During Art Talk this week, visiting artist Monika Meler shared an excerpt of a letter from Sol Lewitt to Eva Hesse. In the letter, Lewitt advises Hesse:
"Just stop thinking, worrying, looking over your shoulder wondering, doubting, fearing, hurting, hoping for some easy way out, struggling, grasping... Stop it and just DO!...
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| Letter from Sol Lewitt to Eva Hesse |
Don't worry about cool, make your own uncool. Make your own, your own world. If you fear, make it work for you - draw and paint your fear and anxiety...
You must practice being stupid, dumb, unthinking, empty. Then you will be able to DO!
Try to do some BAD work - the worst you can think of and see what happens but mainly relax and let everything go to hell - you are not responsible for the world - you are only responsible for your work - so DO IT. And don't think that your work has to conform to any preconceived form, idea, or flavor. It can be anything you want it to be...
I know that you (or anyone) can only work so much and the rest of the time you are left with your thoughts. But when you work or before your work you have to empty your mind and concentrate on what you are doing. After you do something it is done and that's that. After a while you can see some are better than others but also you can see what direction you are going. I'm sure you know all that. You also must know that you don't have to justify your work - not even to yourself."
What I love most about all this advice is how freeing it is. Lewitt suggests that there's something inherently GOOD in simply making - even without a plan or thought or audience in mind. What he ultimately admits is that making art is important, regardless of what it is. And that's an idea I think I can be on board with; but I have to admit I'm still feeling somewhat hesitant. . .
In Exodus 31:1, the Lord calls Bezalel and Oholiab to become makers. Even in the second book of the Bible, making art is already important. It's a task God created, and therefore it is good to do.
But while it may be good to make for the sake of making alone, I tend to think there's something even more to strive for. Page 13 of It Was Good says, ". . .with a God who finds nothing impossible, even an ass can be made to speak truth."
It's that word, "truth," that I get hung up on. I believe that if God created this earth, then at the core of it it is GOOD. He created this world carefully + intentionally, adding intricacies and details we can hardly come close to understanding. But, thanks to the Fall, that goodness was + is easily tainted + bent when we let our sinful nature puts its spin on things. However, that doesn't mean that goodness no longer exists. It's that word "truth" that I think is key in all this. Perhaps, in order for something to be GOOD it must portray some truth(?).
Backing up to Lewitt again, I think there's truth in the goodness of making for the sake of making. And then speeding forward to Meler's own work, I think there's truth in the way she explores her Polish roots through printmaking:
As the book suggests, "For those called to truly be imitators of the Creator. . . they need to be good, do good and make good" (17).
So if there's anything I know, it's that goodness is good. As a Jesus lover, goodness is something I should strive for in my morals and lifestyle and permeate into all of my aesthetic/artistic endeavors.
Sources:
It Was Good Making Art to the Glory of God
Sol Lewitt to Eva Hesse
Monika Meler: Gallery Shoal Creek
Backing up to Lewitt again, I think there's truth in the goodness of making for the sake of making. And then speeding forward to Meler's own work, I think there's truth in the way she explores her Polish roots through printmaking:
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| Monika Meler: Pusto/Sucho diffused relief paint |
So if there's anything I know, it's that goodness is good. As a Jesus lover, goodness is something I should strive for in my morals and lifestyle and permeate into all of my aesthetic/artistic endeavors.
Sources:
It Was Good Making Art to the Glory of God
Sol Lewitt to Eva Hesse
Monika Meler: Gallery Shoal Creek
Hey that's great you brought in Monika's work into this post. That's really fun, and I like that you brought in the letter from Sol Lewitt to Eva Hesse. It's a long quote, and I'm wondering if you could post a smaller piece of it, explaining the content and expanding with your own ideas. (That letter was one of my favorite parts of the talk). I do agree with you that I think there is a deep relationship between goodness and truth and the two go hand-in-hand. In fact we'll talk here too how beauty is often seen as the third element to that relationship. You may want to spend a little time unpacking your interpretation of "bent" that you briefly mention. I like that you are tying in other elements you are learning from other classes.
ReplyDeleteYou did a really nice job of unpacking your thoughts in this post. I think I agree that goodness and truth go hand in hand. I believe that God is Truth, absolute truth, and He is also Good. If He is all these things, then isn't everything He creates inherently good and true? Yet thanks to the Fall we are also inherently sinful. But sin doesn't make what is good go away, it only taints it or bends it. Therefore, I think we still have a need and drive to create as our Creator did, with truth and goodness or at least seeking these things.
ReplyDeleteI must say, that I agree whole-heartily that the quote that you brought in definitely "freeing." It takes off so much pressure from creating art. I think that we get too much into our heads and start to overthink things a bit: "Is this good?" "Should I do this?" "Should I do that?" "Is this a good choice or bad choice?" And I think what that does is start to make us limit ourselves in what we do. I think you are correct in saying that the act of simply "creating" is good in itself. It reminds me of a word that a pastor friend spoke over me last year. I remember I was going through a pretty hard time and I felt pretty isolated from God, and the pastor friend told me that even the act of me sitting down and drawing is my way of communicating with God. While other people communicate with God through words and prayer and dreams and prophecy, she said that God speaks to me through the act of creating art. But the key was that it didn't matter what the outcome was, or how the artwork came out; just the act of creating was good in itself. Just thought I would share what came to my mind when I was reading your blog. Thanks for your post, it was good!
ReplyDelete