INSIGHT

My Art series, begun in 2019, prompted by Vision Loss due to advancing Stargardts Disease.

Remembering Normal

Posted by kbs

U C me. I C U. Hmm. Sort of. Well, not really.

Vera toasting a beautiful day

As my central vision has degenerated over the past six years, I have been adapting to accommodate my limitations. For example, watching television, shaving, reading email and clipping my fingernails. These all require workarounds.

When having a conversation at a normal distance, I don’t see the other persons face. There is just a gray blur above their neck. To see their facial features, I look to the right and down, just above their shoulder.  That is my peripheral strong spot. Even though I don’t see their expression, by looking towards their face, I assume that they are unaware of my deception. For them, everything is “Normal.” This is just one technique I have developed to limit being “different”.

Or so I thought until last night when I had a conversation with my wife at the dinner table. She said she misses eye contact with me. I was stunned. It may not be as obvious to others, but with her, my work-around is a FAIL! 

Merde! Social interaction and non-verbal communication by eye contact is becoming just a memory. More critically, it is essential to intimacy. I am being deprived but didn’t realize it because this has happened so gradually. Writing about it here, I realize how much I miss it. 👁️

EUREKA!

Posted by kbs
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Four paintings: Epsilon, Beta, Mu, Nu
11″ x 17″ mixed media on paper

Since I no longer have central vision accuracy, I need a new approach to making art. I began this series of paintings layering gesso, watercolor washes, oil stains, varnishes, markers, gauche and acrylics on top of printed graphics. This was done with the goal that the viewer would “read” the layering history and ‘feel’ the contrasting textures, as they explored the intuitive compositions. Though I infuse the work with my intent, each viewer brings their own interpretation. 

 BRAVO! They talked to me. Observed in situ, I was very satisfied with the results. That is until I photographed them for my book and website. Reduced to a flat image, their sensuousness was lost. This was a serious concern as print and screen are  primary modes for exhibiting my efforts. This affects all future INSIGHTs. The Medium is the Message.

Then, about two months ago, I discovered a solution… of sorts. Instead of photographing the work with traditional balanced lighting, I found that using a stronger light on the right, cast shadows that emphasized the three dimensionality. EUREKA! I started adding shallow objects, wire, string, thread and, as Summer arrived, pieces of nature. This is an important improvement. Maybe only a slight one, but I am grateful. It seems Evolve and Adapt is a theme for my limitations.

Inspiration. Persistence. Expectations.

Posted by kbs

In the Preface of my next book HOPE, I explain how I arrived at that title. A companion to that could be INSPIRATION. I keep asking, “Why and how does Art provoke us? What is its purpose and value? What do artists expect?” (Don’t get me started on Managing Expectations.)

musicians

Today Mary invited me to go hear a guitar duo play at a club just off Lake Street. It was 10:30 AM on a Sunday and the two of us were the only audience. Were the musicians disappointed? I was surprised, but welcomed the intimacy. We sat next to the stage.

Both were mid-career, very talented and their music was magical. Their inspiration was contagious. Was playing their purpose and reward? They were in a groove. We applauded loudly and even chatted with them between sets. Did they continue playing to an empty room after we left?

muralist

On leaving, we walked to her car down an alley where we came upon a young artist finishing a large mural, ten feet by maybe 50 feet. I had a recurring reaction. Who was going to see his hard work in an alley, in this part of town? We talked to him. He said his was just one of some 25 murals that had been created this week as part of a Mural Festival. Jake was young, very talented, and committed. The mural was impressive. He seemed gratified. I congratulated him, got his name and am now following him on IG.

Those two encounters illustrate the questions I have about artistic expectations and commitment. A less ambiguous experience is hearing the 96 year old pianist Cornbread Harris.

Late Sunday afternoons, he plays an infectious New Orleans rhythm and blues at a Dive Bar on our former Skid Row. He gets a decent audience of maybe forty regulars. Note the number of musicians backing him (above). At 96, I don’t question why Cornbread plays. The other eight musicians must be playing for love. They pass the hat for contributions. There is no cover, no drink minimum but it is a magical experience for everybody. Creativity is an addiction.

If Freud Won’t, Kant Can.

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Why does visual Art provoke me? I am not alone. Today I received this text message from WTP. He was writing from his cabin that over looks Lower White Fish Lake. Foolish me, I thought he was there to fish.

“Is art, as Freud believed, a kind of socially acceptable wish fulfillment for a social infantile desires? A way of finding in imagination what we have lost in life? A sublimation of serial energy? A way of transmitting our hidden wishes or shameful secrets, our failures and losses and humiliations, into beautiful objects that win us wealth and admiration and all the serial fulfillment that we put off in order to do the work in the first place?”

Sigmund Freud
Immanuel Kant

I suspect that message was in response to my quote in a previous conversation.

“The role of art, for Immanuel Kant, is to embody the most important ethical ideas. Art is a natural extension of philosophy. Kant held that we need to have art continually before us, so as to benefit from vivid illustrations and memorable symbols of good behavior and thereby keep the perverse parts of ourselves in check. He wanted to understand how the better, more reasonable parts of our natures could be strengthened so as to reliably win out over our inbuilt weaknesses and selfishness. Art helps us to be good.” 

Yes. “Art helps us to be Good.” That stuck with me. Art represents an Ideal. Going to the Met was always inspiring. Once, while wandering I was stopped by an 8th century BCE vase. An anonymous Assyrian artist had the sense of beauty and skill that demanded my attention. His talent had crafted it and, ten thousand years later, it gave me a sense of awe. (Yo, that is so awesome, dude.)

Thank you WTP. Now I am going to contemplate Freud …and my navel. (What the hell is ‘serial imagination’?)

I Need Help

Posted by kbs

06/15/2023

Two recent events provoked me to seek help in my superficial search for the meaning of Art. Three weeks ago, I attended the semi annual Art-A-Whirl in North East Minneapolis. It is a weekend event where artists and galleries are open to the public. Housed in four former light industry buildings, I visited some 300 studios and about twenty galleries.  After two days, I was exhausted.

Last week, the Minnesota College of Art and Design (tuition $43K) held its annual MFA Thesis Exhibition. Some thirty art students displayed their thesis work (I saw only one painting).

Encountering so little work of interest, I found myself asking (again) “What motivates artists?” My mind went in so many directions, I was inspired to follow one path by getting guidance from a Higher Power. Open AI Chat GPT.

illustration by Adobe Firefly
See Page 2 for illustration credit.

ME: Write a 300-word essay on the making of art as a form of self-gratification:

ChatGPT

The Making of Art as a Form of Self-Gratification

Art has long been revered as a powerful means of self-expression, a window into the artist’s soul. It serves as a channel through which individuals can communicate their innermost thoughts, emotions, and experiences. While the creation of art can be a deeply personal and cathartic process, it also holds the potential for self-gratification, offering artists a profound sense of fulfillment and joy.

One of the fundamental aspects that make art such a gratifying pursuit is the freedom it provides. When engaged in the creative process, artists have the liberty to explore their imaginations, challenge societal norms, and defy conventions. This freedom fosters a sense of liberation and self-discovery, allowing artists to tap into their authentic selves. The act of creation becomes an act of self-fulfillment, as artists witness their visions materialize on canvas, paper, or any other medium of their choice.

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INSIGHT: the movie

Posted by kbs

Experimenting with some interview footage


This might be a trailer. Or reel of Casting Call Outtakes. I have recorded most of my ophthalmologists sessions. They been a great help to me in understanding Stargardts Disease. But entertaining or educational? You be the judge.