Been turning over in my mind the 10 rules from Corita Kent’s Immaculate College of Art that we looked at in the last session. It occurs to me that Kent’s rules are so fresh precisely because she wasn’t (for a long time) accepted or part of the art establishment, that her outsider status gave her permission. That somehow not being accepted can actually be a freeing thing. Being outside of something being a ‘point of departure’ – to return to Alex Schady’s quote (see earlier blog) that comforted me when I was worrying about being from a different art discipline. I recently watched ‘Maudie’ – a biopic of outsider artist Maud Lewis played beautifully by Sally Hawkins. Maud Lewis just painted images everywhere she could find, over the furniture and the walls of her tiny Nova Scotian hut. In terms of the collective judgement of the art establishment Lewis had a lot in common with Kent – no recognition until much later in life – and a delegation to the ranks of ‘outsider’ status. Problematic word – ‘Outsider Artist’. What defines the Inside, if you put aside more cynical ideas such as class, money, contacts and a nice stable upbringing that means you can work the room at a Private View…? Something defined must have rules or there is no definition. But artists break rules – don’t they? Shouldn’t they?
What’s refreshing about Lewis and Kent is they keep making. Rather like wise Yoda’s – they either do or do not, there is no try. Keep putting things down on paper, or any surface. Make. Don’t think. Try trusting. Rule no. 1 is that you try trusting for a while.
Yesterday I forgave the sorrowful kind of realistic figures I was making (which I am resisting because of what…taste, trends, some sense of what’s ok to do – and that literally nobody has told me not to do). I just committed to them and I believed that if I endow them with seriousness and validity – then maybe they would have this.
Actors do this also. When they don’t commit – or they half commit – everything falls apart. So again, the other discipline contributes to my work.
Rule No 8* (which should be tattooed on my forehead) –
“Don’t try to create and analyse at the same time. They’re different processes.”
Alex Murdoch, Artist 