Requisite Reasoning

Abstract art requires a certain amount of thinking. After all, if it doesn’t look like anything you are familiar with what is it? Once it is understood that it is wide open to interpretation, you start thinking, well maybe it is about color, or about harmony or perhaps even beauty. Then the question comes up, well what is beauty? And does beauty even matter? So we might get curious and begin an investigation of the concept of beauty. We might even do some research on the subject and look at what other artists have done.

Now, it is getting interesting. Maybe, beauty has something to do with a kind of perfection. There is balance and a harmony of components. All of the elements are working together towards a common goal. Everything you see needs to be there and there is nothing that should not be there. Well, how do we actually do that? To start with, we need awareness. What are we actually seeing? Forget all the rules and lessons you have learned, be objective, is this thing working or do I just want it to work? Beauty is an elusive thing to put your finger on. Music can be beautiful, it doesn’t have to look like anything. Maybe color is like sound, it has a tone to it. Ring a bell, could that reverberation be a color? It is not so far fetched, colors resonate and sounds resonate.

What we need is a way in, how do we understand what we are supposed to do? So we listen to our paintings. They are vibrating, gently emitting waves of energy that affect us in surprising ways. Now we can understand that there is a real and meaningful experience that can be shared and enjoyed. It is OK to be decorative, but it is much better to engage the senses, the mind, the spirit, the emotions and the body. Suddenly, art really is a big deal. That painting you are looking at is actually very alive. By constantly pumping the surface, pushing in and pulling out a pulse is being felt and a sound is being heard. It may be only canvas, paint and paper but it you give it a chance it may become a true friend.