The University of Louisville admits that it has a problem with Sustainability--that is, Sustainability doesn't seem to find its way into the ears of its intended audience.
While Sustainability is a great idea (which we're all, as artists, and as human beings in general, trying to create), sustainability isn't that talkative. While the "vision" is to "create a university that is itself a living laboratory" for sustainability, which "requires us to seek a balance between environmental, economic and social responsibility."
In essence, this means, changing the audience's "mindset." How in the world do we do that?
As artists, that's all we really think about--influencing the viewer, so that the art we make isn't worthless.
So, to start--the idea needs to be self-propelling. Is it good enough to be considered by the viewer for more than a few seconds? Think about when you walk into that gallery with off-white walls and pieces of paper dangling near the edge of the benches. Where the art work only warrants a tired-five-second glance, and you're on your way because you had to go there for class credit anyway. That's an idea that just hangs on the wall without interacting with the viewer. A self-propelling idea is one that urges the viewer to come close, to consider it, to take it home and reflect on it.
Sustainability.
What is that word? When you see it, do you think that it's just the best thing you've ever heard in our life and want to know more about it?
I sure don't. When I hear the word, "Sustain," I think of something that needs to be stable, but that's not there yet. Kind of . . . well, for lack of a better word, boring.
The words used to describe the idea are just as valuable as the idea itself (how else would an idea be communicable?). Communication is key to ideas. You've heard it said that "thoughts are in the air," because they're electrical, but we can't rely on the air most times to propagate what we want to say. And, how one communicates is where we, as artists, come in.
Someone brilliant said it this way--"intellectuals take something simple and say it in a complex way. Artists take something complex and say it in a simple way." So true. Simplicity is often the most influential packet that art comes in. Simplicity on the surface can be backed by a number of ideas, like the layers of paint strokes, an artist employed to get the idea on paper. If an artist took so much time thinking about the idea, then there's probably a good reason why it's sitting in front of you on the wall in a gallery. In this way, the context, the culture, and the creativity combine to create that simple piece of art (one would hope). :)
Source: http://louisville.edu/sustainability
While Sustainability is a great idea (which we're all, as artists, and as human beings in general, trying to create), sustainability isn't that talkative. While the "vision" is to "create a university that is itself a living laboratory" for sustainability, which "requires us to seek a balance between environmental, economic and social responsibility."
In essence, this means, changing the audience's "mindset." How in the world do we do that?
As artists, that's all we really think about--influencing the viewer, so that the art we make isn't worthless.
So, to start--the idea needs to be self-propelling. Is it good enough to be considered by the viewer for more than a few seconds? Think about when you walk into that gallery with off-white walls and pieces of paper dangling near the edge of the benches. Where the art work only warrants a tired-five-second glance, and you're on your way because you had to go there for class credit anyway. That's an idea that just hangs on the wall without interacting with the viewer. A self-propelling idea is one that urges the viewer to come close, to consider it, to take it home and reflect on it.
Sustainability.
What is that word? When you see it, do you think that it's just the best thing you've ever heard in our life and want to know more about it?
I sure don't. When I hear the word, "Sustain," I think of something that needs to be stable, but that's not there yet. Kind of . . . well, for lack of a better word, boring.
The words used to describe the idea are just as valuable as the idea itself (how else would an idea be communicable?). Communication is key to ideas. You've heard it said that "thoughts are in the air," because they're electrical, but we can't rely on the air most times to propagate what we want to say. And, how one communicates is where we, as artists, come in.
Someone brilliant said it this way--"intellectuals take something simple and say it in a complex way. Artists take something complex and say it in a simple way." So true. Simplicity is often the most influential packet that art comes in. Simplicity on the surface can be backed by a number of ideas, like the layers of paint strokes, an artist employed to get the idea on paper. If an artist took so much time thinking about the idea, then there's probably a good reason why it's sitting in front of you on the wall in a gallery. In this way, the context, the culture, and the creativity combine to create that simple piece of art (one would hope). :)
Source: http://louisville.edu/sustainability
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