“Art is a completed pass. You don’t just throw it out into the world – someone has to catch it”.
James Turrell
This one popped out at me this week, in part because we are holding our first Open Studio this weekend, with equal parts excitement and fear.
I think one could go all existential with this - along the lines of if a tree falls in the forest...
Kind of, but not quite The funny line one could follow here I think, is that you could explore the idea that an artwork is not an artwork unless somebody else sees it views, it touches, hears it or experiences it.
Which is not where I wanted to go with it, but as I began pondering that idea popped up. Another time maybe.
But back to where I thought I was going, is that I like the idea from these words, that the fullest and most rewarding element of an art work is when an exchange occurs between the work and another. I find it so rewarding when something I have conceived of and made finds its right place in the world with another person who just gets it.
To have someone other than myself appreciate it, understand it, revel in it even is quite the buzz!
James Turrell's work "Within, Without" at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, 2011
James Turrell
This one popped out at me this week, in part because we are holding our first Open Studio this weekend, with equal parts excitement and fear.
I think one could go all existential with this - along the lines of if a tree falls in the forest...
Kind of, but not quite The funny line one could follow here I think, is that you could explore the idea that an artwork is not an artwork unless somebody else sees it views, it touches, hears it or experiences it.
Which is not where I wanted to go with it, but as I began pondering that idea popped up. Another time maybe.
But back to where I thought I was going, is that I like the idea from these words, that the fullest and most rewarding element of an art work is when an exchange occurs between the work and another. I find it so rewarding when something I have conceived of and made finds its right place in the world with another person who just gets it.
To have someone other than myself appreciate it, understand it, revel in it even is quite the buzz!
James Turrell's work "Within, Without" at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, 2011
whenever this idea comes up I remember a very shy guitarist who would only play his music when he thought no one was home in the share house we lived in back in the 70's in Adelaide, he played so beautifully but the only way to hear him was to pretend no one was home and be very very quiet
ReplyDeleteThat is such a poignant word image Mo; and so who knows in the end? His music was beautiful with or without an audience; yet with an audience it was something different, maybe something more...
DeleteThis is such an interesting line of thought. The interaction between artist and beholder can be so powerful...like a direct arrow into the heart. I think every artist would like to make something that truly touches others and every beholder searches and hopes to be touched. The meeting of the two creates the electrical connection that expands and moves beyond the work itself.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely an arrow to the heart Dana! I often think of these exchanges as from my heart to yours - and I very often make that gesture as I say it... I think too that we all make for different reasons, at different times and sometimes we search for the added meaning that completes the work when others have connected and understood; and at others the reason for the making is simply to bring something forth that you need to bring forth and the final destination is of less import. I oftentimes think that once a work goes to live with somebody else; that of course the narrative of the work will change, the teller of its story will add their insights and reflections and meanings and others will interpret again and again in different ways...what a lovely meander that is. Go well.
DeleteFiona, I shared this with a friend and her response is: "Each viewer brings something of themselves to each piece of art. And changes it. The changes are not permanent but they are there.
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone can 'get' a work exactly as the artist does. And nor should they."
And this is why I never take a critic's word for anything, but read, listen, view for myself.
As always, you encourage further thinking. Thank you.
Oh what a gratifying response from your friend Di! I am sitting with the thought of the invisible changes wrought upon a work by the varying life stories and thoughts and understandings brought upon it by those who view it. What a delight! Critics are the worst for shaping an understanding I think...go well!
DeleteIt’s funny, I think this way more with written work than cloth, but I would venture that even an audience of one can count as a “land.”
ReplyDeleteI like how we have to think about it in different ways Dee - one is definitely a land! Some of my work that makes my heart feel like melted honey is work I am sure nobody else really responds to - and so I don't need that response; but oftentimes it is enormously validating and exciting to think that the work in its unknown and unspoken language has communicated beautifully! And like you, I think the written word almost does need to be read - but then does a journal/diary? Sigh. Pondering shall continue! Go well.
Deletecall and response ... yes, it is indeed the best kind of buzz
ReplyDeleteTo put it slightly crassly Liz - I do like a feedback loop! Although of course I am also happy sitting quietly with the work I like the best, even if nobody else gets it...contradictions and complexities are life I guess. Go well.
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