Does comfort lead to boring art? [Archive] - Sculpture Community

ironman

10-21-2006, 09:52 AM

Hi, I think that having a JOB which pays the bills frees you up to do more experimental and creative work. Of course the job takes time away from the studio but it keeps you from having to do those cushy little pictures and figurines (shlock) that you know will sell, to pay the bills.
The flip side of the above theory is that if you don't have the JOB and refuse to do shlock, you are more apt to delve deeper into your creative psyche, work harder and push harder to get the work out there. Because you have to depend on the work to make a living.
I don't believe that comfort leads to boring art!
Boringly creative artists lead to boring art.
Have a great day,
Jeff

GlennT

10-21-2006, 10:53 AM

It depends on the artist and the situation, but this is generalily true.

It is hard for me to believe a true artist would be effected by a non-art, external situation such as comfort to the extent that it lead them to produce boring art. Boring, as it relates to art, is either in the soul of the artist or the mind of the beholder.

For me, and I have experienced both conditions, comfort just means less energy expended worrying about paying bills, freeing my mind to focus more on the art.

GlennT

anatomist1

10-21-2006, 12:30 PM

In my own experience, and from the observation of others, I'd say like seeks like. If you are tortured and mentally ill, you tend to like art of by and for the tortured and mentally ill, and you tend to find anything that isn't full of angst, paranoia, depression, etc boring.

On the other hand, I think the question is somewhat misconceived. It sounds like the notion of comfort involved is a cartoonish one invented by looking in on someone else's life that appears ideal on the surface. If one is smart enough and insightful enough, a state of complete comfort will never be achieved, unless one goes off to a monastery and spends life in isolated meditation. The world is often a messy, disturbing place and anyone with awareness is going to notice. Plus, it is the nature of human desire that one strive beyond limits and suffer disappointments. No matter how much success someone seems to have in terms of material comforts, family, romance, or professionally, they experience these things. People who don't, or think they don't, are probably unintelligent, deep in denial, or both. Hence, I think the issue of being boring in a way that would lead to boring art is not one of comfort but of intelligence and honesty.

jOe~

10-21-2006, 03:47 PM

Does comfort lead to boring art?

Of course not! You should be able to come up with dozens of names of successful, wealthy artists who don't do boring work. Boring work is done by boring people--those that don't take chances or push themselves to explore and grow and change.

jOe~

oscar

10-21-2006, 03:54 PM

If only like were to seek like, we'd have one hell of a minute art market!
Those who choose, or have been chosen, to lead a life of discomfort to further enhance the progression of art, have allowed a greater vision to be witnessed by all.

If only like were to seek like, we'd have no experimentation in art, or anywhere for that matter. We'd have shear and utter complacency. A dull dull world!

With like seeking like, we have division. Try to taste life, Atom Mist!

oscar

10-21-2006, 03:57 PM

Is comfort merly a posh residence and/or lot's of money? What about the heart, the mind?

jOe~

10-21-2006, 04:09 PM

The house, the family, great sales, does all this lead to cushy little pretty pictures and figurines?
Is comfort merly a posh residence and/or lot's of money?
Your words.

What about the heart, the mind?
Different question, same answer.

jOe~

oscar

10-21-2006, 04:15 PM

Lets look at boring art is made by boring people. How profound! Just a bit of wonder, how did they get boring?

anatomist1

10-21-2006, 07:02 PM

I was a little reluctant to respond, but thought it might become an interesting discussion. Instead, it's shaping up to be a repeat of Oscar's last performance here.

http://www.sculpture.net/community/showthread.php?p=22228#post22228

Beware of troll.

cmustard

10-21-2006, 07:31 PM

Lots of great art has been made by boring people. Who said it was a popularity contest.

furby

10-21-2006, 08:59 PM

Having a FT job takes your mind away from art so its going to slow you down a lot. i have trouble changing gear from my FT job to my sculpture. My job is really full on hard thinking at the moment. So its hard. But then you have to eat & i enjoy my job, actually, and work with fantastic people. From these people i learn stuff i can put into my art on the weekend (even if they don't know it!)

So the question is more like do you devote your life to art, or do you have a life?

if you have a life, which you should, then of course art is going to have less time, there's only 7 days in a week...

if you do nothing but art & push it to the limit you might become immortal as an artist, but you're dead then, aren't ya.

P.s. i wouldn't teach art though, i think that would kill it. working in tech support for a sculpture school is great though.

oscar

10-21-2006, 09:44 PM

oscar

10-21-2006, 10:03 PM

I'm boring! But that's not the point. The point is wether the art is boring. All I am, do, and think about, is art. To many, that's boring. It just seems that if one does not have little porcupines poking them in some way then they have nothing to reflect upon in their art. I personally think that realism is boring. Of course splattered paint gets boring also.

Frankly, I'm on this discussion board because I'm bored and comfortable.

HappySculpting

10-21-2006, 11:13 PM

Frankly, I'm on this discussion board because I'm bored and comfortable.

Can't belive you're bored! I've never heard of an artist that's bored. Just my personal experience. Every artist I know wished that they had endless hours to do what they love and is completely self entertaining and boredom isn't part of their vocabulary.

Re: comforts

When everything's going your way in life and things are going smoothly- then more energy to let the creative juices flow.

If you created your comfort through using your good sense and intelligence to get to the station in life that you are at now, then that same kind of good sense can be applied to making high end art. You've created your comfort and can create your masterpieces as well. Take charge of your life.

Doesn't take porcupines stinging me for motivation to passionately pursue art. Art can be an expression of a lot of things other than an outlet for the pain in your life. What about all the roses that you breathe in to intoxicate you? The love of life motivates me, I don't need pain.

~Tamara

oscar

10-21-2006, 11:35 PM

oscar

10-22-2006, 12:51 AM

hmmm...

anatomist1

10-22-2006, 02:11 AM

Sorry to hurt your feelings Atom mist, but your response of "like seeking like" rendered a passionate response from me. I might add, "opposites attract" seems to invalidate your comment as well. No need to drag up the past, please continue!

What you call "passionate" I call nonsense too silly to analyze. Add to that making fun of my name and baseless insinuations about my life and you have what I call childish trolling. It is an improvement on the last time though, where you called me "a 14 year old idiot". I can see why you wouldn't want people reviewing your record here, as it might cause them to reconsider taking the bait this time.

Nina Florence

10-22-2006, 02:34 AM

Hiya Oscar,
An easy life or love of life creates boring art?
Art that depicts JOY is boring?

My tastes in creating my own Art is that of expression, whether it be joy, anger, sadness, or confusion etc. It is a reflection of me. I am not naive. Life is never easy for anyone. We all have periods of time when being comfortable is not a issue, we just have to do what we need to do in order to survive. What is important is to live a rich and full life. I do devote a good portion of my life to art but I enjoy the diversity of my life and I think it benfits and inspires my creativity. This includes family, passion, full belly, and warm bed. I have sculpted whilst depressed but they ended up in my sculpture cemetery, too personal to show and perhaps a little bit self-indulgent. I feel my best creations have been in a state of passion for my vision. This passion brings me joy and happiness.

I think the best sculpture is that, that stirs something inside of you, whether it is a need to touch it, or it inspires a personal emotional response. That being said to truly appreciate and have a emotional bond to a 'Joyous' piece of Art, you will have had to essentially have felt a truly joyous moment in your life. A moment that you treasure. For me any Art depicting childbirth and creation in a positive light brings forth an abundance of happiness.

There is some works of Art that are not to my taste, leave me feeling nothing and do not hold my attention for long. Nevertheless, I do appreciate the fact that is an expression of the artist and it should be respected.

Nina

GlennT

10-22-2006, 08:28 AM

If love for life is a great motivator, what type of art does that produce? Does the art collector, mostly of course wealthy, need a suffering artist for their own life is too rosy? Or do the wealthy comfortable collectors seek their own, as in the joy of life? Of course, a market for all.

Do we remember the art of joy, or is it the work of the tortured artist we mostly remember. But why would one need to be remembered? What of those who choose not. Those that have no choice. Those that have suffering laid upon them and practically forced to create? Is that force more powerful than joyous comfortable art?

In nuclear physics, the atom is broken and shattered into little bits in order to find just what makes up our universe. Might not it also be necessary for the soul to be shattered as well? Isn't this how we find out what makes us people? Isn't it necessary for someone to be so tormented that they must depict the deepest and most inner santums of the soul in order for the rest of us to see joy?

Two things:

1. You seem to have a fixation on the linking of wealth-comfort-rosy. Wealth is no guarantor of rosy. It just porvides more freedom for a person to do that which they have inside them to do, which may or may not be rosy. Also, aside from inheritance, wealth is derrived from effort and energy expended, a medium of exchange as a reward for effort. To belittle wealth is to belittle the reward of effort. Perhaps you have and aversion to effort.

2. The idea of needing to destroy an atom or a soul in order to understand it is a materialist scientific approach, which oddly parallels a recent discussion about alternative health methods with your percieved nemisis, Atomist1. If you tear off the petals of a rose, will you understand it better than when it is whole, fragrant, and full of beauty? ( Rosy? ) Certainly the tormented soul types get a lot of attention in the art history and art criticism world, just as the movie stars and rock stars who lead decadent lives get most of the press coverage who revel in their antics.

Meanwhile, life goes on for the rest of the boring folk who delight in beauty, kindness, nature, harmony, because they love God and God's creation, and despite the trials, tribulations, and sorrows that they go through without broadcasting them to the world, they always return to the pathway of light that is the souls natural inclination when not drawn down to the depths of misery and despair by the dark forces of the world.

GlennT

oscar

10-22-2006, 09:19 AM

Hi Glen,
3. You have three items there, the last of which being a run on sentence that is a bit hard to decipher. See if I got this right. Play the cards you are dealt and shut the heck up right?

1. At what point does wealth became absurd and just a numbers game for the players? I'm sure most of the artists on this site work hard! Why are they all not rich? Humanitarian deeds should reward humankind not wealth!

2. You missed the whole point that; someone's gotta do it! Someone is chosen (see 3) to have their innermost soul exposed to others. This, is what makes the artists we remember! Besides, artists make objects, a materialistic concept is a core issue!

Atonomist: Calling you Atom mist was merly an oversight. Meanwhile, why are you so mean? Can you add to the discussion?

Nina, lets look at the movie industry, how many movies depict joy? It takes all kinds to spin this world, but an exposed core of a soul entertains.

oscar

10-22-2006, 10:00 AM

So what I'm feeling here is, either "i'm content with joy and comfort" or, "one is mentally ill for giving up comfort to expose the soul in their artwork"! Of which by the way, giving up comfort to enable the exploration of the soul is a time tested technique! Ask any monk!

cmustard

10-22-2006, 10:38 AM

Oscar, I think you've bought into the "artist myth" a little to deep. Our history books and critics glorify certain artists and make them larger than life. When in fact most of us are really not that special. Some have reached high degrees of visual expression, some will only be mediocore.

Art is like any other profession, though we may feel strongly about what we do, there are those who excel and those who don't, no matter what mental capacity they may be.

oscar

10-22-2006, 10:59 AM

A profession implies choice. One chooses their profession. Profession most often incurs comfort, for a profession means a job, house, family, etc.

If one is "bought" into this, can one "sell" their way out? For those already giving up comfort for rooting out the soul in their work, do they then "sell out" in order to gain comfort?

Is contentment comfort? If you are content in what you are doing, is that comfort? Should an artist strive for and depict contentment or should they try to push everyone along by pushing buttons? Are you fullfilling the creative role by being content?

cmustard

10-22-2006, 11:51 AM

Profession is what one does by choice or need. Does not neccessarily translate to contentment.
I believe comfort and contentment is different for different people and that's okay. There is no shame in being content.
If you are an artist does that mean you've sold out? not neccessarily. I don't believe life and art are so black and white.
When I said You've bought into the artist myth, what I mean is, artists are somehow characterized as being more special than others. Over time, a guy like Van Gogh, (one of my favorite's) is made to appear larger than life. We're always looking for answers "what's in the artists mind" When sometimes it's just some boring guy or gal making some really cool stuff.
Artists are mere mortals. I compare to other professions just to give a sense that the dynamics of individuals is not all that different.

GlennT

10-22-2006, 03:30 PM

[QUOTE=oscar]Hi Glen,
3. You have three items there, the last of which being a run on sentence that is a bit hard to decipher. See if I got this right. Play the cards you are dealt and shut the heck up right?

Yep. Sorry about the run on sentence.

1. At what point does wealth became absurd and just a numbers game for the players? I'm sure most of the artists on this site work hard! Why are they all not rich? Humanitarian deeds should reward humankind not wealth!

Maybe life on earth isn't fair. Best to find contentment with what you are doing and not waste energy envying others.

2. You missed the whole point that; someone's gotta do it! Someone is chosen (see 3) to have their innermost soul exposed to others. This, is what makes the artists we remember! Besides, artists make objects, a materialistic concept is a core issue!

The artists I remember were concerned with creating beauty and spiritually uplifting work. These include Phidias, Bernini, Augustus Saint Gaudens, Daniel chester French, Bougoureau, Raphael, Whistler, DaVinci, Titian, Veronese, Tiepolo, Bistolfi, etc, etc.
The tormented ones for the most part I would prefer to forget, as they take me places I don't feel I need to go. I have visited some of those places and no longer find them alluring or interesting. Boring , in fact.

Atonomist: Calling you Atom mist was merly an oversight. Meanwhile, why are you so mean? Can you add to the discussion?

I think he has, sometimes eloquently.

Nina, lets look at the movie industry, how many movies depict joy? It takes all kinds to spin this world, but an exposed core of a soul entertains.

Some find darkness entertaining. Others like movies such as A wonderful Life, the Music Man, When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and one of my favorites, What's Eating gilbert Grape, to name a few. If I needed a hundred or more such joy-filled movies to make the point, I could name them.
[QUOTE]

I agree with what CMustard has said about the artist myth. And I will add this: Consider the artist as a messenger. What is more deserving of the attention, the messenger or the message?

GlennT

oscar

10-22-2006, 04:10 PM

Glen, I'm losing the direction of your posts because of the point system.

Who/what is more important; the message or the messenger.....
There are no messages without the messenger,
With no message, no messenger.
This is a pointless dichotomy

If a tree falls in the forest, the squirrels will hear!

oscar

10-22-2006, 04:16 PM

Glen, the artists you speak of, how do we know the torment they lived through? Any artist worth a grain of salt is tormented by aesthetics, morals, ethics, etc.!

Is it the comfortable mind that produces boring art more so than physcical comforts?

HappySculpting

10-22-2006, 05:44 PM

how do we know the torment they lived through

That's right we don't know, so no definitive answer can really be given as to who produces "better" art (whatever that means). Perhaps the most well adjusted, mentally sane and enormously content and happy person has produced the best art ever. Or maybe the most deranged, cutting off his fingers kinda guy. Probably some great artists have came from all over that spectrum. I don't care.

What I'm curious about is what you do Oscar? All your words would have more validity, if not more understanding, if we could read what you say through your works as an example. Since you live and breathe art, you must have a few examples to show. A masterpiece for us to enjoy I hope. We're not bored but curious as all get out!

Nina Florence

10-22-2006, 06:03 PM

Hiya Oscar,

I totally agree with you. I am not a wordsmith and perhaps I did not explain my point clearly.
Nina, lets look at the movie industry, how many movies depict joy? It takes all kinds to spin this world, but an exposed core of a soul entertains.
Which was: All expression has a place in art but in order to have an emotional connection and value it; you generally would have had felt those pure emotions at some point in your life.

As you say it takes all kinds to spin this world, it would most probably be ‘boring’ if we only had Art of torment. Life is like a box of chocolates. You can’t have the ying with out the yang.

Hey, Oscar can you post some of work on the site. Curiosity is getting the better of me. It might help to prove your point or even for us to understand where you are coming from. It most definitely would not be ‘boring’.
Cheers,
Nina

GlennT

10-22-2006, 06:55 PM

Oscar:

Let me try to illustrate my point about the importance of the message vs. messenger this way:

Suppose there is a crowded movie theater showing a joy-filled, rosy movie. I notice that the popcorn machine has gone haywire and a fire has started and it is out of control. I run into the theater. I realize that it is important for me to alert people to the danger and help them in an orderly evacuation. I can:

1. Shout in a loud but calm voice. "May I have your attention. There is a fire in the lobby and we need to evacuate calmly but swiftly through the exits at the left and right of the screen. No one will get hurt if we move in an orderly manner"

or...

2. Make myself as the messenger the important element: " Please notice me. My name is Egoliolo. It has come to this. After many years of struggle, unnoticed by the masses, I now find myself in a position in which I could either positively or negatively affect your life. Do you realize how that makes me feel, to know that you have ignored me during my struggles, have not paid me what I was worth, and allowed my genius to go unnoticed while I had to take on all kinds of work to support my family....
And now, your fate is in my hands. To save, or not to save, that is the question...whether it be nobler in the minds of many......if a tree falls in the forest and the squirrels are hibernating, who is there to hear the sound of one hand clapping as a gift horse is lead to water without looking him in the mouth...to sleep, to dream, perchance, aye, there's the rub....""

Obviously without the messenger the message does not get through.But if the messenger is the focaus of attention, the message may not get through either. My point was to get the message out and get out of the way. Let your message be what is honored on its own merits without relying on psychotic hype to sell it. If torment helps you to create, who are we to object, but don't buy into the personality cult approach to believing that only tormented souls create real art. You would have to dumb down the word "torment" in order to explain the vast majority of great art made by many fine and healthy souls.
( who, like everyone else, has had their own ups, downs, sruggles, and victories )

GlennT

P.S. You have a captive audience waiting to see the works that have cost so much angst.

G. Murdoch

10-22-2006, 07:11 PM

There are a couple of artists I know and care about personally who represent opposite ends of the material comfort spectrum.

My friend Dave was the person who introduced me to appreciating art. His education was in mathematics and biochemistry, didn't start drawing until the age of 30, is bi-polar, washes pots in the bowels of the Empress hotel, and can draw & paint better than anyone I've ever met. His renderings are technically excellent, of course, but much more. David draws BEAUTIFULY. He is my friend, I care about him, and enjoy his company and conversation immensely. He has a difficult time functioning as a productive member of society, though, and barely makes enough of a living to cover his expenses and art supplies, doesn't have a clue about following through on marketing his work. Dave is a tortured soul, and I love him, even though loving him means having my heart broken.

My friend and mentor Somers is a truly masterful stonecarver. He has made a good living carving and selling stone originals for 20 years. For the past few years he has been making serious money by reproducing his miniature stone sculptures as gold & silver jewelry. Somers has a very attractive personality, charming and self assured, is married, with a young daughter. Very comfortable.

Both of these men produce artwork which, in my opinion, is of the highest quality. One is a millionaire, one starves in the dark. I love them both, as friends and artists.

I am somewhere between these extremes in my own journey, at my own pace. I desire a level of material success which will give me the freedom to produce the sculpture I want, without having to wait for commissions.

So, no conclusions or generalizations from me on this issue, just observations from my own experience.

Graham

HappySculpting

10-23-2006, 01:19 AM

Just thought I'd throw in there one more line of reasoning for all of us people of faith. (Those who don't believe can just listen if they like, or not). God didn't need to be in discomfort, pain, self-denial, or negative emotion to create masterpieces. Look at the joy seen through all of his creative works. You can see his love and happiness- what a pleasure. We can do the same.

Romans 1:20 in part "his invisible qualities are clearly seen from the worlds creation onwards, and are perceived by the things made". We can learn a lot about the creator through the creation. All the variety of color and decoration. (Birds, fish, flowers) We emulate that greatest artist of all and can also emulate the spirit in which he created - because of love. (Sorry just not going to buy into suffering as the best and only way to great art. )

Suffering is a part of humanity as we all know to well. Art that has sprung from such has it's own merits. Art that touches us deep in the heart and moves, uplifts, and inspires, is "better" in my personal opinion.

~Tamara

fused

10-23-2006, 01:39 AM

To be an artist and chase the impulses of your imagination usually involves different kinds of compromise or sacrifice, but doesn't require a broken heart or shattered soul exposed to the world. Most creative acts are solitary activities that absorb time away from people and things that you love. Art parallels life in the fact that there are always choices that you have to make, both in developing the form and content and finding the means to accomplish the tasks that you set for yourself.

To be a sculptor tends to be an expensive proposition in time, materials, work space and tools of the trade. If one were to inherit a fortune that would obviously solve most of the logistics, but those without are still driven to find a way to make things happen. Boring art is not a consequence of either of those situations and any mental, medical or physical barriers one has to endure to produce great art tells more about the person --and how imprtant that work is to them-- than anything else.

The Big Bang Theory is not the ultimate aesthetic manifesto and if you are driven to make art, all of the decisions are yours and yours alone to make. You do have to play the cards you are dealt, but also challenge yourself and all that you know to get a new hand that will enable the realization of your intentions and what you believe is important. Harry Callahan* said, "a man has to know his limitations," but as an artist you not only meet your limits head on, you find ways to exceed them. Every artist has that point of departure --where it all began-- and as the years pass looking back at what you accomplished will likely exceed any of the expectations you started out with, and it has noting to do with comfort. Those artworks are also full of memories, marking moments like a calendar and while the circumstances of your life may be present in each one of them, comfort (or not) will never be the inspiration that makes them special.
back to the question...
Time may be measured in scars, but comfort is not the source of boring art.

*yes, that's Dirty Harry

Merlion

10-23-2006, 03:11 AM

I haven't been following the full details of earlier postings. My my view, for what it is worth, is that perhaps we get a clearer picture if, instead of 'comfort', we use the words 'contentment' and 'satisfaction'.

And based on experience and observations, I can surely say that a mental state of contentment and satisfaction, will not result in good art. It will often lead on to boringly poor art.

cmustard

10-23-2006, 07:28 AM

I don't know about the rest of you but, I find it hard to work at all if I'm in some state of mental torment.
I'd bet that even Van Gogh did his best work between bouts of mental illness. I say this because there is excitment in his lines and colors. I believe that good art sees humanity full circle.
There is tragedy amongst the beauty. I believe it's clearer to see in a state of contentment rather than torture.

GlennT

10-23-2006, 07:56 AM

Happy Sculpting and Fused:

Great posts!

GlennT

ironman

10-23-2006, 09:18 AM

Hi, THIS THREAD IS BORING!!!!!!!!!!!!
Except of course for the "main event", Oscar VS. Anatomist1 (alias Atom Mist). You guys should sell tickets!
Oh yeah, GlennT, I like what you said in post #21, it's right on the money!
Have a great day,
Jeff

HorseModels

10-23-2006, 12:20 PM

I am curious to know why some artists think that you have to either suffer tremendously, be bi-polar, borderline schizophrenic or totally insane to create great art? I myself, do not live a "cushy" lifestyle, but neither do I live a life of tremendous suffering; yet I happily sculpt the days away because I love to create sculptures which make others and myself happy. I love working with my hands and do not find my work boring in the least. I have been told that my work has "life" to it and I would estimate that boring work would evoke only a "ho-hum" at best from the public. I have received emails from people who view my work in person or just over the Internet and it moves them to tears. Not all of the people who email me are my clients. Some of them are people who were just so moved by my sculptures that they felt compelled to tell me so. On the other hand, I have known quite a few sculptors and painters who were disturbed individuals. They tend to self-destruct every personal and/or business relationship they are involved in and it also shows in their art. Most of them get sloppy with their art and I have heard people say that these Artists' works are boring. I believe that art can be a window to the Artist's soul and by experiencing the Artist's work, you get a better idea of what is going on inside the Artist at the particular point in time that the sculpture was created. Most sculptors manifest their inner being in the outward appearance of three dimensional objects, whether the sculptor is experiencing euphoria or deep drepression or somewhere in between.

My sculptures evoke positive responses from most people, but not all people share the same feelings about them. My intent is for people to enjoy my art by stirring their souls; whether it is stir memories within their own life experiences or just to enjoy beauty for it's own sake. Even if I create my work with the best intentions for everyone to enjoy, though, I cannot guarantee that each person will share the same emotions from looking at them. As the old saying goes, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." It is unrealistic for me to think that my work will evoke the same response from every individual, but that doesn't stop me from sculpting; it just gives me more resolve to create better sculptures. Some sculptors just want to create to make statements and do not care what kind of response they get from the public and even other sculptors want to get a negative response from the public with shocking sculptures.

Art is made for the benefit of mankind, not for the Artist, IMO. Artists may or may not derive pleasure or satisfaction from their creations, but ultimately, it is meant to be shared with others. An Artist who refuses to share their work with others is missing the point of creating, IMO. If an Artist is not appreciated by anyone, then they should take stock in what, exactly, they are trying to accomplish. If an Artist makes a difference in just one person's life, then they can have the satisfaction of knowing that they contributed to world. I personally do not think that satisfaction of knowing this leads to boring art. I know that if I make a difference in one person's life, I am motivated to create even more and better sculptures. :)

oscar

10-23-2006, 01:25 PM

Ugh....
Oh for the days of the 1950's. I would have received a lobotomy and all would have been blissful.

inferno221

10-24-2006, 03:47 PM

i am going to say that comfort does not lead to boring art simply becouse of this forum its self. simply put we all have to have some comfort other wise where are we getting the time to post threads. so if comfort does lead to boring art then all of us must be guilty and i've seen the work in this forum and i refuse to beleive it.

mike

evaldart

11-28-2006, 07:35 PM

No, but good art creates comfort. Comfort in the "soul". When I feel I have advanced myself through my chosen processes, taken a step forward in my work, in my eyes I have made "good" art, that time. The forward momentum of this colors the vicinity of my life in the same manner affecting my family, my friends, my house my dog (who is usually loathsome and dangerous) and it all is a result of my personal approach to these things at the time which, because I am an artist, depends heavily upon how things are working out in the studio. Only you know the good ones when You make them and making good ones leads to things even better than comfort.

Whimpering, whining, complaning, blaming, making excuses all make for an ineffective messenger and a worn out message.