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The Original Question

Stone Conversations : Archive 6 : Message 00136

From: Bill Marsh <bmarsh54@zzzzzzzzzzzzz>
Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2004 18:43:56 -0400
Subject: The Original Question

Bob Hackett wrote:

Quoted text begins.Might I suggest that the beauty,meaning,weight,etc may be in the
connection and not the work?
Unless of course you're only in it for the money.That has a way of
simplifying things.;^)
End of quote.


If the world economy were run the way I run my "business," then we would all
be eating gruel from wooden bowls over an oxen-dung fire. No, I jumped off
the path to riches when I gave up the idea of going to medical school (over
the objections of my doctor father), to take up this hellishly more
difficult endeavor. If you're in this for the money, you have made a grave
error.

You're right Bob, "the beauty,meaning,weight,etc" is an internal process,
perhaps what Edward Weston called "the flame of recognition," that takes
place in the artist during the making and the viewer during the viewing.
And there a continual is a balancing act between wanting to break new
ground, and the desire for integrity in the final result. Of course,
everyone's internal definition of integrity is different, which is why, I
suppose, there is a flourishing field of art criticism.

However, I still contend that if one works with one's audience in mind, the
work will be vapid and predictable. This approach undercuts the quest for
integrity. You have to make what you make, using your best efforts, and let
the critical chips fall where they may. Much art that has stood the test of
time was initially rejected by the public and the critics, AND the
galleries.

Hopefully, the search for integrity (and beauty,meaning,weight,etc)
continues for all of us.

Bill Marsh

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