We had a really grand idea about writing a blog post every week! We were fools. Fools! I tell you.
Idk… maybe we will surprise ourselves and actually do it this time.. lol I doubt, but hey here I am writing a blog.
In any case. Hi, my name is Weasel, the best artist of Emmengard. I do all the really cool art, like the weird monsters. I’m kidding. I mean.. I do do the creepy art, but it is often the most controversial of everything we do, and often as hated as it is loved. I am perhaps one of the more distinctive artists? Eh.
The Celestial stuff we were doing for a while was pretty fun (and also emotional, it was like this whole thing, like processing grief and stuff I don’t talk about). It started as Finna’s idea and sort of snowballed. It picked up a lot of speed because it was a different technique than we have used before and a lot of people wanted to try it out.
Bran, who is obsessed with colors, was particularly into it. Ultimately, the celestial stuff ended up being a huge collaboration, and is a style we will likely go back to. However, as Finna came up with it, it will always be generally thought of as hers.
Which brings me to an interesting thing, style. Style is a very subtle and fluid thing. It is hard to even properly define.Individual artists obviously end up developing a unique style, and by just looking at a piece you can guess who did it.
For us, as a system that can and does co-front (two or more consciousnesses exist in the front of the mind at the same time and both participate in the goings on of the life simultaneously) style becomes really tricky.
We often work so collaboratively it is hard to step back from a piece and clearly see which parts of the piece came from which person. So mostly we try not to worry about it too much and just focus on what each individual piece needs regardless of which artist is the one who began it.
If Elowen began a piece, but then Bran came along and saw that it could be improved by his excellent color sense, he would just change the piece, and Elowen would welcome it, likely standing over his shoulder to see what he was doing.
So then nailing down Elowen’s style or Bran’s style regarding that piece is difficult. Does the end piece feel more like a Bran or an Elowen? (This is why we just all sign as Emmengard, unless someone feels really strongly about it)
An easier way to think of style for us is more like different schools of art. Each Emmengardian school of art has one or two Emmengard artists that started the school, such as Finna’s Celestial School, or my (Weasel’s) Creepy School, but each individual Emmengardian can work within those schools to get the desired end result for a given piece.
Weirdly, though, even though we share schools and techniques and often jump in to help each other out, how each individual Emmengardian does something will still, unintentionally have a very subtle signature to it. Bjorn working in the School of Creepy will still end up making very adorable monsters, where Makani working in that same school will come up with something much more gritty, such as J the Shadow.
J the shadow is actually a great example. Makani and Elowen typically paint in oil and have a very minimalist style. However, Makani is also my best friend, and so while she paints very much in a minimalist school of her and Elowen’s own making, she also has an affinity for the creepy stuff, and that blend of things leads to J the Shadow.
So yeah, to sum up, this is why our work is a bit odd and hard to pin down, because we are not single. Also, we are not so isolated from one another that each of us would operate individually like a singlet.
Kim Noble is a plural system and they have no co-consciousness, and no memory or skill overlap between any of them. So it is very easy to see the clear style differences between them. I seems that in their art at least, they sort of operate like a bunch of singlets sharing a body.
There is nothing wrong with existing however you do. There is no right or wrong way to be a being on this earth. I just think it is interesting to notice how uniquely we experience this world, this life, and how those fundamental differences end up having such a wide spread and unforeseen impact oh .. our life, who we are, how we art.
It’s just interesting. Also, Ariadne is totally co-conscious now and she can get very interested in very small details that most people would find wildly boring, Sooo… just to be safe. I am going to cut this thought train off here. We have arrived at the station. This is the final stop, please disembark.Mind that you don’t leave any of your belongings behind. I hope you have a wonderful day.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
Weasel