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December 01, 2004
The good the bad and the ugly
Can you just do what you want? Well you can, but you have to accept the consequences. [This is a life thing, I feel, not just an art thing.] And art is very much an I’ll-do-what-I-want-because-I-think-it’s-important process these days.
It wasn’t always like this, art adhered to rules like any other way of life. It has always dealt with emotions, as have the other branches on the tree: music and writing to name but two. But it wasn’t until the nineteenth century that art [painting and sculpture] was raised to an intellectual pursuit. The artist left the high street, took up in the garret, and so began the long struggle of the mind.
There is no reason to paint, no necessity. But man has made marks on his surroundings from the beginnings of time. There seems to be a need to record feelings, to communicate. Dogs piss on lampposts to communicate; other dogs being able to determine the mood, health and status from the smell.
The exchange of information seems a fundamental requirement, after being kept warm and dry, fed and caressed occasionally. But should we communicate everything and anything? Is it open season? The Good the Bad and the Ugly?
Why not? We just have to accept the consequences.
Posted by john at December 1, 2004 11:05 AM
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