Creative Anarchy

We watched some great videos in the context of the question "is it Art?" See links at: http://uascapstone2008.blogspot.com/ under the "class three" blog. My reaction was that they are all Art, in that they were creative and engaging. I was more conscious of my own engagement as a viewer, how I became involved and participated in the experience with my own expectations and reactions to each video. I realized how hard it is, as a creator, to step back and imagine the viewer's reaction. Actually, I think its impossible to really know the viewer's reaction, as each viewer brings their own unique history and perspective to be applied to the art. But that is part of the various ways to look at your own work in different ways - taking a break of time before looking at a piece, turning it upside-down, using a mirror . . .

I found the videos to be refreshing and unexpected. The unpolished and amateur presentation added to the authenticity and the feeling of freshness. That these pieces were genuine sprouts out of real people, not a slick product that had been produced by committee or focus group.

Having lived in Juneau for over 30 years whenever I travel recently I am dismayed at the uniformity and lack of regional differences across the US. Fewer independent businesses, more franchises and national brands. You can travel across the country and see the same merchandise in a store 3,000 miles away from another store. So this creative anarchy produced and available across the entire globe is refreshing and encouraging!

Painter Trials

I had fun with creating the background colors - using some hard pastel colors with a broad stoke to fill the canvas with related colors. Then I dragged the "distorto" tool in the "distortion" pen type through the colors - like making marbled paper!!! I love playing with this!

The foreground is "kompyutaa gaijin", my blog title, which is "computer foreigner" in Japanese.