Rachael McCallum's Unicorn Spew,

Rachael McCallum's UnicornSpew ~The online journal of Artness as-it-happens.


Monday 25 February 2013

"Own" my work?!?


Now, im not at all sure what this means. ..

"This year; You need to own your work"- Merran Esson

I like the sound of that. I initially thought it was about keeping the work a secret so, like a patent, so no one else could make it. But no, thats not it at all!

Its not about other people who care about your work, its you understanding yourself as you interpret and understand your object.
The object has come from you, and you need to understand the relationship you have with it; it could be a therapeutic tension release, I way of understanding the world around you, or a satirical comment to provoke thought.

After only a few exhibitions, I am starting to understand;
making art and exhibiting it is a way of exhibiting yourself

Its a little piece of you and your decisions combined to make something beautiful, provoking, interesting.

So of course,  owning it is taking responsibility for these decisions, understanding where and why you make them and being able to communicate these reasons to make others understand.  You  need to know your work because it's from you and you will find it "makes sense", but even in that sentence there is a lot that the speaker understands but cant yet communicate. Some say its the art critics job to understand, but it's their job to spread the understanding.

know it like you know yourself

Sounds easy,  but it could take years...
Good luck!
(To me and you !)