Meet Me At The Morgue / The Skilled Artist Myth

Meet Me At The Morgue, RTomens, 2016

Skill in art is greatly overrated, yet it still takes precedence over imagination. In digital art, technology being a skill provider, The Machine is substitute for imagination in the hands of the creatively challenged. Much digital art today appears to have been made by robots programmed to create lifelike images - at least, in Representational mode. People who cannot paint use software to make the same old images painters once did (scenery, wildlife, portraits etc), which is ironic if you consider the idea that the digital is supposedly 'modern' and 'progressive'. 

I'm reminded of Brion Gysin saying in the 50s that 'Writing is fifty years behind painting', meaning the word was not used in advanced, experimental ways in keeping with changes in art. Bring on the cut-up. So just as the novel remains firmly stuck in 19th century linear mode, so digital art as just another way of doing what trad painters did is everywhere. Just search 'digital art'. It's painful. Not only is there so much kitsch/romantic shit, but seeing it, I yearn for paintings of ballerinas in high street shop windows which, by comparison, are the manifestation of the artist's soul and inner feelings on a par with Van Gogh.

One alternative is Glitch, which I'm not averse to, although it appears to be the product of software geeks rather than 'artists' (whatever they are). I like to play with disrupting The Machine's otherwise clinical methods sometimes. There's also Computer Art, some of which is very impressive, technically. I still prefer older examples though which, despite being 'modern' for the times, appear naive and charming today.

As for my image-making, I make no bold claims. It's frequently a little rough around the edges but I like it that way. My lack of software skills means that this is inevitable, most of the time. Were I to constantly feel dissatisfied with the results I should set about learning Photoshop inside out. Regular readers will know how I feel about visual 'professionalism' so I won't reiterate. It's fine and necessary for those wishing to monetise their work, by which I mean joining the wider art market wherein potential buyers demand 'proper' images, as defined by years of conditioning.

Meanwhile, I remain an unknown artist and I thank you, an unknown viewer, for dropping by.