questioning from a neurotic artist-crafter wannabe
summer, once again, has proven itself to be a difficult time for me to "work" on art . i have a collection of excuses - "oh, but i worked so hard for months", "i did finish a piece in may", "the lazy days of summer inspires, well, laziness", "so many interests, so little time"...i really don't have an excuse. after all, i am only working part-time so that i can spend more time on art. there really is never enough time...
ironically, my girlfriend aviva remarked recently, when i showed her what i had been working on, "wow, you're so productive"--maybe not in those exact words, but i was surprised that she thought i had been so busy. of course, i showed her my knitting & woodturning, which does not (at least for now) fall into the art category, so doesn't count. sure, i have some vague plans of incorporating those skills into an art project at some point (soon, i hope). everything i do and learn is stored away for some future project. that's my justification and official response to the critical voice in my head. ok, so perhaps there is something to mike's point that i am spending too much time looking at, buying and touching yarn. being obsessive can have it's benefits and detriments.
i do wonder about art vs. craft. the exhibition mike and i went to on friday at moca-- poetics of the handmade--is fodder for thought. what is the difference between art and craft? i love getting into the details, working with my hands, embracing the obsessive side of my nature, finding the internal logic, developing and perfecting the skills and working it. this can be an experience shared by both, though not necessarily required by art. does the distinction have to do with intentionality? this is the thought that enters my brain when someone asks what makes something art. i don't really like to put vague thoughts into words for fear that it detract from my making art. among other things, i hope that my work incorporates my belief that art is defined by the maker, and begins, at least for me, as a personal endeavor.
with regards to craft, there exists a relationship with function. it seems in the film, Craft in America (which by the way is awesome and amazing), craft is defined by being useful, although some of the featured artists made things that only had the appearance of utility. does it matter? obviously, i'm thinking about it. i like making things, useful AND otherwise. it's not that one is better than the other, but when time is limited, i often have to make decisions about which of the many things on my want to do list has higher priority. my attempt to manage time involves compartmentalizing things.
the artists in the poetics show have managed to bring craft to their art, and art to their craft. i have to say i loved most of the pieces, which included 2200 (turned and/or cast) tubes of varying shades of lipstick in finely crafted shapes, what appeared to be a somewhat languishing and rotting vegetable garden (not real but looked damn real down to wilty asparagus and tomato plants), brightly colored plasticine mooshed together and finely sculpted into swirly psychedelic imagery (the photos of another piece by the same artist of birds made from plasticine looked like a beautiful oil painting), an installation of mechanistic-human figures, flowers, butterflies being gobbled up and trampled by war-like machines spewing fumes--all cut from colorful currency--that would be money in laymen's terms, abstract minimalist architectural landscapes cut from paper, drypoint (a printmaking process) done delicately and with obsessive detail on aluminum foil, a fascinating sculpture made from toothpicks and plasticine...
even if the making of art is as elusive as defining it for myself, i am "experiencing" it plenty to be inspired. i boxed up version "1.5" of photo of my late father, but am now thinking about how i can recycle/turn it into some sort of sculpture. i also have an idea for the leftover plywood squares from my 28 days project.
ironically, my girlfriend aviva remarked recently, when i showed her what i had been working on, "wow, you're so productive"--maybe not in those exact words, but i was surprised that she thought i had been so busy. of course, i showed her my knitting & woodturning, which does not (at least for now) fall into the art category, so doesn't count. sure, i have some vague plans of incorporating those skills into an art project at some point (soon, i hope). everything i do and learn is stored away for some future project. that's my justification and official response to the critical voice in my head. ok, so perhaps there is something to mike's point that i am spending too much time looking at, buying and touching yarn. being obsessive can have it's benefits and detriments.
i do wonder about art vs. craft. the exhibition mike and i went to on friday at moca-- poetics of the handmade--is fodder for thought. what is the difference between art and craft? i love getting into the details, working with my hands, embracing the obsessive side of my nature, finding the internal logic, developing and perfecting the skills and working it. this can be an experience shared by both, though not necessarily required by art. does the distinction have to do with intentionality? this is the thought that enters my brain when someone asks what makes something art. i don't really like to put vague thoughts into words for fear that it detract from my making art. among other things, i hope that my work incorporates my belief that art is defined by the maker, and begins, at least for me, as a personal endeavor.
with regards to craft, there exists a relationship with function. it seems in the film, Craft in America (which by the way is awesome and amazing), craft is defined by being useful, although some of the featured artists made things that only had the appearance of utility. does it matter? obviously, i'm thinking about it. i like making things, useful AND otherwise. it's not that one is better than the other, but when time is limited, i often have to make decisions about which of the many things on my want to do list has higher priority. my attempt to manage time involves compartmentalizing things.
the artists in the poetics show have managed to bring craft to their art, and art to their craft. i have to say i loved most of the pieces, which included 2200 (turned and/or cast) tubes of varying shades of lipstick in finely crafted shapes, what appeared to be a somewhat languishing and rotting vegetable garden (not real but looked damn real down to wilty asparagus and tomato plants), brightly colored plasticine mooshed together and finely sculpted into swirly psychedelic imagery (the photos of another piece by the same artist of birds made from plasticine looked like a beautiful oil painting), an installation of mechanistic-human figures, flowers, butterflies being gobbled up and trampled by war-like machines spewing fumes--all cut from colorful currency--that would be money in laymen's terms, abstract minimalist architectural landscapes cut from paper, drypoint (a printmaking process) done delicately and with obsessive detail on aluminum foil, a fascinating sculpture made from toothpicks and plasticine...
even if the making of art is as elusive as defining it for myself, i am "experiencing" it plenty to be inspired. i boxed up version "1.5" of photo of my late father, but am now thinking about how i can recycle/turn it into some sort of sculpture. i also have an idea for the leftover plywood squares from my 28 days project.
Labels: art
posted by bluepupae at 11:00 PM
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