In Fellini's film 8-1/2 there is a party scene where Guido (played by Marcello Mastroianni) has his mind read by a magician. The magician places his hand on Guido's head and sees the words "Asa Nisi Masa".
But what does it mean?" asks the magician to Guido.
Fellini flashbacks to Guido’s childhood. “Asa Nisi Masa” is the chant the children repeated in their bedroom at night. It was a magical phrase supposed to make the eyes of a wall-portrait in their bedroom “come to life".
I was immediately charmed by this scene with the children (and loved the decor of the bedroom with its four poster beds, crisp linen canopies, white bedding and plush down comforters). I may be hopelessly nostalgic but I want to believe that the children's magical phrase and pure belief in the boundless possibilities of life will infuse the portrait with life. I want to believe that the artist creates more then a likeness with his portraits, that through his art, the energy conjured up during the creation of the work is truly capturing a sliver of real time. Life which can be released with the right spell, making the artist’s pen and paper as powerful as the alchemist’s potions.
I made some pencil drawings of my dog about ten years ago; they are very special to me because of how vividly I remember the details of that evening with him. Puppy was curled up on my bed on top of a twisted pile of bedding, asleep. I lay at the opposite end of the bed with my sketchbook, barefoot. Occasionally he opened one eye lazily to make sure I was still with him, then grumbled alittle, shifted and fell back asleep.
For the next few hours, while I drew, he was the only thing which existed in my eyes and mind. I made four drawing that night, these two are my favorites.
Asa Nisi Masa, return to me.
Song of the day A Kiss to Build a Dream On by Louis Armstrong
Check out the art book Gerhard Richter: Drawings, his family portraits are interesting. My favorite is a simple sketch of a women holding a baby.
