Repetition

Art class

A good artist friend of mine commented to me over the summer - in regards to a series he'd completed called "Pop-Mennonite" - that "I'm done with that...I think I've taken it as far is it needs to go..." He began to focus his energy on a new project that is more relevant and unorthodox then his previous works. However, not all artists are as enthusiastic about leaving the comfortable idea behind. Fast forward three months to an exhibit of 3 artists in Fort Wayne IN. As I wondered the familiar gallery, several pieces struck me as very, very familiar. I have never seen them and yet...like a phantom scent or faded memory I had the haunting suspicion that I'd seen these pieces before. Turns out that this artist has continued to use the same medium, and subject for the last several years...in fact this artist in recent history, has not departed from her subject. Ironically enough, that feeling of familiarity came from seeing old work that looked just like the new work.

I'm bothered by repetition of an idea to the point where the idea loses it's poignancy, it's power. Those of us who attempt to blend image and story together know the danger of this all too well. Some call this safe. Illustrators, painters, novelists, etc. have made names for themselves doing just that: repetition. When does such repetition turn on it's master or care giver? The artist is not a creator as some would presume. We are in fact care takers, midwives, and nurses. Somewhere in the pregnant womb of our minds eye we come into the possession of an idea. As the idea comes to term we feed it, nurture it, until it is birthed onto the caves, page, etc.

So that's it.

Next week I'll have something more interesting and original for the three of you who read this.






Matt