FROT
TAGE
FOLIO
Niall Twohig
FROT
TAGE
FOLIO
C H A RY B D I S P R E S S new york
Published by Charybdis Press New York Š 2016 Charybdis Press Printed and bound in the USA 15 14 13 12 4 3 2 1 First Edition Some rights reserved http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Layout & Design: Jason Blasso For more information please visit www.blackgesso.com www.charybdispress.com
for Jay
I came to frottage through my readings on the surrealists. I was intrigued by their techniques which seemed to bring the Artist with an A to thieir knees. With frottage, all one needed was paper, charcoal, and a surface. Art for the people! I liked that idea. I liked it so much I wanted to put it into practice. As I frottaged all the familiar and unfamiliar surfaces around me, I began to see how inadequate my initial thoughts were. I wasn’t stepping into any role of the small “a” artist. I wasn’t taking art back to the people. Practicing the technique, I felt something unexpected. I became a hand rather than an eye or an I. And this hand moved freely, without the usual restraints of an ego imposing its vision of the world onto paper. The process came from the outside in. My hand became a tool alongside charcoal. These tools let the world show its face on the page. Thus, this folio is a collection of moments when I/eye dissolved and the world revealed its face in drag. Still though, something of my Self remained, as paradoxical as that might sound. What remained was my connection to the Other.
Niall Twohig
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C H A RY B D I S P R E S S new york