Faith in Art

I hope that no one ever writes the books The Joy of Art or Art for Dummies.

(I hate that series, anyway. Why would I buy a book written by someone who thinks I’m an idiot?)

I’m sure the publisher would rationally surmise that given the success of The Joy of Cooking, The Joy of Sex and other books of that genre most of us would prefer to be led through life by experts. (And for most of us, art is much harder than either cooking or sex.)

But I don’t believe that attitude serves us well.

There is joy in the accomplishment of something for which we don’t have explicit instructions. There’s adventure in the discovery of solutions and also in the witnessing of the clear (but not always linear) thinking that results in such discoveries.

Recently, at a gallery in Scottsdale, I came upon an exhibit of work from the Cuban artist Abel Barroso. The exhibit, entitled “Video Art from the Third World,” addresses issues of politics, consumerism and greed. The works are wood block prints and “television” boxes—really kinetic sculpture—made from the wood blocks themselves.

Barroso’s problem was this: how to make powerful art with available materials. Living in Cuba doesn’t exactly afford him access to the local Home Depot: He obtained his wood by buying and dismantling an old cabinet. Barroso carved the wood blocks, printed them, then used the carved panels to construct his “video” commentaries on the dichotomy between the first and third worlds.

As if that weren’t inventive enough, Barroso also had to get the works into the U.S. for the exhibit. His solution? The boxes were constructed using pegs, so that they could be dismantled and brought into the country as carry-on luggage. (Of course, he then had to spend two days in the back of the Lisa Sette Gallery reassembling the works.)

I admire that sort of toughness, more than I admire skilled execution. It convinces me that conviction can carry us a long distance. What we really need to make art, or to understand art is what Barbara Kingsolver calls, “unyielding faith in the enterprise.”

This writing appeared in Flagstaff Live! on October 28, 1999.