�
2006-05-12 - 1:32 p.m.
Lately I've been experiencing a renaissance in creativtiy and interest in looking at and doing art. I blame flickr.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again; I'm obsessed with flickr. It blows my mind. So many photos. It's like voyeurism and an art exhibit combined. A photograph is worth a thousand words, they say. So much can be said with a photo. Flickr is a storm of words. A torrent.
But it's not just the photos. It seemed natural for me to scan or photograph and post drawings and paintings, and even objects. And I see others do the same, just as indifferent as I am to the ostensible use of flickr as a photo sharing site.
On flickr I'm posting a lot of old photos, things I'd done twenty years ago. For me this is nostalgia, and an opportunity to look back at things I was doing back then, or notions that I had, and thinking about the present.
Many of my old photos are crap. Completely useless. I find this out as I attempt to scan them. Both in terms of content/composition, and technically. That's okay. Actually it really is. It's funny how as you get older you can be philosophical about these things. Or perhaps out of long habit: I just don't give a shit.
But all this is so inspiring. Not just flickr, but certain realizations have been occuring to me. For example, how great a muse is the internet. For subject matter, for information, for inspiration. Inspiring indeed, but also humbling. And yet inspiring still, because to have an audience is inspirational. An audience, and the possibility of praise. Because, why do art, if not for praise. I'm being glib, there are many reasons to do art, but praise is certainly a reward, even if it's only a byproduct.
I have at least two ideas for paintings right now. One painting is already started. Now it's just a matter of forcing myself to do the work. Well, I think the bottleneck is making a work space. But I think I might have some ideas for that.
***************
�
So, how do you like them apples?