outflows and inflows of creativity

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Dog Art

Been a crazy, stormy day. Monsoon conditions, lots of rain and wind. A good day to attempt to channel a little artistic energy. It's been slow coming.
Saw on tv this morning a story about a dog, a Jack Russell named Tillie, to be more specific, who "paints" and is represented by around a dozen galleries. Tillie's owner (funny I don't remember his name) puts down a board covered in carbon paper, which is covered by thick plastic. Tillie then does what Jack Russells normally do anyway, scratch and bite and lick and tear at the plastic. What you have then is a "work" that looks alot like, well, like a dog bit and scratched at it. This stuff has been compared, by hype artists, as similar to a lot of abstract expressionism on the market. My my. Lucky dog, at least she has a talented agent.
I suppose art is in the eye of the beholder. For me, though, it's about communicating a concept, an "aha!!" moment, not about random strokes. Anything less is just another form of con job.

1 comment:

Diane Dehler said...

LOL This is funny. At the last minute I had to take an art class to finish my BA.. What prob.. I thought- watercolor; that sounds nice and splashy. So there I am for a whole flipping semester, lugging a heavy portfolio around campus from 7-10PM. And outside in the cold, and in the hallways, with pencils learning PERSPECTIVE and how to draw a box with depth and all sorts of difficult things. It was sooooo hard and we never got out early. After that class though, when I look at a gorgous painting; I know what it is. A miracle.