Break the Silence
When was the last time you really wanted (or needed) to say something but kept quiet? Write a post about what you should’ve said. Ben Huberman
Attending an art exhibition opened recently made me consider the fairy tale, ‘The King With No Clothes.’ Looking at the catalogue later I observed; the more verbose the artist’ statements, the weaker the work, and less able it was to speak for itself.
Language is constantly changing. Maybe it is me showing my age, the fact that I find it hard to accept, every one now has an ‘art practice.’ What happened to painters painting, sculptors sculpting etc.? People make art now or are busy in their art practice. I find this very pretentious.
Some phrases that took my fancy in the catalogue: ‘I ‘aim to explore the conceptual and phenomenological scope of this relationship.’
‘I think that making art and looking at art are coterminous experiences.’
‘The documentation of my lived experience within an endemic spatio-temporal environment is the cornerstone of my practice.’
Of course there are those artists who express themselves in a sincere and understandable fashion.
I can’t help remembering two of Matisse’ many quotations: ‘You want to paint? First of all you must cut off your tongue because your decision to paint takes away from you the right to express yourself with anything but your brush.’
‘Whoever wishes to devote himself to painting should begin by cutting out his own tongue.’ Matisse.
It sounds as if he meant artists should destroy their pens too. I would have loved to express a few honest words on the night, but held my tongue.
Barbara Pyett 