BUILT TO LAST IMAGES

Analysis of why certain images endure or pervade the ages can be an ongoing speculation. One certainty is that artists typically apprenticed under a master of some merit. While the guild system may seem archaic by some standards, it was a place that weeded out arbitrary abilities. Leonardo said "It is a sorry student that doesn't surpass his master." The principle of standing on the shoulders of giants was a paragon virtue in the Renaissance. Seldom do artists of this day and age learn their craft with such assiduousness. It takes an inordinate amount of time to develop craft and technique, it's certainly akin to getting a PHD or similar higher education. With such consistent striving and diligence in mind, artists need to constantly seek self improvement. Pushing ones boundaries goes far beyond just mere self expression, without measurable technique such things are arbitrary at best. There is such an economic pressure that besets the entire artistic process. Turning it out so to speak can compromise ones natural & perpetual growth. Artists that have the fortune to become known may become pigeonholed into a niche that becomes mere stagnation. The unfolding process is somewhat of a luxury, though one given enough undue time and perseverance it flourishes.

Timing is everything, the foible can add up to a sum of greatness or extreme folly. Though I've always believed it's better to create one Mona Lisa as opposed to a hundred minor works. That also is not to suggest that one replicates a previous masterwork. We have had 500 years and shifting changes in art and popular culture. There is still a large something to be gleaned through the Old Masters. One such lesson is sticking to ones purest vision, though all the honesty in the world doesn't in and of itself improve technique. Plato said "Know thy self." it certainly is an axiom for the ages. Just following popular culture doesn't ensure art that will be remember like those of a bygone age. What is that elusive ingredient that spans the epochs? Certainly it's a question worth asking of oneself concurrently during the heroes journey. Always I do also believe in room for the ingredient of rebellion to such ideas. Let me offer that sometimes one needs to stand on the shoulder of giants...just to piss on their necks.

With Bad Intentions Always,
Gothic Hangman