Down the Rabbit Hole - Week 9
Updated throughout the week. So far, Wenders, Taylor
...using art to raise awareness of injustices can be extremely effective, but perhaps art is more than the sum of its utility; it is more than a tool or a weapon. At its core, great art exists purely for its own sake — and that at its most transformative it reveals itself subtly, ambiguously, and curiously. It humbles us whilst also enlarging our hearts, that works its way into our souls and spirits, guiding us towards what is good, beautiful, and true.
Paraphrased from Nick Cave's response to the outrage directed to Wim Wenders for his comments at the Berlinale. Note, I am a huge fan of Wenders and Cave.
Nick Cave - The Red Hand Files - Issue #355 - At the International Film Festival in Berlin, jury president Wim Wenders sparked controversy, stating that art and artists are “the counterweight to politics, we are the opposite of politics.” He said, artists “have to do the work of people, not the work of politicians.” Any thoughts on this?
Dear Rainer, I have known Wim for over forty years, and his response to the question at the Berlinale moved me deeply. It reaffirmed my…
Nick Cave
Rashod Taylor & Sally Mann
The creative life isn’t romantic. I need to say that upfront because I think there’s this idea floating around, on Instagram, in artist documentaries, in the way people talk about “following your passion” that choosing art is some kind of beautiful rebellion. And maybe it is, in moments. But most of the time? It’s choosing to print on a Saturday night while everyone else is out living the life you’re supposedly documenting. It’s explaining, again, why you can’t “just take a photo” for free. It’s years of being misunderstood by the people closest to you.
But damn, I wouldn’t trade it.
This tracks very much so in Sally Mann's Art Work: On the Creative Life
The Lifestyle Reality
The creative life isn’t romantic.
Rashod Taylor
Sally Mann’s Lessons on the Creative Life
As her new book Art Work: On the Creative Life is published, the acclaimed American photographer talks about her advice and life lessons for artists and writers alike
AnOther
Art Work
“A big and beautiful gift-worthy holiday art book” (New York Times), this new bookby artist Sally Mann about the challenges and transcendent pleasures of the creative process, is now a New York Times bestseller.“Erudite, frank, and funny.” —Amor Towles, bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow and The Lincoln Highwa
Sally Mann