continued from post #6
I can’t agree with much in the second to last paragraph though, other than one doesn’t have to stop painting white squares, but even then, must it be in the context of Suprematism? The symbolic, or meaning, in art history comes from what’s already been culturally metabolised – not the art we create now, not the art we will create in the future. White squares do not, and will never, mean only one thing. If you expect a teacher to help you to know that it means man’s ascendency over nature, will you not be ‘inhabiting someone else’s desire’? Indeed, much has happened in almost 100 years: nature may be about to reverse that ascendency: what was once the status quo may not always be so. We learn a new vernacular the first time around, but we should also learn that it is not a law.
I have often made a nod to the past; after all, it was probably the art of others that inspired me to be an artist, and I have since been influenced by many artists. As subject matter, art and art history is as much a part of the cultural sediment as OK! Magazine. If I confess I have never heard the term Suprematism, it doesn’t make me any less of an artist. I may or may not have come across the work. I wouldn’t rely on the assumption that a tutor knows about Malevich’s squares either; it’s not just that they’re fallible like you and me, it is that it is only possible to be aware of a tiny percentage of what has been done. Perhaps that is yet another reason why everything else is irrelevant – if we don’t know about it, it may as well not exist. When I need to know, I prefer to take my chances in the library and with Google.
Rather than teacher or tutor, the terms mentor or facilitator might be most appropriate. Nurture. Sooner or later we hope to reach a point where, either with some help or just by being within a conducive environment, we suddenly need to nail that book closed. Then do it for ourselves.
I make mistakes. I have created work which seemed a good idea at the time. I move on. Someone said that there are only seven stories – but if a similar statistic were applied to art I would still go on searching. Isn’t that what it is all about?
The issue is undoubtedly one of individuation. The question remains of how to assure oneself of that, not least because it is decided upon by others. The phrase ‘contemporary art practice’ is extremely prejudicial.