Comments on: Taking Art Private

By: Deborah Barlow

Deborah Barlow — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 12:37:54 +0000

There is so much more to this topic, and these comments reflect some of the many themes that reside within it. It is a daily conversation for me, seeking clarification about what I want my work to do and to be. Elatia, thanks for that Tim Parks distinction. And IV, you address another whole set of issues. No shutting down of the Department of Creativity allowed!

By: Elatia Harris

Elatia Harris — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 19:28:46 +0000

Good point, Individual Voice. Would anyone do anything if it were guaranteed never to result in recognition? Blogging has removed much of the worst of non-recognition in providing interaction and a sense of audience. Rather freeing, like the fabled conversation on a train which finds strangers confiding in one another, safe in the knowledge they’ll go their separate ways. Tim Parks, full of interesting thoughts on vanity, wrote in an essay called “Writerly Recognition” about writers seeking both praise and recognition as if they were the same thing. They’re not, he says. Praise is ephemeral, given by the establishment to usually not very talented writers, while recognition of who you really are and what you can really do as an artist, may come from anywhere and be experienced as very important.

By: the individual voice

the individual voice — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 15:47:48 +0000

Blogging is a kind of writing that gets immediate feedback from readers and in that sense there is an action I never had in the little publishing I did. I never had long ongoing conversations of what I wrote. People would say “oh, I really liked that piece.” And that was it. The connection I feel with readers writing on my blog feels like a guilty pleasure, like I’m not really writing, only it’s the funnest writing I’ve ever done and, I’m feeling, the closest to expressing me. I’m still struggling with the issue of anonymity vs recognition, afraid that seeking recognition with my real name will shut down the Department of Creativity in my brain and clamp me all up for fear of what my employer/patients might think. But, what’s in a name?

By: mariacristina

mariacristina — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:40:17 +0000

This private view may be a reaction to consumerism, and the idea that art, instead of an experience, is a commodity. I think about the gift shops at the end of every big exihibt, just like the rides at Universal Studio or Disney World. Ugh!

By: Deborah Barlow

Deborah Barlow — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:41:38 +0000

D, there is work that I love and want to live with and there is work I love that I would rather think about but not confront on a daily basis. (Case for the latter, Matthew Barney.) But that intimate, private experience work is hard to find in the commercial art world right now. I believe there are lots of people like me and your father who keep that approach valid and vital, regardless of whether it has buzz or not. Thanks for this.

By: joefelso

joefelso — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 10:52:18 +0000

When my father and I visited galleries, he would sometimes say to me, “Which of these pieces would you like to take home?” I think he had that intimate view of art, that it was important to interact with the art on a personal level despite its obviously public stature. A little “air” keeps art fresh, but I think Russell is right that buzz is destructive. It interfere’s with the viewer’s response and might confuse the artist as well. With buzz, I always wonder what we’re buzzing about, the work or the phenomena surrounding the work.