You know what you like.
Yes, you do. You know if you like chocolate or not. You know if you like stinky cheese or just good old cheddar. You know the style of clothes you like to wear. You know which colors you prefer. You know the kind of music you like to rock out to.
Why is art any different?
When you enter a conversation about visual art, most people tend to get really vague about the art that they like. Could the vagueness be a result of being bombarded with press release, artist statements and academic rhetoric about how in this particular work, the color blue is referencing this and the brush strokes echos that artistic movement while subverting this obscure German philosophy and contradicting a Mongolian folktale?!
Have we become afraid to voice our opinions and instinctual preference in art because the institution has, in effect, intimated us into silence?
When starting a conversation about my own work, I like to ask people which image of mine is their favorite. I like knowing what people respond to. But I don’t ever press them for a detailed answer. It is perfectly OK to tell me, “I just do.” Sure if you want to get into details and tell me about how the image reminds you of this and that and makes you think of this other work by so and so, I will listen. I am interested. I am interested regardless.
In all other areas of our lives, we know what we like and we don’t feel pressured in giving a long explanation or pull out a 10lb reference book to justify what we like. I like Pearl Jam. I am a huge Pearl Jam fan. No one would challenge me in a conversation about why I like their music. Even if I am challenged, I don’t need to come up with an articulate intelligent answer, footnoted and cross referenced. I could simply say, I just do, and it would be accepted to be my taste.
When it comes to art, I think we all should have the liberty to excise our right to like what we like and feel secure in our preference.
I Hereby Grant You Permission to Like or Dislike Stinky Cheese and Art of Your Choosing Without the Need to Justify Your Taste.
Send me an email and let me know which image from Wok the Dog is your favorite. It will be a good practice!
Please retweet this or share this on Facebook if you found the post helpful, or are also a lover of Pearl Jam, stinky cheese, and chocolate.
Back to the Meat, Light and Cages all caught my attention the most. “Cages” for it’s image reminding me of animals that have liberated themselves from slavery and torture. Though it may not necessarily be the case it is how it affected me. “Light” reminds me of the eerie beauty of what others consider to be dark surroundings and how there is always a ray of hope somewhere in the darkness. “Back to The Meat”, I simply just like!No hidden reasons. I just like the shot! 🙂
Thank for looking Ty. The ones you named are some of my favorite images. “Light” is a good seller for me. “Cages are Nice” has long been an iconic image in the series, it takes a special someone to love it enough to want to live with it. Yet it is about more than the object depicted…there is more, another layer. It makes it harder to live with but I think more rewarding in the end. “Sitting with my back to the meat counter” marks a shift in my work where all of sudden they start to have an echo of the historical….maybe another notch closer to being time less.
Ugh…because artists now know to ask ‘which one is your favorite’?, it has become a marketing tactic…The very question makes me groan now…I like to approach first(as a customer), if someone has to talk…If the whole thing could be silent, that would be nice…
I actually think the silence makes most people uncomfortable and the question of “Which one is your favorite?” does not have to come from a place of sales. It can come from a place of curiosity and wanting to engage with your fans. With out some kind of feedback system and knowing what your fans like, selling art and making a living as an artist gets pretty tough! Why make it harder than it needs to be?
You don’t have to tell them what they like, they already know. You just have to be nice, talk to them and engage them.