"White lies on the brim of the image of life, that is, of information, which has soared up out of great chaos. Chaos is like the world and white is like a map, or a figurative representation. Mapping the world, or generating figurative representations, is graphic design. White is the original form of life. I see the original form of my own work as the imagining of white rising to majestic stature from chaotic gray." --Kenya Hara
Heading towards Greenlake on this quiet Sunday morning, my feet continually snap through a thin crust of ice. I am walking on creme brulee.
This is the kind of scene I had imagined and hoped for many times -- six inches of snow in a city best known for coffee and rain. Having moved to Seattle from the East Coast, I was quite used to winter blizzards. Days like these would bring to mind hot chocolate with marshmallows dotting the surface, sledding down the steepest hills possible, long stretches of time free from school.
Sadly, the work must continue, snow day or not. The computer awaits, its ever patient cursor blinking on and off like the light at a railway crossing. Concepts require expression. Visual language must be codified. Stock images hover in the margins, patiently awaiting their entrance onto the stage.
That is why I am out here, a good mile from home, watching robins crowd the trees. They chatter, gulping down berries. In the snowbanks below, black seeds and drops of red juice stain the pure, unbroken snow.
Comments