Jazz Green : Artist Journal

Posts tagged ‘zen’

not a painting, not a sculpture

December 7th, 2011

more pictures from the artist’s studio. not a painting, not a sculpture…

wood, bark, abstract art on panel

it’s quite dark in the cave and things dry quite slowly…

wood bark, trees, abstract art on panel

the remains of the day (a previous day, with a knife and fork)…

wood, trees, bark, abstract art sculpture

surface…

wood, bark, textural abstract sculptural art

texture…

wood, trees, bark, abstract art sculptural

edge…

things are not perfect. i won’t waste time with too many words today, people like to look at the pictures…

nature, reclaim, change, transience, decay, disintegrate, rot, renewal, trees, garden, prune, cut, lop, fell, fall, snip, sort, stack, season, slumber, lumber, weather, time, rain, cold, damp, heat, sun, light, shade, shadow, dark, layers, shift, shape, scrape, form, texture, grain, growth, habitat, shelter, wood, bark, bark again, out of the woods, into the cave, art, no landscapes, no people…

i have been working in the evenings, mostly (in the dark cave, away from images of reality). i have enjoyed working on these new pieces although perhaps enjoy is not the most appropriate word in this context. the process of making feels very focused, methodical, mindful, intimate, quiet, intense, as the work begins to take on subtleties of surface & form and there is some excitement in them coming to a considered conclusion.

i can’t recall a famous artist ever saying that they love what they do. they may speak of passion, determination, a sense of enquiry or curiosity, about scenes & situations, the issues & incidents of life. to simply love art implies unconditional acceptance that everything is perfect (or at least, it feels right), but making art is always a struggle of the will to make meaningful new things, to make them in a way that makes sense (and purpose) out of their creation. however, like the wabi sabi phrase, ‘nothing is ever finished’, making art also feels like a thoughtful, ongoing conversation, the memory of which lingers strongly in the mind long after the event, to be resumed again on another day…

see also the previous post, on making art again…

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in other news… i have acquired a new book to read, which you might have deciphered from a previous post. i have only read the first few pages, my eyes are very tired…

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on making art again

November 24th, 2011

making art again…

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with a fork…

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most artists think a lot about what art is (and what isn’t art). most artists also think alot about what other people think about art, and how other people might understand or respond to art. making art is never just about making art.

some of this thinking about making art happens when actually making the art – starting a conversation about the making and meaning of art. artists sometimes call these conversations dialogues when they become more complex. dialogues may involve other artists or any other ideas or things to do with the making of art.

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i wonder if making art is still mostly understood (by most people) to be about the creation of an object or series of objects for visual or tactile consumption – and whether contemporary art which embraces other media such as music, film, installation or performance is adequately described with the single word, art. has the word art become ineffective in describing all of these varied creative outcomes? what do other people who don’t make art themselves think art is? why is art perceived differently to craft?

most artists want to make art that expresses or concretizes a personal feeling or opinion about something. most artists (but not all) also want to create art that lasts for a very long time. much work goes into the restoring & conserving of old works of art so that we can experience the artworks as the artist had originally created them (at least, we assume so). so, it’s very easy to think art is about the making of an object to express an idea which will last for a long time.

however, sometimes art is made to be ephemeral in intention or experience and a memory might be the only enduring record of it. for art that isn’t made to last, it is often documented by video or photographs a book, so that the art endures (or is at least remembered) in a more concrete form. sometimes the ritual of making art is a big part of the art and there is less concern for making an end object.

films are sometimes made as art and much like regular films they may be experienced once only. some people might watch films again (but rarely repeatedly, unless they have access to the film or it is permanently ‘installed’ in some way). sometimes art is also expressed through sound or music, and music is usually composed to be performed, listened to and experienced more than once.

similarly, writers or poets aim to publish their work so that lots of people will read their words for many years to come. a performance of words can also be art. all art needs a context and an audience to appreciate it, so art is perhaps more a desire to perpetuate a thought or opinion through whatever means are most appropriate and not so much about the making of an art object.

however, it would seem that most of the time art is created as a physical, tangible object of some kind, one which is made to be experienced by others and also made to last for a long time, but sometimes it isn’t. most people like art for the pleasure it gives in directly experiencing it, sometimes over and over again. this would require an object form of art, although film or performance give an objective expression of art, or a representation (or simulacrum) of an idea or an experience of art. art books are sometimes a substitute for such an experience, although a book as an object can also be art. it is the form or object of the art that brings the original idea into being as art.

the experience of art (or the art object) is an integral part of the art becoming art, which leads to appreciating why the artist made the art and perhaps wanting to know more how art is made.…

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the real lends itself to unending exploration; it is inexhaustible.

maurice merleau-ponty

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hands that do dishes

March 25th, 2011

papier mache wabi sabi zen bowl

another papier mache vessel, 2011

papier mache bowl, wabi sabi, relic

a small object of survival..

wabi sabi, papier mache art bowl

upturned, after the storm…

wabi sabi papier mache zen vessel

washed up, weathered and worn…

small zen wabi-sabi paper bowl

art or craft, handled with care…

patinated paper mache dish, wabi sabi

one lonely relic, rescued from the past…

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view more papier mache wabi sabi bowls here..

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The website of British Fine Artist Jazz Green MA RCA. Abstract landscape paintings, fine art photography. All images and text copyright the artist.