On Works of Art.

Firstly, I would like to state a little why I write this post ‘On Works of Art’.

To distill narrative in a piece of visual art; firstly I think about the (type of) viewer I wish to draw their attention to something or other. This can be of course something in particular, a subject matter, or even something more general like a concept.

But, what I have come to understand now, at this state in my creative development, is that firstly this approach is in-vain usually , in certain spheres. But more importantly I think it could be seen to be in-vain, because looking to engage a type of people is to general an approach. And in todays world, maybe to dehumanising an approach.

Tailor made Art; this is for me any professional quality, art which seeks to, or even inadvertently does, reach a kind of ‘dialogue’ with the viewer. The viewer becomes therefore, in a sense, an active participant in the art. This is it must be said, nothing new in the world of art. But crucially, it is for me the only means to creating a meaningful piece of art for other people in the world.

I would love (if anyone is reading this article), to have a commision for one of my photographs or paintings. Like I have had in the past, commissions or acquisition’s, become valuable for both the artist and obtainer of the art in particular.

One of the most notable acquisitions I had the pleasure of gaining from, was the acquisition of six pieces of photographic work, from a collection of contextual pieces in used/made for my Univeristy of Ulster degree show in 2003, the six pieces were purchased by Ulster University. This should have been the beginning of a very illustrious artistic career for me. Due to life (getting in the way), I never repeated such success. I have though been engaged in making photographs and Art now for many fruitful years, but the impetus for creating for potential acquisition has died away!

Therefore, upon writing the article on works of art, I thought of providing the reader (yourself) a little context/background to my agenda.

Mainly I would love to, in a sense reach a ‘photographic dialogue’, now on an much more intimate and engaging level with one or more viewers’ of my work.

The intention behind the work of art must always be there from the beginning, it can not and must now be something added later, the so-called ‘decisive moment’ when the image is composed by the artist must be clear to see, witness and engage in at all times. This is not lofty idealism at work, I don’t think, it’s in a real sense, a manifestation of empathy. A work of art created by one individual for/to another must always have empathy written/engraved all over it!

-TO BE CONTINUED…-