A Rumor Of Peace

Edging taken to its extreme is a line drawing. Sometimes that’s a useful exercise, if only as a reminder that it’s how a large segment of the population sees the world: Right and wrong, good and evil, black lines on a white background. Doesn’t everything work better when everyone does what they’re supposed to do. The artistic equivalent of authoritarianism.

The irony of authoritarianism is that there are no absolutes, and sometimes authoritarianism actually works. There was a reason for Churchill. There was also a reason to get rid of him. Of course, nobody agrees when ‘sometimes’ is. Britain during World War II, yeah a little authoritarianism probably worked. The United States during World War I - definitely not. Nor now, but, again, I digress.

The Art World is not immune. Traditionalists have always been there to slow everything down. Today there are artists who insist ‘art’ can only be created with something like a brush using something like paint onto something like a canvas. Their assertion actually excludes most artists working right now, who are younger, creating art on their computers, or tablets, or smartphones. They don’t do art the way they’re supposed to.

​Photo art begins down deep in the pixels of a photographic capture; begins with an assault of experiments seeking the truth of the capture that leads to art. Sometimes black lines on a white background is the strongest technique. Sometimes the way is open for Churchill.