I need to take some time to breathe and break the confines of structure and preconceived ideas. Sometimes it can be valuable and therapeutic to an artist to release from all of the rules, and simply enjoy the journey of creating; as well as the overall actions of rudimentary skills being applied. This has led me to dive back into my love/hate relationship with Jackson Pollock. As long as I can remember have had issues with the Post-Impressionism and some Contemporary movements for their almost snobbish lack of definition, detail, and purpose.
There are many schools of thought and infinitely many more numbers of subject matter and mediums in the art world. That being said what defines "art"? For me personally, art is a means of communication, a universal language that transcends spoken bounds allowing for a learning and dialogue between the artist, viewers, and their internal selves. I had trouble identifying with the likes of Andy Warhol, Pollock, Yoko Ono, and many others in this movement due to their lack of respect for this responsibility to use art with a purpose. In more recent years it has become a self revelation that art doesn't always have to be shared with others, doesn't always have to have a purpose, and doesn't always have to mean something.
Why have I been able to finally been able to get on board with this side of the art world? It has a lot to do with my own self exploration and the feelings I have been working through. I am able to see that artist like Pollock were using their non-descriptive, loose, abstract, expressionist, no-holds-barred process of creating art, to allow them a vehicle for working though their internal thoughts, ideas, and struggles. Almost like a catharsis or purging there is no real reason or meaning but the feeling that the "art" has to come out. For the artist it could mean everything, and nothing, be private, or shared.
Likewise for the viewer the reaction to a nondescript piece could fall the same way. This is also similar to the create and destroy art process or even the creation of crafts. In the end the real "art" lies in all the parts not just the end result. It can be the methodical nature in which materials are selected and prepped. Then move into getting ones feet wet like a curious child. To following the directions to the end goal, and/or to the destruction of the piece as a lesson of the temporary nature of things. I was even considering how from a therapy and meditation standpoint one may quilt, knit, wood carve, or create something with specific structure and instructions. Not unlike how a Buddhist would work on a zen garden or colored sand art mural, or how a political demonstrator may have a person cut strips of their clothing or leave comments in a box. Even how pollock splattered paint just to release, move forward, process, discover ect...
I have a new respect for this dialogue the artist has with him/herself, their materials, and the journey with all the power it can have to let us come to new understandings as we work through tough things. I took some time to create a "digital pollock" today and I called it "Brightly cH@0tic & Melodic", because I kept hearing a rhythm in my mind as it was created. When I slowed down and sped up and stayed loose, I was appreciating just the visuals as the color and lines took form for me. Hope you like!!!
Sometimes it's great to just let loose and paint what you feel. Some of my favorite pieces of art in my own collection have been my "blindfold experiment" pieces where I had no control of color scheme, definition, depth etc, something that at times takes over and becomes more about the symmetrical feeling to the piece which I feel takes away from me as an artist.
ReplyDeleteHey thanks so much for the reply and comment on the post. I will have to try the blind painting method it sounds interesting and like a great exercise in letting go and getting connected to the processes. I have tried Blind-Contour drawings this is where you look at a subject and draw it following the contours and line work of the piece without regard to shading or values. It is interesting because it allows you to work on muscle memory by training you hand to follow you eye when it pertains to shape, form, and attention, to positive, and negative spaces. It really helped me out as an animator and cartoonist because it is so rigid and line bases, but this is the opposite of totally letting go. From what you describe it seems like the separation is in the matter of actually being able to see and having specific guidelines for the drawing whereas the blind painting is more about connecting. I would love to see some of these pieces if you are comfortable sharing them with me. Also I believe you were supposed to send me the link to your short story writing you are doing lately. Again thanks for the honest feedback and taking the time to drop a comment ;)
DeleteThat's really cool how it came together. Beautiful. But, being art-ignorant, I would think that all art means something, even if the artist him or herself isn't sure what.
ReplyDeleteFirstly thank you for your comment and reply I appreciate the feedback as well as the compliment. I suppose you could say that about artwork of all kinds even if he artists have no intention to create a piece that has meaning whether they can explain or not. I suppose this is true even for the viewer. I guess it allows the piece to take on a meeting of its own in that fact that it does not have such a clear concise purpose to begin with. I know it is the case that there are certain abstractions artist create based on feelings and moods alone. They do not confine themselves to structure, shape, or subject matter merely approaching their piece or project with sensitivity to how they feel about the colors used or even the medium they are working in.
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