Can we talk about that one art show in Brooklyn that changed my whole process

I went to this small digital art showcase in a warehouse near Bushwick last spring. There was this one piece by a local artist that was just a simple animation of a bird flying across a window. But the colors shifted and the bird's wingbeat synced with a really subtle audio loop. I stood in front of it for maybe 10 minutes just watching. That experience made me realize I was way overcomplicating my own work with too many layers and effects. I went home that night and stripped down a piece I'd been struggling with for weeks. Took out half the textures and reduced my color palette to just 6 colors. It looked better than anything I'd made in the past 6 months. Has anyone else had a moment like that where seeing someone else's simple work made you rethink your whole approach?

2 comments

2 Comments

finley_wells666d ago

Honestly used to think simple work was just lazy until I saw this one piece that was literally just a white square on a grey background with a tiny crack in it. That thing broke something in my brain and I spent the next month just making blank canvases with one small detail on each.

bethj446d ago

That white square with the crack... I know exactly what you mean. There was a Rothko I saw once in Chicago, just these huge blocks of dark color, and I stood there for like twenty minutes not understanding why I couldn't look away. It's like your brain finally lets go of needing everything to mean something obvious. I started doing the same thing after that, just painting flat colors with a single drip or a scratch. People think it's easy but getting that one detail to feel right is harder than any busy painting I've ever tried. It's a whole different kind of work, you know?