Here are the questions we collected and the answers replied by the presenter: Q1: What does the margin or the periphery refer to, when they are mentioned in the speech? Do they mean the boundary between life and death, or the noundary between self and other? A1: I use the term “periphery” in an abstract sense. It is true that Picasso identified with Picasso living in the “margins” of society. During the Blue Period, he focused on the poor and the rejected; and during the Rise Period, he concentrated on performers at the circus or popular theaters. But I use the term “periphery” also to refer to the boundaries between life and death and self and the other. We all know that he was fascinated with the concept of death. The passing of his little sister Conchita made a huge impact in his work, as would the suicide of his friend Casagemas, or the death of his companion Eva from cancer. Picasso was also fascinated with its opposite: life. For him, there was a close relation between procreation and artistic creation, and he often suggested this in his works, associating painting with love-making . With respect to the last contrast (self vs. other), Picasso saw himself through the many people that surrounded him throughout his life. He was influenced by the poets he met (like Max Jacob, Guillaume Apollinaire, Paul Éluard, André Breton, etc.) as much as by the artists of his time (Georges Braque, Henri Matisse, etc.) or the immediate or distant past (Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh). He also experienced life through his love companions: Fernande Olivier, Eva Gouel, etc.).This is the reason why his career has often been divided in periods named after these female companions. Q2: In your theory, is Picasso's use of blue in his self-portraits and his deconstruction of form a way for him to leave his ego and enter the other? A2: It could definitely be seen this way. His systematic use of blue during the so-called Blue Period created a sort of “world beyond the real” that could allow him to connect to “the other side”. After all, one of the triggers was the death by suicide of his friend Carles Casagemas, whom he wanted to bring back to life in different ways as seen in his famous canvas La vie. I believe that the deconstruction of form during Cubism is equally related to his search for truth beyond “the surface of reality”. To that degree, his cubist compositions are also ways of looking for his true self in the “other.”
Here are the questions we collected and the answers replied by the presenter:
Q1: What does the margin or the periphery refer to, when they are mentioned in the speech? Do they mean the boundary between life and death, or the noundary between self and other?
A1: I use the term “periphery” in an abstract sense. It is true that Picasso identified with Picasso living in the “margins” of society. During the Blue Period, he focused on the poor and the rejected; and during the Rise Period, he concentrated on performers at the circus or popular theaters. But I use the term “periphery” also to refer to the boundaries between life and death and self and the other. We all know that he was fascinated with the concept of death. The passing of his little sister Conchita made a huge impact in his work, as would the suicide of his friend Casagemas, or the death of his companion Eva from cancer. Picasso was also fascinated with its opposite: life. For him, there was a close relation between procreation and artistic creation, and he often suggested this in his works, associating painting with love-making . With respect to the last contrast (self vs. other), Picasso saw himself through the many people that surrounded him throughout his life. He was influenced by the poets he met (like Max Jacob, Guillaume Apollinaire, Paul Éluard, André Breton, etc.) as much as by the artists of his time (Georges Braque, Henri Matisse, etc.) or the immediate or distant past (Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh). He also experienced life through his love companions: Fernande Olivier, Eva Gouel, etc.).This is the reason why his career has often been divided in periods named after these female companions.
Q2: In your theory, is Picasso's use of blue in his self-portraits and his deconstruction of form a way for him to leave his ego and enter the other?
A2: It could definitely be seen this way. His systematic use of blue during the so-called Blue Period created a sort of “world beyond the real” that could allow him to connect to “the other side”. After all, one of the triggers was the death by suicide of his friend Carles Casagemas, whom he wanted to bring back to life in different ways as seen in his famous canvas La vie. I believe that the deconstruction of form during Cubism is equally related to his search for truth beyond “the surface of reality”. To that degree, his cubist compositions are also ways of looking for his true self in the “other.”