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Posted on 2/28/2015 2:25:44 PM
By Donald Fox
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The history of art is endlessly fascinating often because it is filled not only with humanity’s highest aspirations but also because it contains elements of high drama. The great literary sagas depict dramatic narrative that is particularly over the top: The Iliad, The Odyssey, and Don Quixote as examples. Sometimes drama is part of the narrative and sometimes it is part of the back story, the context within which the art is created. Artistic bad boys like Caravaggio or disturbed eccentrics like Van Gogh have given us entertaining and heart-wrenching tales that can be distractions from their glorious work. We either ignore the incongruities, absurdities, and irony that often frame art or we embrace them and take them as part of the whole package.
Some art historians suggest that fashion and body adornment were the first artistic statements posited by early humans. This is based on burial evidence and observations of primitive cultures that have no art per se other than tattoos or elemental forms of jewelry. Tattoos were not foreign to western culture but were associated with paganism and thus became viewed negatively with the spread of Christianity. European explorers in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries encountered native cultures in many parts of the world that adorned their bodies for decoration or war. Sailors, perhaps, were influenced to adopt these practices as souvenirs of their travels or a kind of macho, ritualistic statement. In both China and Japan, tattoos were once used by warriors or secret societies but ultimately came to be associated with criminals. Members of Russian mafia record their criminal history including incarcerations with tattoos. In the mid to latter part of the twentieth century, however, tattoos became popular among youth, first as rebellious statements (like sideburns and ducktails of the fifties or long hair and natural body hair, especially on women, during the sixties) and then as signs of fitting in, conforming to youthful taste, which gave an ironic air of individuality.
As a mark of fashion, however, body adornment (tattoos, piercings, body paint, and exaggerated make-up including hair dye) has elements of incongruity and irony. Tattoos, for example, can be flagrant or hidden: everyone can see them or they are visible only to a select few intimates. The flagrant ones on arms, necks, or legs can be covered by clothing, or partially covered, which gives a peek-a-boo effect that entices the curiosity of the observer.
All art is a statement of some kind, positive or negative. It may achieve universality or obscurity, congeniality or absurdity. Some statements, once made, quickly revert to the level of cliché. At the recent 87th Academy Awards, for example, a medley tribute to Julie Andrews was sung by Lady Gaga. Full disclosure here: I’m not a fan of Lady Gaga although I’ve seen segments of performances and recognize that she is talented, creative, and puts on a glitzy show. She has a beautiful voice that she could use as Streisand or Andrews have done to interpret their form of popular music. In spite of her own form of pop rock being so completely different, Lady Gag was a good choice to perform the songs from The Sound of Music – except, perhaps, for her physical appearance.
Lady Gaga has a unique beauty although she has begun to gain weight. She is known for her outrageous costumes and over-the-top performances, but during her Oscars’ performance she wore a traditional off the shoulder formal gown with billowing skirt and short train. The bare-arms-and-back look for many women would be regal and stunning, but on Lady Gaga it accentuated her abundant tattoos. When she spread her arms in emotive gestures, the muted trumpet tattooed on the inside of her upper right arm and the written text on her upper left arm were signals of absurdity, whimsy, and the counter-culture choices of disaffected youth.
Performers, especially musical performers, always have a visual side to every performance. Lady Gaga’s tattoos fit well with her stage persona. In a formal gown singing traditional and beloved show tunes, she did present a somewhat ridiculous figure. For many, the music and the performance outweighed the absurdity of the image. Dame Andrews gave Lady Gaga an extended, warm embrace that signaled her appreciation of the tribute as presented. It also suggested the power of the fifty-year-old music and its effect on subsequent generations of performers and audience. The lingering image, though, of the tattooed lady belting out “Climb Every Mountain” still seems a bit humorous and silly.
Posted on 2/27/2015 7:22:33 PM
By Donald Fox
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It is assumed that art, meaning visual art, developed long before language. There are examples of visual art that predate the earliest known forms of writing by tens of thousands of years. This is a remarkable concept, that early humans carried visual ideas in their brains before they could express any cogent thoughts about them. They made images, many of which are quite sophisticated, elegant, and subtle, and communicate a sensitivity and beauty to us today even though we cannot know what they meant to our predecessors. They would have had no concept of symbol or metaphor or any of the figurative forms of expression that artists today use with great skill and that the average person understands with some degree of ease. We marvel at the poetry that we can see in those ancient pictorial expressions. Whether there was anything remotely like poetic feeling on the part of our ancestors, we can only surmise based on our own responses.
After the relatively recent developments in realistic rendering of images that were perfected during the Renaissance, artists followed this model for roughly five hundred years until some began to question the authority of the creative precepts that underlay the model: observation first, followed by careful delineation of shape, form, color, and texture to closely approximate the effects of light on surfaces ending with a reasonable facsimile of observed reality. Other elements of mathematical groupings, proportions, and the blending of natural subjects with imaginative interpretations framed within a narrative structure that often included philosophical and spiritual beliefs reflected the concerns of succeeding generations of artists. Some artists began to look inwardly rather than to the external world for inspiration. Others looked to the physical materials of art for answers to creative questions. Interestingly, many of the inward and materialistic revelations took a primitive turn. It is as though artists attempted to strip away all the sophisticated learning developed over centuries in order to reach some intuited deeper level of creative power that might be deemed essential, fundamental, even primeval or childlike. In so doing, artists discovered new ways of expressing beauty that had no external reference. Consequently, some of us still do not appreciate the newly discovered forms of beauty.
What tended to follow such explorations was a plethora of explanation and interpretation that became so extravagant in its inflated discourse that it obscured that goal of artistic simplicity and truth, the quest for artistic essence. Concurrently, the monetary value of art subverted the idea that something might be priceless – meaning that it was so exquisitely formed that it was irreplaceable – by making it more and more costly so as to increase its pricelessness, if that were even possible. The influences of money and inflated ego have muddied the cultural waters. In spite of this, artists continue to create and amidst all the sturm und drang vital, interesting, challenging, and beautiful art continues to manifest in the world.
Posted on 2/26/2015
By Donald Fox
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The March issue of National Geographic has a feature article entitled “The Age of Disbelief” that focuses on what the cover titles call the “war on science.” Some of the suggested beliefs held by many Americans and others throughout the world are that “climate change does not exist, evolution never happened, the moon landing was a fake, vaccinations can lead to autism, or genetically modified food is evil.” I also know people who scoff at the germ theory, believe that immortality can be achieved by the power of the mind, and that 9/11 was a plot perpetrated by the U.S. government.
Several factors influence an individual’s thinking about the way things really are in the world. One of these is family beliefs and these are influenced by related cultural beliefs. If there are strong religious ideals within a family, these can be powerful motivators for rejection of anything remotely counter to those beliefs. In many ways art has fared little better than science when faced with fundamentalist thinking. Art has been branded subversive, sinful, perverse, heretical, or evil. Science has often suffered the same criticisms.
As humans, we experience the world through our senses, and sensations are organized into perceptions by the cognitive functioning of the mind. If we are indoctrinated into particular belief systems, we may never develop critical thinking beyond whether something adheres to the belief system or not. We are likely never to question the beliefs themselves. The result would be some form of fundamentalism, and the concomitant world view would be egocentric, ethnocentric, or theocentric (according to the controlling beliefs).
Science is a process of questioning and experimentation in the attempt to prove or disprove observed phenomena. It is not simply a collection of data nor is it simply a collection of beliefs. A hypothesis becomes a theory only after repeated experiments that show the same result. A theory is also a model that attempts to explain how something works or has come about. Philosophical theory derives from language and reason. Scientific theory is based on observation and experimentation. Religious theory is the product of emotion and belief.
Art, science, and religion have sometimes had alliances, often with one being dominant and using the others to its purposes. Each has also had proponents with strong emotional commitment or with strong logical commitment or sometimes with both. Science, and to a lesser extent art, through time and practice became logical and reasonable, for without logic, there would be no consistency, measurability, or predictability. Rationality and objectivism have been central to the development of science. Where its means have been perverted, they have been so by the influence of politics and religion. Art, on the other hand, has largely been subjective. It has its rational and scientific side, mostly with respect to materials and methods, but its expressionism is fundamentally subjective. Religion and spirituality are emotional experiences although many have attempted to express certain tenets logically and rationally including reasons for being religious in the first place.
We currently live in a mixed world with ready access to information and misinformation; polarities between science and religion, art and science, religion and art; disparities between the rich and the poor; suspicion between government and the governed and between individuals and organizations. Power brokers use information to sway the masses; individuals use information to subvert power. Religions proclaim preeminence and utilize terrorism and violence to promote their cause. States use economic leverage to sway others to their advantage. Anyone can find information to support practically any belief. If knowledge truly is power, then it is vitally important how that power Is understood and managed.
Posted on 2/25/2015
By Donald Fox
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A fellow instructor came by my classroom yesterday evening and asked me a historical question. He couldn’t remember the name of a popular storyteller with a western flair who had spoken at one of the early Democratic conventions. All he could think of was Roy Rogers but knew that wasn’t right. I started thinking of other western stars like Gene Autrey and Tex Ritter until it dawned on me that he meant Will Rogers. My colleague had been using Rogers to make a point but got stuck on the name.
There have been many times in one class or another when I would think of an example from past history to illustrate a concept or lesson. Invariably my students would have no idea what I meant. Many could not tell me anything about the Viet Nam War much less the Civil War or the American Revolutionary War. This used to startle me, and I would wonder about the ignorance of today’s youth especially in this age of instant information where practically everyone walks around with a smart phone, a piece of technology comparable to carrying a public library in the palm of one’s hand. Yes, I know that most students and youth use their phones for texting or accessing social media.
Eastern spiritual leaders teach acolytes to be in the present moment. Their emphasis is based on the idea of not being distracted by the past, something that cannot be altered, or worrying about the future. There is only the present moment, and one should be mindful of what is happening right now. I don’t disagree with this idea, but I do think that the context of one’s life, one’s personal history, is important as well. We also are part of a continuum, and it is our responsibility to carry forward ideas and beliefs that have been given us by our forebears.
The great accomplishments (and the great sins) of the past are part of our legacy, and we are charged with remembering those who have gone before. The good that we have in the form of institutions, concepts, comforts, laws, and knowledge is the result of generations of human beings from a variety of cultures who have contributed to the world’s reserve of knowledge and understanding. It is our task to preserve while we also expand on what has been prepared for us. Sometimes preservation is as simple as remembering, but one cannot remember what one has not learned.
Posted on 2/24/2015
By Donald Fox
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It has been more than a decade since my mother died. She was in North Carolina and I in Texas at the time of her death. Consequently, I was not involved in making arrangements for her funeral, but I did travel home which meant arranging for coverage at work (someone to teach my classes). In 2006 my wife’s mother died after having lived with us for nearly fifteen years. I was involved at that time in making arrangements for her funeral. These trying times are very much a part of life just as are the memorable times we spend with those closest to us. In one way or another, we frequently make arrangements for completions, for celebrations, for arrivals, and for departures.
Artists are no different from anyone else when having to address the ordinary circumstances of daily life. Artists do, however, work frequently with metaphor and constantly see relationships among things that might escape the notice of others. This gift is what often makes art such a powerful experience for its audience. Ordinary situations and events are seen by their associations with things that might not be readily connected. Even the art process itself, an artist arranging design elements into a composition (something that is composed of disparate parts brought into harmony by shape, color, lighting, and other means), is a metaphor for the creative process of life. Elements within a composition may represent particular objects like trees or a river in a landscape, the things that a viewer readily recognizes, but through selection and treatment by the artist these elements can also represent other ideas, more abstract concepts like love or tranquility or spirituality.
Painters literally make arrangements of objects for a still life painting. These objects typically are chosen for their shape or color or texture, placed within a defined space like a counter or tabletop, and lighted from a particular direction in order to become the subject for painting. The selected objects could suggest something autobiographical (like a painter’s tools) or could otherwise be narrative as is often seen in Dutch still life paintings of hastily abandoned dinner settings with partially eaten food, leaving the viewer to wonder who was involved and why they went away. Many of those Dutch paintings also deal with themes of mortality and change.
The making of a painting, whether realistic or abstract, is a process of arranging the parts into a dynamic and ultimately harmonious whole. An individual artist’s intention may be multi-purposed: convey a message, entertain the viewer, express personal feeling, question assumptions, illustrate a concept, promote dialog or discussion, and celebrate life and beauty. The art work may become part of an arrangement of works within a gallery or museum, within a personal or public collection, or within the larger narrative arrangement that we call art history. The creative process as practiced by artists is grounded in the making of arrangements with the ultimate purpose of elevating us all to our highest level of awareness and appreciation.
Posted on 2/23/2015
By Donald Fox
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I have a long standing love of film. It began with Friday evening family visits to the drive-in when I was a kid. These were special events that had a celebratory air about them along with a sense of adventure. Also, during the early days of television when programming was erratic, the local channel aired black and white films from the forties, ones that have come to be known as classics. I watched these religiously and learned most of the stars of my parents’ generation in upbeat celebratory stories following World War II and before the big communist scare of the fifties. In addition to early series dramas, there were intriguing and thought-provoking socially conscious stories on The Loretta Young Show, the Dick Powell Theater, or Playhouse 90, but these often fell short because this also was partly during the time of Senator McCarthy’s hearings known as the House Un-American Activities Committee from which many film and television writers and directors were branded leftists and communists.
In college I discovered foreign films, which until that time had been unknown except as references in news articles. There had been no access to any films like these while I was growing up. As an undergraduate at UNC, I could find all kinds of films on campus several nights each week. I took a course in the Radio, Television, and Motion Picture department (RTVMP) and learned the history of radio, film, and television. I discovered then that I already had an experiential grounding in all three areas since I knew radio dramas and had also seen some of the pioneering giants of television like Ernie Kovacs and Sid Caesar.
Compared to painting, the history of film is short but technological advances have been far more rapid. The Renaissance in Southern and Northern Europe accelerated the development of painting as a high art, and from the fifteen hundreds forward the emphasis has been on individual artists and personal expression. Film has moved toward narrative, and film directors have been given acclaim as the primary creative force although film is very much a collaborative work. In the early days the players were listed at the end. Soon they were also introduced in the beginning along with the director and sometimes the producer. Eventually films became identified by the director: a Hitchcock film, for example, or a John Ford film or George Stevens film. Except for the composer, rarely was anyone else mentioned. Now, however, the credits can run for ten minutes in order to list gaffers, best boys, personal assistants, electricians, caterers, and so on.
Films also range from intimate character studies to full blown extravaganzas, from psychological thrillers to fantasy and science fiction. The digital age has made imaginary worlds more believable than the everyday world of the audience. Filmmakers can explore visual stories that early filmmakers could only have dreamed about (although some early filmmakers attempted the extreme in films like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari or Metropolis). Films have also become more graphic, initially in the name of realism, but now much more gratuitous – the goal to appeal to younger audience members and to sell more tickets. Issues arise concerning freedom of expression, decorum, subversion of youth, promotion of violence, depravity, and degradation of society. Some of these issues have been addressed in literature since the earliest of times: Homer, Dante, Chaucer, and Shakespeare to give an historical range.
Whether film has a more immediate impact is still debated. The threat of censorship is ever present, to be expected, perhaps, even in a pluralistic culture. Art has a way of courting controversy, and that is certainly part of its history in painting, literature, music, and now film.
Posted on 2/22/2015 4:57:27 PM
By Donald Fox
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Many of us have been in relationships that for whatever reason came to an end. We may think back on both the good times and the not so good times and have various explanations of what was right and what was wrong. We feel convinced of the truth of our experience because, after all, we were there. There is much evidence, however, that what we may remember is not the truth that we cling to. Psychologists suggest that memories often are re-remembered and over time these memories become altered either subtly or dramatically in our minds. This is a natural process and not something for recrimination.
I can look at art work that I created years ago and not necessarily remember the circumstances surrounding its creation. If I have kept a log of thoughts from the time, I may have better insight into why and how I made certain pieces. The question that may arise is whether my artistic intention from that time actually matters or is the work itself enough? Historical scholars attempt to put works into perspective according to timeline and the development of a particular artist’s expressive output. Is the singular work as important as the total oeuvre? We do sometimes say that a specific work represents work from a certain period in the artistic output. This idea might suggest diminishment of the singular work since the larger body represents the artistic statement of importance.
If we consider a book of poems or short stories, do we again focus on the collection or the individual pieces? Reputations can rise or fall on singular works or totality of expression. Poe’s “The Raven” or “Annabelle Lee” are powerful poetic statements as are short stories like “The Tell-tale Heart” or “The Fall of the House of Usher” potent literary expressions. As readers we focus on the experience of the single work for that is what we enjoy in the moment, and yet we can also appreciate these within the context of a number of similar works. The latter may enhance the former and can give us clues to the artist’s larger purpose.
Art, like life, is a day by day and moment by moment experience. Once created, the art does not change; only the viewer’s perception of it may change with repeated exposure. Life experience is constantly changing although we do speak of accumulating experience and consider this a path to wisdom. That accumulated experience may not always be remembered accurately, but more importantly, we as humans have the capacity to learn from experience and to change our minds about how we interpret it. This, it seems to me, is the core of our understanding. We do change our minds as we reinterpret the world both past and present. Perhaps this is why our memories may be less than reliable. We alter the memories because we are reassessing and reinterpreting our experience. This, I believe, is what artists do with new works, revised works, or works that may reinterpret ideas from an earlier period or from the works of other artists. I would call this a process of growth and development. We attempt to figure out some truth based on personal experience, create form with which to express that truth, and present the result as something open to the interpretation of others who will experience the work from their own perspectives.
In one sense art is a cultural dialog consisting of many memories given concrete form. Artist and audience are involved in an ever-changing, ever-evolving exchange that alters the perception of that which is expressed and that which is experienced.
Posted on 2/21/2015 6:42:25 PM
By Donald Fox
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We rely on memory to create a continuous narrative of who we are in our day to day lives. We think of ourselves as existing, conscious, and aware of that personal essence we call self and use the term self-awareness to signify that we know who we think we are. Famous people often write autobiographies for various reasons, but usually these reasons have something to do with a form of self-promotion. Those that don’t write about themselves may be fortunate to have others write about them in biographical form. The best of these are carefully researched through access to public records and private information provided by acquaintances, colleagues, or family. We learn of others through their reported actions or what others say about them. We often then assume that we know who these people are or have been. There are parts of all of us, however, that may never be known by anyone other than ourselves. These are the secret parts that may not even be admitted to ourselves.
Artists are known by their work. Some create a public persona that may just be another form of artistic expression. Mostly that doesn’t matter except that it has become part of the academic approach to art and literature to place work within the context of an individual’s life and that life within the context of his or her time. Art is not just about personal expression. It also becomes about society and history and philosophy and psychology, occasionally even economics and politics. Some artists disappear into a fabricated persona that may not be of their own making. Think of all the myth and mystery surrounding a figure like Andy Warhol, for example. Van Gogh becomes the erratic irresponsible depressive who takes his own life. Jackson Pollock is the alcoholic who can’t handle success, succumbs to the excesses of his own ego and ends his life tragically.
There is something of a national obsession with celebrity in America and some European countries. Celebrity is about image rather than substance. It is the purview of the marketing man, the advertising agent, what we have come to call the spin-meister. Celebrity is a kind of stereotype that like that category gives a distorted image of a person; the individual is not an individual. He or she is a solo extension of whatever group. It takes a very strong person to maintain integrity and a sense of self in the face of so many distractions and temptations fostered by the pervasive materialism of modern western culture. If we choose to believe that creative personal expression is a powerful form of truth, then it should follow that commitment to self-concept and self-awareness are fundamental to accessing that truth. It is important therefore for artists to focus inwardly and trust in their personal vision rather than succumb to cultural pressures and the allure of social identity.
Posted on 2/20/2015 7:58:56 PM
By Donald Fox
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We have a Lexmark printer that is just over four years old. Several weeks ago it began to add interesting blue squiggles on the sides of pages and sometimes closer to the center. The marks were quite random, never in the same place nor were they quite the same in appearance. For most casual printing the marks didn’t matter, but we don’t do much casual printing. None of our troubleshooting made any difference, and since the printer is out of warranty, we began to look at some of the weekly ads for a new printer. After all, technology changes pretty quickly, and we just might find a bargain at one of the discount electronics stores. We also looked online for any clues to the type of print error we were experiencing. Nothing, however, showed anything like what our printer was doing.
On a whim, my wife called Lexmark and to her surprise – remember that the printer is out of warranty – a technician viewed the printer remotely and suggested that we change the print head. This is where we again thought that it would be better to just buy a new printer instead of investing more in the old one. To our further surprise, the technician said she was going to send us a new print head. This seemed like customer service on steroids – not the expected response on our end and certainly not typical based on what other people have said about their experiences with different technology companies.
These days Lexmark printers are not so common in the Houston market. We mostly see Brother, Hewlett Packard, or Epson printers and sometimes printers by Canon. Lexmark is available online but not in many stores. Our need to print became urgent, so we went shopping that weekend and found an interesting array of possibilities, some of which could suit our needs. Salespeople that we talked with couldn’t answer all our questions, so we decided to hold off on purchasing and to do a bit more research. The new print head was on its way and we could outsource any necessary printing until it arrived. The sales would continue, and if it really came down to it, we could go buy a printer and return it later.
The print head arrived sooner than expected. Again to our surprise, Lexmark had sent us not only the new print head but also new ink cartridges – all for free on an out of warranty printer. The new ink cartridges were standard ones and our current ones were extra capacity, so we didn’t want to waste ink. We installed the new print head without changing the ink but couldn’t get the printer to print anything. We again called Lexmark after several more failed attempts. The tech we spoke with this time cheerfully talked us through a simple series of tests including completely unplugging the printer before doing anything else. Soon the printer was back in business though one of the test color blocks had minor streaks on it. The tech suggested that we go ahead and change that color cartridge since it was getting low although still in the workable range. Once we did change it, the test sheets printed beautifully.
This experience cost us nothing but a little time, cemented a business relationship with the Lexmark brand, and renewed faith that there are people and companies that care about customer service even at their expense. I could tell many stories about other businesses that have said, “We’re sorry but your product is out of warranty.” We know the power of word of mouth advertising, and Lexmark has moved to the top of our recommend list. Business may be business, but doing the right thing is always the best business.
Posted on 2/19/2015
By Donald Fox
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Whether one is a business person, an academician, an entrepreneur, or general networker, these days one hears a lot about diversity – diversity in the workplace, diversity in the community, and sometimes diversity within the family. On some levels this is a conversation that is long overdue particularly when addressing issues of equality. On the other hand, we might wonder why the issue is of concern at all. Don’t we all acknowledge and praise diversity, for this is what makes the world such an interesting and beautiful place in which to be? If we look at the history of art, we see diversity from the outset. Civilizations developed in a number of different regions that geographically were diverse and initially isolated one from another, and so it should not be surprising that humans that grew there would be flowers of a different color and texture.
If we zoom in on any particular culture, we will find diversity at play there also. This ultimately comes down to individual thinking where the one may accept being part of the group yet there is that longing for individuality. Individuals choose different paths within the larger cultural norm, and as a culture grows so do the opportunities for outward expression (as well as cross-cultural influence).
Most of the time we can easily differentiate one culture from another based on art alone. Initially we may define a culture according to certain visual forms, language structure and usage, and to the beliefs and practices endemic to the population. Individuals are identified according to their cultural traits. As civilizations become more sophisticated, which often means influenced by surrounding cultures (notably through the expansion of trade and/or warfare), we begin to see increasing diversification within an individual culture. We could trace the influence of Chinese ceramics on Persian art, for example, or how it also influenced Delftware in the Netherlands. We could step back further in time and consider the development of writing and how it changed the structure of societies by enabling communication among increasing numbers of people beyond the necessity of face to face meetings. Conquerors were often influenced by those they conquered, which sometimes included mixed offspring.
Traditions come about in order to preserve knowledge, practices, beliefs, and uniqueness. They hold groups together even when cataclysmic events tend to tear groups apart. For example, consider the many groups that have immigrated en masse to other countries. They typically have held on to their culture by creating small communities that mirror the larger home community. These traditions ultimately become blended with traditions of the new home especially for the first and second generation of children. The children absorb from both familial sides, the old and the new.
In the American Southwest, for example, two main cultures first appear as intermingled: Anglo and Hispanic. Upon closer inspection, however, each larger culture readily breaks down into sub-groups. Anglos derive from Germanic, Irish, French, and English roots. Hispanic comes by way of Spain and Portugal and is mingled with Central and South American native people and traditions. Native American influences abound throughout the West and Southwest as well. Even segments of one large group that tend to isolate themselves (the rich as an example) cannot escape the cross-cultural influences.. They may ignore them, but they cannot eliminate them. Diversity will prevail as it always has long term.
It is the richness of our multi-cultural heritage that makes a nation like America great. Nearly all cultures absorb from others and are absorbed by others. This is the history of humanity, and it is expressed in the art that has come down to us and in the art we continue to make.
Posted on 2/18/2015
By Donald Fox
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“I’m not in the mood.” With what do we typically associate such a statement? Most likely one would hear this in some strained romantic setting where at least one partner is not interested in what is being offered. Is there a mood for making art? When addressing the creation of art as a hobby or pastime, someone might easily complain that he or she is not in the mood. There are other pressing matters, and the time for creative endeavors seems a luxury. After all, it’s not really serious work, is it?
Artists know better. Dedicated writers get up every day and spend their time focused on the crafting of words. They do what writers do – they write. Serious artists also focus on painting or sculpting or dozens of creative-related tasks surrounding the making of art. They don’t wait for inspiration to strike. Rather they create inspiration in the act of applying their craft. If there is such a thing as an art mood, then the serious artist is in the mood every second of every day.
There may be times, however, when an artist may feel distracted and experience something called writer’s block or creativity block. This is a different state of affairs as the result of a lack of ideas. It’s not that the artist doesn’t want to create or isn’t in the mood. Typically, he or she is presently challenged by other life concerns that need to be addressed. These can take energy away from creative efforts if only for a time. Personally, I find myself thinking about art even while engaged in other activities. If I utilize proper awareness, I can learn things from that everyday environment which can be perceived from an artist’s perspective.
Since most art comes from the response to life experience, it is important for artists to be in ready states of awareness, for perceptions are omnipresent though they can be ignored or misdirected. Artists are keen observers, and the active artistic eye will interpret as it has been trained. The artist sees and understands what the casual observer does not see. Therefore, though art may create moods for the viewer, art is not dependent on mood for its crafting.
Posted on 2/17/2015
By Donald Fox
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We live in present time, and anything that has come before is no longer accessible except through memory or some documentation from ourselves or others. We look to the past and call it history. We read about and study the exploits of ancestors as they have been recorded for us or surmised from whatever evidence has been left for us to decipher. There is not always agreement about what the evidence may mean. Still we choose to believe that there is meaning to all actions and to humanity’s beingness, its existence on this planet. Since the creation of film, we have given ourselves endless loops of newsmakers and family portraits that give the illusion of still existing in projected realms that can seem so real, but we know that these are a kind of frozen yet animated memory, for these recorded figures always repeat their actions without ever straying from their performance. At least we can see them outside of the mind’s eye and take ourselves more deeply into the past they once inhabited.
Whatever one chooses to believe – and choosing to believe is all that we can do, for that seems to give solace to some and discord to others – one system of belief or another is recorded, and sometimes interweaving of these systems brings enlightenment or simply raises further questions. I don’t envy or pity those that profess to know the truth unless their belief causes discord or strife for others, for then there is no truth in my opinion. There certainly is a long history of belligerence among the many tribes of man. After all, one man’s holy is another man’s curse. Why then, do we not worship that which gives sustenance? We all breathe air. We all eat foods that nourish us, and these can be pared down to ones that cause the least damage to our home. Our physical bodies function the same regardless of exterior differences. It is internally that we diverge and create fantasies that divide us, challenge us, or make us afraid.
Art has been one means through which we have allowed ourselves to question, to acknowledge, and to praise the beauty that surrounds us and infuses us. Sometimes its message has been perverted, but generally it has maintained a purity of purpose. Religion, on the other hand, has been used as a tool of subjugation and deceit as well as a pathway for connection and expression of purpose. How we manage to purport ourselves is likely the only real proof of something greater from which we come and to which we return. If art is among our greatest achievements, then let us learn from that which uplifts and informs us of our higher calling.
Posted on 2/16/2015
By Donald Fox
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A good story well told will always be of interest to an audience. Sometimes those stories are imaginary, but the telling makes them believable and engaging. Sometimes the stories are based on real life, and the imagination of the teller creates as much drama as any fictional work. The artist selects what will propel the narrative forward, condenses and compresses the action from the often slow and protracted rhythms of day to day life to heighten the power of the drama. This is what artistry does; it focuses the mind on that which is most important so that the ordinary may become extraordinary for the audience. Writers do this with words and words images. Painters do this with visual images and seductive color. Musicians do this with musical phrasing and rhythm. Every artist utilizes his or her medium and emotional tool kit to create a sense of experiential truth for the appreciative audience.
I understand that there are many people in the world that do not appreciate the arts. Their lives may be so compelling that they have no time for reflection. They may be so driven by survival needs that they become stuck at that lower level of Maslow’s hierarchical structure of human experience. Perhaps this suggests to some that art is not as important as survival. They might say, after all, that without survival there is nothing else. Obviously that is true, but it is also true that a great deal of art from the ancient past came out of struggle with the environment long before there was anything like civilization much less the sophisticated civilization of today with its myriad technological timesavers and distractions.
Very early on in human development, art became an important means for expressing the mysteries of life and the power of self-awareness. A hungry man will not likely give up his search for food in order to make or appreciate art. Once given even a modicum of sustenance, however, he undoubtedly will turn his mind to contemplation unless that is held at bay by other conspiratorial forces. In the meantime, the visions will be expressed, the songs will be sung, and these will linger until the sated eye is opened and the closed ear is cleared of its obstructions.
Posted on 2/15/2015 6:54:14 PM
By Donald Fox
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Rubens - Triumph of the Church
Today is the official opening of Spectacular Rubens at the MFAH, but my wife and I went to the member’s preview Friday evening. The focus is on four large tapestries Rubens was commissioned to design for the Spanish governor of South Flanders (there were twenty tapestries total), which was under the control of Spain at that time (the wife of the Austrian Archduke was Spanish, Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia, and she became the sovereign after her husband died). A devout Catholic, Rubens was given the tapestry commission by the Infanta who wanted the tapestries for the convent in Spain to which she wished to retire. The King of Spain required her to stay in the Netherlands, and she never was able to return to Spain although the completed tapestries were installed in the convent.
Included in the current exhibit are six modelli, smaller oil studies on wood panels wherein Rubens worked out the designs for the tapestries. Full scale cartoons were later drawn from the paintings. The cartoons were attached to the tapestry material, and the images were woven from behind destroying the cartoons in the process. The tapestry images are the reverse of the paintings because of the weaving process.
These huge tapestries are religious and political since they show symbolic figures representing the Catholic church and its teachings defeating the forces of the Reformation, particularly Luther and Calvin. The counter-reformation was in full swing at this time. From the MFAH website: “Rubens (1577–1640) was commissioned to create the tapestries by the Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia, governor-general of the Netherlands, as a gift to her favorite convent, the Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales (Convent of the Barefoot Royals) in Madrid. Raised at the Spanish court, the infanta was the daughter of Habsburg monarchs Philip II and Isabel of Valois. Spectacular Rubens reunites Rubens’s exuberant oil sketches painted for this commission with the original tapestries, the largest number of works for the Eucharist series assembled in more than half a century. The exhibition offers an unrivaled opportunity for visitors to experience the Baroque master’s extraordinary impact, on both an intimate and a broad scale.
Spectacular Rubens features six painted modelli, or large-scale oil-on-panel studies, from the collection of the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid. Also on view are four of the original silk and wool tapestries, among the most renowned treasures of the Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales; several paintings by Rubens related to the Eucharist series; and a series of preparatory sketches for three of the four tapestries. The modelli have recently undergone conservation, rendering the pictorial surfaces once again lively and forceful, offering a record of Rubens’s impressive and beautiful brushwork.” http://www.mfah.org/exhibitions/spectacular-rubens/
Rubens was a magnificent painter although his extravagant works are a bit over the top for me. I do admire his skill and creative output. Also, he was quite extraordinary as a diplomat and moved in court circles in Spain, England, and France. He was knighted by both King Charles I of England and King Philip IV of Spain. His portraits of the rulers and aristocrats of the time give us striking images of the main players in Europe during the first half of the seventeenth century.
Posted on 2/14/2015 6:38:16 PM
By Donald Fox
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Yesterday’s FASO newsletter focuses on an article by Pauly Tamez concerning emotion and art (http://faso.com/fineartviews/88114/art-and-emotion). His main point is that art often fills us with emotion as do many other things. I certainly agree with that, but this has also set me thinking about the emotional response in us humans. I can only speak from my own experience and part of that includes observations made about others as they may experience their emotions in my presence or represented through various artistic media.
Most people probably would agree that music is universally an emotional experience. We can feel happy and energized by certain songs and particular kinds of music, and other musical expressions can fill us with sadness, with longing, or with a range of emotional shifts depending on the composer’s intentions. Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, which was originally composed for piano and was later orchestrated by Maurice Ravel, is a wonderful narrative without words that takes the listener on an emotional journey through musical impressions of paintings to which Mussorgsky responded. The paintings were those of Viktor Hartmann, Mussorgsky’s close friend who died unexpectedly from an aneurism at the age of thirty-nine. The emotional shifts that occur throughout the piece (actually a series of linked pieces) suggest through inventive musical complexity the complexity of feelings we experience in our lives and in the presence of art.
Practically no one who has seen a so-called tearjerker film has left the theater unscathed. We identify so strongly with characters in a story (film or literary) that we feel their emotions and laugh or cry or moan with them. This is intriguing to me in film or on the stage where actors express emotions believably and make us feel not only that what we are seeing is real but also pull those emotions out of us while we are physically disengaged from the story before us yet emotionally and intellectually connected to what is being portrayed. There is a kind of sympathetic resonance that takes place where we, like a string on a violin or guitar, begin to vibrate with the same energy and musical/emotional sound as the character we are observing.
Someone once said that everything is vibration. There is a very strong logical case to be made for that spiritual statement by looking to the laws of physics. Our senses are completely keyed to some form of electrochemical response as sensing and motor neurons within our bodies transmit sensory information to and from the brain. Light waves, sound waves, the firing of neurons, the pulsating rhythm of the heart, and the chemical interactions we experience internally are expressed as vibrations of one kind or another. At the subatomic level, atoms and electrons are in a constant vibrational dance that literally animates all that is alive and all that is not. Even the solid matter that we assume is lifeless is part of this subatomic dance. The vast reaches of space are governed by vibrational energy beyond the comprehension of our forebears many of whom nonetheless intuited it and expressed it metaphorically or spiritually.
All of this is part of the emotional mystery that has raised the most fundamental questions likely even before we had language with which to ask them: Who are we? Where are we from? What is the meaning of existence? If these questions don’t also generate emotional responses (as they have throughout history and pre-history in the art that fortunately has been left behind), then we may be as dumb as the rocks and stones are assumed to be, unless, that is, one has learned how to read them.
Posted on 2/13/2015 8:13:09 PM
By Donald Fox
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Periodically I have a photographer friend photograph my paintings. He specializes in art photography, so he is very familiar with a variety of images and that artists are particular about lighting and color. Many of my paintings have strong light-dark contrast as well as subtle colorations within both areas of dark and areas of light. These can be especially challenging to capture truthfully because of the tendency of the camera to drop out detail in areas of strong light or dark. Plus, when polarizing filters are used, certain colors can be read accurately and others may shift too warm or too cool depending on what colors surround them in the painting. My friend is very good at figuring out how to light paintings effectively, which sometimes requires bouncing light off another surface like a white board onto the painting from a different direction. After shooting the images, we then download them to his computer and study them for specific areas where finer adjustments may be made if necessary.
This process is so much different from the days of film photography when we would have to wait until the film was developed and prints or slides made to be able to tell whether all the images were successful. Since most photographs will eventually end up on my website, it becomes especially important that the images read well on a computer screen in color, clarity, and contrast. Previewing and adjusting the images on the computer saves so much in extra travel time to bring CD versions back for adjustment or the paintings themselves for reshoots.
It is an interesting process also to study the paintings right next to the computer images. As most any painter would know, if the light on the painting changes slightly, the painting may read differently than if the light is well balanced. In the studio I sometimes study paintings with a magnifying glass to investigate textural effects at an increased level of observation. With overhead lighting (skylights plus color-corrected fluorescent ceiling lights in the studio), slight shadows cast from raised areas of paint accentuate the textural effects. Under photolamps any textures can easily be flattened if the photographer isn’t careful. Normal shadows that indicates texture will disappear unless a slight adjustment is made in the placing of side lights. However, by photographing under different lighting conditions, a painter can also observe aspects of a painting that may not be noticed under ordinary light, so it is fun sometimes to experiment a bit with light placement.
Posted on 2/12/2015
By Donald Fox
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One of the experiences I enjoy about painting is the discovery of unusual and interesting color harmonies that may happen spontaneously in the act of painting. Not long after I moved to Houston in the late seventies, the MFAH put on an exhibit of paintings by Paul Cézanne that had been gathered from museums and collections all over the world. I remember over one hundred paintings from throughout Cézanne’s working life as a painter. These of course included landscapes, still lifes, portraits, and a few fantasy paintings. I had seen some of his paintings here and there in various collections (and many reproductions), but to see so many all together was stimulating to say the least. I came back again and again to study these paintings, and I was able to see in his direct painting style how effectively color could be mixed and blended right on the canvas.
This is perhaps the greatest appeal for me in paintings by the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painters. Academic painters often blend too well, and though they may create subtle transitions in paintings, there is little optical mixing of color as we so often experience in our direct observation of things in the world around us.
The twentieth century found painters going many directions, some paring down color in favor of form, some applying color arbitrarily to create unexpected forms, and some using color and paint as expressive tools before a counter-swing took color experience large scale into overwhelming fields of color emphasizing either hard or soft edges depending on the painter’s intention. Josef Albers’ experiments with interaction of colors begun in the thirties in Germany and brought with him to the United States, first at Black Mountain College and later at Yale University, influenced more than a generation of American painters. Albers’ focus in his own work was on precisely mixed color placed next to other color. He demonstrated optical effects in a hard-edged style.
Abstract Expressionism began to push the boundaries of easel painting and also utilized spontaneity as a legitimate force in the making of art (as opposed to reasoned, pre-planned execution through stages of development that had governed painting for over five hundred years). Color is the focus here, though, and in the seemingly haphazard approach of some Abstract Expressionist painters plus some of their choices of industrial paints over artist’s paints, another way of thinking about color began to emerge.
Truth be told, in my own painting, if I am working with realistic images, I am more reserved in color choices, for more often than not it is the image that governs what I do to create it. When I work abstractly (what I like to think of as symbolically), my color choices typically begin with simple complementary contrasts but soon expand into complex interplays among light-dark, cool-warm, and bright-dull optical counterpoints that create a painted landscape of color that begins to express its own inner sense of illumination. The process is a continuous series of choices of what colors to keep, what colors to enhance, or what colors to tone down as I move in and out of a painterly space (within arm’s reach and hand’s reach of the canvas) and an observational space (distance from which to view the whole either directly or from an angle). Like with words in poetry or phrases in music, I look for visual colored rhymes and slant rhymes (fun/spun or arm/warm/worm). The latter are often the most interesting to me in words and in color. Overall it is the richness of color interaction that creates the aesthetic experience.
Posted on 2/11/2015
By Donald Fox
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Artists are outlived by their work. Not every artist will be remembered in the future. Work may be lost or forgotten or destroyed or misattributed to others. Some artists who are recognized in their lifetimes are remembered after they are physically gone by their work as a kind of metaphysical stand-in. Others may be discovered through their work after they themselves are long dead – their fame comes posthumously. In the past also, letters and journals might provide some remembrance for future generations about one who had lived previously. These approximations of immortality are expected in the arts as well as for some other historical figures. The vast majority of people are remembered by family or friends, but these memories can fade or disappear altogether for those without offspring or extended families or noteworthy accomplishments.
Today we have another form of remembrance as avatars and virtual footprints are inhabiting an electronic space that has extended our individual reach beyond physical borders and language barriers. We can maintain contact with a much broader scope of friends and acquaintances than we ever could in the past. Echoes of these virtual images shimmer on far beyond the physical demise of any one of us.
I have a number of friends that have left the physical plane yet their electronic signatures continue without any nurture or sustenance from anyone. Through LinkedIn I receive notices to congratulate someone for an anniversary, but this person is not here to experience it. Other friends continue to inhabit their Facebook pages though no new postings are present save for those from their friends. It is as though we humans have created automatic memories that once set into place continue whether anyone is monitoring them or not. In the words of T.S. Eliot, we have created our future selves as “hollow men” devoid of any ability to respond or acknowledge our continuous virtual messaging. This is a strange state of affairs.
I can stand before a painting by Goya or Vermeer, and it is easy for me to see where the hand of the master has left artistic tracings in a solid form that continues to communicate (as long as someone observes it) through the physical object what it captured of the thought, emotion, and action of that artist at work. There is an emotional and intellectual connection that takes place between observer, artist, and art work. The work somehow seems to come to life, to be reanimated in the experience of that observer. The process is dynamic and affects countless individuals, generation after generation.
We may free our spirits when we depart the earth, but our virtual selves will likely linger on in perpetuity. That doesn’t seem like much of a legacy.
Posted on 2/10/2015
By Donald Fox
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Life is full of transitions. From the time that we are born, we begin a process of growing, becoming aware, learning, greeting new people and experiences, and leaving behind things (and sometimes people) that we or they transition from. Many professionals in practically all fields may go through numerous transitions in their working lives. The transition from student to practitioner is often a major change that initially may seem an abrupt move but one slowly gains confidence with each month and year of experience. Some transitions we may look forward to and some we may dread. All will affect us in some way and usually for the better even when the immediacy of the moment may seem otherwise. In short, transition is a part of life, and it can be a subtle or a dynamic process.
Creative individuals, in particular artists, may go through specific transitions in the development of their expressive work. I’ve known a variety of artists some of whom have been single-minded in their pursuits and have moved forward with their painting to develop their individual style, which for them basically meant honing their painterly craft because they did not waver in their direction. Others I have known have moved in cycles or in segments or phases experimenting with one form of expression before moving on to another, or perhaps experimenting with several at once. Their painting has changed dramatically as they have worked through different periods (using Picasso as an example with the so-called “periods” that he moved through stylistically). Perhaps Picasso was the most visible and famous among twentieth century artists for these many stylistic transitions. These kinds of experimental artists may learn a variety of skills in order to execute their ideas and some may become collaborative artists.
There is no artistic playbook by which one does creative work. There are just as many theories and approaches as there are artists, and what works for one will not necessarily work for another, even those working in a similar style. Look at the Impressionists, for example. We might find some works among them that have a similar look, but for the most part their work is quite different one from the other. Each artist focused on ideas that diverged from what others were doing even though they are frequently and rather glibly categorized as a group. About the only thing they really shared was a love of plein air painting, but even that was approached individually. As individuals, it is quite interesting to look at the many transitions in their work over their painting careers. These are very noticeable and sometimes enormously significant resulting as they did from individual circumstance and personal mindset.
Probably most artists will face or create transitions in his or her work over a number of years. Individual mindset, personal preferences, past experience and training, and other factors can affect what those transitions may be. I find it interesting to look at the work of many twentieth century and contemporary artists to observe the phases their work has moved through on its way to what is considered their mature style. Some of them may have more than one style like Picasso or the master German painter Gerhard Richter. One doesn’t have to like what other artist do in order to learn from them about process and expression. In fact, I believe that understanding symbolic language that is very different from one’s own enables one to more deeply access inner creative reserves. Whenever it occurs, embrace the transition and utilize its energy for growth.
Posted on 2/9/2015
By Donald Fox
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I often have dreams about painting and making art. In these dreams I may be working in a studio actively painting or I might be at an exhibit of my paintings, and like any other viewer, I am becoming acquainted with the work as I move around the space viewing each piece. Generally these paintings are unlike anything I have created in the waking world with two exceptions. One of these is a painting of a dancing Japanese crane depicted in a mating ritual with wings spread before a geisha who is based on a Japanese doll that my wife acquired when she lived in Japan as a teenager. The crane and the geisha play out their drama beside a river with a large mountain as backdrop just on the other side of the river. This dreamscape came to me about fifteen years ago, but it was not until five or six years later that I created the painting. It was a singular work with nothing in any way similar that followed.
The other image also came to me in a dream. It originated as a group of horses in a semi-circle, their heads lowered to drink at the edge of a watering hole. I made a small ink sketch of that image the next morning after the dream, but for some reason I changed the horses to a group of zebras. Again, I did not make a painting of this until several years later. I did also paint one slightly smaller grouping of zebras in a square format a few years after that. These paintings have remained anomalies within my overall output of art.
Mostly in dreams when I do experience making art or discovering art that I have made, the work is abstract – with these two exceptions. Although I’ve done a lot of abstract painting during different periods of work, I’ve not done any like the dreams images. I have on several occasions made simple drawings of some images as in the case of the zebra drawing that led to the paintings. Lately, though, I’ve noticed with some of my recent work, all abstract images, there are elements that echo some of these dreams images even though I have not consciously been trying to reproduce any of them. I think of this as similar to a writer having an experience, perhaps something that is jotted into a notebook and later that thing becomes something that a character in a story does or says. The idea has been in the writer’s mind but needed time to coalesce into concrete expression.
As a painter, I think that I am constantly painting in a mind-space studio. Images observed are incorporated into other thoughts or images and influence a train of thought, another perception, a combination of shapes that emerge within the field of a current painting. Whether what comes out is considered intuitive, inspired, premeditated, consciously constructed, or designed with purpose is difficult to say. I’m not sure it really matters. The important statement is what appears on the canvas or paper. Inevitably there are associations with thoughts or emotions that link to other thoughts or emotions or possibly to dream images. All of this is part of the creative process, which, for me at least, is never very straightforward. Perhaps, at times it is a bit messy. Art, however, is about creating some kind of order to experience. It may appear to be spontaneous, even a bit haphazard in its conception and execution, but the outcome has its inherent order, for it always seems to be an organic process of growth.
Posted on 2/8/2015 6:28:20 PM
By Donald Fox
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My dad turns ninety-seven this month. He’s a retired airline pilot who has remained relatively active since ending his career. As may be expected, however, he has many complaints associated with old age. Some of this began five or six years ago when he broke his neck in a car accident. The recovery from that trauma was lengthy, and my dad has never been a good patient because he lacks patience. He wants to move by his own rules and not those of others. Recently he’s had a bout with a gastric problem that put him in the hospital for eleven days. Hospital staff typically fears advanced-age patients because of the high possibility of hospital pneumonia since their immune systems are not as strong as younger patients. Hospitals are filled with infectious germs in spite of the extreme care taken by nurses and doctors. Hospitals are, after all, places where sick people are found.
The aging process is not an issue for most of us until we experience some decline in function. As children, we often can’t wait to grow up so that we can become independent. Later we discover that what we had as children, and even as adolescents, was a nearly idyllic life (unless there was abuse or other extreme circumstances). The adult world is not all that it’s cracked up to be. Responsibilities and unexpected challenges take their toll and often impinge on those dreams of independence.
Recently I saw the film The Theory of Everything about the relationship between Stephen Hawking and his wife Jane. Hawking is one of the most brilliant scientists of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. His book A Brief History of Time has popularized astrophysics and helped to explain complex theories of modern physics, astronomy, quantum mechanics, and the many overlapping ideas these fields have produced, some of the most important contributed by Hawking himself. He has become one of the best known and most popular scientists in generations in spite of his lifelong battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). For those who don’t know his story, he was diagnosed when he was in graduate school and given two years to live. He has survived to this day; however, his health has deteriorated through the years first to confine him to a wheelchair and then lead to the eventual loss of his speech. He communicates with a synthesized computer-generated voice from commands typed out on a modified hand-held device.
The movie compresses the time of the story as film cannot help but do, but the story illustrates the incredible force of will that has enabled Hawking to survive (certainly with the aid of his former wife Jane and many colleagues through the years). Scientists often do their best work, their groundbreaking work, when they are young – this is the general trend. As most continue to work in their field, they refine their theories and develop stronger proof upon which others often build. Hawking has continued to be a leading force within the science of cosmology, and through his writing he has also made aspects of science accessible to a large audience. He has been widely recognized for his contributions to human knowledge, and one of his many awards includes being named an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Arts. At the age of seventy-three, Hawking continues his work including traveling world-wide giving lectures.
Whether artist or scientist, we all have to live with the changes that time brings about. Though we may often take our abilities for granted, there are many who can inspire us if we remain open and observant. My father taught me much about discipline and perseverance and dedication to doing what one loves. Hawking is one of those rare individuals who overcame adversity in such a powerful way that the adversity dissolves to nothing. Yet his challenges were definitely not nothing as they required great support from others who gave willingly in service of his talent and potential.
Posted on 2/7/2015 7:21:36 PM
By Donald Fox
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I don’t have a smart phone yet even though my flip-phone is now considered a dinosaur, so in waiting rooms, airports, or other public time-killing (what a word) spaces I resort to manually writing in notebooks instead of twiddling the keys with my thumbs. That’s okay, though. I get that I could surf the internet with a smart phone, text friends, or play mind-enhancing games. However, some psychologists and neuroscientists counter the claims of brain game creators and say that there is minimal brain function improvement from these types of games. I enjoy writing and journaling my thoughts the old-fashioned way (one of my work hats is teaching writing composition). Writing has a long history of brain enhancement and mind expansion.
Writing in this manner is also a way of connecting with a long tradition of writers under lamplight in large cold rooms, their fingers protruding from half-fingered wool gloves, their breath creating hazed halos in the lantern’s light, greatcoat collar turned up around knitted mufflers, the fire in the corner doing its best to warm the frozen room. In this room where I currently sit, regulated warmth wraps around all who enter.
If I had a smart phone, I could visit my website or the websites of artist friends or I could contact them via email – all without having to make a phone call. I’ve always thought it rude the way many people carry on phone conversations in public places as though they are in a private phone booth. These, of course, are becoming quite rare, phone booths, that is. I could also, if I chose, visit virtual galleries and museums and spend my time studying the paintings of artists I find interesting or perhaps don’t yet know much about. This would be a very productive use of the waiting time.
As it is, I must access my personal memory bank and sort through the thousands of images stored there while contemplating artistic ideas and visual problems. My visual memory is well exercised as is that of most visual artists. I, we, tend to remember images in great detail for we observe closely and often recognize what another artist is about by studying his/her images – their subjects, their design, shapes, colors, textures, the traces of visual language, their symbology, and gestures. We speak a language that has many shades of meaning to every gesture. We speak in figures that create multi-layered nuances and magnificent ambiguity that together weave the most persuasive truths, for we have discovered that truths are many and they are freely shared in the history of art.
Posted on 2/6/2015 7:31:55 PM
By Donald Fox
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If one chooses to follow a religious line of thinking, he or she could say that there is original sin and nothing original after that. That seems a bit short-sighted to me since all first experience is original experience. Most words have more than one meaning including the word original. One of those meanings is something created firsthand. A composer who hears a birdsong and then composes music in response to that is making an original composition, isn't he/she? Another definition of original is “not secondary, derivative, or imitative.” Does that mean all landscape painters or portrait painters are not original because they are imitative? Whether we can craft a definition of original art that truly means it is original – not derived from anything previously crafted or influenced in any way by someone else’s thought or suggestion – but, wait a minute, is that really what we mean by original? Do we mean that something has to manifest out of thin air or in a vacuum to be considered original? I doubt it. Of course we’re influenced by things in the world, but isn’t there joy and promise in our original responses to our experiences (and to subsequent experiences)?
The origins of art have become quite complicated at least since the turn of the twentieth century but probably beginning long before that. We could surmise that Paleolithic rock sculptures of tiny human figures were quite original in their day and perhaps say the same for cave paintings. The former were portable and likely had some influence on subsequent creations and the latter because of their inaccessibility were less influential being known to a very small audience. The problem here is that we don’t know where those sculptures originated, meaning we don’t know by whom or why they were first created. What prompted those forms? Did a person see a rock that appeared to be shaped like a woman’s figure, add a few incised lines to accentuate certain parts? If so, can that be considered truly original? Didn’t he start with something almost a ready-made like Duchamp’s urinal? We don’t know, and we can only guess.
Perhaps part of the problem is that we tend to be inconsistent in our thinking. We praise someone for coming up with a good idea that contributes to health or comfort or ease or practicality. If no one is subsequently injured by the idea and lots of money is generated by that idea, we laud the creator as being original. If, however, someone else builds on what came before and through a stroke of insight shows us a new way of perceiving, we’re a bit less effusive with praise and eventually may become critical of the lack of originality (though we’ll still take the money). After all, someone else thought of the concept first. How many concepts have been improved upon? Is there less originality when something is made to work better? Is the electric motor less original because the steam engine preceded it? Is the wheel less original because rolling logs preceded that?
Do we really want to suggest that after the first drawing or the first painting every subsequent drawing or painting is derivative? Does an artist think that his first painting is the only original he’s ever done even if his hundredth painting is far superior as an artistic statement? Is that later painting lessened in originality because it derived from that first somewhat immature effort? Can’t an artist whether poet or painter or composer or dancer learn the specific vocabulary of his craft and then apply that filtered through his personal experience and thought into an original artistic statement? Isn’t it an insult to say that the work is unoriginal or derivative? And speaking of derivative, isn’t the point of art like collage or mixed-media often the imaginative re-use of materials, some of which may not be traditional artists materials to begin with, and through that insightful re-combination of said materials to create something new and unique that may be expressive, ironic, ambiguous, humorous, emotive, beautiful, exciting, thought-provoking or the countless other qualities that original art possesses?
Personally, I think we should be a bit more thoughtful regarding how we use words in our language(s), especially those that reflect on our ability to create aesthetic experiences, which admittedly can vary in quality and perceived value. Our words help us to assess those experiences and create sense from them. There isn’t much sense, though, when inconsistency plagues the thinking process.
Posted on 2/5/2015
By Donald Fox
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Recently I’ve read several blogs and essays addressing certain stereotypes regarding artists and creative people. In a speech class my presentation included the statement that meaning is in people not in their words. Basically, the suggestion here is that words have denotative or direct meanings (dictionary meanings) and connotative or associative meanings. The latter is what individuals bring to the meaning of a word based on experience, memory, emotional response, and so on. Even some denotative meanings can bring up connotations that may alter one’s understanding of a particular word or phrase. With this in mind, then, it is understandable that we can say that meanings are in people rather than in the words themselves. We do give meaning to everything that we experience, and it is our choice whether we select to use stereotypes or reject them.
Imagination is a concept that often has misrepresentation along with it as extra baggage. There is general agreement that artists and creative people are imaginative, but there also is a stereotype that if someone is not artistic, they are not imaginative either. That is not true unless one thinks it about him or herself. Imagination isn’t something that either you have it or you don’t, like talent, for example (another area fraught with potential stereotypical ideas). Imagination, like creative thinking, can be practiced and developed. The writer W. Somerset Maugham said, “Imagination grows by exercise and contrary to common belief is more powerful in the mature than in the young” (from The Summing Up, 1936).
There is a common belief that the young are more imaginative, perhaps because of their frequent playtime that is spent imagining things. Older and more mature people have learned the ways of the world and the oft-described harshness of reality and have thus given up imaginative thinking (magical thinking) for more practical responses. Isn’t this the cultural stereotype of older adults, certainly from the perspective of the young? However, this is not generally the case with creative people (and aren’t we all potentially creative?). Artists, for example, may have some facility and talent when young, but they are lacking in experience and judgment with which to express their most powerful ideas. The latter comes with maturity. Most artists’ work improves with age and experience. We even identify the best work by calling it the mature work, work that is at its peak of imaginative power and expression. Rarely does this come at an early age.
Sometimes, of course, we see child prodigies accomplish amazing work early on. This early work may be far beyond their years (think of Mozart, Leonardo, or Beethoven), but the ones who lived long enough created their strongest creative and imaginative expressions later rather than sooner in their careers. We only know Mozart by the work he created before dying too soon prior to the age of forty, but we know Bach’s magnificent experimentations long into his old age. What might Mozart have imagined had he lived into his mature years?
Posted on 2/4/2015
By Donald Fox
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Preparation of the surface for a canvas is one of the essential steps in the making of a painting. The fabric requires sizing to tighten the weave and close the fibers to properly receive the ground which for most artists these days is acrylic gesso although some may prefer to make their own traditional gesso ground. Sizing also conditions the fabric against stretching from the pressures of paint application. The ground serves to protect the fabric from deterioration caused by the oils in paint and solvents used in thinners and mediums. Double or triple primed surfaces are more durable than a single priming applied thickly. On top of the ground many painters also like to tone the surface with neutral color, warm or cool depending on the subject being painted. All of these choices make the painting surface more receptive to the paint and ensure a long-lived finished product.
Wise artists understand this process and also consider how it applies to everything they do in the creative process including how they prepare themselves for the act of creating and then developing their careers. It is easy to make an analogy with gardening or farming since gardeners understand that a good crop depends on careful preparation of the soil, nurturing seeds and seedlings with proper nutrients and water, followed by weeding or pruning or other care that various plants may need. The smart gardener does not simply throw out seeds and come back weeks later for the harvest. Neither is the artist reckless with whatever talent and knowledge he or she has been blessed. There is an ongoing process of learning and growing and doing.
Posted on 2/3/2015
By Donald Fox
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I have to admit to a certain amount of selfishness, not because I am an artist, but it does have something to do with my desire to create art. I have to make the time and the space in my life to do that. Sometimes those choices may impact others is less than desirable ways. My parents, bless them, in their own ways only wanted what they thought would be best for me. This is probably true of most parents and what they want for their children, but many parents don’t understand much about the choice to be an artist (I’m not advocating here anything about choice or compulsion or destiny or any of that metaphysical stuff – neither am I denying any of it). I am always encouraged, though, when I hear a parent say to a child that he/she only wants the child to be happy. All other judgment falls away, for the wise parent knows that the choice for happiness much like the biblical choice of wisdom is in fact a wise one. What would be the point of a miserable life lacking self-fulfillment?
Life is by no means an easy task nor is it for the faint-hearted. Yes, there are those that seem to live charmed existences, and there are those that build something of a cult around them – fame, celebrity, status, wealth, and whatever other ways the charmed may appear to exist. Being an artist may or may not bring recognition and great fortune, but being an artist I think is a fortunate state of being. It has nothing to do with whatever external image or expectation may seem to exist within the culture at large. It has everything to do with what is generated internally at the core of one’s being. Some use the term soul, but that has little resonance for me. I think more in terms of essence and conscious expression of that essence.
Whatever choices I may make from this singular perspective are mine alone to make, and there will be aspects of those choices that no critic or historian or patron or casual observer will ever be able to fathom save from their own limited point of view. I don’t say this from ego or judgment about the abilities of another. I say it from a place of self-realization as a human being that my perception of others is no greater or lesser than others’ perceptions of me. We see as far as we can, but even when shared our perceptions remain our own. Art is something of a meeting place, a place of connection and sometimes of sharing, but there remains a paradox that being connected is also being separate. The two parts or three parts or more parts that join to make a new entity, still that whole contains the individuality of the parts themselves. We are not the petals of a single flower though we all may grow in the same garden.
Art is a path into the garden. It is an experiment in growth and nourishment like many flowers that continually unfold while tracking the sun of creativity.
Posted on 2/2/2015
By Donald Fox
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Yesterday was the final day of the exhibit Monet and the Seine: Impressions of a River, an exhibit of fifty plus paintings done over a forty year period from three different towns where Monet lived. He once referred to the river as his studio and in fact built a studio boat from which he frequently painted some of the works that became part of his most loved paintings. The importance of the Seine for Monet cannot be exaggerated since the number of paintings he made of its banks and scenery exceed his famous water lilies by nearly one hundred pictures. It is no surprise, then, that the last day of the exhibit was packed with visitors many of whom had waited until the last minute. I also went for a last look but had made half a dozen previous extended visits. This time I focused on paintings of most interest to me, but I also took time to interview a few people I noticed being particularly observant.
Most viewers at an art exhibition will politely stand in front of a painting, perhaps listen to a recorded message if available, and then they will move on to the next work. These are the casual observers who mostly seem to want to get an overview of what an artist like Monet has done. They may appreciate color and image and general historical information but aren’t that interested in the creative process or specifics of artistic technique.
Painters like to look more closely, to really observe brushstrokes and paint application, and to pick out the variety of techniques an artist like Monet employed throughout his career. He continually experimented with paint application in order to create a variety of light effects in his works. Sometimes the paint is very thin and wash-like, sometimes rhythmical strokes of varied color create a pattern of suggested motion as well as physical texture all over the painting’s surface, and sometimes there are passages of heavily applied paint contrasted with smoother and more thinly applied color. Some subjects he interpreted several different ways from almost exactly the same vantage point. Many people are familiar with his Rouen Cathedral series or the haystacks or the poplars and certainly the water lilies. Most of these vary color according to time of day, but most of these also are painted in similar manner technically. In a lot of the Seine paintings, he varied technique even when focused on the same viewpoint at different times of day.
Monet is often characterized by the observation made by fellow artist Paul Cézanne that “Monet is only an eye, but my God, what an eye!” Observing several dozen of Monet’s paintings, one could easily agree with this statement by noting that the subtleties of color and value are astonishing. However, the mastery of technique is equally impressive when it is noted that there is incredible variety of interpretation of the many subjects he painted as I’ve alluded to above. He did continually experiment with paint application and the process of making a painting. Nature may have been his master and muse but painting was the medium that he explored as complex visual language that enabled him to discourse on the intricacies of nature’s moods. His artistic intellect guided by his eye led him in directions that have yet to be fully discussed within artistic interpretation either historically or aesthetically. Exhibits like this recent one will surely add to the breadth of understanding about this most prolific and revolutionary, yet deceptively familiar, artist.
Posted on 2/1/2015 5:51:06 PM
By Donald Fox
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The following is excerpted from today’s The Writer’s Almanac, an email newsletter. It is presented here solely to illustrate dedication to a strict manner of working on one’s art. Many visual artists have been as steadfast in their production as Norman Mailer whether they were as intensely disciplined or not. Paul Cezanne, Claude Monet, and Pablo Picasso come readily to mind – different work stylistically but all prolific painters.
“It's the birthday of Norman Mailer, born in Long Branch, New Jersey (1923)… Mailer was incredibly productive, and stuck to a strict writing regimen. He said: ‘Over the years, I've found one rule. It is the only one I give on those occasions when I talk about writing. A simple rule. If you tell yourself you are going to be at your desk tomorrow, you are by that declaration asking your unconscious to prepare the material. You are, in effect, contracting to pick up such valuables at a given time. Count on me, you are saying to a few forces below: I will be there to write.’”
“He wrote every day from 9 to 5, up until his death at the age of 84. For the last 27 years of his life, he shared a studio with his sixth and last wife, Norris Church Mailer, an artist and writer. They each had their own space. Mailer sat on a wooden chair looking out at the Provincetown Bay - he liked to be near water when he wrote - but he closed the curtains when he really needed to concentrate. Mailer and his wife ate breakfast and lunch on their own schedule, but they would meet up at 6 p.m. to drink wine and eat dinner.”
“The routine worked for most types of writing, but he couldn't force his novels. He said: ‘It's very bad to write a novel by act of will. I can do a book of nonfiction work that way - just sign the contract and do the book because, provided the topic has some meaning for me, I know I can do it. But a novel is different. A novel is more like falling in love. You don't say, 'I'm going to fall in love next Tuesday, I'm going to begin my novel.' The novel has to come to you. It has to feel just like love.’ He carried a small, spiral-bound notebook with him at all times, in case inspiration struck.”
“He wrote by hand - he usually wrote in the morning and then typed it up in the afternoon, or gave it to an assistant to type. He said: ‘I used to have a little studio in Brooklyn, a couple of blocks from my house - no telephone, not much else. The only thing I ever did there was work. It was perfect. I was like a draft horse with a conditioned reflex. I came in ready to sit at my desk. No television, no way to call out. Didn't want to be tempted. There's an old Talmudic belief that you build a fence around an impulse. If that's not good enough, you build a fence around the fence. So, no amenities. (But for a refrigerator!) I wrote longhand with a pencil and I gave it to my assistant, Judith McNally. She would type it for me and the next day I would go over it. Since at my age you begin to forget all too much, I would hardly remember what I had written the day before. It read, therefore, as if someone else had done it. The critic in me was delighted. I could now proceed to fix the prose. The sole virtue of losing your short-term memory is that it does free you to be your own editor.’”
“…He said, ‘I become an actor, a quick-change artist, as if I can trap the Prince of Truth in the act of switching a style.’” (Copyright 2014 American Public Media 480 Cedar Street, Saint Paul, MN 55101)
Each of us as artists has to find the best working method that we can follow in order to be most productive. We all know that working consistently is not only the best way to improve, but also it is the best way to be most creative and to produce the kind of work that is satisfying and expresses who we are as creative individuals. Sometimes the example of others can be inspiring to us and help to push us to the next level in our growth as artists.
