my answer.

the art boat is home. the art boat is a safe place, the art boat is somewhere that i can be tucked in at night, and someone will make me french toast in the morning. the art boat is the place in my mind where i know that i am loved even though i can't see it, and i know that i am supported even though i can't feel it. the art boat is magic, the art boat is god. my friends are the art boat, and my friends are my family. the art boat keeps me floating even if were traveling aimlessly, i honestly don't need much more, the concept of the art boat exists and that's enough to keep me fighting.

i want the art boat to be my home until one day i feel safe enough to share myself, and it, with the world. i don't think that day is today. i just want to go home.

so

what do we do now?

I feel seasick. (or the lonely dialogue).

I feel as though we've been drifting...which is not necessarily bad. Only we're all drifting in different ways. And all drifting away from this space. So...I pose a question. Because I'm curious. And I think it might have a little to do with why we drift so much.

Why is art important?

A Call to Arms/Arts.

So. CBGB's closed yesterday and The Brooklyn Rail posted a little tribute article about it, and the state of the arts scene. I thought it was appropriate and inspring. It's good to stir up the troops, because I think we're all (ie. the country) far to comfortable.

What can I say- it made me smile, it made me angry, and it made me want to make things.

Farewell to CBGB's

This is one of my favourite parts:

I’m talking about getting brutally weird again. I’m talking about doing art that’s beyond co-option. I’m talking about forging new myths. I’m talking about creative resistance that scares the shit out of the rich robots, Sex in the City slaves, stockbrokers, cultural gatekeepers and pigs in power.

Food for thought.

art is a process

art is a process

not much more

not much less

it is what you do at the end of everyday to make yourself whole again

the art happens in the doing

i never want to forget that

why art is like god. sort of.

Here are my slightly disorganized thoughts on art...

Art is expression. For me, in both making and viewing or experiencing art, this is what it boils down to. There are so many kinds of art, but this has always tied them together for me. Some might be simple, guttural, emotional expressions. For some the act of making a quilt is more an expression of love or caring than anything else. A graffiti tag, at its most basic being an expression of ownership. Some art might not be intended for an audience--it might not be intended to be art at all. Then there is more "intentional art". When we make a film we agonize over every detail, every meaning--all trying to make sure that we are conveying the meaning or story that we want-expressing the ideas we want. When it's all said and done I think everyone is just trying to express something. To communicate.
In terms of the creation of art, this might not be the most specific definition, but it seems like a bottom line of sorts.

As I said, I don't think conscious intention is a necessary prerequisate for art, so I don't think audience matters in the question of what qualifies as art. (I do however think it's important in any consideration of the value of art or of the significance of art...more on this at a later date) I think an expression can just as easily be intended for yourself as for someone else. It's probably not necessary to get into a discussion of Freud or psychology here, but I think it's entirely possible that through our art we are trying to find a way to communicate with ourselves. (call me crazy if you want :)) We're constantly changing (and I mean constantly--I rarely feel the same about a scene or a drawing ten minutes after it's done as I did before I started).
I guess all I'm trying to say is that if audience is important, that we shouldn't forget or devalue the idea that we can be our own audience. Sometimes communicating with other people has to start with communicating with ourselves.

And sure there might be holes in this theory. It's an extremely broad definition; it could include practically anything. You might say "what about this couch/road sign/tv set/whatever? is it art too?" and I would just have to say sure....it's art. I don't get it, but somewhere there is a person who looks at that couch and sees something that I don't see. I don't think it's all that different than seeing a film or seeing an abstract painting and saying to yourself... "I don't really get it".

If we don't see the art all the time, it's okay. Doesn't mean it's not there. Doesn't mean it's not art. When it comes right down to it I don't want to change (limit) my idea of art to fit what I am able to see as art--I'd rather change what I see or more precisely, how I see it.

I think in order to make "new" art, I might have to learn to see art in new places.

I don't know. I think this could just be a matter of faith. I don't believe god exists, but I believe art does.

This is really profound....

Hey can someone send me the email with the physical addresses in it? Oh and art schmart fart dart part cart tart bart... heart? yeah that's right.

The Life Boat?

I'm moving this discussion here because, well, it's become a dialogue, and damn if this blog isn't called "The Dialogue." So to catch up, read my original post and Tiina's reply.

Tiina, I agree that "art = life" makes sense as a metaphor, rallying cry, or Zen koan. Where I believe it possibly falls short is in creating a useful theory of art, and Ben has finally convinced me that knowledge of theory is actually important in the work of an artist (okay, it wasn't Ben that convinced me per se, but he was the first to try, so I'm giving him the credit).

The more I think about your reply, the more I'm convinced that I also disagree that art doesn't need to be seen (or heard, or felt, or tasted, or smelt). I don't believe a painting is itself art. Art isn't a thing so much as something that happens (kind of like love). It exists somewhere between the painting and the person looking at it. Art is communication, and I guess you could say people communicate with themselves all the time. For me, however, the connection isn't complete until someone else sees it (or hears it, or feels it, or tastes it, or smells it).

P.S. I also agree that shoes on a power line are a kind of folk art akin to graffiti. Hmm. Anyone up for a shoes on a power line project?

Welcome to THE DIALOGUE

Here is where we can discuss anything we want - about the state of the Art Community or our own projects collectively - basically create a dialogue for all to join in.