Thoughts on artistry
I stumbled across this piece from Ken Rockwell today. The thesis: your ability as an artist is not dependent on the quality of your equipment.
He's right.
I've had moments where I've been "over the mountain", where I've created some really great stuff with limited resources. But since I'm wearing my humility on my sleeve lately, I'll go ahead and admit it: I've been more a gearhead than an artist.
I've reflected quite a bit lately on my identity -- who I am, what I do, and the like -- and it's apparent to me that I've held myself back from being more an artist. It's been fear, really, that's done it. I'm afraid, for some reason, of putting myself out there, of wearing anything significant or personal on my sleeve.
The only kind of thing I've had any courage to express is when I imitate someone else's work, or when I make something up as a joke. I'm rarely the originator. Improver, sometimes. Mocker, sometimes. Clever remixer, sometimes. But there's been a crucial artistic element missing in the work I've shown to the world, and that element is a piece of myself.
I don't fully appreciate the reasons for my timidity -- if it even is timidity at the heart of it.
I'm sure, though, that I'm changing, and that I'll keep working towards more expressiveness and openness -- because I suspect that there's good stuff there.
Posted by Matt at April 1, 2005 10:29 AM
