Art in a plastic bag

It is 2009 and I guess I have given up on the idea that art will raise it's head out of the filthy mess which is our state of indulgence gone rotten. The waste and spoils that have taken this country as well as many other western countries, and leaves the art world and the galleries to decay like Eliza's bridal banquet.
I still find it amusing that galleries do not realise that at best people visit on the notion of it being a little shop of horrors to titillate and shock their MP3 player shells and at worst they are places to get a cup of coffee and wait for the acid rain to pass. I wish I could be more positive about the art world but when you hear of famous artist laying off staff you realise that it is like microwave meals that are being churned out to the market and galleries. Do artists even make work themselves anymore at the top?
More to follow Mr Smith

The madness of art

The inclusion of ideas and images into more than just an object to function. Giving more than just an image, more than just an idea, but also a feeling to the viewer. I was contemplating about the subject of mental illness and how this condition is another case of extremes. We are all mentally ill. It is just that it exisits in different levels. Some people would disagree and say that we all have the potential to become mentally ill. I would argue that it is already inside each of us. It is just the saturation level that disguises it. We all suffer delusions and none rational fears of things, events, enviroments. Every friday night many of us actively seek out the means to become disorientated, light-headed, and mind altered when we visitpubs and clubs. People who suffer what we generally consider to be "mental illness" require (or need) structure, routine, and stability in their lives. Yet most of us follow that same path of a job, mortage, work, money, partner, pension, a house etc. So how does this fit into art and artwork you might ask? Well it seems that the same trends follow for an artist. Art it seems to make the same objects and works within its own saturation bracket. You might think or say that artists are all mad anyway? Yet I would respond by saying that they are all following a very tradional line/level of mental saturation.

Losing My Religion

In the beginning art had religion to feed it's own importance and ultimately give itself a reason for existing. Art was a shining ray of god's light that shone from mankind creative ability, and reached for the heavens to advertise all the great holy products. It is strange therefore to see how art has developed through the history of it's life so far. Art has dis-associated itself from religion with the coming of an industrial age, and is now more aligned to political and social dogma. Art has changed it's role to be less portrayal and more reflective, while taking on the role of shocking the audience. In my pursuit of the reason why art's humble beginnings lead me to believe that my quest is not merely one of tactile pleasure in making works, but there must be something more that drives an individual to invest so much time and money into this form of self indulgence.

Meaningless notions

I enjoy the notion that in life there is a reason for doing something, even if that thing seems meaningless in a structured and logical world. We spend far too much of our time in the wheel of day to day existence. We are lost in a cycle of money, role, work and the time that these processes take in order to live in modern Western environments. The concept of who you are and our importance amongst others.

• Why do we feel the need to be better than others?
• Is this urge a primeval response to survival that has been abducted by marketing forces?

Lost in Space

We are lost in a western culture of personal identity and product wealth. We are searching for some way to stand out from the mobile unit crowd. We are all becoming telephone islands lost in the plastic Buy! Buy! Buy! commercial reign of credit. We are unable to see beyond the round plastic lines and brushed steel finishes of the various utensils that make up our pursuit of happiness. The latest designer gear that is meant to make us all stand out, that actually makes us all look the same.

Why make art at all?

The question of why make art at all?

It is the question which normally follows on from “what relevance does art that is made today have on our current human existence or experience?”

I believe that art potentially has a relevant part to play in the human way of life. However it seems more than ever that art has become fragmented and embroiled into the path and ideology of "modern culture". Maybe art has always been a reflection on modern culture. Maybe it is modern culture that has fragmented and art merely responds.

It seems now more than ever that it is acceptable for anyone famous in modern culture to become a legitimate member of the artist fraternity. Gone are the days of studied learning under a master or attending a degree course in the arts field. You are more likely to be recognized as an artist if you are in OK magazine, or have won Big Brother. I am not saying that there are not legitimate people who attain the artist status in their own right though other media reorganization. There is along tradition of artists forming pop bands. It just seems easy than ever to be accepted in the art world if you are already a marketable proposition to begin with.

It seems now that the art fraternity is stepping from the shadows with television culture shows and magazines like Art Review dedicating more column width to Art curators and collectors than to art itself.

• Is art just about the market place?
• Does art require rich investors to excel?

In my earlier entry Monday, February 28, 2005 - “The desire to please in making art work” there are a number of reference to possible reasons for creating art work and achieving notoriety within this field. However there must be more to it than just a pat on the back and a few dollars stuffed in your pocket. The ideas, feeling, and energies that can flow from a painting, sculpture, installation or happening are more than just a fast buck or fifteen minutes of fame. Yet we all get sucked into a world of red wine and lights.

I like to think I still make art because I believe l still have something to say from the heart and from my soul and it is a natural skill I possess.

The desire to please in making art work

What does the desire to please mean in the making of art work? At which point does the desire to please take hold from the urge to express? I have always started at a point of reference which interests my own curiosity in any given subject. The concept of a desire to please and what value that holds to the creator intrigues me as it seems an alternative motive for the creation of work. Within the art formula theory there lies the benefits of financial reward and the perpetual motion of work being shown or viewed regularly and of course fitting in with one's peers, but is that enough and would an artist be able to just make work for those reasons without any personal bond or feeling for the creations themselves? This method is likened to an assembly line putting the elements together that they know will fit the fashion and keep the money rolling in, and adulation and fame focused. Historically of course art work was generated to order and payment, and was the indulgence of the wealthy. Maybe the artist's desire to please comes from the urge to be socially accepted in the higher order and maybe today's fraternity is a reflection of that era. I always felt that the creation of art and its practice was the desire to please only the creator and some kind of self help therapy was at its root.