This is an abstract piece or at least it is an attempt at one. I must confess I am not really that comfortable with Abstract Art. It appears to me essentially a vehicle to hoodwink the gullible. There is the story about some artist who apparently got paid $36,000 for a painting produced by dipping a duck’s feet in paint and letting it walk across a canvas. To be fair the artist as I understand it did prepare the canvas by painting it white first. So that is all right then.
“Abstract Art” seems to be a typical event horizon. You can only fully appreciate such art if you completely without question utterly understand the concept. If you don’t fulfil such criteria then you are not able to appreciate abstract art. What a lot of nonsense. We are back to the emperor’s clothes again!
So that we can cross this pretentious event horizon I shall attempt to explain the piece. Rare for me? Ah well here goes. The painting springs from the Everything’s for Sale painting but in contrast this is a recent work. It has been surprisingly well received by its audience of one. Thank you Rachael.
The shells in the picture mark the positions of a thumb and fingers. They are mine for this painting if you wanted to know. At this point you might want to read Not Waving but Drowning by Stevie Smith. It has a loose connection…Okay?… So …have you read it?…Oh… No…Okay….Ah well…whatever… moving on…
It is meant to be interactive picture in the context of: – Please touch the picture just like those ridiculous exhibits in museums “for the children!” created by those people who don’t really understand people. As a schoolboy the only thing I learnt from such exhibitions was vandalism and boredom,
So what is this painting’s “meaning?” Well frankly it is a mix of colours on a piece of paper that you hang on a wall. But as this is abstract art an explanation is mandatory! So here goes:-
How many times have you heard that ridiculous wish – “Ohhhhhhhhh…If only I could read minds”? Why on earth would you want such intimacy? The last thing I ever want to know is exactly what another feels…You dispute this? …Really? Are you sure? You want to feel the incandescent unmodified rage someone feels because their coffee order is delayed or their transient unconditional love for the person that showed them the right way out of that fecking Car Park? No! Never! I have an imagination; I can work it out for myself. Please always give me manners and that is the purpose of the shells. They modify, shield and protect both listener and the listened.
That I think is about it. Touch the shells again and tell me what you feel. I am guessing its Oh I like this picture I’ll put it on my wall. Well I hope so.
Oh! by the way there is a sort of story well a confused ramble on the background but that is for another day.
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