Sometimes Art Is A Pain In The Ass
Before we chat, let’s get this out of the way. This week’s theme song is by A Tribe Called Quest, off the Low End Theory:
(Ron Carter on Bass, don’t ya know.)
Okay: Recently, I’ve been having art issues. Nothing too severe or anything I haven’t been through before, but art issues nonetheless. I also know some of the other artists here have had their own, different issues to one degree or other, though I haven’t spoken with them about it in depth.
And this is the issue- this blog exacerbates things. While everybody has their normal cycles of motivation (The way that Bobby Brown is just an impolite Michael), here we’re pressed to stick something up here once a week. Obviously, we’ve each struggled with that from time to time, and I think it’s important that we each accept that struggle when it comes up, lest this becomes a chore we begin to dread. This I can deal with.
But the blog exacerbates things in other ways too.
(This week, instead of a finished piece, I’m taking you on a tour of one as yet failed painting)
I’m used to working over the long term with art. I may finish fewer than 20 fully realized pieces in a year. My processes are both long as often indeterminate. I may start things with no purpose to them, just to do something. These then sit unfinished until they are rediscovered later and either finished, put to use in some new project or stored away again.
But I need something to post here every week. Yes I have archives, but they are still finite. Unless I start creating more than a piece a week at sometime I’m going to hit a wall or find some other way to maintain. As it is, I’ve been largely focused on a lot of smaller projects than longer ones all year. It feels like I’ve just spent 8 hours listening to 2 minute pop songs over and over again. My attention span has been shot by the side of the road and is slowly bleeding out.
(Masking 1)
Much more of this whine fest after the jump
(Masking 2)
The last week I’ve been motivated to make art. The problem is I’m so scattered I haven’t worked on any project for more than a few settings. Last week’s post is the closest I’ve come. Last week for some reason I made 12 purple paintings and I still don’t know why, other than to get rid of some purple paint tubes. I can’t think of anything worthwhile to make with them. To do so I’ll have to paint another 20 pieces probably, and even then I’m making art just to justify having made other art.
(These different states are weeks apart from each other)
This morning on the commute to work I wrote down 9 different things I’d worked on the last 2 weeks, all unrelated.
On the other hand, when trying to remember the color scheme for one of those pieces I may choose to take further, I checked my sketchbook from January and found the following passage:
1/5:
I begun working on a portrait of Clifford Brown using the new printer.Wasted 2 days of a 4 day weekend to hangovers. Was fairly productive the other 2 days. Cleaned yesterday.
Even when productive I didn’t work on any of the things listed on the previous pages. Observe the anatomy of a splintered focus. Why did I feel the need to work on Clifford Brown right now? Or the other random things I worked on when I know what I should focus on?…
Then I brainstorm on a new project I’m now 10 months behind on. Shortly thereafter I committed to making 100 free pieces of art for this blog.
So it seems that things move in cycles, the way that Bobby Brown is just an impolite Michael…
This piece I’ve been posting has been a long thorn in my side. These photos are from 3 years ago when I started it. It’s a dropcloth. The basic image will be the ribbons above. That’s the stencil used. The masked patten is just to make it loud confusing and impossible to finish.
Here’s the piece unmasked between states, with the stencil over it.
Here’s the stencil lifted up.
All these stages took months. Maybe half a year between them. At which point I stopped bothering. It only slowed down from there. I toiled through several more stages and you know what?
It doesn’t look good. 3 years of prolonged effort have led to mediocrity. I have no idea what to do. But later tonight I’m going to unmask and remask a part I thought I finshed months ago- yet another project unrelated to the others I’ve been carrying on. That won’t provide work to post here.
Is there a point to this whole spiel? Some over arching theme? No, aside from the fact that art is a pain in the ass and I don’t see any reason to hide that fact here.
Some day soon I’m going to figure out how to make weekly posts here while doing a longer term piece. There’s got to be a way.
-JD
November 17, 2009 at 6:23 am
I feel just a little bit better now about the pieces in my basement that long ago went from works in progress to unfinished objects.
Misery does love company!
November 17, 2009 at 11:27 am
Wow, Hastings, reading this post was like trying on a tailor-made spandex suit, or what I imagine that would be like. I was actually considering posting something similar this weekend! I’ve been feeling so pulled in so many different directions as far as making art goes, and the blog makes me hyper-aware of how spread thin my focus is and how much I’m not finishing. It can be a little overwhelming. I’ve had to make a concerted effort not to let it get to me. Anyway, great post! Somehow, it’s reassuring to know I’m not the only one thinking these things.
November 17, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Ditto. What’s worse is that I often find myself looking for menial tasks or otherwise superficially distracting myself at times when I could be working. I don’t know what that’s about, but lately, I’ve just chalked it up to part of the process, and tried to push on…. For what it’s worth, even your failed projects are totally fascinating.
November 17, 2009 at 12:21 pm
That last sentence is for you both.
November 17, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Yeah, I’ve talked about this with Toni and sensed that others may have something similar going on and just decided to run with it.
I think it’s important that we remember that the blog is for the art, and not the other way around.
And there’s no reason we can’t incorporate the down sides of the process in with the finished products. Because I love art, I love the process of art, warts and all. So it’d be nice if we can find a way to incorporate that in with the rest. The illusion that anybody can be “always on” doesn’t do anybody much good, and maybe posting about it will help break up the ice pack a bit and remove the anxiety of having a down phase. In m,y experience, that only contributes to extending the down phase.
So I’m resolving to be more honest about the whole thing here. Art is more like a relationship than a job.
November 18, 2009 at 6:18 am
Quite frankly, I have always found the process posts fascinating and, possibly, too few and far between. It’s refreshing to remember that not everyone does complete something new and fabulous every week.
November 18, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Part of this is because process posts take more planning ahead- we have to pause in the middle of doing something and remember to record that. Whereas just finishing it then recording it is a part of the process- if one I usually wait until 11:30 Monday night to start… I will try to do more. Thanks as always for your input, Tarabu!
November 18, 2009 at 10:23 am
i think i have fucked my attention span up when it comes to making art. when i was doing self portraits it wasn’t uncommon for some of them to take days, or occasionally weeks, and the day i would shoot would usually be a 10 hour day. since i have started doing the subway pieces art takes a lot less time and i still get results i like, in a way this is good because i’m ridiculously busy and it means i can still make stuff, but i also feel less connected to my processes. the other sucky part is that i feel daunted by longer term labor intensive projects, which is something i used to practically fetishise because i took so much enjoyment from it. i’m actually looking forward to thanksgiving weekend because i am going to lock myself in the house for a few days and force myself to try something new without distraction.
it’s reassuring to know that we are all facing similar dilemmas, and i like the idea of thinking of this like a relationship, something interactive, and not like a job.
November 18, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Part of the reason I like longer projects is because, while I am capable of doing some things quickly, that quickness leads my mind to valuing them less. I don’t do this with the work of other people, where I often envy their ability to do things quick. But when I’m working the fact that something requires forethought and extended execution makes my brain take it more seriously.
If I do something in a night then move on, it may not even register in my long term memory. If I work on something for 6 weeks, it’ll lodge in there and become more of a relationship. As a result I treat it with more respect and concern than I otherwise might. (Not that it becomes so overly precious that I can’t make hard decisions regarding it, but where I care enough to invest time, though t and energy into getting something out of it)
The time is almost an end unto itself and isn’t about perfectionism or obssessiveness (though those can play a role), it’s just that time helps me connect to what I’m doing.
November 24, 2009 at 2:43 am
[...] tape from the dropcloth posted last week. I think I ended up with 7 or 8 of these [...]