Thank you so much, Scott.
Ya know, a lot of people, whether they're friends of mine, or people that I meet for a second at a convention, will say that they 'know nothing about art', and I honestly think that it's a shame. Not that they 'know nothing', but that they think they 'know nothing'.
The fact is, they're certain people who can talk about art with a lot of intimidating words and ideas, stuff that they may have read in history or theory books, or have just managed to formulate on their own. And, I feel like those people can make art seem like it's only something for the overprivileged and well-read, and then to everyone else, art can become pretty intimidating.
So, when someone can look at my own work and say that it just makes them feel a certain way (whether they can describe the feeling or not), I feel like they know everything about art. I guess what I'm trying to say is that acknowledgment of a feeling is more important than a description of it. It's similar to the idea that you (and everyone on this board) collect memorabilia, baseball cards and the like because you have some sort of connection to the stuff. It hits you on a gut level (excuse the Woody Allen reference). Maybe it's because of the attachment to the game. Maybe it's because of the connection with fathers and grandfathers. Maybe it's because you love the way those old uniforms look. No matter, you were drawn into it because it makes you feel something.
I think that's all anyone needs to know about art, that it has the power to do that.
I'm off my soapbox now.
|