ALLUSION ILLUSION
by poeteye (Member) - published: January 29, 2008
Word Count: 142 Word Bytes: 960 Viewed: 436 times
Category - Poetry
© Copyright by poeteye

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ACCIDENTAL ACCOLADES)

Fresh from high schools, two artist friends of mine
First met one Fall in a college art class
They, far from bonding and getting on fine,
Respectively found each boring and crass.
One said the other’s art lacked real technique,
And while he had ideas he could convey
His approach was rough and his style, weak,
Embodied what was wrong with art today.
The other found the first’s art unprofound
And found his work to be more craft than art.
While technically skilled, it was too bound
In convention, nothing new to impart.
The student peer review did not go well.
Their mutual critiques came close to brawl
“You’re art’s like posters by Norman Rockwell”
“And your art’s cranked out like Andy Warhol!”
And that was how a war was prevented:
Each of them felt he was complimented.

------
True style
is not a function of
financial circumstance.

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Comments

The following comments are for "ALLUSION ILLUSION"
by poeteye

Art WARS!
This brought me a smile tonight. Thank you, Poeteye;-)

( Posted by: TheRealKarmaTseringLhamo [Member] On: January 29, 2008 )

Picture, picture
You paint a mighty pretty picture with your poetry...Kacee

( Posted by: nitz kitty [Member] On: January 30, 2008 )

The Response
One of the two artists mentioned found this poem to be inaccurate. He assures me that their "confrontations" were more like avoidance, and never escalated to near a brawl. He also made me realize it is a mistake to oversimplify artists. I may not hear from the other.
But, heck, it made me smile, too. Thanks, Lena and Kacee. Any thoughts about which title's best?
-- Jim

( Posted by: poeteye [Member] On: January 30, 2008 )

Allusion Illusion
gets my vote for best title of the two;-) Gee, Poeteye, sounds like that other poet "he" is stuffy & snotting with a hair up "his" ass, but I guess that would be oversimplifying it. There are snobs on both sides of these kinds of creative types (and inner circles) mentioned in your poem. Blessings;-)

( Posted by: TheRealKarmaTseringLhamo [Member] On: January 30, 2008 )

My Momma told me:
"You've chosen to be friends with bright, creative people. Those friendships are going to require more effort than most other relationships. Artists are sensitive, so you should always remember to be sensitive to them."

( Posted by: poeteye [Member] On: January 30, 2008 )

What if I just called it
ILLUSION ?

( Posted by: poeteye [Member] On: January 30, 2008 )

Illusion is good...
Poeteye, good advice from momma, but just like it takes two to tango, it takes two to make a working relationship, or a "mutual respect" relationship work especially when dealing with difficult particularly creative types. I love creative people and I love all that comes with it, otherwise I wouldn't choose to be around creative people, now how other creative people choose to "take me or not" that is something I have no control over. Again, this piece of yours gave me a smile, thanks for that. When walking among the creative and difficult it is helpful to have a good sense of humor otherwise you end up taking yourself much too seriously, which is the problem I see with some of the types mentioned in your piece.

( Posted by: TheRealKarmaTseringLhamo [Member] On: January 30, 2008 )

creative ablative
made me think of Bohemia by Dorothy Parker:

"People Who Do Things exceed my endurance;
God, for a man that solicits insurance!"

made me smile too.

( Posted by: AuldMiseryGuts [Member] On: January 31, 2008 )

poeteye & artistes
Delicate artistic egos so easily bruised, but then, so easily fluffed...

Writers are the same.

Rivalry thrives.

Ever read "A Literary Friendship"? It is the told-by-Theroux account of his ahem, "friendship" with Naipaul. If you don't want to read it, read my review. It's here somewhere.

And the sensitivity and sensibilities of artists/poets/etc are so much more acute as they are always impassioned (if they're any good)

The best of 'em do the art/craft thing with harmony and balance. Maya Angelou is the best one to speak volumes on that...

Great topic for poetry, and thanks for the grey matter workout here.

Lucie

( Posted by: windchime [Member] On: January 31, 2008 )

The other artist's response
"I was not offended.
"At this point in my life, it's nice to be remembered at all, even if it's a synthetic memory.
"I'd prefer organic, but will take a polyesther praise.

"... I did realize that I basically stopped looking at contemporary art in college as so much was crude to me.
I'm basically old guard, if I can last long enuf
that may be avant guard again..."

( Posted by: poeteye [Member] On: January 31, 2008 )

art wars/ALLUSION ILLUSION
with respect to the question of art and the evolution of art -

Picasso was formally trained in all of the old world techniques. He mastered them, and only after he'd mastered them was he free to experiment with new ideas along with his contemporaries. This mastery of old/established techniques etc... gave him legitamicy. I wonder if the artist who favors the new/daring/bold, over the older (rrockwellian) styles can actually woek in those older styles? It's a question of legitimacy.

Regarding the poem itself -

it reads well; it paints a clear and amusing picture in short order. Almost like the snappy, punchy synopsis of a movie I'd like to see.

This is the first poem of yours I've read. I look forward to reading many more.

( Posted by: rajengineer [Member] On: January 31, 2008 )

Art Wars - Legitimacy?
You know what, Poeteye? Rajengneer is absolutely right to some extent and also wrong to some extent.

Most maverick artists such as Picasso, Dali, even Andy Warhol, had a grounding and skills in the basics before they ventured into their own innovative revolutions. Sort of like, if I couldn't spell correctly or understand basics of grammar then what business would I have venturing into writing a poem, which by the way has a lot of room for older and newer styles? Though - I do not think it is necessary or even possible that all artists (art school/and or classically trained or not) to be able to whip out perfect replications of classic art pieces, such as photographic style realism art of most classical styles, and why should that be a requirement anyway? To quote art collector/actor Vincent Price; "we have photographers and cameras for that now a days" (not to mention computer graphics/programs, photoshop, artshop, etc.) Just are many computer programs for various writing disciplines and needs, and lets not forget spellcheck...all the tech you need in a flash....write by program.

Yet, I do think that anyone calling themselves an artist should know the basics and background of art, art history, how to use various mediums, shadowing, brush technique, styles, etc., ETC., -

And, as a visual artist, I could be spending my art time going for more traditional (closer to Normal Rockwell style paintings)- I do have the ability and technical skills to do so (fairly well - passable anyway) if I choose, yet doing that bores me to tears, and it just does nothing for me, feels more like a chore, a technical graph or "paint by numbers" than it does art! As a child my parents forced me to stay true to realism in my drawings, coloring, etc., and anything along the lines of abstract they did not understand nor support, and it wasn't until high school that I finally find support in thinking that it is possible to paint a tree purple and it was OK!

So, from then on I chose to go along with my own vision and venture, though I do not compare myself in ultimate ability to say, Dali (my idol) I think that Dali would be just fine with me and the idea of conceptual art, since ultimately that was what his art became in his later years, he himself was a concept...The Dali!

And, like Lucie has basically already said, it is "passion" that feeds the muse and "passion" which stirs the artist. So, I go along with the idea that if it is your passion to stick to traditional and technical forms because that is what stirs you then so be it...but if you choose to paint a tree purple, then there is nothing wrong with that either, go with your passions and stop being so fucking judgmental...oh,geeeze, here I go again, I wishI could follow my own advice, ah well, eh? Most of us are hypocrites, why should I be any different;-)

What about the writer again though? Should all writers be required to whip out some Shakespeare or King James first, before they can go with their own, say like Hemingway or Steinbeck? Should they pull out their college degrees and submit it to other writers in order to prove themselves and be heard. Fuck that! (Oh how crude!) As Erica Jong once said in her in her (much criticized) lack of "poetic technique" - "truth is often crude"...yet, it gets more sticky here with the writer than the visual artist I think. Writing a poem is one thing, lots of room for interpretations and styles, you can get away with a elementary style background, but when it comes to writing fiction stories, scripts, technical papers, text books, etc., then you better be able to be more at a college level or be able to replicate what those computer programs can do.

That's my 2 cents.

( Posted by: TheRealKarmaTseringLhamo [Member] On: January 31, 2008 )

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