Tuesday 4 February 2014

reflections (28.01.14)

speaking of art...ists

a discussion on the nature of an artist. (28.01.14)

many would speak of the role of an artist, of their works and of their duties. but then we would all come back to to what makes them artists, art. today as we watched a documentary on the supremely famous ai weiwei, 'ai weiwei: never sorry' ,a lengthy documentation of the artist/activist's attempts to oppose the government in its anarchist rule. he was successfully one of the most powerful artists of the year 2011. an artist is an ordinary person like you or me who uses art to to express him/herself, but often faces criticism and opposition and as a result, his very identity is questioned. this became the basis of an argument that constituted a lengthy discussion on three main questions: What is an artist? Is an artist (essentially) an activist? and Who is not an artist? we came to a conclusion that answered, sufficiently, these three questions;

what is an artist?
an individual who consciously expresses him/herself with a motive, medium, and methodology.

is an artist (essentially) an activist?
no, an artist is not essentially an activist but an activist is an artist.

who is not an artist?
a non-artist is a person who does not express with the intent of expression.

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