Henry Darger is an artist who worked much with the style of duplication and reproduction. His main occupation was that of a janitor in Chicago. He was orphaned at a fairly young age and then institutionalized. Darger has been explained as a bit of an excentric. " He has become famous for his posthumously discovered 15,145-page, single-spaced fantasy manuscript called The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion, along with several hundred drawings and watercolor paintings illustrating the story.[2] Darger's work has become one of the most celebrated examples of outsider art." (Wikipedia).
The main reason I am looking at Dargers art, is not so much the subject matter but more the technique and aesthetic. I am also working with the aesthetic of duplication. It seems as though something starts to unfold in the mind when we are presented with patterns and similiarities, so when we use people as these patterns/repititions, what are we really creating? What is the motive of the artist when they begin duplicating? And what does the viewer begin to experience when they realize these patterns and duplications?
"Artists are always struggling with the need to keep their work inthe forefront of their life, the need to not let distractions get inthe way. Darger was so devoted, and I think creative people have agreat admiration in terms of how he worked."
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