may2009

John Smith

Thoughts From My Studio
May 2009

In the March ‘Thoughts’ we spoke about affirmations and talking oneself ‘up’ compared to uttering ‘downers’ which I thought could be the reason why some students excel and others seem to find themselves wading through treacle.

Mulling over this led me to think about words that have power, and wondered if they then can be used to alter mental states or control emotions?
Think of words such as Hate, Violence, Rubbish, Slaughter, Gore, Maggot, Slime, Stupid etc and already you will be feeling put off and not nice. Those words leave very explicit images in your ‘mind’s eye’. If you are reasonably normal that is. I say this full knowing that I will be taken to task by some for insinuating that normal and not normal can be defined by people like me.
Nevertheless, if you are exposed to or confronted by words such as Peace, Love, Gentle, Enthusiasm, Enthusiastic, Ecstatic, Energy, Nice, Happy, Tender, Exuberant, Success, Good, Positive etc. it is almost certain that they will make you feel differently from the first words given?

In the previous ‘Thoughts’ article I suggested that talking oneself ‘up’ rather than ‘down’ could have a profound effect on the outcome of one’s work, and one’s art being pretty much a microcosm of an artist’s life, so then it would follow ‘talking up’ would have the same or similar effect on ones life?

I’m sure we have been through all this many times before, and often when one has been pondering about an issue or subjects, that train of thought continues but with variations, and here in my case I started wondering about equivalents to those words in painting, drawing, sculpting, as well as in music, and how they could bring one ‘up’ or ‘down’ or affect changes to one’s psyche?

Often the various art forms have very close similarities and it would be interesting to find and define those similarities or equivalents.
I know very little about the theoretical side of music other than different music and sounds make me feel different responses e.g. loud clashing or rasping sounds against soft, fluid watery or windy sounds. Repetitive sounds against intricate melodies. Some sounds irritate while others are the equivalent of letting out a long relaxed sigh.

In painting, although it is something I have done virtually every day of my life, I find it not so easy to identify or define these things, other than to say there are images, textures and strokes I like, and others I do not like.

Perhaps this is a good place to study this? I know I like clear, positively identified colours and tones rather than indecisive muddy ones. I like decisive strokes rather than weak indecisive scribbly ones.

My art teacher, Johan Oldert, often used to talk about “Happy up-strokes” without ever explaining what he meant, and I often wondered about this until one day I was working on a painting and no matter how I tried it remained a depressive little thing, that was until sort of instinctively, instead of making all the strokes downwards I used the brush in upward flicks and sweeps and lo, the whole vibe changed.

I know that painters can imply certain things by using certain rhythms and marks but how do these affect the viewer and how aware are artists of this language within a language?

Recently I have been to a few exhibitions in Durban of which one was a national exhibition, and even though I studied the work quite minutely I found little evidence in the main that artists were using their paint and brushwork to project additional information or emotion. It seemed that they were intent on portraying whatever it was they set out to paint, but other than presenting the subjects with some accuracy, that is where it ended. This got me to wondering if artists and teachers paid any attention to, or were even aware that the strokes and marks and application of pigment and colour had any kind of effect, and could in fact make a weak subject a virtual ‘tour de force’ by employing this secondary vocabulary.

In last month’s letter we discussed the economic situation as it affects art, and that we as artists and galleries, not forgetting groups and societies, need to reinvent the wheel to a degree if we still want to be standing when the smoke clears. Assuming this is the case then we need to open our eyes to all the nuances, and select art that speaks to our audiences in the most profound ways. That is unless purely decorative art still enjoys the popularity it has in the recent past, and so we can continue getting away with the bare minimum.

Even so the subject of the subliminal aspect of painting should be considered and included in the work, and artists, gallerists and judges of art exhibitions should educate themselves beyond the obvious if we are to move to higher levels of excellence then where we are or have been.

To answer my own question at the beginning of this letter “Yes I do believe that there are things that we can employ besides subject matter to play on and tweak people’s senses and emotions. It is up to all of us to search for those things and highlight them. They are valuable tools and need to be considered when creating, assessing or enjoying any work of art”

Till next month....