No Pain, No Gain?

The Machine

(January of Twelve Collaborative Project: Krystal Booth)

2012, Mixed media on paper

10x18"

Above is the result of what I created for the Twelve artist collaboration.  I experimented quite a bit with this one and had a lot of fun.  Though what does fun have to do with it?

Fun seems irrelevent when we look at art.  We don't exactly look at every work and instantly wonder "did the artist have fun creating this"?  It seems arbitrary and afterall, do we really care if they enjoyed it?  Our main concerns are if we enjoy looking at it and the meaning of the work.  We don't necessarily ask questions that reveal a behind the scene glimpse of the artist at work.  Afterall, when we are in a museum or gallery we are faced with the end result, and not the journey.

Over the past couple of years, I have come to terms with dedicating my life to art.  It is a marriage, as I have noticed that it encompasses a dedication of for better or for worse.  It is stuck with me, as I am with it, though I hope that we never truly mean "stuck" when describing our relationship.

Last year I noticed that some of what I was doing was extremely frustrating and not really fun at all while creating.  After I finished a piece, I was more relieved than anything else.  I had excluded joy from the equation.  Books I have read and some sappy made-for-television movies I have seen exclaim "Enjoy the journey!  Love the process!"  There is valid and dignified truth to that, yet it has become a cliche statement that just sounds like I should be gluing plastic flowers to my face while singing in a commune somewhere.

Well, I think by November last year I had realized that I was making myself miserable.  I would stress out over works in progress and always feel as though they were hanging over my head.  The results were only momentarily satisfying, but I kept creating because if I don't create, I'm even worse off.  I get downright aggitated and depressed and envious- only ugly emotions need apply. 

As you know, in November I decided to do a year long session of experimentation.  I realized that it was the time because it became more uncomfortable to continue as I had been than to change.  It was also the right time because I don't have "a name" yet.  I do not have anyone expecting a specific style or way of working.  I realized that I was free to create as I chose to create without expectations.  I was going through a realization similar to Virginia Woolf's Orlando when he was thirty and spent his time under his favorite oak tree after bad press and declared that he would only create for his own pleasure and tastes (please note that I am not referring to when he was thirty and physically changed into a woman without surgery, which is a more miraculous realization by far).

This year long experiment has been marriage counseling.  Over these past few months, I have not felt the anxieties that were so common to me prior to this.  Creating feels, dare I say, fun.  It has been exciting and stress-free.  The process has been much less painful, which automatically makes me wonder if I am creating anything worthwhile.

To create anything of worth, doesn't it need to be painful?  I'm discovering that this could be a misconception about art that I have carried with me - some unknown baggage from an unknown source.  This can apply to so many areas of life, occupations, and goals.  In your opinion, is it true or a myth?  Does it have to be "no pain, no gain" at all times?  Is it a cultural phenomenon of the United States?  All Western cultures? Or believed by the majority of our planet?  What and where are the exceptions?

Optimism, Productivity, and Dickinson

December for K&A Plasticwear's Twelve Project, 2011

Mixed media on paper, 6x12".

This is a recent work...further exploration with media, layers, and drawing.  This Twelve project was a collaborative project that Amanda Knauer Crismore and I did last year.  We took turns every month creating art based upon what the other one did the previous month.  It was like a conversation through artwork, and it was a blast!  This year we've opened it up to other artists and it's going to be so interesting to see the work throughout the year.  Since Amanda started the 2011 year, I'm kicking off the year this time around, and I've been working on it all day.  I decided to take a bit of a break and so here I am - happily writing.

So far this year, I feel really optimistic and productive.  The website is finished on wix now (go to www.wix.com/krystallbooth/art to check it out), complete with a rewritten bio, and all is well.  It felt great to get it all done, and I'm looking forward to adding more works to it as the year progresses.  The motivation for creating work hasn't been a struggle since November when I embarked on this year long experiment.  I would be lying if I said that I wasn't surprised by this.  Usually when I sign myself up for a year long anything, I lose my umpf after a few weeks...my weight-loss/health quest is a great example of this.  Yet this year feels different.  I don't know what it is, but perhaps it is the impending doom factor...?

I don't believe that the world will end at the end of this year in a sense of gloom and doom, but I do hope that perhaps it will be an global awakening of sorts throughout the year.  It feels as though we are going through some kind of philosophical wormhole and when we emerge on the other side, we will be better for having gone through it.  It's a sense of hope that has me thinking this way, especially at this time of year and on this particular day.

Hope

by Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

Thank you to Mrs. Powers for requiring me to memorize this poem (though of course I messed up when reciting it for the class).  It has stayed with me all of these years.

 

K&A and You in 2012

Amanda Knauer Crismore and I have been working on a collaborative art project, Twelve, for the past year.  Each month we took turns creating an artwork inspired by the previous month, and it was a blast!  The project inspired us and kept us on our toes.  We encouraged exploration and venturing outside of our regular medium by imposing the rule that individually we could only do a medium once. 

It is now December, and we're planning the incoming year with excitement.  We would like to extend this collaborative opportunity to other artists, writers, and musicians.  So many times we can feel as though we are working in isolation from one another and Twelve offers a way for artists to come together and connect through our work.

The website and blog are now up and running!  You can find more information and sign up to be a part of Twelve for 2012 through the join us page on the website.  We hope you can be a part of it, and help spread the word!  Thanks!

 Website:  http://www.student.ipfw.edu/~knauad01/twelve/about.html
 Blog:  http://twelve-kandaplasticwear.blogspot.com