A Love-Type Thing

"You know what they say about art: If you hold it too close it's pornography, and if you hold it too far away it's criticism."


this is exactly how i feel about my paintings, and how i'm sure many other artists - painters, musicians, sculptors, etc. feel about their work. each piece is a horcrux .thanks jk rowling, for that perfect word - for you non-harrypotter fans: if you want to live forever you cast small pieces of your soul, an obviously nontangible object into worldly items. a shoe, a book, whatever. once you cast that piece of your soul into a worldly item, you can never fully get it back. that worldly item is a horcrux, in harry potter lore. anyway, i digress.
for me, each painting contains a part of me - it is the result of my emotions and my passions, and are so much a part of me that if you hang a vertical painting horizontally it makes me want to vomit.
so the concept of pornography as a metaphor to be used in terms of misinterpreting art seems quite appropriate and accurate in an almost revolutionary way for me. I mean, yes there are pieces of art portraying the human body that could be consider genuine pornography I guess. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the concept of pornography as a depiction and perspective that is so raw, vulnerable, and exposed that it incurs feelings of everything from disgust, discomfort, and even sheer terror to feelings of lust and love and obsession, out of those who view it.
when you look at a piece of art too closely, you invade the space of the piece. you have trespassed on the soul of the artist and as such you deserve whatever awkward, uncomfortable, sickening, or even heartwrenching and emotionally draining feeling you are overcome with.

when you look at a piece of art from too far away, you are not close enough to see it in it's truest form, in its reality, and therefore can be nothing other than critical and judgmental of the piece.
think about it.

for me, my artwork is part of me. i couldn't make it more a part of me if i cut the synapses out of my brain and pasted them on the wall for you to look at instead.

the next time you hear a musician say "i wrote this song, but i hate it. i can't listen to it because it means nothing to me." think about your reaction, and your perspective.
the next time you look at a painting (like Jake Berthot's Egypt) don't take it at face value. stop looking and start seeing.

there's more to art than meets the eye. there's more to people than meets the eye. there's more to life than meets the eye. maybe we shouldn't rely on our eyes so much :)





i've got a massive blog project that should be dropping soon. DO keep your eyes open for that.