#artspeakintern

Bernini’s history is much too long and intricate to be a subtext, so in the future, I will write a post just about him. For now, just look at the picture above. Notice the curves, the precision, and the beauty. Why do I like it so much? I don’t think that needs answering.

I find that labels are assigned - others give them to us.  Labels are a way of classifying us, whether it be favorable or not.  They are also a way of getting cast into certain groups.  Some are superficial and damaging while others elevate us, they put us in a place of advantage.  On a personal level, I’m aware of what I’ve been labeled.  In my unchosen life, I’ve been labeled as a quiet, shy girl, an insignificant girl that doesn’t follow norms.  In my chosen life, I’m the girl thought of as a deep thinker that is always creating.  I also have a reputation for being ‘straight laced’. 

I have to say that the question about preference for art probably illuminates my lack of education on the subject. Though art is primarily a form of expression, it also conveys culture. More traditional art seems to me at least to focus on culture which requires knowledge. Of course, viewers can look at a painting and “like the way it looks” but it takes a deeper level of knowledge to understand what the artists’ intentions were. This problem is not so apparent in modern art where feeling is the primary emotion being expressed. There may be a blank canvas or a chair in the middle of the room. The idea is in the first thought that comes to your head or the connotations a certain art peace may have, and do not have as large of a cultural influence. But, I have to say I like both. Even though I am a fairly uneducated viewer of traditional art, some of the pieces are simply beautiful in their attention to detail and form. And some modern pieces draw the eye like a moth to a flame. So, if forced to enter either a room of modern art or traditional art, I’d sit squarely in the middle and look back and forth between both rooms!

Ahab

Personally, I don’t like sharing my own art on social media for a few reasons. First, I think art is a beautiful combination of feeling, skill, and passion. Sharing art is more than a trust activity because it involves sharing the emotions that went into the piece. Showing someone an art piece may be more personal than having a conversation about life. So, I don’t feel the need or desire to make that connection with an anonymous group of people surfing the internet. Secondly, I find it hard to see art passed by. The most direct example of this is in a museum. Someone will spend lots of time on one piece and then glide through a whole room full of intricate pieces with hardly a glance. I can’t say I’m not at fault of doing similar things, but it would be hard to see my art treated in that way. 

When I do/make/create art, I love the unconscious connections that are constantly being made. Whether my art speaks to a place I’m in or a memory that lasts in my mind, I love the multitude of inspiration that exists in the world. For example, when taking a picture of a tree in Oakland, I like to capture its ability to move freely, a quality I strongly associate with Oakland.