Friday, September 03, 2010

Arty Farty Friday ~~ Artist Carl Andre - A True Virgo-type

On a constant learning curve, as indicated by my blog's title, I frequently come across an artist unfamiliar to me, then attempt to learn something. One such artist: Carl Andre. After some research I discovered that he's an interesting subject astrologically, so...

To demonstrate that he clearly represents a Virgo-type artist, I've used the words of other writers, who have no interest in astrology, but demonstrate an astrological point.

Carl Andre has natal Sun (self) Neptune (creativity) and Venus (art) all in Virgo - a good candidate for the label "Virgo-type".





Bolding, in each quotation is my own, to indicate typically Virgoan traits.
Carl Andre was one of the founders of the art movement known as Minimal, Systemic, or ABC Art. It is an art that seeks to eliminate everything decorative, extraneous and additive, reducing all components to art's purest elements; it is precise, cerebral and austere rather than accessible. Andre once said that what was beautiful in art was "not that someone is original but that he can find a way of creating in the world the instance of his temperament." His own temperament is close to the tranquil philosophy of Taoism, and many critics refer to his work as "pacific." Link.

In 1965, Andre began working for a railway company. This blue collar working experience had a large impact on his sculptures, especially in terms of subject and medium. Andre interworked his experiences with hard labor and man-made simple structures into his art. ‘The railway completely tore me away from the pretensions of art, even my own, and I was back on the horizontal lines of steel and rust and great masses of coal and material, timber, with all kinds of hides and glue and the burdens and weights of the cars themselves’ Link.
Virgo, ruled by Mercury, has close links to communication of all types - including words.
Poetics play an important role in Andre’s work, manifested most literally by his experiments with linguistic equivalents to his sculpture. Since the 1960s he has created poems and, in the tradition of concrete poetry, situated the words on the page as if they were working drawings.......Andre’s consistent search for the simplest, most rational models embodies a moral philosophy as well as an artistic practice. (Cornelia Lauf)

Andre was married to the Performance Artist Ana Mendieta until her death in 1985. Her death, from falling from an open window, was judged suicide, after Carl Andre was tried, and acquitted, for her murder. (More HERE.)

Some examples of his work.

THREE RIGHT THRESHOLDS



SPATIAL SPECIFICITY




ACLOUD





TRABUM (part of the Element Series) Title is derived from the Latin for log or timber.


SPIRAL


ESSAY ON SCULPTURE



From MAP OF POETRY at Autobiography




POSTSCRIPT

Further to Gian Paul's comment (below), here's a chart showing Carl Andre's natal in the centre and a chart showing where the planets were the time of death of his wife in the outer circle. As I don't have a time of birth for Andre, anything connected to his Moon isn't relevant here, indication of ascendant and mid-heaven will also not be accurate. I found time of 4am for the wife's death somewhere on the net and have used it for the death chart.

Most significant, as I see it, is Sun over Andre's natal Neptune (Neptune = illusion/delusion). That swings both ways, so not decisive. Any ideas?


13 comments:

Gian Paul said...

Nice description of André. As we have his map, it would be relatively easy to confirm the verdict of him being innocent of "murdering his wife". All it would need is the date of her death.

Astrology can be useful in many ways!

Twilight said...

Gian Paul ~~~ your wish is my command... :-)

Dual chart added above.

Any ideas?

Anonymous said...

I knew Ana, we went to art school together, and I recall the way the art community was polarized about her death. It pretty much divided along the lines of men vs. women. The women all believed that Carl murdered her. The men all believed Carl's story, that they were in an argument and she jumped out the window just to spite him. And knowing Ana, I know that's just the sort of thing she'd do. And yes, I'm a man.

Gian Paul said...

I dared suggesting that astrology might confirm André's innocence because in Geneva - for sports - I helped sort out a murder crime by this. It was a bunch of youngsters who stole a Ferrari, but the owner got killed. There was one murderer for sure, but not three. So I think I helped the right one to being locked up for more than just steeling a car.

Having difficulties finding the image you sent, Twilight, I will revert asap.

Twilight said...

Anonymous ~~~ thanks for your input - always very pleased to have some real-life experiences to consider. :-)

What you write about the male/female division in opinion about Ana's death nicely reflects the "swing both ways" I saw as Sun over natal Neptune....Neptune is nothing if not nebulous. :-)

Twilight said...

Gian Paul - Oh well done on that!
It's good to know how helpful astrology can be in the right hands.

(The additional chart is added as a postscript. Maybe you just need to refresh the page on your computer?)

Gian Paul said...

Here the sentence by "Astro-Sherlock-Holmes of the Brazilian Forest":

André is innocent. (Morally he may have instigated a desperate act of a weakend person(alcohol), but that's not a crime.

Mars was at 28 degr. Leo at the time of Ana's death. Soon moving into Virgo, Andre's birth sign and creating hell for him. Imagine, all the police, the in-laws etc.

Saturn at 23 degr. Scorpio was going to move into opposition of his natal Mars at O degr. Sag. A way to feel a lots of aggression from who accused Andre of murder.

Pluto at 2 degr. Scorpio was going to oppose the man's natal Uranus at 5 degr. Taurus. Some considerable time of intense upheval. No surprise that he said "justice was made". But the rest? Poor man.

Gian Paul said...

PS. Forgot to say that I like his art a lot, akin to Brancusi

Gian Paul said...

My attendance on the net gets periodically interrupted for some private reasons. Just to be completely clear on that Ferrari crime in Geneva (1992):

I was regularly gasing up at a peripheral Shell station on may way home at night. Knowing the owners, an older French/Italian couple - and the husband was very proud of his vintage Ferrari, one day his wife told me that her husband had been murdered and the Ferrari was gone.

She knew 2 of the 3 youngsters who committed the crime as they were distant family of her husband. But also she could not believe that they would have killed her husband. So I offered to look at their horoscopes and she obtained the birth-data of the three. Without any reliable birth-hour. But that was sufficient to convince me that only one of the three was the murderer.

The prosecutor, unofficially, became interested in my findings and his investigation thereafter took a different turn, leading to what I am convinced was the right sentencing.

Twilight said...

Gian Paul aka "Astro-Sherlock-Holmes of the Brazilian Forest"~~

Some "interesting" aspects were about to come up for the sculptor, that is very clear, isn't it!
I agree that these could relate to the trouble he found himself in, surrounding his wife's accidental death. But do they exonerate him from "providing the push" - I wonder?

What would we have to look for to prove "the sulptor did it?"

Thanks for the intriguing study , as well as further detail about your former detection success!

Twilight said...

I mean SCULPTOR

Gian Paul said...

What appears evident is that on the day of the death of his wife Andre had no pronounced stressed aspects. As you say, Sun conjunct his Neptune. But that's not indicative of some violence. Some alcoholic trouble yes, possibly they both had to much to drink before she "went" out of the window. Other drugs possibly too. But why tell the police?

What then happened to him AFTER is in my view pretty clearly delineated by his transits. And some were not rapid. One must imagine that he passed 2-3 pretty uncomfortable years until pronounced innocent. Hopefully his astrologer told him not to worry...

Twilight said...

Gian Paul ~~~Yes, I see - and agree. Thanks. :-)