The objective and the question of past Thursday’s post (Open Question about Art) were to discover how other people converse about art. The answers I received were all inspiring and thought-provoking. Be sure to read all comments in full (here). Thank you to all who responded.
Julie said … “a work of art is a commodity, a come-on, and a symptom of fathomless aberrant human psychology!”
Will said... “Art is sacred because it has no end and no beginning; it has no definition, and stirs reflection and contemplation. Art is the one thing that is tangible yet still a mystery, a tangible mystery that keeps us coming back.”
Niall said… “Every conversation about the nature of 'Art' will have as many definitions as there are those involved in the conversation. This to me is good. Who can pin down the wind? Who can master the elements?...just when you think you've nailed it. Along comes someone else with a totally different point of view...Brilliant it is!”
Gary Nylander said… “Try to understand the language of art not by words but by being open, seeing and listening.”
Matthew Dallman’s (of POLYSEMY.org) response seems to be the most harmonic and resonating answer for me. To answer my original question about the un-definable language of art Dallman gave me a very good starting point.
“Talking about fine art means getting intimate with the object”
My current project “Ambient Art” has me more inspired than any other of my previous works. It’s an odd feeling to think that you are doing your best work (By the way I will be donating my ego to science when I die.) Nevertheless, I am having a hard time trying to explain what I am doing (even to myself). That is why the original post was conceived, I was trying to figure out a way to communicate exactly what I am doing.
Taking Dallman’s advice allows me to introduce to you “intimately” the concept of my work.
I want to get rid of the building blocks that are considered fundamental to the composition process of photography. The subject. I want to kill the idea of a subject. I want to remove the focal point in a photograph. I want to create photography that does not disregard the background, but evolves within and for its environment. I am trying to create photography that relates to the voyage of instrumental music. Thoroughly I feel that this project is generative art in that it flows in balance with nature, and that I will never be able to capture the same frame twice.
The language that is developed for art discussions may be to transcendental and existential for there to be one universal meaning. I guess if there was a universal language developed for the arts then we would no longer call it art but a science.
Science is not intimate.
