19.05.15 "Not A Dry Eye in The House"

"Not a smile left on my face,
The endings just too hard to take,
and there's not a dry eye, not a dry eye in the house".

Guillaume Grasset

'Angelino Heights'

I went to look at some art magazines and bought Aesthetica, I don't know if you've heard of it but it comes out about 6 times a year and is beautiful, without overwhelming you with over complicated worded articles. It was in the April/ May 2015 issue, that I came across Guillaume Grasset's series Angelino Heights. The pictures blew me away.

 The Charmed House II aka The Phillips House, 2012

The Charmed House aka The Sessions House, 2012. 

The Helm House, 2012. 

 The Irrey House, 2012.

The J.Edgar House aka The Foy House, 2012. 

The Pinney House, 2012. 

The Russell House, 2012. 

The Thriller House aka The Sanders House, 2012. 

The Unknown House II, 2012. 

The Unknown House III, 2012. 

The Unknown House I, 2012.

This series by Grasset consists of 11 images within Angelino Heights in Los Angeles, the second oldest district. His images are created at night, using artificial light's glow for the 'unsettling' feeling. Each house is depicted in a single image, however many of the houses have been used for music videos such as Micheal Jackson's Thriller, and TV Series such as Charmed. The houses Grasset photographed were registered as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments, with some even being moved to Carroll Avenue from their original destinations. The house designs are so individually beautiful, and they all have a uniqueness to them.

When I first saw Grasset's pictures, I was drawn into how striking they are. I feel that the way the houses in LA stand grand, and detached, gives them their own sense of presence and personality. The lighting of the images gives them an eerie feeling and talks to your inner insecurities. The feeling I get viewing these works is the same as the feeling I get from Giorgio de Chirico's Mystery and 

Melancholy, 1914. (which I wrote about in September). It makes you feel uneasy without any actual evidence of anything sinister. I always hate the feeling where you're inside and it's dark outside, and if you have the light on, you can't see outside but people can see inside. Grasset's works are the opposite of that feeling. You're on the outside observing, and the enormity of the house structure towers over you. I know it seems strange to enjoy that feeling, but I enjoy art that pushes your subconscious and makes you feel something other than pleasant.