Our first project: using a variety of line and shape types, we are going to create a Flow Chart/Diagram that describes the power relationships between ourselves and 9 other people we know.

Before we look at some student examples, though, I want to show you a contemporary artist who has worked with this “Power Relations Flow Chart” idea: Mark Lombardi

Mark Lombardi, World Finance Corporation, Miami, Florida, c. 1970-79 (6th Version), 1999, Graphite and Colored Pencil on Paper, 35.5 x 46.25", detail.

“A post-Conceptual reinvention of history painting.”

Mark Lombardi’s George W. Bush, Harken Energy, and Jackson Stephens, ca. 1979-90 (5th Version) (1999)

James R. Bath is a Texas businessman, a sometime aeronautics broker whose firm, Skyway Aircraft Leasing, LTD., was a Cayman Islands front that amassed money for use by Oliver North in the Iran-Contra affair.

Bath also served as an agent minding American interests for a quartet of Saudi Arabian billionaires, one of whom was Sheik Salim bin Laden, the oldest son and heir of Sheik Mohammed bin Laden, father of fifty-four children, including Osama.

Bath was also a business partner of George W. Bush, and he and the Saudi Bin Laden family poured money into Bush’s Arbusco Oil Company in an unsuccessful attempt to keep it from failing in the 1980’s.

Lombardi used a system of nearly 15,000 index cards, 4-5 daily newspapers, and hundreds of books to gather his extensive archive of information.

“My purpose throughout is to interpret the material by juxtaposing and assembling the notations into a coherent whole. In some cases I use a set of stacked, parallel lines to establish a time frame. Hierarchical relationships, the flow of money and other key details are then indicated by a system of radiating arrows, broken lines and so forth. Some of the drawings consist of two different layers of information - one denoted in black, the other, red. Black represents the essential elements of the story while major lawsuits, criminal indictments or other legal actions taken against the parties are shown in red. Every statement of fact and connections depicted in the work is true and based on information culled entirely from the public record.”

“Broken lines trace the flow of money, loans or credits. A severed double arrow signifies the sale, loss, or surrender of an asset. A large blackened circle indicates a state of bankruptcy or insolvency, and so on.”

Detail from Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, Reagan, Bush, Thatcher, and the Arming of Iraq, 1979-90 (4th Version) (1998)

What do the curvilinear lines (as well as the implied lines) suggest about the power structures illustrated in this chart? What do the horizontal and vertical lines suggest?

Project Number One: Power Relations Flow Chart You are going to make a flow chart that describes the power relationships between yourself and 9 other people you know. Designate a different shape for every person, including one for yourself. Be sure to include at least one of each of the following shapes in your design: A flat shapeA volumetric shapeAn abstracted shapeA non-objective shapeA naturalistic (or representational shape)An organic shapeA geometric shapeAn implied shape First, make sketches in your sketch-pad to brainstorm about possible shapes and compositional designs. Where do you place the shape that represents you in this design? What does this placement say about the power relations you have with the other people you’ve chosen? How do you invent and assign the various shapes to your 10 individuals, and what size should you make each shape? (Hint: keep these shapes small, as you will need plenty of compositional space for your connecting lines.) Think also about what types of lines you will use to symbolically structure your relationships to your 9 other people. The lines that link the 10 total shapes need to include at least one type of: Straight lineCurvilinear lineSoft-edge lineImplied line Once you are ready with your idea (meaning that you are satisfied with your shapes, lines, and overall composition) pencil in your flow chart design on your 15”x20” illustration board. You can then complete your project using the varied mediums of your choice.

Student work:

OK: Now for our first project. Using a variety of line and shape types, we are going to create a Flow Chart/Diagram that describes the power relationships between ourselves and 10 other people we know.

Before we look at a few student examples, though, I want to show you an artist who has worked with this “Power Relations Flow Chart” idea: Mark Lombardi

And now for a demo on how to get started…