Art and Theory. Theory of Art. Art in Theory. Theory on Art. All the reading I have been doing of late has started to have a confusing affect. As a practicing artist, the notion of theory seems a way of validating my activities. A back up, a reasoning … a rational explanation to my seemingly irrational actions. I am indeed interested, like many artists, in philosophy, anthropology, semiology and the many other forms of social science and cultural discourse.
I have just finished reading Jean-Francois Lyotard’s "The Postmodern Condition : A Report on Knowledge" and now I am on the search for the next book that might be of relevance. But, even amongst the plethora of art and theory publications (perhaps this in some way exacerbates the problem!), I can’t seem to find THAT book. A text that would summarise my practice in a neat and concise fashion. To some extent I don’t really want to read a book that helps describe exactly what I am trying to achieve? If my thoughts and work could be summed up in 200 pages, I would be somewhat disappointed! Sometimes, it just feels like I need to justify my practice and feel part of a sensus communis (I expect Freud would have much to say on this!).
With the death of meta-narratives (or grand narratives) as described by Lyotard, each artist’s work falls into a pluralistic art world where every practice deserves individual attention, and hence a unique publication. I would be wary of advocating self-promotion in the form of writing a book about my own work, what is known as “vanity publishing” in the sphere of poetry. It is interesting though that as artists we all form the traditional portfolio, a visual version, so how close can this form cross with its textual version…the book?
