The Aftermath of Art

“Painting a picture, doing a dance, writing a poem, any act of art can be a magical ritual, the doing of which has nonlinear effects. Seen in this way, most acts of creation are private rituals done in personal caves. What we usually think of as works of art are the aftermaths of art.” Frank Moore

In preparation for a watercolor class I’m teaching in the fall, I’ve been reviewing some of the history of art I once knew. (I feel at this point in my life I would like to review much of what I once knew…) In Watercolors of the Twentieth Century, Finch wrote that while Cezanne felt he was honestly depicting his reaction to form, color, and composition, what his youthful followers were most interested in was his ability to get away from form, color, and composition. (I’m paraphrasing here.) He was one of the first artists to highlight the picture plane itself as a compositional element, to point at the paper itself while still creating the artifice of the painting.

I was thinking of this a lot yesterday. My friend Josh is teaching me some basic printmaking techniques. I’ll admit that as a younger person I never had the patience to really learn printmaking. The process always seemed to get in the way of the art. With painting you have that instant gratification of knowing exactly what a brush stroke looks like at the time you paint it. Printmaking takes a little more faith. You make a mark and you think you might know eventually what it’s going to look like on the paper. (Okay, real print makers have a clear idea of what it’s going to look like–I’m a beginner so it’s more of a blind jump for me.) What really intrigued me is the disconnect between the art (the act of drawing, scraping, etc.) and the substrate it will eventually rest on. It points to the process of art more than any other media I’ve ever tried–truly by the time the final print is pulled it is the aftermath of the artistic process.

It’s all very intriguing–I went home yesterday with my brain full and spent all night in my dreams pulling prints. If I get anything vaguely worthwhile I’ll post the results. Maybe I’ll post them anyway for comedic purposes…