Following the links on the Artists Talking home page, http://www.newartcriticism.co.uk/issue3.html I came to Andrew Bryant’s article ‘How to avoid getting eaten by a giraffe’ on Hit and Miss. I began to challenge some of his statements as I went along, only to find that he had already addressed some of the points I disagreed with. I suppose the older I get, the more impatient I become. Sorry, Andrew.
The article interested me because it seems to be as much about making the decision to do an MA, and on the way, deals with some of the issues I reflect on within my own practice. In some cases I have not yet reached a resolution, and in one or two instances (of perennial debates) I kind of look forward to never reaching a definitive conclusion.
I agree; teaching and learning can, by and large, be boiled down to facts, and skills. There are certainly grey areas: one can be shown (taught) how to open one’s mind, for example. No doubt one can be born with an affinity towards abstract thought, but some things have to be unlearnt.
Andrew says that “art is about … finding out what kind of artist you are in relation to all the others”. I do reflect on that, a lot. I ask myself: ‘ where am I in the context of contemporary art practice?’ In moments of doubt I have found myself comparing my work with other artists to measure my potential for success. But do you know, I don’t think it matters, in fact it cannot matter. To consciously position oneself within contemporary art practice is to stop forward progress. What other people do is not relevant to my practice. Individuation is key.
At art college I loved the synergy of talking with other like-minded people, the buzz, the excitement. I miss the company of creative others. It is addictive, and every now and then I get a fix. But I realise now that that in itself is not about the art, it is about the people. The buzz has no direct effect on my work. Like death, art is something we do alone.
continued in next post #5
