tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1620110296301843732.post5813081536420636136..comments2024-03-03T12:42:20.528+00:00Comments on sarah roberts: New Model OrganismsSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12020773674920846323noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1620110296301843732.post-60216021524408123782014-12-04T22:30:29.827+00:002014-12-04T22:30:29.827+00:00Thanks you for taking the time to comment, Coral, ...Thanks you for taking the time to comment, Coral, I'm grateful for your contribution! <br /><br /> I'm right with you about wanting to be frank about explaining my work - though most of my artist friends aren't, and I'm not sure they should have to be beyond being accountable in an ordinary way for what they put into the public view. <br /><br />For a large part I'd like to be explicit because I don't think the quality of work always does always speak for itself, sometimes it takes a long time for people to see stuff, understand what they've seen, work out what it means to them and so evaluate it. <br /><br /> I totally agree that the endless attention to social positioning gets in the way of the beauty and intelligence of the work we do. I think that is true both for the viewer and the maker and I think it is true across all art forms and possibly most of the ways we have of doing work of any sort in our society right now. <br /><br />In fairness I think that people who make art and then talk themselves up and present themselves as amazing do so because they feel that that's what the viewer wants to hear. We are all very dependent on our communities and the people who patronise and support us, whatever sort of practice we have, and try to talk in a particular way to speak to those people particularly. My impression so far is that the Botanical Art field seems to have special cultural problems with its funny post-colonial hangovers and patronage by the super-posh. I wonder if we maybe feel that we need to be extra fancy to address that section of our audience (the bit with the big money)? (Whereas we can trust that large section of our friends who kindly support our work out of love and interest not to care so much what we burble about ourselves as they are more interested in our work...?)<br /><br /><br />Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12020773674920846323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1620110296301843732.post-88859162371596729192014-11-22T22:03:48.767+00:002014-11-22T22:03:48.767+00:00I was deeply engrossed in your fascinating post an...I was deeply engrossed in your fascinating post and then there was something that expressed a worthy concern, about artists 'making grotesquely inflated claims about their achievement and value'. Yes, it certainly is something that happens a lot in the Botanical Art field....<br /><br />I am inclined to think it is very important to describe clearly what we do and why. However, we certainly dont need to additionally force the viewer to absorb any egocentric notions that are simply a mirror of our insecurity. Making claims of being the best or part of the upper eschelons, for example, gets in the way of the beauty and intelligence of the work. <br /><br />Anyone who has made a significant contribution is more inclined to want to do service through their work. Such artists have nothing to prove to anyone, they dont bother with telling us how amazing they are because they dont need to. The quality of their work speaks for itself.Coral Guestnoreply@blogger.com