Late Night Rant of a Troubled Mind...

Need the artist be the story-teller from start to finish? That, simply will not do.

We as artists can either chose to be the story-teller or the person whom without would make for less interesting stories. In other words A body of work or say, even a single photograph can be made with a specific voice, tone, and intended outcome (as it ought to be) however if only one outcome is offered to the audience than how interesting can it truly be. If the work is to be looked at and only one message from it drawn then has it truly enhanced the viewer's experience. Is a multiple choice answer more engaging than one which takes the form requiring an open ended response?

Art, all art's intention should be to provide a gateway to the senses, the imagination, or the experiential existence of the mind. If this intention is not at the forefront of the artist's thought process then they can be said to be creating simply declarative statements with their work. The artist creates and displays while the audience observes and concludes. Ladies, gentlemen, this is not art! An artist should create and display works that cause the audience to ponder, emote, react, and hopefully articulate internal responses. Art should not be something that is merely comprehended.

The world needs to stop cowering behind the 'safe' idea that photography is and only can be a stationary art form depicting only a static moment in time voiding all interpretation of movement. Rather the mass populace should realize that like the brush-strokes of a painter may denote movement that occurred at one time, the movement of the viewer's eye across the surface of a painting should be treated equally as the movement of the eye across a photographic print. If the eye moves throughout the frame then there is indeed movement within the image. In fact,  I say it's near impossible to create an image that denotes absolute stasis and if it's been done I cannot say I've witnessed such an image.

Now, I'm sure this is bound to continue off in some Microsoft Word document within my computer but for now it's rather late. My schedule is beyond that which our understanding of time will allow and I'd like to get some rest this evening. I'm off to bed where this mind of mine, stirring with thoughts is sure to give me a seriously difficult time settling and allowing for some repose.

If ever I am to finish and proof-read/expand this rant-cum-critical essay I'll be sure to post it.

Sincerely


-S.