My friend Yakel questions Art...

My friend Yakel asked me a question recently. Yakel is not an artist, but he is a New Yorker and so he is ultimately qualified to ask me questions about any subject. Mr. Vredor(Yakel) asks, "We have these big orange curtains hanging all over Central Park, you're an artist... what's 'that' all about anyhow?"

My friend was of course referring the artist Christy's conceptual extravaganza, "The Gates." An assembly of sorts... of gate like structures draped in orange curtains winding through his park. "Who is this guy and how in the world does this stuff qualify as art?", he asked me. My response was of course that Christy was indeed an artist and was quite well known for his 'off the wall' artistic endeavers. I went on to explain about the many projects Christy was responsible for and he still wasn't convinced, but accepts my vote.

Yakel and I did continue a conversation along the same lines and all I could do to convince him was give him this explanation. In the late nineteen-sixties and seventies, when I was in art school, those conceptual guys were drinking different stuff . He was happy with that.

The whole conversation made me think; Artists, creative people as a whole are allowed to express themselves in many ways, and the art world divides them up and places them in established categories. Tradition has a big vote, but tradition is an ever evolving creature. Changes in tradition can take a very long time and then when a leap in technology takes place, that change can be an overnight thing.

It is my belief we are in the middle of that 'overnight thing'. The era of change is our reality, the acceptance of a new speaking language ('ones and zeros') by corporate america and it's industries is here and real. The origin of the digital world as we find it today, can be traced back to the transitor's developement and the resultant early computers of many decades ago. The transitor was big because the heat of it's work could be easily dissipated, in contrast to what had been the then 'traditional' vacuum tube. It's small size was also, "a good thing" as Martha Stewart would say.

Traditional Artists as versus all of the 'other' kinds; It could be about "era's." An era's beginning's can usually be traced to huge changes in technology. So there have been many of them, the golden and not so golden and surely more to come. If an artist is old enough and lucky enough to have earned success during a Golden era, hopefully he will not be around at the era's end. So he won't have to suffer changes he may not understand.

Christy, an artist with a creative mind obviously has a different approach to presenting his art. I'm sure it was his original idea to hang drapes on the gates in Central Park. He couldn't have accomplished the end result without some major help. Similarly, if you had to paint a huge mural the same hold's true, you enlist some help. Do you still take credit? Michaelangelo did, it helped that he also planned it and plotted it, it was part of his creative input. Maybe your assistant suggests that your color is off a little compared to your original. You agree and it does take on a different light and you like it. Does the help now take credit for your original creative concept? I don't think so.

Christy's execution of his art on Central Park brings up another issue. It's not exactly a canvas he is using, so his work isn't saved on an archival survace as best I can tell. His effort is only recorded in our memory and supported by some photography, a few left over gates and some orange curtains. Definitely not your traditional approach.

Traditional versus the technological bump toward Digital Art; A few art organizations are afraid to embrace the digital artist into their fold. Some let them join but then won't let them perform. They collect their dues perhaps in hopes of converting them, in fear the computer and it's software will become the sole creative element. The 'stylus and tablet' that are the interface between the artist and the computer, can not yet and may never provide the tactile feel of painting with a brush. As a traditional artist I consider that a handicap, so if it's the only tool a creative digital artist has been trained to use, I think we are on equal ground. I have no problem with putting my painting on the same wall alongside a digital work. He's just another artist and can probably draw better than I can anyhow. Drawing ability is not the only criteria for judging an artist's ability, although it helps if he is lacking in other areas. We don't have to compete for the same recognition because we use different tools. If worthy they could both win awards by our peers, but in the end 'joe public' will decide which it is they prefer.

As a traditionally trained artist I can't say that I completely understand the digital medium but I do understand the artist's creative instinct. It's that instinct coupled with the facility to complete the project that is the mark we as artists seek.

Creativity I believe crosses the bounds of fantasy; A century apart Christy and Henry Ford are comparitively creative people that performed in totally different theatres. If the technologies of today were available to Henry Ford and he were able to design and create his car today and sign it as a piece of art, and take the next step to fantasy by pressing the 'print' button for a thousand more just like it, his name would still be all over it. That is to say... It shouldn't matter how the creation becomes real, it's all about the appreciation of original thought.

Launch Christy ahead a hundred years and have him drape the moon in the "Stars and Stripes" he is definitely going to tick off some Russians. Can't please everyone when it comes to art and tradition is the ever changing animal. You can never go back home as they say, and a new ERA begins each day.