seduction of the art world

There is this theory that an artist should make consistent works to establish her/himself.

I ask, do you use the same bowl to eat breakfast everyday? Do you carry the same word at the end of your every sentence?

Life is so short that I can not imagine living in the same way for ten years and expecting to get to enlightenment. I can not lie to myself today in order to please the tomorrow.

Actually in the the past several months, I could not even bring myself to openings like I used to.

I looked at my life, there is art and art making, and art marketing, and art talking, and art thinking and art sharing. It is such a BS when those career guides rule: Art is Life.

Life is such a big word, how can one defines it. Life is made of much diverse and numerous experiences. I lived as there is only art and no tomorrow, then I found myself fumbling in the dark losing my art and life.

Something's got to change, but I don't know what nor how. I lived in the dark for a few month dreading about my ignorance. Reading books helped a bit, but ego often threw me back to the pity cell. I am not out of the tunnel yet, but I am back to the studio and work my way out.

Perhaps, ironically, art is the only way out.

I realized what Judy Chicago told us years ago about the difference between female and male artists' approach to art making.

She considered male artists make art with Forms, while female artists make art with Contents. That is why it usually takes longer for female artists to work, because we need to do research, read and internalize our concept before it can come out as art. Much like a cow's regurgitating feed, only that it can take years for human artists to regurgitate certain ideas.

I was too young to understand what that means. Plus in these days, the boundary can be blurred. Now I finally understand it from another angle.

The cereal bowl is form, the cereal is content. With the bowl we consume cereal.

Meal is form, what one feels like eating is the content. With meals we materialize what we want to eat.

Sculpture is form, the concept from which it's born is content. Through sculptures we communicate the concept.

Body is form, mind and spirit is content. Body is the image which reflects our mind and spirit.

therefore,

art is form, life is concept.

Art is not life, nor life art. so, where do we go from here?

gummi gummi gummi

From The Contemporary Art Center of Virginia (CAC), opens July 11~

Art for artists

Richard Tuttle told a story when he came to LA last year, about his pondering on the meaning of shows and openings.
It was after the opening night of his survey exhibition in 1975 at the Whitney Museum of American Art, he was troubled by Why he needs to have such museum shows. He sat in the hotel room all night long, thinking and asking. By 6am the next morning, he had an answer: It is his responsibility to be showing in order to inspire fellow artists and help them bring out their best.
I did not quite understand that answer, but I've heard a lot of entrepreneur gurus talking about the same spiritual fulfillment from wealth. I kept that note in mind, remembering that it takes more than wanting to express to be a successful artist and somehow I too have respobsibility to the whole art community.
Being dormant for a change, I sat quietly and patiently for the door to open. Then again, I hear the same message from Tony Robbins. But this time, I understand it a little better, more on the level of my heart.

Go to school for art? or to kill art?

"Sir Ken Robinson, author of Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative, outlines the current crisis in American education, compares our schools and universities with others around the globe, and with wit and humor, shows us the path towards a more enlightened America. Robinson is an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources. He has advised national governments in Europe and Asia as well as and some of the world’s leading cultural organizations including the European Commission, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, the J. Paul Getty Trust and the Education Commission of the States."
He will be talking at Hammer Museum this July 1st at 7pm!

Blow away, move out, toss in the bin...

I have a very important mission these days: to declutter.

Clear all the materials and stuff I stored for years for some future sculptures that never come. They are so packed that they suck my energy like a vampire. Every morning I woke up, all I felt was sit like them on the shelf with aimless sights.

I feel clean to clean out these clutters. Even threw out some works that I no longer feel comfortable showing. This strong urge to delete the past allows new path to enter. I can now walk a little faster~