Part 2 - originality and art

Part Two – The “why” I create and share

Last month I posted a rant about my thoughts concerning Banality vs. Creativity, and their effects on our world. This time I'm going to dive into the reasons that I'm creating an sequential illustrated story set in a vivid fantasy world. It is this world that I hope to convey an enriched background and history, along with something a little different from everyone else's “something different” worlds. Which brings us to our first vocabulary word of the day -

o·rig·i·nal·i·ty [uh-rij-uh-nal-i-tee] noun

1. the quality or state of being original.

2. ability to think or express oneself in an independent and individual manner; creative ability.

3. freshness or novelty, as of an idea, method, or performance.

(definition gleamed from this on-line reference)

Originality – a very rare talent, it seems, in our modern world. Hollywood has been regurgitating popular movies from decades ago – re-making them, mangling them, updating them – all for the mighty dollar. Some of these have been pretty awesome, done right, others …. not so much so. We'll use these examples to expand this idea. Some of the new versions of popular classics from yester-year take an idea, toss it together with a new twist and a splash of someone's personality and BAM! Shake-n-bake deliciousness served up on your plate. But to me, the majority of these re-makes fall far short of this concept – to me they are just made in an attempt to make money. The artistic passion is void from these, the spark of originality that engages people's wonder is missing.

The flip-side of this “originality” coin is that there are some that use this as their only selling point. While their artistic endeavor is original, it isn't engaging; it doesn't inspire a sense of wonder or awe. Some, however, engage a sense of horror or of the abhorrent – a shocking of the consciousness. Now, don't get me wrong – there are places for such creations – but projects solely based on these concepts alone, are they truly art? Our second vocabulary word of the day -

art [ahrt] noun

1. the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.

2. the class of objects subject to aesthetic criteria; works of art collectively, as paintings, sculptures, or drawings: a museum of art; an art collection.

3. a field, genre, or category of art: Dance is an art.

4. the fine arts collectively, often excluding architecture: art and architecture.

5. any field using the skills or techniques of art: advertising art; industrial art.

(definition gleamed from this on-line reference)

I suppose one of the great things about art is that it's open for subjective interpretation. It annoys me when some art critic says that this painting means this, or this poem indicates that. It's all find and dandy – for them – but if the artwork evokes some kind of response from the viewer, who is to say that, according to said critic, it's the wrong response? If the art work engages the viewer's imagination, triggers a bit of wonderment, or touches upon an emotion, who cares what a critic says – the art work has done it's job.

This, of course, boils over into the understanding of art. If you view a painting or listen to a song, and enjoy it, does that mean that you “get” what the piece means? Does that mean you “get” where the artist is coming from? Maybe. Maybe not. With every soul comes a little bit of madness – the artist just decides to embrace that madness and put it to use. But what fuels this “madness?” What keeps it going?

Personally, I almost become giddy when someone says to me “I can see that you are really into your art,” or that “I can see in your eyes that you are very passionate about this.” I think something along these line is a fantastic compliment. “I can see some influence from [insert artist / writer /etc. here] in your work.” This is the part where (I hope), I'm able to connect these thread into a better understanding of what I'm doing.

I think all artists are effected by all the intriguing elements that come into their life – both good and bad. Just like everyone else, they are products of their environments. Personally, I've been subjected to comic books, horror movies and a ton of fiction fantasy, sci-fi and pulp adventures. Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones – staples of my diet. Classics, such a Doyle, Howard, Lovecraft, Poe and Wells, along side the history and mythology of ancient cultures – a treasure trove to mine ideas from. There are so many fantastic ideas that I get from all of this – some of which I can tie together, others are independent and deserve there own significance – this is where my crazy ideas come from.

From a vast library of reference and resource material, I chose the ideas and / or threads that I like from a multitude of sources, and attempt to weave them into something different, something personal – something that, while inspired by the work of others, is uniquely mine. I realize that I'm neither professional writer nor professional artist, but I like to think of my meager skills in both are almost adequate to bring you an piquant tale, hopefully something that you might be interested in enough to return to read the new pages. I suppose it is slightly narcissistic of me, but I desire to share this with others, hoping they will enjoy it as well, and perhaps inspire them to create something that they enjoy and be brave with sharing it.

Once again, I have been overly verbose and not quite answer the “big” question – what is the gist of all this insanity. I am horribly bad about hitting tangent with things I'm passionate about, so I suppose I'll have to finally get around to answering that one next time.

Stand-by for an answer!

Same bat-time,

same bat-channel!