Tuesday, January 22, 2013

artists need to create on the same scale that society has the capacity to destroy

Found here
Any thoughts?

9 comments:

Mary Helen-Art Saves Lives said...

I needed to read this thought today...today...each day we have the responsibility to create in authentic sacred marks. Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart

ronnie said...

hmmmm - I've been thinking about this since I spied it earlier in the day - and you know what? I'm going to be the fly in the ointment....

here's my thinking - art is often being peddled as a 'good' in society -- ie all art/ art making/ creativity is a good thing... I'm not convinced about this (nor am I convinced its neutral).... just like we can say some books are forces for good, some books are forces for evil I think the same could be said for art.... (and I'm not talking about 'good' or 'bad' books or art)

lets look at Hirst (et al) as a prime example.... peddlers of baubles for the obscenely wealthy (russian drug lord anyone?)... makers of corpulent environment-raping status symbols... lapdogs of forces of destruction

to have these artists create (bigger better faster more) art amplifies and exemplifies all the negative elements that are currently destroying both the environment and positive communal society

what am I saying? lets not lump all art and artists together - and lets hope that some artists STOP creating on the same scale that society has capacity to destroy - because they are contributing (in a very big way) to the woes of the world....

end rant here ;)

Sophie Munns said...

Thanks for commenting Mary-Helen and Ronnie.

Its a big statement and one has to read it a bit to determine what is meant.

I do see why you mused for some hours before writing ronnie... and at the same time the first response can be simple and in one way quite clear.

It reminds me how Picasso talked of both creating and destroying... and certainly that is written about him... creator/destroyer.

My first thought went along the lines of nature being degraded at an ever-increasing rate... and I started to imagine artists, creative, dreamers and earth -lovers making small daily acts in order to renew and rebuild. Probably what you got to thinking Mary-Helen.

The wording is obscure when you look into it. I see exactly what you're saying about ....I'll call it "expensive landfill" as Art Ronnie.

Ephemeral artists and those who repurpose come out looking very worthy of our respect at this time of vast too-muchness. About 5 years ago I did a stock-take of the materials I use in a year. I thought a loot how I would go into the future... what I might focus on, what I would use and all of that.

Its so easy to think of all our actions as well intentioned and not know the problems we night be causing. I ate Quinoa for dinner tonight. Yesterday I posted on my homage blog about the malnutrion in Peru and Bolivia since the West went made for their food staple Quinoa. They get such a high price from 'us' they starve themselves and sell what they have. Here it has become a super-food and we are busy feeling Godly eating this wondrous nutritious food.

Still there is something in this that for me points to the important idea of creating rather than blindly consuming ... creating WITH knowledge and awareness and a sense of equity and fairness.

Best of all I think it invites discussion and that's a good thing!
cheers,
S

ersimarina said...

At the risk of being considered narrow-minded, I'd say that the results of 'bigger-better-faster-more' productions are not art at all. They may look nice, they may be highly priced and very commercial but that does not make them art. Products maybe? I agree with Ronnie but I think that Sophie is talking about real art, honest creations that come from the heart and have given us lots to feel and think about while creating them.

Sophie Munns said...

Ersi,
lovely to hear from you.
Its a big discussion. It really begs us to ask ourselves what is art to us as individuals, and what Artists does this sign refer to etc etc.

I joined a linked-in Art Group conversation purely by chance a month ago and it is still ongoing because 96 people have joined in and tried to articulate what they feel about the question that was posed, which was: "Do artist need an understanding of what constitutes a creative practise?"

It has been conducted with a remarkably non-argumentative tone, even though there have been a hug range of responses and people not seeing eye to eye.
I think ideas about everything have been blown open and it takes these kinds of discussion to even discover what we may think right now. We are all experiencing change now... some more that others.

I'm just glad that we have forums to discuss things in a way that allows differences in seeing! Thanks Ersi!
S

Caterina Giglio said...

so much to chew on with one single statement... so many different takes... quite ambiguous really and yes, the picasso quote came into my mind as well... we cannot create without destruction... xo

Sophie Munns said...

Ambiguity...

yes Caterina... that's the word for sure. Many takes... many ways of seeing.

The thing I find with creativity is that it can separate you from others if ... in being true to oneself ... one voices or shapes something that goes against the status quo in some way.

It does not take much at times to challenge another/others ... people might not like an artist changing their style for example... or developing a new enthusiasm. Renouncing something or moving on can read as destroying something that is...

I'm sure all of us could find much to say on this... still like that these words push the conversation.
xo

LE CHEMIN DES GRANDS JARDINS said...

Yes !


Roger

Sophie Munns said...

Merci Roger!