Hands-on or hands-off?

Call me weird, but I like to understand a little of the journey that an artist takes en route to the conclusion of a work. Yes, that bizarre milestone when you announce to yourself that the work is finished before swiftly dismissing it and moving on to the next…

Moments of inspiration and the resultant creative act are truly the best but clearly its impossible to capture each and every step along the way. However, reference to, or inclusion of the existence of key stages in the piece elevates a work of art for me. Maybe I just like to see that a modicum of questioning has played a some part along the way. I guess I need to be satisfied that a fair degree of accidental twists and turns have been confronted and reasonably addressed. The physical surface (or lack of it) on any piece can give great insight into the creative mind at work and often this is a good starting point. Mostly, I find this manifests itself rather unfairly in a deep suspicion of all things flat. General acceptance of minimal mark-making suggests that decisions are made in the name of purity, simplicity and experience… all too often I surmise a touch of arrogance and easy-life.

Far worse, I’m increasingly concerned at the apparent ease with which many well-known ‘artists’ disengage themselves from a work in progress by deferring work to technicians. In this respect I am unforgiving. You know who you are and you are exposed because you are conspicuously awol in the documented process. If someone carried out some, most or indeed all of the work, the credit is theirs. OK, you had an awesome idea but then give it as a project for someone else to execute… that makes you a visual concept engineer, not an artist. Simply stepping in at key project milestones to reflect, assess aesthetic development and coordinate the next series of tasks is just not the same as owning the problem full-on 24/7. Your choice to relinquish a grasp on the work indicates the value you place on the piece. The hands-on guys executing your blinkered projects are the ones who should take the plaudits. You will inevitably have lost a profound connection with the work, that is assuming you ever had one. If you do crave the total ‘conceptual loss of control’ just steal someone else’s idea and stay completely out of the way until you need to sign the work.

When you limply surrender ownership and responsibility, your soul goes with it.