TANGLED UP IN ART

I saw my Transparent Drawings on a gallery wall.  There they were, nicely framed and lit.  And all around them were the artworks of artists.

I am very happy to have my drawings on the wall of The Smithy.  The show, comprising three floors in the oldest building in Cooperstown, is really quite neat.  There is eye popping color, abstract landscapes, paintings of a family around the kitchen table.

In my own little myopic worldview with my narrow Transparent Drawing mindset, I made the argument, to myself, that it is a joke that my drawings are amidst such art.

Haven’t I said time and again in these pages that the transparent drawings that we make as part of problem solving is not art?  Haven’t I said, time and again, that cultural hegemonic rams such as the Beaux Arts and the Renaissance picture plane has, erroneously, tried to put the mantle of artist on those who solve?  Well, yes I have.

When I consult with the Transparent Drawing Manifesto, I am reminded, in no uncertain terms, that there is no beauty except in understanding thru transparency?  Have I not said that gone are the days in which the designer apes the artist?

Considering manifestos and remaining true to your transparency, I probably should have put a banner over my drawings in the gallery stating that THESE ARE NOT ART!  Or maybe I should go over there now and stand there, waiting for someone to walk by, and explain to the poor soul that these drawings are not art!  Don’t even think of these as art!  They are manifestations of understanding.  They are structural sight! THEY DISSOLVE THE ARTISTIC MANNER OF UNDERSTANDING INTO A POOL OF SHIMMERING KNOWLEDGE!!!

Alas, I really am not that person.  Hey, if someone happens to like my drawing and even likes it to the point, wait for it, that they pay money for it, who am I to stop that?  Who would I be to stand there on a soapbox like a babbling idiot, fencing off modest compensation, based on my, um, convictions?

Not me.  Hey, I’m just proud my drawings are on the wall.