Art Versus Design

I feel that art and design are very similar. They are so similar that I was struggling to come up with a way of quickly and easily explaining their differences. I did some research online and I even looked at what some of my peers had already posted on the subject. The definition of their differences that I like the most is; art asks, design answers.

I like that idea of art asking and design answering. It points towards their overarching purpose. They both require great skill and technique, but they are both meant to accomplish their own specific goals. The artist wants to get the viewer to question something or feel something. The designer is seeking to answer a question that has been posed. There is a specific message that design is trying to express or communicate. Art on the other hand wants to ask the viewer to do something.

Modernism and Modern Art

Clement Greenberg's article, Modernist Painting, sums up modernism as follows. "The use of the characteristic methods of a discipline to criticize the discipline itself...to entrench it more firmly in its area of competence." Therefore, modernism is criticized from the inside in an effort to prove that art is "valuable in its own right." It called particular attention to the fact that painting is flat. It wanted to showcase the flat plane of canvas in order to separate painting from the other arts. Instead of trying to mimic other arts and forms through shading, coloring, or perspective, painting wanted to show that it was valuable as an art in and of itself. By Clement's definition, modernism is the movement focused on looking critically at how painting can separate itself and stand apart from the other arts and therefore focus on its unique ability to contribute to culture and the arts.

Modern art is any art that attempts to orient itself towards flatness. It is art that does not attempt to create the illusion of space or form. Instead it is meant to be viewed as a flat plane.

Borders

I've been thinking for some time about the borders in my life, those obstacles that either constrain my actions positively or restrict my actions negatively. I believe that borders are necessarily bad. It allows you to say that there are some things that you just won't do or participate in. They allow us to have morals, compassion, and will power.

Some borders that I have in my life are my religion and my fear. These are the two things that I believe shape most of my actions. There are myriads of ways that I they are connected to other borders that inhibit or strength my life.

My religion has been a positive border throughout my life. It has guided my actions and thoughts for as long as I can remember. These borders I feel are entirely positive. My religion breeds within me a desire to help other people, serve my friends and family, and pay attention to the community around me. There are certain activities and substances that I obtain from as a result of my faith and testimony. I do not believe that my life has been negatively impacted from the borders imposed on me by the strong believes my religion has instilled within me. Due to my religion, I have a wonderful family. My beliefs and convictions have allowed me to enjoy a bond with my wife that surpasses all other connections. I have complete trust in my wife and I am faithful to her in a way that allows us to feel safe with one another. We have common goals and we are working together to achieve those aims. Lasting happiness comes from relationships, not things. I know that I will always be happy as long as I have my wife beside me.

Fear is both positive and negative. There are certain times where fear ignites a desire to act. The fear of losing someone causes you to reach out to them. The fear of disappointing a friend or loved one gives you added motivation to try harder or be better. Other times, fear can be debilitating. The fear of failure can keep you from even trying. The fear of looking foolish can restrain an impulse to ben spontaneous or genuine. The fear of being hurt can dissuade you from forming strong bonds with other people. I have experienced fear in all of these forms. At times I have embraced the border of fear to push forward and other times I have allowed it to make me quiver and shrink from what I could have been.

Most borders in our lives which are not physical can be overcome through practice and effort. If we are fearful, we can practice being brave. If we have a weakness, we can work to overcome it. The beauty of life is that it is constantly changing. You don't have to settle with how you are. If you want to change, you just need to start by taking the first step.

Making it Small Response

It sounds like the education of the artist is dependent on doing. There are instances where you can understand art logically or theoretically, but you may not necessarily be able to make good art. Art is very subjective, which means that not everyone is going to like your art, even if it is good. The point is that you want to reach a level of skill where people want to buy your art.

Becoming an artist takes time. It takes practice. Taste points out that it can take years before you're able to produce art at a level that conforms to your ideas of what good art should look like. Many hours go into studying and practicing to be able to produce art.

I have experienced this with my art. I love to make 3D models, but my skills were not at the level they needed to be in order to get a job doing it. I still enjoy making models and would love to get paid to do it, but I have decided to let it be a hobby. Mike Birbiglia mentioned that sometimes you have to quit. In a sense, I realized that I needed to quit pursuing 3D modeling as a career. Art is my hobby, not my source of income. I teach art because I enjoy making art and want others to experience that joy as well. I want to give them opportunities to be better than I was or am.

The other experience I have is that of failure. You can't make something great on your first attempt. You have to practice. Each time you practice, you have failures. You learn from those failures and you try again. You notice where you lack skill or technique and then you work on it. Maybe your perspective is off, you study perspective. You work from where you are and build yourself up. You don't have to be a world renown artist. You just have to be the best you can be.

Aesthetic Autobiography Photos

Here are the images that I used in my Aesthetic Autobiography video.

I also included this short video clip.