An Art Primer, what is Art?

Hello dear reader, Instead of leaving you with a personal entry marked for the eyes of “Le Fay” I thought I’d blow off some firecrackers for you. Another Art Primer…this time What is Art? Yeah I know I promised the next one would be design...but I've been working on it. Design is sorta the religion aspect of Art. It's done with a feel, with a sense. To teach it is always done in hindsight, one takes successful designs and dissects them to find out where they work and why. My design books give formula's which when I boil them down I will be happy to share but it has to be handled delicately. It’s sorta like scientifically proving a miracle.

I think now would be a good time to discuss the Subject of Art. What is it? What isn't it (if you will allow such statement to be made)? The shortest definition of Art is that it is a collection of materials assembled in such a fashion that the sum is more then the parts. But then the same thing could be said of 1957 Buick. To add to that definition it can’t “do” anything unless that doing something is the part of the piece. Now that seems odd. For instance, Alexander Caldwell made art that moves…his first pieces were done with motors and gears and drive mechanism…however one really wouldn’t use it as a timer, although one could. His later things in this Vein were what we call “Mobiles": they move according to a pattern that is within the reach of its construction but unpredictable. It moves at its own whim and the whim of whatever breeze may be passing by it. I guess this old chestnut still works best...a famous example is Rauschenberg’s mattress. Robert Rauschenberg did a painting on a mattress. Now if you were locked in the gallery over night, you could take this mattress off the wall and sleep on it, thus using the materials for their initial purpose…but according to Aesthetic theory (aesthetics is the Philosophy of Art) when Rauschenberg painted on the mattress, the mattress as an object ceased to exist. It became an element of the painting. Thus if I were to take a 1957 Buick into a museum and light it on fire as an expression of Art , I’d document the fire and show it with the end product, then the vehicle would no longer be a vehicle but a piece of Artwork.

Now, we’re getting into the Avante Garde uses of Art, and it’s a place that I personally try really really hard to avoid. In my opinion Art requires discipline and the motivation to a finished product. The product of Love between two people is a baby, although the Process is indeed unique and I might add as an enjoyable a process as most of us has come across it is completely separate from the finished product, it is the end result. (I get this feeling that if one were to know that at the end of every sexual act one would instantly have a baby, we'd have a lot of one family single parent house holds, and sex would take on a completely different reputation.)

I think I'll stay with this...It proves a point that I'm trying to make...bear with me.
If one were to visit some new parents and ask to be shown baby pictures we would expect pictures of the child after it was born…rarely have I been shown the video of its arrival, as miraculous as it is and never ever been shown video of its conception. That sorta film is a completely different sorta experience and rarely does one wish to follow from conception through the process of its arrival and then be shown the product. It just isn’t done, that sort visual is private and rarely seen by any who weren’t initially involved. Personally if I had been shown a movie of my conception and my mother’s Labor (which was extremely difficult as she related to me when ever she wanted me to do something that I didn’t want to do) I’m just sure I’d need a whole lot of therapy to put it into perspective. It’s the same with Art. Seeing Art done might be interesting, and Artistic, but the process is private and personal. It’s the finished piece that one sees as Art...I think that I, an old stick in the mud must separate Art from Performance art and put the latter in the category of "drama."

It might be more enriching to watch Michelangelo Paint the Sistine and watch him make his decisions why it was done that way, but for Michelangelo it was personal and private. No one was allowed to see him work, not even the Pope who hired him. I’m sure I’m getting a lot of other Artists upset by this but, you know what? I don’t care…My opinion. And THAT dear reader is what art is. Art is an object or experience that adds to the humanity of the person viewing it, based on their opinion. Art triggers the same aspect of our mind that sees objects in clouds, images in ink blots, the Virgin Mary in a cheese sandwich, or redemption in a De Kooning Painting.

For me Art is a structured response. Art is planned and has “happy accidents” that are more powerful then the planned movement. I once compared ART to doing a dance on stones in a pond. In order for it to be a dance it must be planned. Freedom without discipline is chaos.
Unfortunately I'm in the minority on this particular field. Oh well...it wouldn't be the first time.

A friend gave me something that Nature produced. It looks like some sorta fish. It’s actually the knot of a branch that got buried and had the rest of the branch except the knot worn away, the sand and wear of the weather changed the nature of it so that it took on the appearance of something unique; my hand was drawn to it...as were my eyes. I had to have it and it was given to me. It looks completely natural but unlike a piece of wood. I’m designing in my head a box for it that is totally opposite of this object. I want the box to constructed out of man made materials, have angles and sharp edges to counteract the organic-ness of the object. This will enhance the organic qualities of the object. It’s in process…we’ll see if it’s ART when I’m finished. If I can accomplish marrying these two things so that both are viable on their own, but incomplete without the other then I have accomplished Art. The subject is more complicated then these…trust me. But this gives you something to think about next time you’re looking at something and asking “is this Art?” I might delve further into this subject later. We’ll see.
IF you really want to impress somebody take a painting and turn it upside down...you'll lose the image and the way it's "built" will come into view. I do this with Hokusai prints all the time...that would teach you more about design then I could.