Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Straw Ball at O'Hanlon last 2 Days

Straw Ball in context at 
"Reimagining Minimalism"

Straw Ball

I think most of us become artists by way of a search for meaning.  There is not much I wish to say about my piece.  In fact, I suspect the more I say about it the less chance it has of giving meaning to others.  
However, I have come to some observations about this straw ball in the course of exhibiting it in different venues:
When it is exhibited in an art gallery it tends to be viewed as art,  whereas when I have displayed in a tree it tends to be seen as a great nest of some kind.
To me, it comes back to meaning, and specifically,  meaning through relationship.  In other words, How do I relate to this straw ball  in size, location, texture and shape ?  but perhaps more interestingly, how does this straw ball  relate to, or, meet, my  Expectations ?

How much of our lives are lived in a fog of expectation?  How much of what we see do we see because we expect to see it?   And, how often does something we see defy our expectations.
Whether we like it or not, we are defined by expectations.  We are limited or expanded by what other people expect of us, but more profoundly, we are limited, expanded and ultimately defined by ……  what we expect of ourselves.

So being confronted with something unexpected can be of value.  It has the chance of meaning something to us.  But we need to   try    to resist    the urge    to define   the unexpected and instead     cherish it.

Life for adult humans is full of the expected, the defined, the known.  

We are all so knowledgeable. And yet the very little we truly know we know through relationship.  Nothing stands alone, or in this case, hangs alone.  So,  if when you walked into this gallery, you saw something you did not expect - cherish it - it has meaning for you.