Art is not the art you thought was art, sometimes

Art, what is it? That's a tough question really. How can one even answer that? Is it subjective? Does it have rules or guides or some qualitative objectivity? The question has at least two parts, what has it been and what is it becoming? There are a thousand permutations from the tangents, but let's just think about two halves since we are in the middle. There is art that will be and art that was. If art will be produced in the future and if that is different in any way from the art we now know or did know, then you have to resort to some other metric to discern the answer to 'what is art?'. Half of the answer could be a legitimate review of what has passed as art before historically, but that is only half. And how can you really compare the art of the past with art today or tomorrow? The context alone is all off.
In that first half it is easy enough to go back and observe the current world's consensus on Van Gogh, Modigliani, Bernini, Rembrandt, or Mozart to name some examples. Not all of these artists were considered artists in their time nor was the body of work recognized as art. Some yes, but not all and this has given modern (not necessarily modernist) artists a sense of safety in the notion, "well, I am misunderstood in my time," or "my work will be recognized after I am gone, but it IS art".
It is here that artists rely on the other half of the question about art in the future because no one knows. There is also the expectation for artists to do something new, to pave new ground, to discover something.
That's all fine. I believe art does discover, but I don't believe that is it's purpose per se. But I digress.
What is it then? Let's start with what it isn't. Art is not an oil painting. It isn't a sculpture or music composed. It isn't effort or toil or time spent on a piece. Art is not concentration and it is not beyond us. Art is not a pencil drawing. It is not charcoal, ink, a brush stroke, hype, hyperbole, price, or showmanship much in the same way sex is not pregnancy or birth.
Yes, bad sex can lead to a baby (jeff koons), but a baby is art. Yes there can be pretty babies and ugly babies and we can disagree on which is which. There can be abnormal babies and a huge variety otherwise. Some babies die. Many become something after being a baby. Are they still art then?
This question and all of those implied in the previous paragraph is much easier to answer than to come up with a definition of what is art? No, I will spare you my answers for those questions too. Not to ruin the day, but I alone cannot create the definition of art. It changes and it requires participation with all that observe it to define it.
But, the next time you view something that could be art, whether hanging in a museum or in a pile of trash under a bridge or in a garage in Glendale ask yourself, "is this life or is it the wet spot that almost was?"

First Friday at the Just Breathe Wellness Sanctuary

It's First Friday again, the monthly Scottsdale art walk. Please come down and take in the art and atmosphere in downtown Scottsdale. This is the best time of year for this event so it should prove to be a good turn out.

This month you can find some of my earlier work displayed at the Just Breathe Wellness Sanctuary ( www.justbreathewellness.com ). It can be found online or listed on the free gallery maps distributed throughout the stops.

Now get out there and get some art!

In my heart is a knife man

Tonight, I am a knife man. That's all I can commit to right now, but I may really be a knife man in 2009.
There are a million arguments against; isn't it like cheating? it is for the impatient, it is without discipline, it's primitive, it's bound by opaque etc.

A knife delivers the brush strokes I want a brush to stroke. A brush is indispensable make no mistake, namely in early stages among others, but a knife can be subtle and always strong and nuanced. Every stroke is spontaneity of energy yet imbued with intent. Every stroke is a thought first and a life of its own thereafter. If the color is not worked out ahead of time it will distract. But if you create the right color by mixing it on the canvas it too looks brilliant. On that note, it stands up strong and bright if you intend it to. It randomizes pattern. It unifies disparity. I'm almost always satisfied if I use it with confidence. That's the key, confidence. The false kind will expose itself right away. It has to be the real thing. The kind hailing from knowledge and experience.

My knife is at times like sculpting while at others the opposite. It is at times like sculpting in that I chisel at the surface to reveal or expose something. It can dig out the truth under the surface. This comes early in the knifing stages. This is usually responsible for atmosphere and improving edges. I tend to bend knives in this stage.

The opposite of this technique is the whipped topping, the dance of texture. This is a build up stage, not a cutting one. It is the staging floor of color. It is the spire atop the monument and good ball bearings in the wheel of a homeless grocery cart. It is the moot in smooth. I tend to drop knives often in this stage. I hold it so lightly the surface of the paint pulls it from my finger tips.

In my heart is a knife man me thinks.