Soulless?

["George Graham" <georgergraham@zzzzzzzzzzz>]

Bob,
I'm sticking with "soulless" to describe what I think about Barry X's piece.
There is 2 fundamental areas that  trouble me. The process and the finish
piece, which are separate. I don't think the piece is soulless because of
the process. The artists chose the final look, and made it happen. Obviously
he has total control over what is happening. Barry X went with
expressionless, blankness. To me the distortion of the carcass hanging in
midair only magnifies the blankness until all I can see is blank eyes on an
empty distorted , boneless bag of tissue which is empty.
Now I'm not going to get caught trying to straddle the fence about process.
I've always advocated using what ever tool, however old or new, that suits
the artists. Barry X's methods are beyond me. I don't have the knowledge to
use his tools of choice. So I'm looking at the final piece , and from my
perspective it looks like the piece was done in an extraordinarily difficult
way. If the finished piece somehow connects to me in the fuzzy, emotional
part of my artists hindbrain, then the process need never be brought into
the picture. I'd rather know more about what the piece means to Barry X then
how he did it.
I've been on the receiving end of thoughtless comments from people who don't
understand, or like my work. When asked, why are you even doing this
stuff?", I give them my short explanation, and accept the fact that I can't
please everyone. Barry X would probably respond to me in the same manner.
This topic really should be argued about around a table, with ale, under a
blue haze with good company! Maybe someday?
regards,
George Graham