The inevitable question that comes along with a fine art critique or a presentation of some sort is - why? As artists, we're constantly under great scrutiny and how we chose to function under the viewer's gaze is what often defines us. Finding that why is a process I've been considering a lot lately. Why do I do what I do and why people should look at it seems like a simple enough problem. It's definitely not.
Being a child of the technological revolution, I've grown up in a fast paced culture that's picking up speed even as I type. The fact that I've chosen to go to school for a degree in something that is now an everyday, every minute part of our lives does not escape me. Search any blog, any photographer, any artist in general and somewhere out there someone has already done it. Countless times I've come across projects that have been a mere brainchild in my head. Even more times I find artists producing work that I never could have dreamed of. It's an extremely intimidating world to grow up and try to make a name for myself in.
Discouraging as this may be, I still try to generate passion. Without it, my work would be bland and meaningless. It may not be considered fine art in the realm of galleries and white walls but it's what I do and shouldn't that count for something?
Take for example, the above photo. Some discarded canvas frames I came across on a walk this winter. I remember the day distinctly - I was headed to Marquette for a talk by the renowned and pretentious photographer Tina Barney. A touch of irony here - her work mainly centers around documenting the upper class life of New England. Bright colors, sullen teenagers, family ties. She is pristine in her work - never really gets her feet dirty. It's her life as she sees it, complete with all the frilly padding of the wealthy. And people like that, apparently. She had some solid connections (it's not what you know but who you know) and was fortunate enough to get into some legitimate galleries and kept producing work that, well, worked. I call it the Tina Barney factor. Money and connections can get you anywhere.
Among many other images I shot that day, this photo would be classified as the mundane. The everyday. The boring. So why take it? For one, I work digitally and it literally took about three seconds to capture this. I'm not even sure if I had to adjust my aperture or shutter speed. It was that instantaneous. So why not take it.
And for two, it was attractive to me...
This dirty city snow forming odd organic shapes on the depressed grass;
Providing an abstract landscape setting for these two geometric and structured forms;
The mostly hidden frame to the left peeking out just enough to make the viewer aware of the repetition in shape;
The muted color tones of Milwaukee in the winter time;
The textures;
The simplicity of finding beauty in the unexpected- trash in the street gutter.
The list goes on. Whether it's of importance to anyone else is yet to be determined. I've had enough positive reactions from my peers that I continue to generate similar pieces, but it does beg the question- how will it function outside of the school setting? Am I just going to be another one of those faceless bloggers or will I become something more? I have this awful feeling that as much as it's up to me to make it all work out, there's still that Tina Barney factor that inevitably comes into play.
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