When do we consider someone an "artist"?

It is said that a writer is someone who writes.

When I consider "spotlighting" a modern artist, I usually select people who are primarily known as fine art artists. This has not been a conscious decision on my part and until today, I really didn't put much thought to the matter. In fact, I don't usually put much thought into it at all. I just come across an artist I find interesting and I post about him/her.

Well, I decided this week that I would do someone who is mostly known as a craftsman and a webcomic artist - "Doc" Nickel, creator of The White Board. By trade, he's an machinist who specializes in paintball guns/markers (otherwise known as an "airsmith"). By academic standards, this might not qualify him as an "artist".

However, let me present the follow piece of sculpture:





Rage by 'Doc' Nickel is a sculpture wrought entirely by hand, each piece of 22 gauge sheet steel was formed using only hammers, wood blocks and small handbuilt anvils. Each of the seventy-nine individual plates are welded to an internal steel frame, all of which is supported by a graceful steel spar over a handmade Red Oak base. - from the website.


Shall we compare it to the cluster qualities of high art?

1) Direct Pleasure - yep.
2) Skill and virtuosity - definitely.
3) Style - check.
4) Novelty and creativity - yes.
5) Critism (or "illicits a positive or negative judgment") - I believe so.
6) Representation - check.
7) Special focus - yes.
8) Expressed individuality - yes.
9) Emotional saturation - most definitely.
10) Intellectual challenge - putting 79 pieces together is definitely an intellectual challenge.
11) Art traditions or institutions - okay, you got me here, but I'm still not sold that this is a valid criterion.
12) Imaginative experience - yep.

Does someone have to make a living at high art to be an artist? No. Poet and painter William Blake made his living as an engraver, printer, and illustrator. Here is my favorite work of Blake's Ancient of Days:



Perhaps Doc will not end up in the art history textbooks, but I believe he is definitely worthy of the title of "modern artist".

Art as a means of true social change

I've decided to talk a short break from sharing my favorite TED talks to share something that hit me while studying for an art history test 3 years ago. I have it posted it elsewhere, but I think it's time to share it here.




Take a look at this picture. Do you know why it is so important?

If you're an art student, you would probably answer with something like this:

One of the most admired frescos from the Arena Chapel done by Giotto, known as the "Father of Picturial Painting". It shows real emotion and human suffering. Uses focal points instead of symmetry, overlapping figures and shading. Done in Italo-Byzantine style, it breaks from the stylistic other-worldness of the Byzantine style of the Dark Ages, with its introduction of naturalism.


However, if you take into the account of the cultural and religious significance of this piece, it becomes so much more than the epitome of a style of painting.

To appreciate Giotto's work, you need to understand that in the Dark Ages, artists painted figures to look other-worldly to reflect the supernatural and unfathomableness of Christ and the saints. These were not persons who could be related to in a normal fashion. These were impersonal beings, who only interacted with we unworthy and insignificant humans out of supernatural mercy.

To this end, the populace were treated to paintings like the one to the left here. Faces that showed no emotions. Images that showed not connection to the things of this world. During the Dark Ages, God was not Love, but Power.

Look again at the Byzantine representation of Christ. Is the image a welcoming one? Does this look like someone who emanates love? Someone who had a personal interest in your salvation?

It doesn't to me.

On the other hand, look again at Giotto's Christ. Is there any doubt that the man lying there had a connection to those around him on a personal level? That they felt his love for them in their life?

To the best of my knowledge, Giotto was the first person to paint Christ in a personal way. Perhaps herding sheep as a child made Giotto feel a special kinship with Jesus Christ. Perhaps being chosen by the master painter Cimabue as a humble lad from the country, Giotto saw more of God's love in the world around him, instead of the power plays of rulers and religious leaders.

Whatever the reason, so moving and innovated was Giotto's works, that he was in high demand and other artists began to follow suit. Soon, many who could not read, much less have access to the Holy Scriptures, had a different insight into the nature of Christ - where they actually meant something to the universe and their Creator.


A description of Giotto from http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/giotto/

Giotto was short and homely, and he was a great wit and practical joker. He was married and left six children at his death. Unlike many of his fellow artists, he saved his money and was accounted a rich man. He was on familiar terms with the pope, and King Robert of Naples called him a good friend.



Rereading what I wrote, I realized that I need to explain that the rediscovery of humanism started at the same time that Giotto began his work. And, frankly, I think that his work was a main factor for its re-emergence.

Essay for Arts and Human Values

Thomas Moran’s The Lava Flows has always been my favorite piece of the permanent collection at the Oklahoma City Art Museum. This approximately 18 by 24 inch, oil on panel painting was done in 1889, as an illustration of the lava flows on Mount Etna for the Scribner’s children’s magazine St. Nicholas. The white glowing lava flows down the pitch black mountain and around jagged black rocks, unifying the painting in a river of light. It is a visually powerful piece, full of energy, despite its black and white color scheme, due to its high contrast and the motif of irregular, triangular shapes. Its main focal point is at lower left, third by third division point, and consists of a triad of triangular rock formations, creating another triangular unity through their proximity and similarities in form. Combining the triadic groups, with thirds placements and triangular forms gives a firm grounding to the jagged lines and other irregularities back lit by the glowing lava. It is to my great disappointment that prints are not available of this striking painting. While earlier issues of St. Nicholas magazine are available online through Project Gutenberg, the 1889 issues have yet to be added.

Viewing other examples of Moran’s works, it becomes obvious that this is an atypical piece for him for various reasons. First, it is not of an American landscape, but an European location, a slight departure of subject matter for a painter who was hailed as the “dean of American landscape painters” and “father of the National Parks”. Though Moran was well-traveled and did do the occasional painting of old world scenes, the main focus of his works was the New World his father emigrated to from Great Britain when Thomas was still a boy. However, considering that St. Nicholas was a magazine that aspired to bring the best of culture and knowledge to American children, it is quite understandable why Moran would agree to paint for it. Second, it is done in stark black and white, instead of the realistic colors of his other nature pieces. Other artists who show his ability with colors, often have difficulty bringing the same intensity and clarity into a monochromatic format. Third, it is more claustrophobic in its focus, unlike the panoramic views of the American West that Thomas Moran is more famous for.

The piece in its atypical nature is an excellent example of just how talented Moran was as an artist. His use of contrasting values demonstrated a deep understanding of printed works, probably developed from his early years as a wood engraver’s apprentice. The placement of his focal point and use of unifying factors exemplified one who was well-schooled in formal design and composition, which he likely learned from his elder brother, Edward Moran, a well-known marine painter, and other artists such as J. M. W. Turner. While others would probably prefer his masterpieces of Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon on display at the U.S. Capitol, I think this little painting is just as worthy of admiration.