Hi Raffaele,
Beautiful work! You have a very elegant sense of design. I love all that open space,
and
enjoyed seeing such a wide variety of images. It makes perfect sense to me that a self
portrait would consist of so many glimpses of objects and ideas important to you; seems
more real than a static snapshot, although it's still an incomplete portrait (can there
ever be a "complete" one?). I liked how your "standard" photo was built up during the
looking around (I skipped here and there I must admit, but eventually saw it all), so
while looking at all the bits, the usual type of self-portrait was created. Very
interesting.
The clouds of Michelangelo page was quite moving; I kept thinking of the word elegaic
and felt such mourning for all the people in those photos, such distance and such loss.
The second time I looked at the page I heard not only the music but quietly spoken
words
from another page too, which was a big surprise and added a lot to the mysteriousness
of
it all. The "three great stimulants" bench was fun, moving the mouse and coming up with
not only actual words but all sorts of nonsense words too. (The speaker has a wonderful
voice; very soothing.) I most enjoyed the interactiveness of the site, which is one of
the beauties of artwork on the internet. Another favorite part was "ask me" with the
colorful tiles and sad I don't knows, which became such a rumble when moving the mouse
across the tiles, it sounded like a brainstorm. I can relate to that.
Your project is also quite apropos of the current "strangers" discussion. Even after
looking at all the symbols portraying you, I still know only bits and pieces, and you
remain not completely unknown, but a stranger still. There's some sadness in realizing
how separate we all are, with only occasional flashes of closeness. No wonder the
search
for love is relentless; in that there's always the hope that the separateness can be
overcome. Definitely something Joni fans can understand. I can hear her singing now
"There is the hope and the hopelessness I've witnessed all these years." Yep to that
one.
While I was at your site I also looked at your portfolio and was very happy to see
Joni's paintings from the London exhibit in the 80s. I love all those colliding images
she did. It's the first time I've seen so much of her work from those years and it's
much more creative and impressive (to me) than the copying she's been into recently. It
was a pleasure looking through all those paintings and the site design made it very
easy. Good pictures by Jamie too! (Hi Jamie!)
Be sure to post your next project, ok? I'm curious already...
atb,
Debra Shea
Raffaele Malanga wrote:
> Anyway, if you have a few minutes to spare and would like to have a look
> at it, click here
>
> http://www.malanga.co.uk
