THE MEASURE OF ART - Capturing Magic

There is a measure by which I judge my work. It is the same measure by which another's art weighs in with me.

There is no art that is not without merit...to someone, be it only the artist him/herself or perhaps the artist's loving parent - admirable of all things rendered by the hand/mind of their offspring. But. For art to have merit for me, it must have "capturing magic" imbued within it. It must exude an almost living aura of its own, as if "something happened" in its creation that made the art more than just a painting, a drawing, a sculpt, a movie.... It reaches out to me, it speaks, it lingers or impacts, it affects me deeply, to my very core. I see and am seen by it. I feel and am felt by it. There is an interactive energy at play between me and it. It. Not just me and its creator, but between me and the art itself.

For me, it is a measure that is not found in the majority. Yet, in some of the most "amateur" of works, I find it -sometimes in the only piece of artwork ever created by that individual.

There is what I call a "moment" in art...in creating art when the call for the artist to move and make, to create, happens. And when that call comes, when and if heeded implicitly, that is when "magic" happens. Something is created that holds the visionary excellence. Something is created that harbors an essence so precious that it cannot be recreated. Ever. So, no matter the flaws, no matter the errors, never attempt to fix a work so imbued, for to do so often as not destroys the "capturing magic" that makes the work reach out to the mind of both artist and audience.

Something once born cannot be born again.

Originally Published on Nov-12-01, 05:58 PM (GMT) on http://artcritiquegallery.com/dcforum/DCForumID14/9.html

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