I'm just wondering what is the motivation for people to send mail art to strangers?
this was posted on the collaborative art tribe ....
=I never got any satisfaction out of the last stupid postcard project I did for you. You never even told me whether or not you got it when I messaged you. Why would I want to subject myself to that kind of disappointment again? Id rather paint a huge canvas and throw it in the river, at least then I would know where it went. Actually I think I'll just throw my oil paints in the garbage right now and pretend I painted your crappy book..
Love,
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Indiana
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Re: motivation question
Sun, December 5, 2004 - 8:52 PMOh Jasmine, I am so sorry to hear that you had such a negative response from someone. I appreciate the fact that you keep putting projects together even when you get no response. Even worse, you open yourself up to some sour feedback.
I know my motivation is that I enjoy a bit of a challenge and I like the community aspect of it. Like art class in elementary school, you get to see what everyone else did with the same basic tools.
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Re: motivation question
Mon, December 6, 2004 - 5:53 AManne, i really like seeing the range of responses too, I think it opens me up creativly.
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Unsu...
Re: motivation question
Tue, December 7, 2004 - 3:50 PMApparently that Nasty Complaintant was seeking strokes of some sort... there is a slice of my creative self that understands the desire for some kind of acknowledgement, but I'd never hope to commit the negative act of throwing a tantrum like that of that guy's. Or any kind of tantrum. No, I like the idea of throwing something I've worked intensely on, something supremely personal, out into the ether. It's a great exercise too, along the lines of pulling off an assignment. In the case of this mail art system, the theme is what really help me focus on the completion of the thing.
I think that my motivation is also kind of superstitious-- give it away freely so that some sorta something can come to me as equally unexpected... kind of like making space for an unknown treat.
Or maybe I'm delusional in that I'll get my Big Break, just throwin that Art around...?
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Unsu...
Re: motivation question
Tue, December 7, 2004 - 4:19 PMI think that many artists still behold this sense of "preciousness" about their work. They fixate on the end result rather than enjoying the process of creation. That was one the first things we were taught to do away with in art school. You end up producing such a large body of work in 4 years that the sense of preciousness is lost. Lots if ideas are generated, some of the executed, but not all of them get to become a work of art with a capital A.
I dunno, maybe I've been at it so long that I've developed a zen-like detachment about creating art. I'm a professional graphic artist & illustrator these days, so I'm accustomed to receiving feedback (or none at all) that may not always be constructive, and often come from non-creatives (like clients... the worst!) If I were to let all these critiques get under my skin, I'd be one very emotional artiste! -
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Re: motivation question
Thu, December 9, 2004 - 7:51 AMJasmine, if anyone ever gets you down, let me help you get back up. Call or write or contact me anyway you want. I have nothing but good words for and about you. And I have no sympathy for people who do not appreciate your initiative and generosity. It's not as though you charge admission. You go to trouble and expense and allow others to benefit from it. Anyone who complains about that needs to grow up.
(Someday we members of this tribe should think of something we collectively can do to show Jasmine our appreciation.) -
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Re: motivation question
Thu, December 9, 2004 - 9:19 AM"What is the motivation for people to send mail art to strangers?"
I no longer create art unless there is a place for it to go. On the practical level, I cannot store anymore of it. I also have gotten less interested in creating things that no one ever will see. This might have resulted from opportunities on the internet where art that I create has an audience and requires no storage space outside of my computer. Other art that I consider creating has to compete with that.
You provide good competition for that. The fact that it is strangers who will see it is not a disadvantage. People we know have seen it and seen it and seen it, and frequently are not the right audience for it anyway. Why make them suffer through having to come up with polite responses?
To most people good art is a landscape painting with colors that unite the fabric on the couch with the color of the carpet. To most people a book with a cement cover and copper pages belongs in the same category as the performance artist who takes off her clothes and squirts chocolate on herself. And maybe it does. I don't know. But either way, I am grateful to find strangers who are interested enough in seeing what I create to store it for me after it is done.
The desire to create exists and looks for opportunities like the ones you provide to explore and stretch.
Did any of this make sense? -
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Re: motivation question
Sun, December 12, 2004 - 12:29 PMyeah, i really like the positve talk that's going on ... the whole reason i started doing this was to get my insipration back... i love collaboration and the input of others. i was down on myslef and my work, some was stolen, some destoyed, some left behind, some thrown away..... then i stopped seeing myself as an artist because i felt i did'nt have the art to show for it, i didnt have the artist friends to remind me, i didnt have the white mattes and black frames and i didnt have the space or facilities. I was a trained photographer without a camera or darkroom,no one to say hey wow your talented, i felt helpless.
for some reason, i was trying to fit into the idea of what an artist is, that other people have .... I was so focused on what i didnt have ....doing all this mail art reminded me that no matter what I'm doing, whatever medium, it can be art, and it can be good, even if no one notices.
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