Something that I touched on in the post from yesterday was hinting at the thought process circulating around the intentions behind the art making process and how those intentions fit in with the social responsibility of the artist. After several conversations with several incredibly brilliant friends (Gregg Louis, Adam Collignon), I find myself no closer to any conclusion other than this justification can take many forms. In my heart of hearts, I know that small acts of kindness can make the world a better place, and I know that making art can be anything but small, and a super generous gesture at that, but sometimes the isolation of the studio practice can make it all feel quite futile. I had called this project "Sisyphean" because some days, the labor felt completely moot, as I would put on an outfit just to sit in the studio while sewing a new outfit. Does an act done in solitude, simple and fleeting, have the ability to ripple out beyond the four walls of the studio and into the world, carrying with it the meaning and importance that it held for the only individual truly experiencing it? If a tree falls in a forest...? Do the remnants of this act then hold this energy and vitality of commitment and bravery in its manifested physical form and expose it to the third eye of those who behold it? Is that, perhaps, the very gravitational pull of certain objects over others? And is that enough? Does that negate the self serving nature that rides heavy on the back of this need to create, like the incessant and nagging need to breathe and eat?
And how many rhetorical questions can I ask in one blog post?
July 27, 2013 - dress.
July 27, 2013 - as worn.