Original Oil by Baruch Koritan
Last night John O Connor asked me how to judge art. I replied:
“With all art and with most artists; painters, poets, novelists, playwrights, song writers and composers, the answer is pretty much the same. The artist begins with an honest, realistic view of something in the natural world. Thus begun, the next step is one of destruction.
The components are altered; in some cases disassembled and thrown about in disarray.
An abstract painting may focus only on color, a musical piece influenced by visual principles.
And then…
A sense of balance is reintroduced, rearranged and always, if the art is good, there is continuity. if it is bad, you will know instantly.”
“Sounds all very ethical”
“Indeed”
“And what about photography?”
“Either ya like it or ya don’t.”
“That’s it?”
“As far as I can tell.”
“But you’ve been judging photography all your life. Surely you have some kind of opinion.”
“That was photography; this is digital imagery, today.
There are many beautiful digi-pics. They seem to fit into two categories:
Until I know better, One is art, the other, ‘a gotcha’.”
“It sounds to me like you need some lessons.”
“Sounds like good advice; wanna join me?”
“I might.”
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