Part 2, my response to Rob’s comments:
Rob, thank you for your thoughts on painting and for sending those two links, they are fantastic! I hear and sympathize with your frustration. I’m going to talk straight and give you some tough-love. I think you can handle it…
All the reasons you give are reasons why someone else thinks painting is irrelevant. What I hear you saying is that you have been coerced into believing painting is irrelevant and it can no longer be merged with social commentary, that nobody wants it and a living can’t be had from it, at least until some serious time has passed, in which time an artist has to prove their seriousness. Also that you believe this to be untrue but you can’t fine your way out of the indoctrination.
First, as your friend and fellow artist, I’d say look at the media-biased nonsense for what it is and drop it.
Regarding public art, I think there is no other choice than to work in the preferred media of your employers. I don’t see anyway around that one, I confess. However, any MA program that discourages students from painting is short-sighted, being led by fashion and not worth the price of tuition (that’s my rant). It also sounds like you were in the wrong program, unfortunately.
I have nothing against new media – whatever it takes to make the communication, it’s the communication that is important and the media should enhance that. However, sometimes I think the glitz of new media makes it easy. It’s easy to be wowed by something new. That’s not to say an artist had an easier time of making the work because it’s in a new media. I just mean the novelty of new media can add to the wow factor. With an old media like paint, it is harder to wow because we’ve seen so much of it. But therein lies the challenge and precisely why painting is still relevant and no institution should discount it. There is still challenge to be met in breaking through the restrictions of painting and bias against it. It’s like you said in your blog, you’re looking at the restrictions of your new project as part of your inspiration. It can be a good thing to have boundaries to push against; it can have a focusing effect. Painting is the same; the challenge is in finding a way to move it forward, especially as society and technology change. The painting that is relevant is painting that faces that challenge and makes that social comment.
I hope you find your way to painting again, not because I want to win any arguments – and just for clarity none of these comments are made in frustration at you in any way, nor am I really arguing with you. But my frustration is with trendy ideas being spouted as justification against the choices one feels one wants or needs to make.
I hope you find your way to painting because you want to and because you feel there is something important you want to explore – also something I hear you saying.
Oh and that five year commitment in order to prove you’re serious about painting is the same for any pursuit/small business. It’s not unreasonable to be subject to due diligence, people will be investing in you after all.
