man & nature # 151 ~ ever so slightly "off"
Friday, May 22, 2009 at 10:42AM 
Birch and giant compressor - 1980 Olympic Ice Arena • Lake Placid, NY • click to embiggenWhen it comes to picture making, I really like these 2 quotes that seem to me to be quite complimentary:
One of the major changes in attitude that occurred in the world of art as we moved from the nineteenth into the twentieth century was that the twentieth century artist became more involved with personal expression than with celebrating exclusively the values of the society or the church. Along with this change came a broader acceptance of the belief that the artist can invent a reality that is more meaningful than the one that is literally given to the eye. I subscribe enthusiastically to this belief. - Jerry Uelsmann
My gift to you is that I am different. - Duane Michals
IMO, I don't think that an artist has a snowball's chance in hell to invent a reality that is more meaningful than the one that is literally given to the eye unless he/she him/herself is different.
I think it's a really simple equation - one can't see differently if one can't think (and feel) differently from the "norm". And I'm not talking about being different for the sake of being different. I'm talking about being different at the core of your very being - always was, always will be. Couldn't change it without mode-altering pharmaceuticals even if you tried.
You probably know what I mean - someone out there near the fringe, on the edge of things. Doesn't run with the crowd. A different drummer and all that stuff.
Reader Comments (2)
Being different for its own sake can have merit if done for a yearning of different perspective. Changing one’s perspective often helps to develop concepts that might never have seen the light of day if not for being different for its own sake. Of course, this difference for its own sake occurs fairly early in the logic tree. Being different at the end of an analysis for its own sake has no merit, does it? Perhaps that depends as well.
In matters of art, I can see a quite relevant use of difference for its own sake, attempting to differentiate a medium or the art itself may enable the art to be seen simply because it is different. Do we not, to some degree, glorify those who adventure into the unknown for difference’s own sake? The overused phrase, “thinking outside the box” is testimony to that process of being different for its own sake.
All things being equal, there is some merit to the idea of difference. Difference as an end, even though there are factors that lead you to favor an alternative, makes little to no sense.
So as we move from the 20th century to the 21st century, what is next, where do we go?