How do I not make my work look like art? This is my quest as laid down by my supervisor today.
It has been noted that I appear to be over-occupied with the idea of making what I produce look like art. Is this because I spent a small fortune on framing for the last piece of work I made? I remember bringing them home and saying aloud ‘these look like art’. Is it wrong to make art look like art. Is it perceived as over egging the pudding?
Yes the frames are totally over the top. The decision wasn’t made lightly. I thought I had done the right thing been true but this is also seen as a fault. I ‘must not attempt to present an absolute’ or to disclose a truth, yet at the very beginning of my research I reflected on Bruce Naumans neon sign “The True Artist Helps the World by Revealing Mystic Truths”
“The most difficult thing about the whole piece for me was the statement. It was a kind of test – like when you say something out loud to see if you believe it. Once written down, I could see that the statement […] was on the one hand a totally silly idea and yet, on the other hand, I believed it. It’s true and not true at the same time. It depends on how you interpret it and how seriously you take yourself. For me it’s still a very strong thought.” Bruce Nauman http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/nauman/card1.html
When I read it I took it as a statement of an epiphany by an artist who’s work we refer to frequently because of the huge influence it had on the art world. I have to admit I don’t know so much about Nauman if I am honest. Sometimes it feels like I don’t know much about art.
Strangely enough I am enrolled on a neon workshop on Monday. Maybe should make my own slogan?
