18 August, 2008

Creativity




Kim Barker, of Australia, is a great one for memes and awards. She excels at this activity, having created the Top 101 Artist's Blogs list. I want to say thanks for adding me to her list with this award: The Creative Artist Award.

I, too, created an award, which is The Art Medal. Unlike the standard blog award, this meme is given out very, very sparingly, and without much link activity associated with it.

But, I am a fan of blog bling, and will pass this creativity award on. After me, I will ask my awardees to write something original about creativity. Say, 100 words in your own opinion on the subject of creativity. As I usually do, I'll contemplate whom to award, and get back to you soon.


My words on creativity:
It isn't easy to be creative as an artist. That may sound funny, but I hold creativity up as the chief mission of the artist, and in the land of two dimensional art it is hard to find new avenues for expression. You will find other artist's ideas compelling, and the classic artists were tremendous copiers. One thing I can say is interact, for heaven's sake, with the works you are interested in! What makes them attract you? What place do these works have in the broader art world? What can my work possibly add to the bigger corpus of the art world? Look out for triteness and the overdone content. On the other hand, take what is common and give it your signature.




Item of Interest:

See Alyson's post on Art Documentaries.


Through Alyson's ArtBizBlog, I found my way to: Rothko's Rooms.

7 comments:

Deborah Paris said...

Welcome back Casey. Enjoyed the video although I would have liked to have seen more of the rooms!

Casey Klahn said...

Thanks, Deborah.

I found that the Rothko Rooms vid is only available as a pre-order. Darn!

Anonymous said...

Hi Casey,
the funny thing is that I wanted to write a new post on exactly this subject. And while you mentioned art documentaries from Alyson's blog I have long started my own on my German blog already months ago. It started mainly as a documentary for myself - describing all the details you normally would not find in a work's description, the ideas which lie behind and and and...
I really cannot say if this all is of bigger interest for other people but from my own perception I thought this to be a great tool for a retrospective view that again spurs new ideas and inspirations.
I definitely draw from this pool bits and pieces for new work. So it definitely has a kind of self-purpose in it.
I only wished that more artists would do this in an organized manner i.e. describing their work in chronological order from start till the end. This would help to understand creative processes much better.
I am also convinced that this would even help non-artists to understand how much hard work is involved in a piece of art and that it's value is very often totally underestimated as well as the person of the artist him/herself.

Casey Klahn said...

Wow! That's a major project to put down on video your process and development.

I am reminded (for some reason) of how the singer Frank Sinatra invested personally in recording himself singing on video, in full figure and in large-format film, in the Fifties when he was at the height of his powers. It was released at Radio City Music Hall a few years ago, and I was convinced that he knew his powers as an artist, and wanted to preserve the essence of what he was presenting.

A form of artistic courage.

Slice of Blog said...

Works of art is to work at art, To see and feel vibrations of inspiration. Energies are waiting to be formed and reformed an endless list of supplies for creations. You are the creator. Pull from the sky the path of your being and let those who may cross your pass have pleasure in your work..j.k.

Kim said...

a really thought provoking post Casey!!!
I was reminded of Rothko's immense talent and creativity when I came across a self portrait by the artist this week...
I sometimes believe that ones own creativity can be extended when we paint outside our comfort zone....

Casey Klahn said...

Thanks, Slice and Kim!

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