Wayne,
At 11:25 PM 9/20/03, Wayne Shumaker wrote (in part):
So I'm caught up in 'what is art?' maybe to figure out if I am doing art
or can I see art?
IMHO:
What separates "art" from whatever the rest can be called is ability of the
artist to make an "Artist's Statement" about the work. If you've been to a
gallery that features multiple works from a particular artist, there should
be one on the wall somewhere (it's usually small). This is an important
part of the exhibit. It is usually a one-page (or less) statement in which
the artist introduces the collection and explains what its purpose is . . .
why it was done, and something about the "message" it's intended to convey
to others. The ability to explain *why* the work is being done indicates
the artist not only has a "vision" of what is to be accomplished, but can
articulate it in writing. If you can put into words what it is you're
trying to do and what it is intended to convey to others, it's "art."
It doesn't have to contain esoteric "deep meaning," abstractions or a high
level of intellectual complexity; it can be straightforward, very simple
and direct too. Following is one I wrote just this week:
----------------------------------------
Artist's Statement:
This exhibit contains two different styles of photographs with two
different goals. One style is contained in the unframed "documentary"
photographs. These are intended to be informative and instructional; to
visually convey how equipment, tools and methods are used to create hot
glass artwork and opalescent sheet glass. The other style is contained in
the framed "artistic" photographs. These were made to convey more abstract
impressions of the Kokomo Opalescent Glass factory environment; a study of
how the ambient lighting illuminates its shapes, textures and motion.
The Kokomo Opalescent Glass factory is rich with interesting and often
dramatic subject material illuminated by furnaces, molten glass, and
indirect lighting from large open doors. High speed films were employed to
allow use of the available light. It was much more interesting than any
artificial lighting I might introduce. Most of their sheet glass operation
gives the impression that time stopped at some point during the late 1930's
near the zenith of the Mechanical Age. With one exception, black and white
film was used to celebrate the timelessness of the shapes and textures
found there. The hot glass studio is rich with color and the glow of glass
periodically heated to allow working it in a "plastic" state. Color was
used to celebrate the various colors emitted by the glass as it changed
temperature, and in the colorful nature of the finished artwork.
Many thanks go to Anne Elliott and Doug Little who allowed unrestricted
access to the Kokomo Opalescent Glass factory for the purpose of making
these photographs, including being present for a pot replacement in the
furnace. In addition, the generous welcome, time and cooperation of Jon
Wolfe, Michael Amis, David Schnuckel, Lori Stolt, and the foremen and
workers in the sheet glass operation, were instrumental in being able to
make photographs that portray their work and its environment.
John A. Lind
Kokomo, Indiana
----------------------------------------
Today I went to the local PolyArts festival in Hopkinton. I met two
interesting people, at the same time, one a local photographer, another a
watercolor artist.
[snip]
Listen to the watercolor artist and forget about the "photographer!" [A
wannabe?? although it's not a crime to engage the subjects and elicit a
little cooperation to help tell the story, overly intrusive "in your face"
press photogs don't survive long.]
Here is a link to some stuff I just threw together. A sample of what
catches my eye. (Enter user and password, just to filter extraneous hits.)
Some shots look better larger, but I used PS to save time.
[snip]
You have some fine photographs there. Five in particular stand out (ones I
remember afterward): one with the children blurred from motion dancing in
a circle on the beach, the pensive woman in the purple sundress, the
blurred background as two people walk down a hill, the girl being
chaufeurred in the back of the car, and the children sihlouetted on a beach
sunset[??]. A number of the winter scenes are also have interesting
shapes. Obviously a number of these have meaning to you because of
location and/or people in them. The ones I cited make a more general
connection with me that goes beyond specifically who or where.
Boris thinks I am 'biased as a photographer', which is fine. If so, is
there something I should explore further with regard to the photographer's
bias? or leave it as is? And it's OK to have hair in the wrong places some
days.
We are all biased by our past life experiences and perhaps a little more by
observing the experiences of others.
John Lind's amazing photos I can clearly relate to. And maybe photography
will always be more closely allied to the expression of light than other
art forms because of the camera's direct dependence on
light.
Not certain I would characterize my work as "amazing" . . . there are some
truly amazing photographers on this list . . . a look at all my TOPE images
will show some good (about the best I'll give them), some so-so, and some
also-rans. For what I characterize as "amazing," browse the [unofficial]
Olympus Web Gallery maintained by Garth Wood; there are some "amazing"
photographs from some "amazing" photographers there:
http://www.taiga.ca/~gallery/gallery.html
Ken brings up an interesting points. There are different forms of light,
like directional light or diffuse light. Diffuse light on a cloudy day is
great when using higher contrast films, but even diffuse light has a
bit of direction, just no strong shadows. So, thanks for the comment on
'light as a compositional element,' I can take that into account when
editing my photos and see how I use light in composition in the field.
That was illuminating...
Although light comes first in my mind when making a photograph, Ken is
exactly right about its varied qualities . . . direction, diffusion,
etc. I waited two years to make a photograph of an outdoor scene simply
because the ambient light (from the sun) was not what I wanted and weather
didn't cooperate to provide what my "vision" for the photograph called for
during a short annual time window. On your jaunts when you have more time
to contemplate what you are doing, think about what different lighting
direction and qualities would do and work at envisioning the same scene
from the same perspective illuminated differently. Takes some practice,
but it is a skill nearly anyone can develop if it's deliberately worked at.
And maybe in the end the exploration is how one relates to the world of
form. And I should just go take some more pictures and find out. Thanks
for listening.
Listen to the watercolor artist: persist and persevere. Think about what
you are trying to convey with a photograph and "who" you are trying to
convey it to before puting the camera viewfinder to your eye. Developing
the skill to envision what you want to do combined with who you are doing
it for will lead you to the image composition that will accomplish it.
-- John
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|