Josh "cortex" MillardApr 12, 2017

Some #art thoughts I've been struggling with:

1. I'm learning to do oil painting. I have a lot of cultural baggage about painting, from outside. Oils as high culture, mastery of art, pure fancy creation.

2. I'm deep in a math art place, variations on Menger sponges and related ideas. Stark geometric objects, fine hard lines and proportions.

The two fit together weird; I feel like my subject is fighting my medium, and yet feel like using tools (stencils etc) to mitigate that is "cheating".

Show threadJosh "cortex" Millard

And that "cheating" sense is something I'm trying to power on past, to say, fuck it, there's a whole history of modern art unmoored from fusty Old Masters mystique. My hand is unsteady? I need a sharp straight line? Do whatever makes it happen!

But it's still there in the back of my head, in the wrestling match between different things I could do when I sit down to paint. Better to use a tool, force a straight line? Better to freehand and train my unsteady arm? Better to find a compromise? Etc.

Apr 12, 2017 at 4:18pmWeb
Show threadbeatrix bitrotApr 12, 2017

@joshmillard i used to do geometric drawings and i had the same internal debate.

you can take an experimental approach to figuring this out though. do some works using more tooling and some with less and compare how you feel about the experiences and the results!

Show threadJosh "cortex" MillardApr 12, 2017
@bea Yeah, that's where I"m trying to be. And I think about this a lot but I also do keep making stuff and am enjoying that process, so this shit mostly runs around in my head during non-creation periods. Actual process of painting, as weird and not-going-as-intended as it is some days, has been engaging and rewarding, so I don't really have grounds for a serious complaint. But brains. They gonna brain.
Show threadbeatrix bitrotApr 12, 2017
@joshmillard that they are, that they are. story of my life really
Show threadJEC 🌙 Apr 12, 2017
@joshmillard I think if you feel precision is important to the message of your art then you should use any available tool to help you achieve it. I guess what matters is whether you think the straightness of the line has significance.
Show threadJosh "cortex" MillardApr 12, 2017

@jec Right! There's this conflict between the "ooh, I wonder what will happen" aspect of just jumping in with oils and playing around, and the "i have a vision in my mind and want to execute it as accurately as possible" aspect of the mathy stuff.

And the former is going fine: I like what I'm doing! I like most of the results!

The latter is pulling me toward tool use and/or other mediums.

And I don't have to choose, other time and attention span, but those are actual factors, hence conflict.

Show threadJEC 🌙 Apr 12, 2017

@joshmillard the other thing is that even when you use tools, especially as a beginner, there are still flaws because your hand is still on the tool. (Unless you program a machine to do it for you.)

I'm reminded of seeing notable works of geometric abstraction in person vs seeing a photograph. The lines appear precise and perfect in the image, but a close look at the painting reveals layers upon layers with crisp yet imperfect edges.

Show threadMoved to mathstodon.xyzApr 12, 2017
@joshmillard Why in general does one use tool X to express thing Y?
Show threadJosh "cortex" MillardApr 12, 2017

@henryseg There's a part of me that wants to say "because it works" and clap the dust off my hands and call it a day. And with a lot of creative work I do I manage to actually leave it there.

In practice it's not that simple and worrywarting aside I think I'm glad about that, because thinking about tools and how they work and how they don't is interesting and something I enjoy interrogating in/as the process of making something.