042: Badass Traveller

Badass Traveller, originally uploaded by gingerpig2000.

I'm a Flikr Badass.

Fresh back from New York. Don't you think that travelling can be so tiring, but I wonder why no one would talk to me on the plane? After a week out of the loop with the Fuggers, this was my return shot, incorporating my very recent travelling experience.

I came back to Poland with a number of books I had bought about the meaning of art, and finding these was harder than I had imagined because most books are either descriptions of technique or of artists' work. Reading them I can see the authors battling with exactly the same problems I have been, I do not always agree with their conclusions but I have found some very useful insights.

Art is your concept of the world. The only way to improve your art is to improve your understanding of people and the environments in which we live. It is not particularly relevant whether you choose to study poetry or physics, either will give you equal insight into the world and your art, as would market gardening or whatever else. You do not even have to study one thing, any and everything will do as insight is the key, not bodies of knowledge. Your personal art and the levels of art of the highest achievers in society have nothing in common, unless you wish to compete for awards - it matters not one whit what other people produce, you only have to produce your own art. Art does mean your best work under whatever conditions you live under, but not 'anything will do' as art requires patience, effort and, yes, some pain. Art lies along the limits of your abilities, and unless you push the boundaries of your understanding with each new piece the art fades into mere reproduction. Pushing boundaries causes pain, and events causing pain push your boundaries of understanding further out in some direction. If something is causing you pain, then that is not a bad place to look for your art. Remember, though, that there are many kinds of pain, but they all hurt! :)