Art Space Talk: Carla Falb (Part 2)

Roller Coaster Series: Statosphere by Carla Falb

This is Part 2 of my interview with Carla Falb. To read Part 1 click, HERE

Brian Sherwin: Carla, what about other influences? For example, are you influenced by any specific artists?

Carla Falb: The idea of combining roller coaster tracks from various viewpoints in a single composition is derived from Cubism. In Gertrude Stein’s words, I am attempting to create a world where there “There is no there, there.” This notion can also be likened to Einstein’s imagining that he could travel on a beam of light where space contracts, time dilates, and now enlarges to encompass the past and the present.

The Futurists were also interested in creating this experience of simultaneity in their work while using imagery that glorified technological advancements, speed, youth, and violence. My subject matter certainly seems to fits the Futurists’ iconography, and simulates the experience of traveling the length of the roller coaster in a single instant. However, being a Post-Modernist, I use the imagery of the rides with a sense of irony and wonder of the need to experience extreme thrills and fear as a recreation in our twenty-first century pop culture.

In graduate school, during the summer of 2001 when I was just beginning my series, I saw two exhibits that would profoundly influence my work: Wayne Theibaud’s retrospective at the Whitney, and architect Frank Gehry’s models and sketches at the Guggenheim. Prior to viewing these exhibits, I always considered constructed/man-made forms and natural forms to be diametrically opposed.

When I saw Gehry’s spiraling wave/shell-like buildings and Theibaud’s plummeting waterfall San Francisco streets, I realized that natural and constructed forms could be melded. My roller coaster tracks could become strands of DNA, circulatory systems, explorations of time and space, wormholes, and universes. In addition, partly because of Theibaud’s influence, I enjoy employing roller coaster imagery in my work so that it can be appreciated on a variety of levels: by the general public, young and old, as well as the art world.

BS: So what is the specific message you strive to convey to viewers? Do you adhere to a specific philosophy as far as your work is concerned?

CF: In Meyer Schapiro’s essay, “On Perfection, Coherence, and Unity of Form and Content,” the concept of unity in a work of art is likened to the “mystic’s experience of the oneness of the world or with God.” What does this have to do with roller coasters? Certainly on a formal level, I focus on uniting my compositions through use of color and repetition of forms. But the question remains, how can spiritual awe and the thrill of amusement rides be compared when they are on entirely different planes of existence? Perhaps like the process of art making itself, each is associated with a need to transcend the mundane experience of everyday reality.

A critic once described my roller coaster drawings as twenty-first century versions of M. C. Escher’s work. After hearing this, I did some research on Escher and found that his complex black and white prints are influenced by an unlikely combination of Mathematics, Cubism, Futurism, Surrealism, and Eastern philosophy. According to Leonard Shlain in Art and Physics, Escher’s depictions of Mobius strips in several of his works vividly illustrate the Chinese concept of Tao. On the site, www.thetao.info, Robert Friedler states that “common dictionary translations of Tao include: road, path, way, means, doctrine.

In the Tao Tee Ching, it is generally used to indicate the unseen, underlying law of the universe from which all other principles and phenomena proceed.” Roller coaster tracks can be viewed as pathways and equated to a complex Mobius strip, since at the end of the ride, the cars arrive back where they began. This cyclical law of the universe, where opposing forces are unified, is the philosophical core of my work.

Roller Coaster Series: New York, New York by Carla Falb

BS: What are you working on at this time? Can you give our readers some insight into your current work?

CF: I recently received a Dodge Foundation Visual Artist/ Educator Fellowship and will use part of the funds to travel to Los Angeles this summer to photograph roller coasters and various amusements at Tomorrowland in Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, and the Santa Monica Pier. When thinking about the next progression in my Roller Coaster Series, I considered that even though I have always lived on the East Coast, the imagery in my Roller Coaster Series has more of a West Coast/ pop culture vibe. So I decided that LA would be an ideal location to gather new source material for paintings.

I’m looking forward to being taken by surprise by the unexpected amusements or images I will encounter, not just the rides I’ve viewed online. I’m also interested in photographing the parks at night. This is something I have never tried before, and I think I might like the disorienting effects of the colorful lights and the blurred motion.



To read Part 3 of my interview with Carla Falb click, HERE

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin
Senior Editor
myartspace.com
www.myartspace.com
Myartspace Blog on Twitter
www.twitter.com/myartspace_blog

Art Space Talk: Carla Falb (Part 1)

Don’t be mistaken by Carla Falb’s art. Falb is not a roller coaster fanatic and doesn't consider her work as literally depicting specific rides. Instead, Falb thinks of her Roller Coaster Series as being more about the layers of metaphorical meanings based on the various coasters' physical structures, sudden turns, extreme drops, and cyclical ride. Falb was recently selected for representation at the NYAXE Gallery in Palo Alto, CA. NYAXE Gallery is operated by Catherine McCormack-Skiba-- the founder of www.myartspace.com and www.nyaxe.com.

Roller Coaster Series: Medusa Storm by Carla Falb

Brian Sherwin: Carla, tell us about yourself. At what point did you gain an interest in creating visual art?

Carla Falb: In junior high I was deeply involved in music. At home I spent hours practicing classical piano and even auditioned to play with the Philadelphia Orchestra. When I got to high school, my piano teacher emphatically explained that I needed to decide if I wanted to make a commitment to become a concert pianist.

At the time, I was searching for a more creative outlet, so I decided not to continue with music, and began to take classes in visual arts. By my junior year I decided that I wanted to be a painter, applied for early admission, and was accepted to the Philadelphia College of Art at age sixteen.

BS: What can you tell us about your academic background concerning art? Did you study art formally? Tell us about your art studies in general-- any influential instructors?

CF: After spending three semesters at the Philadelphia College of Art (PCA), I realized that I wanted to learn traditional painting techniques, so I began studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts – the oldest art school in the United States. Looking back, I realize that since I was a classically trained musician; it made sense that I desired a more formal approach to painting.

While at the Academy, my most influential instructors were Arthur DeCosta, and Sidney Goodman. DeCosta’s demonstrations in Basic Color class focused on understanding the history of various palettes as well as skill development of alla prima painting techniques. His classes were engaging and informative. On the other hand, Goodman’s classes were intense. On the days he instructed, we were given the task to complete an entire figure painting in three hours.

I now see my undergraduate education as being the best of both worlds. At PCA I received a solid background in design and composition, and the Academy developed my formal/ technical skills. Today as a fine arts teacher in high school, I bring both of these approaches to my classroom instruction.
Roller Coaster Series: Circus Circus by Carla Falb

BS: Can you tell us about your art? Give us some insight into the thoughts behind your art.

CF: When I decided to focus on the visual arts back in high school, my choice was driven by a strong desire to work in a tangible medium where I could further my quest for self-knowledge. Later, in graduate school, before I came up with the idea for my Roller Coaster Series, I deliberated about who I was as an artist and as a person: what could I paint that truly expressed my personality, energy, and philosophy? Without a particularly interesting ethnic background to explore, and with no strong activist leanings, what unique vision I could share with the world?

After some soul searching I realized that the person who had the most profound effect on my life was my father, a Methodist minister. He shared his beliefs as well as his eclectic interests with me: i.e. the writings of Carl Jung and Herman Hesse, the humor of Charles Addams, and music ranging from Beethoven to the Beatles.

Overall, I see the work I produce as a metaphysical journey that connects the complexities of our physical existence with the emotional/spiritual realm – albeit from a pop-culture perspective. Simply stated, I’m trying to paint the visual equivalent of rock and roll. Summers spent at the Jersey shore and my quirky sense of humor lead me to use roller coaster tracks as means to create movement and depth in my compositions -- to take the viewer on a ride. However, underlying the general euphoria is the unsettling absurdity of the controlled-fear catharsis inherent in thrill rides coexisting with the sense of transcendentalism in my work.

Roller Coaster Series: Batman by Carla Falb

BS: Can you discuss your process in general? Are there any specific techniques that you utilize?

CF: When I first began my series, I would construct compositions by making collages of Xeroxed photos of roller coasters. Now, I use Photo Shop and have found that even though the physical process has changed, the creative process is similar. Since I usually don’t have a firm idea of what I want when I begin a new work, I play with juxtapositions of the segmented forms – sections of tracks plummeting downward, spiraling and looping through space; lattice/leg-like supports; bits of ground with pathways, blurred buildings and trees; and pieces of sky.

As I am assembling the collages I feel as if I am finding my way through a maze. I want the tracks to travel effortlessly through space and appear as a never-ending ride –using perspective and shifts in scale; yet also have areas of incongruity and disjointedness when examined closely.


To read Part 2 of my interview with Carla Falb click, HERE

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin
Senior Editor
myartspace.com
www.myartspace.com
Myartspace Blog on Twitter
www.twitter.com/myartspace_blog