re; conversation

Quoted text begins.Art is what the artist says it is. Who is an artist and who is
not...well,
that's another question. Your bliss may be to carve stone, weld metal,
paint
on canvas, or knit socks. I don't think anyone's bliss is to be an
artist...though I could be wrong. The earth just reminded us that it
burns.
Philip Whitley
End of quote.

Let me try and speak as a craftsman now and forget art for a moment.

A craftsman,thru his work speaks of the human experience.He brings the sum
of all he has learned and all who he has learned from to bear in his work.A
craftsman seeks one thing,excellence.He constantly strives to make whatever
he puts his hand to as true and as meaningful as is his skill and ability
will allow.Perhaps this is why some artists seek out craftsmen,because they
lack the ability to attain the level of excellence they require.
The question is where does that line between excellence and perfection
lie? When we give up excellence in order to pursue perfection what else do
we surrender?
If you seek perfection by all means use a machine as you'll never get
perfection from mere flesh and blood,it's not in our nature.
Although I've seen machines of all sorts on display in museums I have yet
to come across one viewing the pieces on display.My suspicion is that
machines have no idea what art is.How can you create something you cannot
concieve?

Bob