Most recent post

The art of the obscure and meaningless

 

The hand that holds the glamour


Between the flick of a lighter and the curl of smoke lies a story told in two parts: the hand that holds the glamor, Between the flick of a lighter and the curl of smoke lies a story told in two parts: the hand that holds the glamor, and the eye that chooses to believe it.

The art of the obscure and meaningless


In the realm of modernist art, exemplified by Eddie's deliberate embrace of abstraction and mystery, artists have increasingly surrendered their authoritative power of intent to a veil of meaningless vagueness, compelling viewers to co-create meaning from fragmented suggestions rather than receiving a clear, directive vision. Her scalpel-wielded dissections—such as her perforated self-portraits or obscured war images—eschew explicit communication in favour of elusive hints, as she professed a desire to remain "mysterious" and avoid revelation, thereby shifting the burden of interpretation onto the audience in a pseudo-spiritual act of collaborative transcendence

This approach, rooted in modernist pseudo-spiritualism, posits art as a nebulous ritual in which the viewer's subjective gaze supposedly elevates the work to profound depths, echoing the era's fascination with ambiguity as a gateway to higher, ineffable truths—yet it masquerades as enlightenment while diluting the artist's agency into an inconsequential haze. 

However, this ideal of co-creation falters in practice: how can meaningful collaboration emerge when empirical studies reveal that museum-goers devote only a handful of seconds—averaging 27 seconds per artwork—to contemplation? In such fleeting encounters, the vagueness intended to invite deep engagement instead risks fostering superficial dismissal, reducing modernist pseudo-spiritualism to an ironic charade where the artist's relinquished intent evaporates unnoticed, leaving only ephemeral impressions rather than transformative communion.








John Bennett - AKA JJFBbennett- is an independent artist. You can view and subscribe to my work via Blogger, YouTube, Flicker, Facebook, Instagram and Deviant Art

Subscribe to JJFBbennett's private FB hub: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/18ythpSXPZ/

You can subscribe to my music via YouTube Music, Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music and Soundcloud

To support my art, feel free to donate via JJFBbennett through PayPal  

If you want to acquire JJFB's art creations as an NFT - John's Opensea NFT profile is https://opensea.io/JJFBbennett  



Copyright

This artwork is protected by U.S. and International copyright laws. Distribution and/or modification of the artwork without the written permission of the sponsor is prohibited.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Kepler Kiss

The Puppet Master

Godliness in Stone