As I watch modern novelists, popular musicians and visual artists break down familiar structures of communication and seek to convey a message or experience in a new format, I am struck by two conflicting responses.
One: I applaud the artist/author for seeking new limits to his/her craft, an age-old creative urge that can spawn amazing newness. And so, I’m intrigued to discover what they did and how they did it.
Two: Or, I scratch my head at the cryptic images and layers of meaning and wonder if the king, in fact, has no clothes on. Am I just too old, too established, too liberal, too female, too wealthy, too poor, too middle-class, too married, too individual, too parent, too child, too western, too northern, too alien to understand? If the artist’s language is indecipherable to me, should I be offended that I’m not the chosen audience? Should I be worried that I don’t understand something that may be very important to understand? Does the artist have any responsibility to communicate with me?
I hope, as an artist, that I work from inspiration to offer something that has meaning to another. I hope I don’t succumb to invention. I hope my art does not become a private, self-centered act of worship.
One: I applaud the artist/author for seeking new limits to his/her craft, an age-old creative urge that can spawn amazing newness. And so, I’m intrigued to discover what they did and how they did it.
Two: Or, I scratch my head at the cryptic images and layers of meaning and wonder if the king, in fact, has no clothes on. Am I just too old, too established, too liberal, too female, too wealthy, too poor, too middle-class, too married, too individual, too parent, too child, too western, too northern, too alien to understand? If the artist’s language is indecipherable to me, should I be offended that I’m not the chosen audience? Should I be worried that I don’t understand something that may be very important to understand? Does the artist have any responsibility to communicate with me?
I hope, as an artist, that I work from inspiration to offer something that has meaning to another. I hope I don’t succumb to invention. I hope my art does not become a private, self-centered act of worship.