Monday, January 25, 2010

Same thing. Different words.

Signs as meaning structures
"I was at the last vestige of the sign. The sign no longer really meant anything. It was no longer a part of the meaning structure and so the question was, do I need it at all? How do I paint a painting without a mark, as such?"
Robert Irwin

Dispensing with traditional craft based forms of art allows the intellectual to relax, knowing that they will not be pressed to produce an object which reveals their level of skill and training in traditional art forms. The suggestion that craft may be re-emerging as an important element of new art presents a conundrum for those that have triumphed the ideals of conceptualism and the passe nature of any art that leans toward aesthetic decoration. What would be the role of an artist that cannot draw or paint well enough to produce a convincing representational work in an art world whose tastes have traveled away from sheer conceptual wrangling toward a hybrid form of art that requires an artist to incorporate the emotive language of traditional craft along with a depth of contextual intentionality? The answer is that they would struggle to keep up.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Art is about analyzing the subtleties of existence. It is about finding new ways of looking at the world. It is about finding the most uninteresting details fascinating. It is about a tireless search for uniqueness at all cost. It is about denying gut reactions and simple answers. It is about failing to achieve. It is about intellectual complexity and the annihilation of professionalism and craft. It is about subtraction...

Actually, art is about people. It is about connection. It is about beauty. It is about crushing elitism. It is about pictures, walls, joy, love, expressionism, personality, faith... I could go on, but you get the picture.

Art theory is for people who can't paint. It is a trick to fool you out of your perception, your time and your money. Those who use it do so not out of intentional deception. They do it because they are lazy. To be an artist that can create a thing of beauty with his hands is so incredibly difficult.

Words

No concrete. No stopping.