Maeda's SIMPLICITY

Artist's Block

The instinct to create art is completely normal. From our time as little children, we seek to express ourselves. Whether that be by odd verbal utterances, or even a smile, or the drawing on the living room wall, we release our emotions that are bottled up inside and set them free.

To claim to be a "professional artist" ... is something I find to be an oxymoron. Art is a reflex. How can you professionalize a reflex? Ah! You mean "professional" = "can exist as a profession." Meaning that art flows out and dollars flow in. But is that "art" the result of a truly free mode of expression? Being paid to express something can often change the balance of purity.

Hmmm. Two years ago I thought about this topic a bit in a personal experience I had with the eponymous Paul Rand. As I read back, I really miss Paul. Let me find something else I wrote about him. Here it is.

Sorry for the digression. Much of my thoughts in this area will remain unanswered forever probably. But now that OPENSTUDIO is over a year old, maybe there are a few conclusions that we can make today. Art can be bought and sold. It can be loved and disliked. People can have fun or get bored. All aspects of the art enterprise are participatory, and most meaningful when there is deep participation.

The meandering form of this passage is indicative of the fact that I am writing here to try to dislodge my own case of artist's block. The good news is that I remembered my love for Paul Rand. So I think the writing therapy worked. I am on the path to recovery. G'day!