Category: Art

Selecting Limits

A primary goal in any art form is to select the limits of the work and communicate them to an imagined audience. A pencil sketch is different from an oil canvas. A tonal study has criteria which do not much resemble hard outlines . How well the final work succeeds is based on the selection of limits, the communication of these limits, and the impact of the finished product within its declared and accepted boundaries .

I think this is why we find children’s or “primitive” or amateur work so charming. We accept the basic proposition and enjoy the creation. No need to compare your child’s work to the Sistine chapel. “Grandma Moses” even finds a place in fine art museums .

We live, however, in an age of imagined limitlessness. Artists often refuse to accept any limits, and the result is a mess, whether a dinner or a sculpture or a book. Other artists rebel and set artificially narrow bounds which, even if successfully executed, are quite boring once the initial shock wears off .

So I happily say to myself “this and not that”, or “that’s enough”. My art is more satisfying for so doing. And I pretty much feel the same way about life in general .

AI and Pride

Perhaps we have all turned into John Henry, pounding railroad spikes trying to beat a machine. Artists are confronted with the same situation as other intellectual occupations – what used to take skill, pride, thought, and time can now be done by any teenager in a dull moment. The internet is flooded with AI images, movies, stories. Work has similarly vanished. Some of us remain luddites, stubbornly sticking to brush and pencil. Why? A waste of time…

But is it ?

Climbing a mountain or hiking in a forest is not the same as viewing a YouTube video of the adventure (not even – as technology advances – an IMAX immersion). Things we do for ourselves have both an outer and an inner component .

Accomplishment of something difficult brings pride. Even if it is only pounding spikes. Or painting a canvas .

The key is that doing something you like to do, either for the activity itself or for recognition, is a kind of play. The same task forced on you (especially repetitively) is a chore or boring job. We should avoid confusing the two .

Mankind evolved with hand coordination. In spite of our big brains, we remain a physically oriented species. I think AI art robs both the creator and the audience of that heritage. Except for the brief thrill of novelty, pride and satisfaction are completely missing .

Appreciation

I believe the primary goal of art is to instill appreciation. That is true whether one is creating it or absorbing it. All the rest is detail. That outlook applies to all types of artistry. Cooking, dancing, painting, whatever. A warm flush of “wellness” if it works. In current jargon, a re-enchantment with the world .

I approach my current pastels and sketches in such a mood. Not to “capture” what I see – that is done ad nauseum by photographs and photorealistic artists. Not to create salable artifacts, nor even some phantom dream of inclusion in the universal “museum without walls” . Just to fully engage in and appreciate a moment, in my case more easily accomplished by my clumsy actions. 

Oh I admit it’s nice to have a tangible marker of having been alive. A kind of pride at having “done something” rather than just sitting on the couch. Like writing, a verifiable trail to the past .

Nice relaxed attitude, a child again. I don’t much care if what I do closely resembles whatever inspired me. The goal is more the trance of a vision enabled by concentrated action. When I wake out of this state, if successful, I am relaxed and content with everything .