalltalk with me while I was in the middle of my simulator driving lesson and he weirded me out and pissed me off)

I refuse to give context for that last one

[greendayauthority]

Billie Joe arriving at the final soundcheck of American Idiot on Broadway, 23 March 2010

[safekeeperscosm]

idc if the timeline doesn't add up there are scenarios in my head !!!!!!!!!!

[idiotmaggot]

This is what history class is for.

No actually I barely did any work in history class and still got a 95 😰 I guess my teacher is nice because what.

[jtownraindancer]

No thoughts, only Toby Stephens giggling. 😌💕