Sigh. After I put this post together (ahead of time to future publish, I might add) I saw this blog post, which then links to this page. This is why it's sometimes so frustrating to try and produce art... it seems that nothing is new (pretty sure Solomon figured that out long ago) AND in addition to that, there are tons of short cuts to producing what was once a more tedious process. There are times when I'm all for simplifying things, but it can be disheartening when things that you learned to do the "long way" are cut down to the press of a button. This opens it up to the masses. Some might argue that's a good thing. It allows people who previously may never had the chance to be artistic in that way to have access to materials that let them pursue that avenue of expression. But I'll confess, sometimes it makes me want to throw a little tantrum in the corner, mainly just stomp my feet a bunch and wave my arms around, and say, "You don't actually know what you're doing!" I know, it's not a high point for me, please forgive me in those moments.
There appears, the more I think about this, to be some element of pride in my work; the notion of wanting to create something that not everyone can create. When I realize that anyone can do it, it seems to cheapen it for me. So instead of taking joy in the fact that Suzzy Q on Main Street in Quaintville can share in the same excitement of miniaturizing her photos as I do, I start to resent her and the effortlessness with which she can do it. I think the correct response to this would be to feel challenged to push myself further, to expand my abilities, to create better, to dig deeper, rather than slumping over in my chair and resigning myself to the fact that I'll never make anything unique.
Oy vey. That's enough artistic psychoanalysis for today. Although if any of my artistic readers out there have any thoughts on this, I'd love to hear them.
7 comments:
Not to be the bearer of even more bad news, but even those Photoshop tricks you mentioned are actually the long way of going about using tilt/shift lenses, which have been around for a long time. They're pricey, but give some great results.
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-TS-E-45mm-Shift-Cameras/dp/B00009XVCX/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1242832621&sr=8-3
Ah, yet another lens to add to my ever increasing "dream collection" list.
this seriously creeps me out a little. at the same time, i think it's cool. is there such thing as good heebie jeebies?
on the whole "being completely original" note...we're all so influenced by what we see and experience that there will always be some level of similarity. the same sort of techniques etc. are going to be turned out all the time b/c we're all working with the same raw materials: camera, lens, photoshop. but only you really SEE things the way you do and i think that's your quest - trying to capture just what YOU see and putting that out there.
techniques come and go and are improved upon and copied...your unique perspective on the world itself can't be duplicated.
K: That's the kind of thinking of which I needed to be reminded. Thank you. See how the counseling is a two way street?!
well it's easy for me to say b/c i'm not trying to "be original" out in the world right now...but if it helps, i'm here to blurt it out!
There's a very strange divide in the Lego building community (my creative medium of choice) as well. Rarely is it overt, but there is often a clear distinction between the "originators" and the "copyers." There are many very talented builders in the Lego community; some of them also take creative approaches to subject matter, build techniques, and presentation. The others tend to be derivative in one or more of those areas (of course, the more areas of derivation, the "lower" on the ladder a builder is).
Unfortunately, I tend to be a more talented mimic than originator, building things inspired by movies, real life, and other builders' work. I'm a very routine builder, rarely devising new connections or build techniques. For those reasons, I don't consider myself a "great" builder, even though I may be able to construct an impressive structure.
Maybe my "art" is in synthesizing the work of others, occasionally stumbling on unique subject matter (wastewater treatment plant!), or deliberately adopting "old school" techniques to do something "the hard way."
D: well said. I much appreciated you sharing!
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