The Right Man

_{^{The Right Man (pencil, pastel on pink tone paper, A4)}}

This drawing, like any other drawing, perhaps needs no introductory or explanatory words. An association might be noted here: the depicted situation seems thematically linked to a surrealist distortion of a dinner scene in the Luis Buñuel film, “The Phantom of Liberty”. Social interaction at the dinner table is linked to waste disposal, which means defecating together, the act of eating is an isolated act, like in contemporary western civilization the act of going to the toilet, with special architectural arrangements guaranteeing privacy (the cell, the cubicle, an enclosed space, closet, Klosett). Depicted here is a man sized cubicle designed for the man to privately emanate his masculine sense of power or perhaps also secretly admire or masturbate his private part under the nice slab of marble designed for him to rest his big hands on (hand depiction inspired by a description of the hands of Hermann Göring, as manicured hairy paws, by the German author Carl Haensel in his book “Der Nürnberger Prozeß, Tagebuch eines Verteidigers”. The depicted person is not Hermann Göring though, but the largely forgotten German actor Paul Hartmann, an interesting name, like Paul Toughman.

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Way to Work – Strengthening the Links between Active Labour Market Policies and Social Support

_{Way to Work, 9.1 x 12.6 inches, pencil on yellow carton, 2022}

This drawing is the recreation of a drawing from 30 years ago. That drawing was nearly identical in composition, but the figure was fully dressed. While the original was not found, presumably lost or sold, a photocopy still existed, begging in its inferior quality for the undertaking of making a new drawing, a handmade copy of the remembered original, coming as close as possible or even surpassing its original craftspersonship (perfectionism/youthful folly). Actually, even though slightly larger than the original A4, the technical execution is inferior, no doubt due to use of single mechanical pencil with HB mine and tip size 0.3 mm instead of multiple finely and variably sharpened wooden pencils of different grades.

The original clothing of the depicted person was first executed, then, by means of an eraser, removed again, and the nude body reconstructed, to achieve something of an Helmut-Newton effect, with a tint of irony perhaps, as the depicted person is not really the preferred Newton body-type. There was the idea that this could be a sort of nudist yoga teacher, but the muscular tonus is not there, nor the general width of the core which normally results from yoga practice. 

The source of the depicted setting is not clearly remembered. In all probability it was inspired or rendered from a photograph of an architectural decoration project by Victor Vasarely somewhere in France, either a shopping centre or university campus.

The following is a non-realized passage concerning dress codes and where nudism would or could be placed on a scale between “casual” and “formal”. 

Please observe the extant photocopy of the 1994 original:

First version (copy) “The second Idyl” A4,  ~1993

Drawing and text © 2052 by Torsten Slama and the SHY Laboratory Group

Recently, at the Film School

_{Film School Student in Akira Kurosawa Jumper, 9.1 x 12.6 inches, pencil and Chinese white on red carton, 2022}

This drawing is a medium faithful copy of an original which the artist produced in their early prime, probably around the year 1994. It is an effort to reproduce ancient charms in place of new inspirations. This reproduction was made from an old low-quality photocopy of the presumably lost original. It features a Caucasian male in front of a large library or university canteen window overlooking a Japanese garden, wearing a designer pullover (fashion statement) inspired by one worn by Akira Kurosawa on the occasion of one of his latest interviews, probably in the early 1990’s. It is drawn with mechanical pencil on the back of a French Exacompta folder in an exquisitely elegant warm red tone. Some highlights where added to the shrine and tree in the upper left corner. Grease marks will fade over time, while fold creases are original property of the medium and will remain.

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Drawing and text © 2052 by Torsten Slama and the SHY Laboratory Group