I'm tired of a dead newsgroup, and I'm tired of those who lack understanding!!! K. C. Cowan, bite me!
Oregon Painter
think at least in Portland, Oregon there must be SOMEONE who is truly
interested in arts. Or...? So I'm going to talk about something:
Abstract art; it's meaning and purpose.
We've all heard the criticisms: "People paint abstracts because they
can't draw," and "My four year old could have done that." I even heard
the art-nazi host of Oregon Art Beat, K C Cowan, make the former
statement and she should know better than this! You'd think. Of course,
the fact that she hosts a show about art doesn't mean she knows jack
shit about the subject, does it? No, it's just public television.
Obviously she has no understanding of abstraction whatsoever, and that
is truly pathetic. Are you reading this, K. C. Cowan, you pompous
pseudo-art queen?
I am not exclusively an abstract painter, but my abstract work is far
and away the most difficult and challenging of my painting projects.
Creating the exact work of my vision can be frustrating in the extreme,
and anyone who says that I must do these difficult works because I can't
draw is an idiot - or at least knows nothing of my body of work.
Drawing is an entirely separate skill; what is required for abstraction
is a new way of thinking. And as for the halfwit who might say their kid
could do it, let's see it! People make statements like this but they
can't produce because while anyone, including your no-talent kid, can
slather some color on paper it still doesn't meet the criteria of good
art until it is arranged and juxtaposed so as to produce an appropriate
mind effect.
If - and only if - abstraction is done very well, we have in abstract
painting the purest and truest interface between visual arts and human
consciousness. Most people don't understand this: They may assume that
if they don't understand a work of art, there must be something wrong
with it. But my knowledge of the workings of the human mind has led me
to envision the interactive nature of visual input in the form of
matrices of colors and shapes, with the brain - and thus human
consciousness. You see, it isn't what the painting "represents" that is
important - unlike impressionism -but what it does.
Up until now, you didn't know how or why abstract art occasionally
induced strong emotional reactions. You may have dismissed this effect
because you didn't understand it. Now you are beginning to see the
truth: Good abstract art forces the brain to create new neural pathways
to try to fathom the unfathomable. To brain wave patterns emerge. The
colors, the lines, and the patterns - all from seemingly beyond the
world as it is understood - cause the activation of new neural pathways
by the millions.
I could go on and on about this subject but I would only end up venting
my anger against the small minds who barely understand their own
existence let alone the more noble pursuits of the world. If you want to
read about more things that could expand your consciousness, you can
visit my web site: www.chrisspagani.com
THIS ... is art.
Chriss Pagani
Artist