This is an exert from an email discussion with a friend about art. He was promoting a local guy who carves in ice and creates beautiful ice carvings (for weddings and events). I was making an argument that there is a difference between good craftsmen who makes beautiful things and the true artists and the goals they are reaching for.
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My friend wrote :
It is amazing what some of these folks can create with their own hands.
I wrote:
yes artisans and craftsmen can do amazing things...usually thou it is copy cat stuff not original work, with a unique viewpoint. I have seen craftsmen in Asia that could carve wonderful pieces but it is the same stuff over and over...nothing besides being beautiful...art is more than beauty...it should reach inside the viewers soul and trigger memories and emotions beyond "THAT IS PRETTY"...that is why I made the soul reference earlier. B---- is skilled at what he does, he can make beautiful things, but there is so much more to art than that...I wish he would have the drive and the courage to create truly powerful work, work that challenges and questions...work that makes people both angry and happy...work that is multi lingual if you will...that speaks to all of us in a variant of ways...that is the challenge to being an artist..that is what I have been facing all my creative life....How do you do that? How do you create works like that?
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My friend wrote :
It is amazing what some of these folks can create with their own hands.
I wrote:
yes artisans and craftsmen can do amazing things...usually thou it is copy cat stuff not original work, with a unique viewpoint. I have seen craftsmen in Asia that could carve wonderful pieces but it is the same stuff over and over...nothing besides being beautiful...art is more than beauty...it should reach inside the viewers soul and trigger memories and emotions beyond "THAT IS PRETTY"...that is why I made the soul reference earlier. B---- is skilled at what he does, he can make beautiful things, but there is so much more to art than that...I wish he would have the drive and the courage to create truly powerful work, work that challenges and questions...work that makes people both angry and happy...work that is multi lingual if you will...that speaks to all of us in a variant of ways...that is the challenge to being an artist..that is what I have been facing all my creative life....How do you do that? How do you create works like that?
