FINALLY! i have some new paintings up. its taken way too long, but, they're here now. as always, i invite all your comments. if this is the first time you've seen my pseudo-website, check out some of my older posts to see more of my work. thanks!
biding time 4'x3'
here are a couple of paintings i've done over winter. i'm not done with them but am loosing steam. i'll fiddle with them more in the next few weeks. but they are nearing completion so i included them now anyway.
decision 18"x3'
landscape 3'x18"
i recently came across an interesting passage in a book i was reading, called Zen and the Birds of Appetite, by thomas merton. it got me thinking... it reads as follows:
"In our evaluation of the modern consciousness, we have to take into account the still overwhelming importance of the Cartesian cogito ["I think, therefore I am"]. Modern man, in so far as he is still Cartesian (he is of course going far beyond Descartes in many respects), is a subject for whom his own self-awareness as a thinking, observing, measuring and estimating "self" is absolutely primary. It is for him the one indubitable "reality," and all truth starts here. The more he is able to develop his consciousness as a subject over against objects, the more he can understand things in their relation to him and one another, the more he can manipulate these objects for his own interests, but also, at the same time, the more he tends to isolate himself in his own subjective prison, to become a detached observer cut off from everything else in a kind of impenetrable alienated and transparent bubble which contains all reality in the form of purely subjective experience. Modern consciousness then tends to create this solipsistic bubble of awareness -- an ego-self imprisoned in its own consciousness, isolated and out of touch with other such selves in so far as they are all "things" rather than persons."
it struck me how this mode of thinking was reflected in the art world (as well as the world at large, especially the scientific and scholarly/academic worlds, but since i am interested in the art world in this blog, i'll stick to that).
it seems that the idea of the concept (thats redundant! how appropriate..) has become a preeminent concern in the art world today. the main concern of many artists is not how they will make their next piece or what it will look like, or even if it will transmit a feeling or idea, but it is about the validity of the idea itself. how will they explain their idea and what will they say if someone disagrees with it. the artwork becomes secondary to the idea, and in many cases, merely illustrates the artist's explanation.
what does this all have to do with Cartesian consciousness? well, in my experience, it seems that the hyper self-conscious empirical ego, who constantly affirms itself ("I am"), is also in constant need of validation. while this is secondary to our Cartesian mode of thinking, it seems to go hand in hand with it. my ego is first self aware and then asks for that observation to be validated. in this same way, the artist now seems to construct his/ her idea first, feeling a need to form a complete concept, with a defense of their idea, how it should resonate with contemporary society, how he/she will manipulate the references (like objects) they want to make, etc.. -- in a nutshell, you have the hyper self aware "contemporary" artist! then there is the need for validity in work too, where the artist asks the viewer, critic, and historian to validate them through acceptance of their idea, and not through aesthetic criticism of their work. this, many times, has led to the artist having talked themselves out of making work because they feel they can't validate their idea, as if the actual activity of art making isn't valid in and of itself.
now obviously im not talking about all artists. and im also not saying that conceptual art is illegitimate. im not prone to extremes. but what i am saying is that perhaps the pervasiveness of conceptual art, as the now-institutionalized mainstream for the (arguably) past 60- 100 years is because it is reflective of our own societal Cartesian neurosis.
so how, as artists, do we then move past the alienating, self-obsessed self-awareness and just make honest genuine work free of self-conscious agendas, and also free ourselves from idea-negating thoughts that eventually cause us to stop working? well, here is what i've come up with, and it is the reason im still going out into my studio right now and dare to paint figurative, nostalgic-looking paintings. my conclusion is to focus on art making as a valid contemplative experience -- art making as thought process. but not just as a metaphor, but truly as an actual way to think. i am not talking about the other random thoughts that go through my head while i am working, but the actual physical process of working from the initial sketches and images, the color choices, the very act of and engagement with my materials in order to transform them into something more. how is this a thought process? well, because i am engaged in it. i am simply doing -- sometimes struggling and sometimes thinking and always engaged when i am working, and i am making intuitive decisions, and i am following a process that is set out for me but it is never the same twice. it is a thought process like dreaming or intuition are thought processes. it isn't necessarily pre-planned and logical, but that is the point -- to rid myself of the hyper self aware, self questioning ego in constant need of validation of what it is doing as worth while and acceptable. while this may or may not help produce great work (that judgement is left to the viewers), it does help me get myself out to the studio each day, because my priority in making work is not the idea, but the thought process itself.
there is no point to life; it is found in the living. perhaps for artists, there shouldn't be a point to the work. the point lies in the making of the work instead. and the viewer can then find their own function for it after it has been made.
