Portfolio Paper
Over the
past odd number of weeks, you have taught to our class a sum of things which I
have directly functioned to my work. The thing which I focus on and have
concluded to be the meaning and purpose of my life are the fecund realms of
visual and audial creation—the making of art and music. Through these
facilitations of expression I have found my true will, and upon taking your
class I have discovered new ways to approach a very important aspect of art:
communication to the public of my ideas and creations. There are several
different ways to approach art to the public, and it has become very fickle in
this world of ever-developing technology. The digital realm creates an
atmosphere which earlier artists did not have to deal with; therefore the
approach to it cannot be looked at elsewhere in history. But, I have devised my
method in accordance the concepts which have been taught to us throughout the
semester.
The process
I use to materialize a composition of music or art usually goes through several
stages of meditative development and studies. For example, I will develop an
idea for a composition for a painting through several days of constantly
thinking about the entirety of it. Once I have a cohesive image in my head, I
put my hands to work to perform various studies in relation to the
composition’s subject matter. The most important elements for me to develop a
painting most concisely are form, color, execution, thought process, texture,
line work, and a few varying others. Music usually follows a similar process.
Using Black
Brothers as an example, (http://oldhomeorchard.blogspot.com/2012/04/black-brothers.html), we sketch out the idea of the song
using a variation of methods which base their selves off of a single part which
acts as the main idea, though a final version many have this part become a
minor section of the overall composition or vice versa. After singling out the
core idea, we improvise off of it for a certain amount of time and usually
leave and think about the natural variations or extensions we created through
automatic ensemble production. Upon the next meeting time, we talk about how we
should execute writing the composition and being to toy with ideas—you cannot
be genuinely decisive if you do not perform the idea in fullest form. This part
of the process is a varying game of trial and error to which the final product
is arrived at eventually.
The
important part of creation through expression though is communicating your
ideas and pieces to the public as music and art are the true languages of
humanity. As a painter, I must understand wholly the audience which will
directly relate to my paintings however I may approach them. I have found an
audience which relates to my work and that audience usually is found among the
people who enjoy the facilitations of painting. A large problem with modern art
in the West is the idea of practicality. “This painting looks pretty, but what
can it do for me?” This is still an issue I am having trouble with. However, I
can ignore that in some regard, given my do-it-yourself, organic approach, and
find myself more accessible to an audience who are similar to me. In a sense, I
cannot force a square to fit in the place of a circle; audiences are very
concise with their likings. It is difficult to change their perception
completely. The digital world provides grounds to publish work freely to the
public, but the importance of physical and oral communication has not yet
diminished. The artist and musician must speak to the people about himself. He
must resonate with his work to communicate to the audience in the best way
possible to see what he means, or what they both mean. It is important to
convey your thoughts with the common person if you plan to publish your work.
The criteria
displayed on my blog are a few works I have completed upon taking your class.
As you can see a distinct and obvious change in style, the approach is no
different. Themes and symbols displayed in earlier illustrations contrive
themselves in a more organic but veiled sense in later paintings, which are
beginning to focus on the human form. Through studying various artist, I have
found myself more appropriating an Expressionistic style, specifically from the
areas of Eastern Europe around the time of the late 1800’s/early 1900’s. The
compositional elements begin to take on an very intrinsic, self-studying
atmosphere as though the viewer’s thought must turn to face directly his own
life and mind. Through seclusion of forms, perhaps an isolated memory developed
through sensory perception is invoked, thus striking relation to the painting
and giving it their own vanity and meaning. This is important to the artist to
do if he wants to be an artist of the public—of his fellow man. Simply, the way
to do this is to understand the struggles of his brother in an empathetic
manner.
Throughout
my life, I will use methods derived from your class to appropriate my work to
the public. Communication is one of the most important things to becoming a
successful artist and musician. Understanding my audience and further shaping
and sculpting my work through meticulous procedure deems to be the most
advantageous method to do so. My career is steady with productivity and work,
and it is something that I do not see slowing down occurring anytime soon. With
that said, thank you for the ideas and resources to further develop my
execution of work to a bigger audience.
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