Chapter Summary

The chapter I was given from The Accidental Masterpiece by Michael Kimmelman was entitled, “The Art of Finding Yourself When You’re Lost”. Kimmelman explored the way in which difficult life experiences can inspire someone. He focused on two artists (one photographer and one embroidery artist) and how a difficult point in their lives inspired their artistic selves. The photographer, Frank Hurley, took part in an expedition to Antarctica in the early 20th century to record the very harsh environment and surroundings through film. As Kimmelman describes, “art wasn’t Hurley’s original intention: he was supposed to record the expedition for scientific purposes. But it was the unmistakable outcome” (133). These photographs were some of Hurley’s most memorable art, which I think were because of the ordeal and difficulties he had to go through to get his shots. The second artist Kimmelman focuses on was Ray Materson, an inmate in a Connecticut prison that started embroidering in this prison (using unraveling sock and shoelace threads, scraps of boxer shorts for backing, and the rim of a plastic plate for an embroidery hoop). His embroideries were usually portraits or baseball related, but what was amazing was that they are each about three inches by two inches. Kimmelman describes Materson as “a lost soul, [who] became an artist not despite his difficult circumstances but because of them” (135). I believe these two artists had struggle in their lives and were ‘lost’ but found themselves through their art, giving Kimmelman the title of this chapter.

Hurley:
http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/discover_collections/natural_world/antarctica/hurley/shackleton/image_gallery.html
Materson:
http://www.npr.org/programs/watc/features/2001/010128.materson.html