Art does not lie down in the bed that is made for it. It runs away as soon as one says its name. It loves to be incognito. Its best moments are when it forgets what it is called.
Jean Dubuffet
4 Replies to “Incognito”
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I don’t think you need to justify anything relating to art. No one that I know of is saying or thinking that making art is not a noble, difficult and worthy pursuit.
What about thinking? About enquiring? About exploring ideas? Asking questions? Searching for answers? Explaining clearly what you have discovered? Ridicule? Finding out that you were wrong? Starting again? Moving towards wisdom?
None of these things come in ordered or smooth sequences. They come in disordered tangles, in fits and starts when you least expect them. They all require courage, honesty and ultimately exposure. You are exposed for what you are – frail, human, and fallible. Just like the rest of us. Isn’t this what great art celebrates?
‘Loving being incognito’ seems to me to be saying you don’t really want to face up to being frail, human and fallible.
I quote Dubuffet’s words simply to celebrate the joy of creating the un-nameable.
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Academics try to define art, and aesthetics.
Wisdom can perhaps come through making art, but I suggest this is not a reliable way to distinguish it from other ways we can become wise.
And how do you define wisdom?
For some, art making is not necessarily a noble, difficult or worthy pursuit.
Worth is someone’s judgment.
Nobility is elitist.
Difficulty is not joy.
Academies put art on pedestals.
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There are always at least two ways to see a thing.
Hobart Hughes has suggested there is also a third way that can encompass both.
Tension is an energy to propel us into action.
Well said Lisa, & I too love the quote.
(I have no idea how somebody could read so much more into that quote and interpret it as you “not wanting to face up to being frail, human and fallible” – what’s that guy on?)
I am happy to admire the question mark that hangs in the air above art, if it were answered it would not be there.