The art of evolution
October 25, 2009 by cynthia
What’s the right level of evolution for an artist? (And I know, I know, it depends on the artist. Bear with me.)
I was invited to preview an opening for an artist I’ve admired for maybe 20 years. I eagerly slurped in the entire virtual show…and midway through it hit me: The work hadn’t demonstrably changed in 20 years.
I could put any image, from any time in this artist’s career, in the current show and it would fit right in. Be indistinguishable from the others, in fact. And I started wondering why.
Has this artist fallen in love with a particular form, gotten comfortable with it, and simply retired from the field? Is this an (extremely) thorough exploration of all possible variations on a theme? Is it that these particular works are still selling well and the artist is afraid to move past a profitable formula? Or has the artist simply run out of ideas?
No idea. The work is still beautiful, still popular. I just know that if I were sentenced to produce the same thing, over and over, for 20 years, I’d give up making.
Of course, I have the opposite problem: The attention span of a mayfly, I tend to intensely focus for about three minutes and then get bored and bounce to the next thing. Developing a single, cohesive body of work is probably my single biggest problem. I’ve whittled it down to three: Emergents, Emotives and Vignettes… but if I can’t move between those three I’ll go nuts.
So…we’re on opposite ends of the specturm, that artist and I. How do you pursue the unified, recognizable body of work bit without going nuts? Or becoming boring?
Beats the heck out of me, but it’s an interesting question.
There are so many more questions on many levels.
Is an artist happy where they are at?
Is it an emotional safety zone?
You mentioned $$$, it could just be like working the same job all of your life.
Do we let peer pressure dictate our art directions?
As far as a body of work and focus on in one direction that would depend on what your goals were. To become a famous acknowledged artist, commercially successful, peer recognition.
When I visit friends from Arizona where I grew up many have not progressed past the 60’s in most everything they do yet they seem very happy with their state of life.
Last Sunday in the Portland paper they profiled an artist who illustrates city life scenes. We have admired his work for a couple of years yet the changes seem small. He does not sell his work and now he is dealing with Parkinsons so he is working hard to preserve his skill by switching to his left hand to draw which shakes less yet he is still doing the same style of work.
I think every artist might consider all of these questions yet is staying the same wrong if they are happy and their work is widely accepted.
I am like you so I understand fully but I also understand the flow of no change.
Thanks for sparking my thoughts as I take a break from making way too many Flu Clinic Directional signs for the county due tomorrow.
Ed
I wonder about that myself especially in the glass art field. You see many ’successful’ artists who are making the same work today as 20 years ago. Apparently the work still sells but, like you, I’d be bored. Is the same thing over and over again really still exciting or is it just their job now? Have they tried new things only to have the collectors snub it? I think the collectors drive what the successful artists make. Me? I make anywhere from 15 to 20 of a particular form and then I’m off to something new whether what I did before sold or not. I’ve been told that it is my style and not the form I use the fuses my work into a ‘body’, but I don’t know especially since my work is not a hot seller. Not so far anyway.
Definitely thought provoking! I find I am constantly working on change….I find it’s part of my growth process. I guess I get bored too easily with doing the same thing over and over, which is why I like exploring new ways of doing things…at least they are new to me.
It’s so good to hear that someone else has the attention span of a Mayfly. We refer to my attention span as that of a gnat. My husband is forever trying to keep up with whatever I am interested in doing at that particular moment, knowing that another idea is already forming. But that’s what makes us so unique & creative. I don’t know how other artists are able to keep focused on doing the same style, sometimes I envy them as they seem to be happy at what they are doing. But then I just move on to another thought.
I like your thinking, Jayne! I think gnats live longer than mayflies, so there’s probably still hope for you.
Every once in awhile I do wish I’d just settle down and keep focus for say, a week, but then something new comes along…
I dunno, Ellen. I think 15 or 20 of something’s doing pretty well. And I can pick out your style in pate de verre or glass panels (I think) so whatever you’re doing works.
Hey, Kathleen–the virtue of a short attention span is probably that everything IS new. All the time.;-)
Ed..you have the most interesting friends on the planet, I swear…
As you might have guessed I am a fairly social guy and a little chatty too. I network well and know people in just about every walk of life, probably a little heavy on the working class, good ol boy and motorheads rather than a huge gathering of white collar but I even know plenty of those types too. It’s just the variety of people and experiences that keep things interesting for me. In my past I have had a few near fatal events, some medical some almost self inflicted. Those events have driven me to really get out there, meet new people, form bonds and experience all I can before it is too late.
My father was a hobby guy with some constants through his life but many other ones that just passed through like bread making and brass casting. he was restless and always wanting to test himself by trying new things creative. Probably where I got some of my crazy ideas from.
We are coming into art a little late so I envy those who have been at it for a long time yet I think we have a different view and drive. Add that to our already full life of experiences and hopefully we should be creating some amusing stuff. Donna has a head start as the glass is her deal but I am just gaining speed. I just have so many passions for different art forms I think the mixed media tag might have been made with me in mind. Now I just have to park my motorcycle every so often and build some art.
I’m like you Cynthia. Short attention span. I am always finding new ways of working with glass that intrigue me and taking off in a different direction. I used to worry that it was a character flaw, but then I attended a DaVinci exhibition at a museum. There I learned that he had the same problem In fact, he had quite a bad reputation for never finishing projects and instead going off and doing something else. It seems obvious when you look at the record of all of the things he did. So, now when I change direction, or abandon a project so I can go work on something else, I just remind myself that I’m following my inner DaVinci.
I like that, Bob. DaVinci is one of my heroes; when I was a freshman, I was in a “renaissance” program that encouraged students to be like DaVinci and pursue both art and science, and I’ve loved doing that ever since.
Ed, I’m gonna think of you as a social butterfly, wings and all, from now on. Wings and motorcycles. There’s some kind of allegory there.