Friday, January 25, 2013

Messing with your head - and mine














It is of course entirely legitimate to make visual art that deals with visual issues instead of philosophical ones - or is it?

Thursday, January 24, 2013

A refusal























Your man on the street expects an artist to do pretty things that complement the living room decorations. The art world expects intelligent statements about art, society or identity. I refuse all of them and draw brainless caricatures of all these staring, expectant faces. But, since society expects me to be productive, I do a lot of them like a proper worker drone. This creates another refusal: If the art market insists on seeing value in some of these, this sheer unspeakable inflation of numbers cancels out even that.
Yes, it's stupid and self-destructive. Isn't that what being human is all about?

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Overcoming perfection























The most fascinating aspect of Japanese culture is how, under the influence of Zen and Shintoism, they have attempted to go through perfection and come out on the other side. Thus, among the highest expressions of Japanese aesthetics is a tea ceremony cup that looks like it was made by a twelve year old in pottery class - except that it is perfect. The aim is to make art, objects and music that look like they were created by natural processes but conform strictly to aesthetic ideals. You know, like the sound of a shakuhachi flute in the hands of a master that sounds like the wind blowing through a half-closed window.
That is the motivation behind this manic doodling flood of mine: I want to reach that point where my drawings look like accidental splashes of ink while being perfectly composed. You have no idea how much work that calls for. Ask me again about 100,000 pictures from now whether I'm getting there...