The quest to understand, or to wander, or do both... *** I close my eyes and cover my face because it feels like I’m clutching at straws, and because I know I’m not the only one banging my head at this same old proverbial door. If one could see my mind’s eye, I assume, it would look like my physical eyes, tired and reddened from too many late night hours. Hitherto, art and “inspiration” can often be described as (and forever it will be) … a poisoned chalice to my grimacing lips. Sweet and richly rewarding, but also tempting and all consuming, like a labyrinth, luring you in, only to hold you there in a deluge of sometimes false insight and glimmers of hopes and truths that also sometimes disappear just as quickly as you reach out to grasp them. The realms behind - Could it be that art is something apart from us… that we remain the same simple beings, but that some of us are gifted with the ability to tap into this realm…? That the talents we possess are there to enable us to peel back our plain reality and existence to reveal what lies beyond it. And that the subject of this revelation is something apart from us, yet we are inexorably linked to it. That artists are simply some kind of strange gatekeepers to the intangible, interpreters of a realm beyond our grasp. But that all we do is the act – that Art simply is the act of revealing. I’ve asked the question before of ‘why we thank God for our own accomplishments’… well, it leads me to think of Michelangelo who said "Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.” Some time ago I wrote a piece entitled “The Future of Art” which included a somewhat somber but no less hopeful and objective look at the art world; what it is now, compared to what it was. It came to mind as I read a recent article by my friend David Martinez Romero (Here) in which he quotes Hegel stating that art has lost the immediacy it had in the glory days… With this we’re led to the exploration of what art actually is, and why we feel the way we feel, because it has and always will be entwined with our emotions, as much as our imagination. Now I have constantly ‘watched’ myself in the way I approach issues (not to be apologetic in my manner, but just self conscious) knowing that many or most people do not take things so seriously, but I am reassured when with my colleagues (other artists, writers) because it is our role to take these things seriously, because if we didn’t, who else would? So what is art, essentially… and why is this important? At its core, is creativity… But more than that, it is ambitious, or inspirational creativity – encompassed by a goal, a desire to get there, to achieve something, to do, to make… something that needs no other purpose, but to exist. A work of art doesn’t need to inspire the onlooker, or invoke an emotion or feeling , because the world of art exists within the abstract. To connect with something, or form something that cannot be fully defined and explored in the physical and finite world. Art exists because there exists within us the ability of abstract thought. That although we are finite beings (in one body/mind, living a mortal existence) we seem to have abilities that reach well beyond us – But for what reason, what purpose? And we might say that it is the link to the spiritual world (or a remnant, a clue to something more than this life – even if we choose to ignore it), the question alone is worth exploring… but being ready for whatever answer comes our way, this is another matter entirely, a matter which requires you to ready your heart. Mind you, to reach this place is not easy. Why do we all have different talents and abilities? That one person has the ability to perform immense and complex equations whilst another can render a detailed and immaculate sketch – it comes across as an eerie kind of randomness. Precision and abstract beauty coming from each individual, like various colours making the tapestry of our humanity… viewed from close it looks like a mess, but step back and the image begins to make a little more sense. But why does this exist? – Again the question is inspiration itself. Of course artists may explore any issue, minute or infinite, material or intangible… all for his or her own pleasure, to explore the abilities they have found within, and though they may not know or understand why they have a particular talent, they are at peace with the fact that they have it, and that it in some way defines who they are or signals their purpose in this life. I would put it to you that the creative ability we possess is merely a reflection of the same infinite ability present in our creator. He made us in his image, and just as we look around us, and the world, we see many things that apparently have little to no purpose (in our lives, other than aesthetic appeal), other than to simply exist. Mountains and embankments covered in new blossoms that on any given day can go unseen by human eyes, yet they are there, they exist, with or without our knowledge or sight. Why did God make them, why did he make us? Is it simply for his own pleasure? Is that not why we create, for own pleasure and recognition, to distinguish ourselves from others? Pleasure is present, but I am not saying that there will not be turmoil and pain within the process, that it will only be pleasurable, or that perhaps the results are not what you were looking for, or perhaps people misinterpret your work… Ask or study any great artist and I will guarantee that there was pain involved, depression, self doubt, lack of inspiration or any number of issues that come hand in hand with the process of creating something. It is usually a deluge of toil… Some struggle, in the effort to experience something great, to catch a glimpse of something Godly, but if we were only to start with God first, and move from there (from Him), from that place of rest, and then explore the labyrinthine garden we call Art. When exploring something such as creativity itself, then perhaps, is it not best to start with familiarizing ourselves with the inventor of the thing we wish to explore; in this case the Creator himself? "The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection." As we look at the world of art, some might say that we are in trouble… its as if years ago we’d entered the fantastic abstract world and started exploring, but now it feels that, much like the world itself, there’s very little that has not been seen or explored, that art (like the world) is over explored, and there’s very little mystery left. Its like we’ve somehow found the walls or the outer borders of this world as we struggle to find new mediums to explore. We cannot go sideways or forwards or back without revisiting where we were, so perhaps all that's left is to go up or down... But perhaps, if we change the way we see things, change our vantage point, we might see this world differently. It feels like many artists sense things like they’re walking through a gallery, looking around or looking out and up… but maybe we could look at things from the outside in. It may seem odd to define the art world as a confined space, as many would see it as something without limits, or that its only as limited as our minds make it to be… but my view is that art exists outside and apart from the human mind, “it” was there before us, it is beyond us… Art is beyond expressionism, or application of human imaginative capability, or “creative activity”… I would propose that it is a means to access or reach into something which is essentially greater than us all. I mean just think, Art imitates life, art cannot exist without it, and we are fearfully and wonderfully made... Our form, our appearance, our design, is a work of sublime art, hence we are to change our thinking, because we are exploring something that we ourselves are a part of, revealing and understanding our place in it... Creation! * - This writers opinion . . .
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Is Art stagnating? Where is modern art going? Will we ever see another Michaelangelo, Da Vinci, Raphael, Modigliani, Picasso, Monet, Manet, Van Gogh or Pollack? Logically, when you think of it in context, my instincts says “NO”… they were all innovators (paying specific attention to painting here) – pioneers, but has everything that can be done in the art of ‘paint of canvass’, already been accomplished. Of course that’s what the challenge is for today’s artists – to be the next big thing, to forge a new path, a new direction in their field. Part of the problem, in my opinion, is that too many people want to be the next great artist… just hear me out here. Here’s what I mean: The oldest art school in the world, still active today, is a little over two hundred years old, yet in its early days it’s pretty safe to say that few people knew about it (although art schools existed as far back as the Middle ages - VanEyck in Flanders f.e. 13 -1400's. (Michelangelo, just by the way, learned through early apprenticeships, first as a 13 year old working under Florence painter Domenico Ghirlandaio, and then under a retired sculptor, creating his first major sculpture at the age of 17 - The Battle of the Centaurs.) Then you think about how many art schools there are in the world today, anyone with vague artistic flair can apply, and a percentage of those applicants will manage to forge a career in the art world, most finding their place, or niche, within the corporate/commercial world. What this means is that art has grown exponentially in the last century, accessible to every household – which is, for clarification, a VERY GOOD thing. Many will argue that that was (and was for the renaissance crowd) the ultimate goal of those earlier pioneers – to bring art to every person. Art is part of life. Without art, the world would be an unliveable place for most. Plainly put, we need art as an outlet of our creative selves… the sad reality of it though, is that all forms of global art forms might have diluted the craft. The trouble now is distinguishing the good from the brilliant, and then there are the blatant publicity stunts… (I’m not a fan of blank white walls or installation art – using light fixtures for instance). Media has played a huge part in the dilution of the craft. I think there are many new forms that have popped up recently that grab me – performance art (using a large crowd of people) as well as sand art (creating pictures and stories using sand on an illuminated screen). And yet, can we say that there is a definitive new art form or artist/painter, who is doing something new and revolutionary, and will be talked about for many years to come, much in the same vein as the artists of old. I heard it put a different way: The experts and genuinely gifted artists of today are pushing the envelope – but are they just doing it in incremental fashion – a little at a time. Where is the giant leap forward (or sideways) in the thinking and/or application on creating something people have never seen before? I admittedly am not on the pulse of what’s the most spoken about thing in the art world right now, but like many, am very receptive and attentive to it, always on the lookout for something that will grab my attention whilst also admiring the works of old. When you think about it, Art as we know it today, where everyone can say they know an artist, is very new – yes it has been around for as long as people have – noting rock paintings etc… but artists in the truest and purist sense of the word were always rare and in certain places revered, they certainly were not on virtually every street corner, so in a way it’s a catch 22 scenario… you want art to be present in some form or another in every household, but I for one, still want that something new, which will be universally recognised as something no one has ever seen before. My prediction: The next great artist or art form (in the purest sense) will come from Africa. I’m not saying that just because I’m African but because I believe it’s the most untapped resource in the global context. Admittedly though, I do say this more out of hope and prayer. For it to happen, something in the art industry must be corrected; that of the “classification system”. You may have, once upon a time, come a upon a curio in your day, I speak specifically of those wooden animal statuettes. You can go around, round up 100 to 1000 people and give them all a lump of wood and say “carve something that will sell” – I’m betting you’ll only find a couple worth keeping (let alone worthy of a sale), yet this industry (somehow has been shunted from labelled as sculpturing) is relegated by the art industry and labelled “Arts & Crafts”. Just because someone doesn’t own a degree or even a formal education (specifically in the Arts), does not mean that person’s work is less good, or less relevant. That individual was inspired by a variety of things, most times pure circumstance, whatever the case; the result is a piece of art which they have toiled over, more often than not with their entire livelihood at stake… Just the other day I saw paintings of a 5 year old American boy selling for thousands of dollars (and that with no tertiary training); hence formal education has little to do with the product. It says something that practically all the great artists were poor in their day, some even trading their works for a meal… living, creating, day by day… So, to conclude; on the earlier question of art stagnating, and thence the future of Art... Art has been described as an indefinable and boundless thing/form, meaning the possibilities are endless, and as is so often the case when initially exploring a theory on a topic (in this case), one is enlightened and finds new avenues. Here's a quote of an artist friend of mine who was happy to share his opinion on what the future holds: The next great artist and art form will be found in the digital environment, is my opinion. We are still in an experimental stadium... Technique is taking all over, so obviously this also will happen in art… So, the Digital environment then, as the world wades through the plethora of new technology and how best to apply/implement it in/to our lives - so Art is in a veritable stage of self rediscovery (hence the labyrinth image) - exploring where it will venture to next. If you're still in the dark on this, then I urge you to explore it. Here's some images and quick links into this realm - the future: Digital Art - (& mini Artist Feature) |
[Banner illustration by Joel Kanar]
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