In a message dated 12/19/08 1:39:13 PM, [email protected] writes:
> I don't investigate aesthetics in doing my art. I act on impulse and > delusional confidence. I am so given up to trusting the impulse that I > attribute it > to God. I just follow orders. Seriously. When I interfere with the impulse, > when I think about rightness or wrongness or rules or aesthetic judgment, I > screw things up, I lose the naturalness of form. > The differences in the creation and appreciation of different genres intrigues me. There's a related question: When, if ever, can we say that a would-be WOA is "wrong"? I don't mean the likes of morally or politically wrong. Oh? So what do I mean -- i.e. what do I have in mind? Michael suggests he sometimes quits on a painting, or paints over it. My guess is he's acting on the realization that its wanted effect on HIM as contemplator is not there. Or, if not a "wanted" effect in the sense of "anticipated", then there's simply no effect there that "pleases" him in a way I'll momentarily call "aesthetic". When that happens, can you, Michael, (or William, if that ever happens to you -- or any other "creator" listening in) put your finger on the fault in a conscious, "cerebral" way? More than that, can you ever identify it as a "rule book" flaw? It seems to me that narrative writers often CAN do that. At any point in their "story" it can come to them that something is "wrong". In this regard they are not unlike their audience (reader or viewer). I once wrote a book originally intended for editors. Sensibility, I said, may tell you THAT something is wrong, but it won't necessarily tell you WHAT is wrong. It's not the common reader's job to identify the flaw, but it is the editor's job. Here, I wrote, is a checklist of ailments to look for. It turned out the book was bought by far more writers than editors. My question is: Do you visual artists have anything like that guiding you? Something you can point at and say, "That's wrong." I don't mean the likes of realizing a would-be portrait isn't succeeding because the nose is too long. Tell me what I should mean. ************** One site keeps you connected to all your email: AOL Mail, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail. Try it now. (http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp& icid=aolcom40vanity&ncid=emlcntaolcom00000025)
