Original subtitles

[MUSIC PLAYING]

FUTURA: When I'm painting, I'm not

following a road map I've drawn for myself.

I'm having a conversation with my canvas.

I'm just following impulses.

And I guess, enabling myself to do that, to give myself

the freedom to just go.

And don't even check yourself.

Just go.

So to me, abstraction simply means the absence of definition

by any other classic form, landscape, illustration,

realism.

You know, something that's very specific, as opposed

to something that's not.

And absent of form, you get into the abstract.

I'm not relying on someone's definition of, hey,

your anatomy is off.

That hand's horrible.

Or, no, the trees need to have shade and coming from-- look,

it's the afternoon light.

And all of these kind of considerations

are fine, and all these other applications,

but for me, it doesn't work.

You know, I'm not that type of artist.

In the abstract realm, it's what I determine it to be.

When I first started painting, I was

compared to an artist named Kandinsky,

a Russian constructivist.

I never heard of him.

Didn't know about Russian constructivism.

And I was a little bit insulted, because I never heard of him.

So how could I be influenced by someone I never heard of?

But I also remember thinking at that time,

well, this is amazing.

You know, I'm actually being compared to a real artist.

That's cool.

Once I heard of these abstract references

they were making in my work, I did go to libraries.

I did look at books.

I did learn about these artists.

But I'd like to think that even in an abstract world,

I'm still not one of the lines in that track.

I like to always feel whatever I'm doing,

don't label me per se.

Allow me the individuality to constantly try

to be different and evolve, I think also.

I think evolution is also very important.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

So now I'm going to share with you a finished painting.

Everything is there that I'm trying to convey.

The bits of negative space, of course, rather than

a full on frenzy of all this kind of activity,

which would've changed the nature of the painting.

It would have just made it more dark, more dense, more deep.

There's a little bit of light in here, a little bit of airiness.

It's got everything I'm sort of trying to get out of my work,

and a sense of, there's a bit of--

it's not anger.

But there are some, I don't know, like, aggressive strokes,

which are combined with the precision it takes to do that

against the arbitrary nature of just a drip, which

I can't control.

So obviously, this section is premeditated drips.

And you know, I wanted that.

Because at the same time, drips give you a sense of direction.

I mean, if you see a drip that's actually upside down,

you would know it was upside down.

So why not let gravity and nature have its way?

When it comes to naming paintings, it's like children.

You want to sometimes come up with a cool, interesting name

for your child.

And I have got a lot of kids.

So I always give titles that are very specific to the moment,

the situation.

And I called it Tempo Tantrum.

Not temper tantrum, but Tempo Tantrum.

Because I think tempo is a really big part of how I work,

whether it's completely kinetic and, oh my God, well, you know,

yeah.

Sure, I can do all of that.

But there is a pace to making artwork.

You find your own.

I found mine.

Mine tends to be go for it, go for it, go, go, go, go, go.

And sometime, tantrum, in a Webster's definition,

it's something about uncontrollable outbursts.

And I feel like that's what this is, too.

It's in a bit of an uncontrollable outburst.

And my work could be described that way, I feel,

because I don't really know.

You know, when I started the lesson,

I don't really know which lines I was going to make.

And sometime I don't want to know.

Sometimes I just come in, and I just work with what we've got.

Everything we see within this painting,

it's within the class, i.e.

lines and technique, coverage, composition, space,

playing with negative space.

So engage.

Dance.

Have an experience with some artist medium.

Canvas, paper.

I would encourage you to go beyond and carry

the imagination with you.

[MUSIC PLAYING]