Archive for the ‘Thoughts on art’ Category
Is There An Artist In The House?
Work in Progress, studio, Marianne Slevin, 2012
I am not one for any kind of dogma, so I do not think that Artists should have to make art in any particular way at all. For my own practice I see it like this: The ship is going down and what am I going to do about it? I do not want to make art for art’s sake alone, nor do I want to make art for artists alone. I want to make my tiny offering of art for the planet, and multitude of ecosystems and communities that live on this great whirling rock in space.
Two books on art have changed my thinking more then any others, the first one was “The unpainted Landscape” essays and texts, by Simon Cutts. The other was “Conversations Before the End of Time” by Suzi Gablik. These books shifted my practice that had been more about the modernist ideal of art for arts sake, towards a more socially engaged way of working. In the words of Suzi Gablik, “…for such artists, vision is not defined by the disembodied eye, as we have been trained to believe. Vision is a social practice that is rooted in the whole of the being.” from The Nature of Beauty in Contemporary Art, New Renaissance Magazine.
Currently, I am making an art work with muffin cases and another with maps folded into paper boats. On the paper cases I am writing different things that would change the world for the better, in my opinion. I would also like to write other people’s wishes for a better world. If you would like to send them into the comments, I would write them down and dip them in wax as part of an artwork. Happy dreaming of a better world!
The Art Of Positive Influences And Support
Prayer flags in German and English, indigo on recycled cotton trousers
Art work by Svenja Seegers and Marianne Slevin, Kilshanny 2010
Sometimes you meet or see another artist’s work that relates so strongly to yours that it could have come from you. It is both a relief to find someone on your path but it can be a bit disconcerting. Sometimes you can find yourself not doing something you would have done because it is too similar to the other artists work, you might have started it before them but they realized their project, you left yours unfinished. Now their’s is hanging in a prestigious gallery. Or you fear that if you look at artist’s work that is similar to your own that it will influence your work too much. My husband brought up an interesting question about it. He said it seems when artists talk about being influenced by deceased artists work it is talked about positively, but when they talk about being influenced by contemporary artists it is seen as a bad thing. This seems quite true for some reason. Some of my biggest influences would have come from my art college friends. Not so much what our work looked like but our philosophies about art formed and grew together in some ways. We were all living in the same city at the same time, not only going to college and studying art together but socializing together, talking for hours about art and life almost every day for several years. It was a wonderful environment for creativity. But at one time or another you have to live again outside of that cosy world so you have plenty of material to work with, it is not just output, but you are refilling that inspiration tank. It is like having all the tools and skills without having experiences in life to take from.
There is something to be taken from this close community of artists that many of us loose when we leave college. Life takes over, many great things happen but for many their contact with other artists is on the sparse side. For me I live with a wonderful muse who has encouraged me to make art for the last almost 7 years, otherwise I would have probably stopped. A couple of months ago I started an Artist’s group that meets up regularly and it reminds me of being back in college, drinking tea and coffee and talking passionately about what art we are going to make. It is an organic type of group, growing and changing. It started out being about artists making art work including poetry and text in the public spaces that seem neglected both urban and in the landscape. This is still the main focus of the group but having a supportive network of other artists is a wonderful thing. One of the other benefits of working in a group is when you are working in a public space on your own can seem like a daunting and sometimes embarrassing challenge, but when there are a few of you doing it it feels a lot safer and less embarrassing.
We have all come from different art backgrounds and work in different ways, but even though we have just started there is already a sense of harmony between the group and huge potential for growth. We are open to sharing ideas and collaborating to make projects that bigger and more far reaching then any one of us could do alone. We wish to continue our own solo practices while having the opportunity to work with other creative people when we wish to. It is definitely a time to join forces and encouraging creativity in others rather then competing with each other and owning ideas.
A wise lecturer in College many years ago, called Mick Wilson told us some truths about contemporary art practice. He said we better think creatively about the whole of our art practice not just the actual art we make, but that we can’t relay on selling our art alone to make a living, but we need to be creative and inventive about the way we are artists too. He asked us all what we planned to do when we left college. I remember having some very naive plan to have a studio in some castle grounds where the visitors would come in and see and buy my art work. We may not get our studio in the castle but on a realer level we can help ourselves by creating a network of like-minded individuals and getting our art out without waiting to be invited or at least as well as being invited to exhibit in our chosen galleries.
Mother’s Day
Some dried rose petals from Valentine’s day floated between bubbles,
Along with a yellow toy duck.
She started to put the wet rose petals around it,
she said she was trying to turn the duck into a rose.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Their first journey to the Green Road at Fanore,
It’s guardian a piebald cob with a green horse beard.
We walked along a perfect natural carpet edged with rocks.
Then to the fields, he took my hand,
to meet the enormous robots made from mighty stones.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Two Motherhood poems by Marianne Slevin
Standing On The Earth I See
Standing on the earth I see,
That you are quite the same as me,
We are both like leaves from an apple tree,
I think I am I, but I don’t even exist
surely I am, without the I added in
I look at you, as if you are you through and through
but we are all made from the same sodding goo!
Oh no that’s not right cause it’s not goo at all
it’s something that’s no thing at all!
Now I am no wiser I have just down sized me
to a ant that is beside me,
Then I realize there is no separation at all!
For I am as large as the planet which is still rather small
And I am not sure if my cousin is the moon!
Poem by Marianne Slevin
Practicing Honesty While you Art!
Just imagine that every time that we felt blocked or uninspired it was simply that we weren’t being ourselves. We think all kinds of stuff that isn’t true, such as what we think is expected of us and what other people think, I do anyway. My Husband and Muse, James says that when I am not flowing it is probably because I am not being honest: I am trying to hold certain things back and working so hard at blocking what I don’t want to think or talk about that I cant flow. This would make sense for art too. Censoring so much that the creative muscle just gives up through exhaustion.
Many of us have a stupid notion that we are not good enough so we may think that what we do in an very honest way can’t be very good so we try to be “better” then that. Everyone is good enough it is just realizing that. We often dont really know what we are doing but if we try to see inside of ourselves and look at who we really are then it is bound to lead somewhere. It is often the pieces of art or scraps of creativity that we cringe at and don’t want to show anybody that can be the most interesting, not the bland mediocre ones that we like to show the world instead. It reminds me of photographs of ourselves; the ones that don’t really look like us we like but the ones that have captured us, we shy away from. Truth can be a little uncomfortable sometimes. The good thing about it however is that there is an endless source.
Some questions to ask ourselves that might help;
What do I really feel this minute?
Who am I this minute?
What do I think is missing in the world right now?
What could I do being me the way I am this minute, feeling how I feel, do to help fill what is missing in the world/my world?
Thinking outside of the box is really good for freeing up possibilities. For example many days I could absorb myself in painting but today I could feel different and need to do something that I have never done before. It could take a little while to know the answer, but for me I know when I start to feel teary that that is the one, one of them anyway. Today, I miss beauty, I think in our society we have forgotten about how beautiful things make people feel better. Maybe I like to paint and draw what I think is beautiful, such as horses and trees. What everyone sees as beautiful is different. What do you see as beautiful?
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