arts & ideas
Art & Humanity in Metamorphosis by Michael Howard Prelude Welcome to my space. It is a little chaotic right now with everything in process and nothing really finished. But if you are interested, I am happy to show you what I am working on. Some people feel uncomfortable when looking at works of art because they are not sure what they are supposed to think or feel. This discomfort can be compounded by the presence of the artist. I try to be sensitive to this, but perhaps you can imagine the insecurity an artist like myself can feel not knowing what people think and feel about their work. I hope any discomfort we may share can awaken empathic interest in each other’s perspectives and experience. From my side, I am actively interested in what you think and feel about my artwork. However, to be clear, I am not so interested in whether you like it or not. I hope it puts you at ease to know I am not looking for compliments, nor will I be offended if you tell me you have difficulty connecting to my art. I can easily imagine the challenges my artwork may pose. For that very reason, I want to better understand those difficulties so I can take them into account in my future work. Artistic freedom does not mean for me that I am at liberty to say and do whatever I like. I do not assume that you the viewer bear the full burden of understanding and appreciating my artwork. I see my art as a service in the way teachers serve their students, and doctors serve their patients. Teachers try to serve their students’ need to learn. And if they have difficulties, a good teacher does not blame them but looks for more effective approaches to their subject. Likewise, doctors try to serve their patients’ health. A good doctor does not take it as a personal affront if a patient does not respond to a certain therapy but instead looks for another therapy that may work better. It is natural and meaningful for me to ask: What is the human need that I am trying to serve as an artist? Through the years, one thing has become clear: there are no simple and quick answers to this question; if anything, it only spawns more questions. While any final 32 • being human
answer continues to elude me, I am not disheartened. In fact, there is nothing I prefer to ponder and work at. One thing most people are clear about with works of art, and much else, is what pleases or displeases them. Reacting to a work of art with some degree of sympathy or antipathy comes so naturally to us that we think nothing of it. And yet, when I said earlier that I am not particularly interested in whether you like or dislike my artwork, I had this common reaction in mind. To simply like or dislike a work of art seems to me an inadequate response because it says more about you the viewer than the work of art itself. If we are interested in the artwork and, by extension, all that the artist thought and felt in shaping the artwork, then our personal sympathy or antipathy does not help us, it actually gets in the way. To fully experience and, in that sense, truly know a work of art, we must find another approach. Most people think that artists make things—drawings, paintings, and sculptures—in order to satisfy a deep need to express themselves. And it is generally assumed that they hope to achieve some degree of recognition, if not fame and fortune, through exhibiting and selling their work. While this view may apply to some artists, it is a caricature that masks the deeper motivations inspiring many artists. Most artists draw, paint, and sculpt because of their need to engage in a creative process more than to produce an art object. The art object is the by-product of creative activity. For example, I paint to explore the mystery of
