Its funny, well strange in a pondering way. All those years ago at art school the tutors would get you to talk endlessly about your work, how it was developing, where the inspiration came from and what it meant. In reality, outside in the big wide world away from art school, OK well away (14 years) from art school, I find I now want to speak about my work... but very few ever ask about it or question it.
My tutors were exasperated when time after time I exclaimed "what you see is what you get" or "you tell me"! In my fight to put my foot down and not explain myself (hoping that my work would do the speaking for me) I admit I missed part of the point. They were only trying to make me understand myself and the work I had produced and how to sell it all as a package. But I hated doing it! Some students seemed to be able to reel off huge thoughts and deep meanings about there work... all bullsh*t and a waist of time to me!
I could not believe that for a piece of work to succeed it had to come with an A4 paper document explaining the process & thoughts. Why should one artwork succeed with verbal garbage and not be of any quality, when a another would fail because of lack of explanation, but be of equal if not a higher standard? I could never see why the observer couldn't look at it and understand the piece for him or herself? Surely the whole point is how you express yourself and how the beholder sees and understands it... how it speaks to them... AND how they relate to it? It is the interaction between the three ~ the artist, the work and the observer...
I guess somewhere out there; there are lots of art students still going through this process. Either, excelling in portraying their work, agonising how to make themselves sound important and prove that they are better than the nonsense that their colleagues spout out. I wonder how many of them continue after college and what percentage of talent goes by the wayside?
A couple of my tutors didn't believe that I would continue after art school... "go get married, have babies and get a nanny" was one tutors advice! I wonder if they know I have done it all (apart from the nanny bit) AND that I am still making/creating ceramic artworks! The saddest thing of all, is that out of at least 20 odd ceramic students in my year, only 2 if not 3 of us are still making and creating as far as I know.
This blog has really made me stop and think. But, all this pondering is a double edged knife ~ on one hand I now know what I'm making and feel fairly confident with it and how I portray myself; but on the other, it is my downfall... It leaves me wondering if I am spouting rubbish myself?! Asking if my work is any good or if it is too commercial, if it speaks for itself, or if anybody is interested - does anybody care? After all every piece of work is a little bit of you, so there is always going to be that inkling of self-doubt, it natural.
I suppose it's the need for standing up and being counted. I don't want my fifteen minutes of fame, I don't necessarily want to make a big difference to the world, but on a very small level it would be nice to be heard, understood and not ignored.
My tutors were exasperated when time after time I exclaimed "what you see is what you get" or "you tell me"! In my fight to put my foot down and not explain myself (hoping that my work would do the speaking for me) I admit I missed part of the point. They were only trying to make me understand myself and the work I had produced and how to sell it all as a package. But I hated doing it! Some students seemed to be able to reel off huge thoughts and deep meanings about there work... all bullsh*t and a waist of time to me!
I could not believe that for a piece of work to succeed it had to come with an A4 paper document explaining the process & thoughts. Why should one artwork succeed with verbal garbage and not be of any quality, when a another would fail because of lack of explanation, but be of equal if not a higher standard? I could never see why the observer couldn't look at it and understand the piece for him or herself? Surely the whole point is how you express yourself and how the beholder sees and understands it... how it speaks to them... AND how they relate to it? It is the interaction between the three ~ the artist, the work and the observer...
I guess somewhere out there; there are lots of art students still going through this process. Either, excelling in portraying their work, agonising how to make themselves sound important and prove that they are better than the nonsense that their colleagues spout out. I wonder how many of them continue after college and what percentage of talent goes by the wayside?
A couple of my tutors didn't believe that I would continue after art school... "go get married, have babies and get a nanny" was one tutors advice! I wonder if they know I have done it all (apart from the nanny bit) AND that I am still making/creating ceramic artworks! The saddest thing of all, is that out of at least 20 odd ceramic students in my year, only 2 if not 3 of us are still making and creating as far as I know.
This blog has really made me stop and think. But, all this pondering is a double edged knife ~ on one hand I now know what I'm making and feel fairly confident with it and how I portray myself; but on the other, it is my downfall... It leaves me wondering if I am spouting rubbish myself?! Asking if my work is any good or if it is too commercial, if it speaks for itself, or if anybody is interested - does anybody care? After all every piece of work is a little bit of you, so there is always going to be that inkling of self-doubt, it natural.
I suppose it's the need for standing up and being counted. I don't want my fifteen minutes of fame, I don't necessarily want to make a big difference to the world, but on a very small level it would be nice to be heard, understood and not ignored.
No comments:
Post a Comment