So I went out to a nice restaurant last night … nice enough that I had to change clothes before I went. Most of the patrons were dressed nice, but casually.
What caught my attention, though was one particular man: He was dressed in a kind of leather heavy metal outfit. He had on a black leather jacket adorned with several chains and patches—including one patch that appeared to be making a reference to Germany. As I watched him work his way through the tables to the bathroom, I wondered why he was dressed up in an outfit that belonged more in a bar then a fine restaurant.
I realized, however that he was an artist. He had chosen to look this way in an effort to express his art. His leather jacket, his long black hair and doo rag all were part of an image that he was trying to project, on that was supposed to describe his nonconformity with the rest of the restaurant’s patrons.
I then became amused at the fruitlessness of his task. I respect him as an artist; however, I feel that he is caught up in a small part of his creation. It’s OK to be an artist full time—and to project this image upon others, but he had chosen a relatively common way to do so—to the point that it seemed more of a mockery of the society he was in, as opposed to acknowledging that he is an individual within society. In this way, his art lacked vision.
My wife coined the best term for this: Artistic Masturbation. It came up when several of us were discussing another friend who happens to be an artist. I had constantly belittled his work because it lacked vision—he would simply tell me that it wasn’t supposed to have vision. He has a site at www.zh27.net, feel free to check it out. He has yet to hear the term artistic masturbation, and I fear his reaction when he does so. Probably use it as a title of his work, as opposed to the description that it is.
How does one avoid being labeled as an artistic masturbator? I suppose the best way is to keep your audience in mind when creating your art. Rather then focusing on what you want to create, attempt to create something that others can see. A puzzle to figure out, if you will. If nothing else, there should be a point in which your recipient should be able to say ‘oh, that’s where this is going.’
I don’t know if that man in the leather jacket is an artistic masturbator. I only got a fleeting glimpse of his art, and, in it’s own way, it inspired me.
This post is in honor and remembrance of Kenneth Dirk Brenneman I, 1942-2003.
