The thing most talked about regarding any work of art, in the
population at large, is its SIGNIFICANCE. By that I mean its meaning. What does it mean? What is it about? People look at a painting or a sculpture and say to each other:
"What does he MEAN?" It is also the thing most likely to be discussed in educational
institutions. Long, involved discussions of the author's intent
and the symbolisms of the work will take place in classrooms,
often to the dismay of students who think that perhaps there is
not always a single correct answer. But regarding significance I will say now that it is not really
that important. Sure, it is not exactly unimportant either. Let's right away get
used to a long, sliding scale of importance here. There are many
grades of it, like there is of anything, nothing is black and
white. And a scale is often longer than one realizes, a thing
can be very important indeed, for instance, and still have another
thing be very much more important. A good significance to a work of art can be a great thing. And
one can get a lot of pleasure by thinking and talking about it.
But it is NOT the essential part of the work of art. If it was,
it would no longer be art, but an essay, or journalism. As I talk about elsewhere, the essential part of art is the creation
of something new. That is why artists are also known as creators.
If a creation is 100% about something pre-existing, it is not
really something new, is it? The reason I am stressing this, is that I myself have sometimes
gotten trapped in non-production by getting desperate about the
all-important significance of what I was doing. And I have seen
a lot of very fine artists get all bogged down and lose the raw
power of their earlier work, because they so badly wanted to make
the most important work they could, and they thought this was
about the significance of the work. So they start diving into
the things that affect them the strongest personally, often meaning
their own past and personal problems, and they lose the interest
of the audience. Listen, forget about all that. If you have a great idea with a
lot of meaning, by all means use it. Otherwise just use your good
old playfulness and do something fun. The aesthetics and the "interestingness"
of your work will make people happier and more extroverted (looking
outwards), and they will be able to make their own observations
and conclusions, which is usually more healthy and durable than
any used opinion they can take over from anybody else. A lot of great art is totally abstract, with no thought from the
artist about anything it was supposed to say about the "real"
world. (Who decides what is real anyway?) It may be that is "says
something" in any case, but maybe that "something" can only be
expressed as art, yes? And a lot of the best art is simply made with a lot of nonsence.
You look at a picture or listen to a song, and it makes you feel
great, and you don't care why. Another thing is that you will find that you can hardly stop people
from putting significance into your work. So why work so hard
yourself at doing so? Relax and let them. People love to contribute,
just try and stop them. And who cares whether it has any relation
to anything you may have seen or put into it yourself? Freedom
of Art is also freedom for the receiver.
The significance of a work of art