Reflections Archives « Michael Keane

Lately I have been thinking about how I am basically trying to build an art machine. My heart and soul and creativity are the driving engine of the machine, like the flux capacitor if you will. That part of the machine I have been taking care of my entire life, and its a continuous process that will go forever. It is the part which continually seeks to generate more and more work, engage new mediums, practice and experiment: it is passion. It is also the part which is continually inspired by all the things of life such as people, places, events, feelings, ideas. But other parts are needed for the machine, too.

The machine needs a way to reach people so that they can interact with the work it produces and have their own experiences with it. Instagram is an available tool to do this, and I have connected to many beautiful people through this tool and through sharing my art through it. Recently, though, I have been moving away from this tool. There are many reasons, such as the oppressive algorithm, the high amount of bots and low real human engagement, the fetishism over influencers, censorship of artists I admire, the change in emphasis from visual art/pictures to short videos, as well as the environment it has created for artists where I see us as having to scrape and grind for minimal attention.”

“I eventually realized that I wanted a place which I fully owned, which was truly mine…”

I eventually realized that I wanted a place which I fully owned, which was truly mine, so I built this website for myself and started exploring new tools. I have a decent bit of experience with computers but I am not a web developer, so this was a challenge I am proud that I have tackled. Building a website allowed me to build my own store as well, along with other functionalities such as this blog. This means I do not rely on an external source to display my art which ultimately has power over me. The downsides are that it takes much more work and there is not a pre-built market attached to my website (such as say, Esty). But I enjoy that I built it and it is mine, I have much more freedom over it.

‘Arcturian Vision Weaver’ Painting Art Timelapse 2-23-22

Recently, I have begun to make videos on Rumble so that people can watch art being made as entertainment and maybe even inspiration. Bob Ross inspired me so much when I first began making art, as I had very few examples of artists to turn to and learn from. Rumble is another piece of the machine which allows me to extend myself into that space through the medium of video. The videos have become art themselves for me. Maybe that part of the art machine can drive traffic to my website so that people can view or even purchase my work. They will have more of a chance to view my art from the comfort of their home. Or maybe people will simply find the videos entertaining or educational.

“Recently, I have began to make videos on Rumble so that people can watch art being made as entertainment and maybe even inspiration.”

It is exciting that I have built a functional art machine with multiple parts with different purposes. I foresee adding new modules to my art machine in order to give it even more functionality. I am interesting in exploring new tools and technologies being developed to do this. Part of the purpose of this art machine is to give my creative passion a greater reach and a more sustainability throughout time, in an organic and self-developed way. An essential feature is that it maximizes my freedom as an artist. This is a creative project for me. Thanks for being around and checking it out and reading.

“A symbolic library is like an internal repository of symbols, concepts, forms, etc. As we move through the world as humans and artists, observing, learning, practicing, and growing, we naturally begin to gain experience working with certain symbols and forms. Over time, they get added to our symbolic library.”

Something I am focusing on improving as an artist right now is developing my symbolic library. What is a symbolic library, you ask? Let me explain how I conceive of this concept and how it has developed during my time making art.

A symbolic library is like an internal repository of symbols, concepts, forms, etc. As we move through the world as humans or artists, learning, experiencing, and growing, we naturally begin to gain experience working with certain symbols and forms. Over time, they get added to our symbolic library. For me, one of the first things which I found that I immediately loved to paint were eyes. I was simply naturally drawn to eyes because of their beauty and complexity, as well as their symbolic value to me. I love their ubiquitous nature for the human experience and how they represent consciousness.

Over time, I became more and more skilled at representing eyes, both by observing their structure and functions, but also through the experiences of learning about how I enjoy painting them through the act of doing it over and over via artistic experimentation. Now, I feel very comfortable drawing eyes. I don’t need references for eyes, I can simply draw an eye at will. I can say that eyes are safely contained within my symbolic library.

I can’t just draw eyes forever, though. There is an entire world of forms, symbols, and concepts which intrigue and inspire me. I yearn to make ever more complex work which incorporates and blends many different things. I have become aware, however, that some things are challenging for me to paint because I do not have much experience with them. These things do not yet exist within my symbolic library. For instance, if I wanted to paint a skull years ago, this would have posed me a challenge, and it did. What do skulls look like? What important forms exist within a skull? How does the light hit a skull? Where are the important contours? How does the jaw, teeth, eye sockets work in the anatomy of a skull? These are the kinds of questions and answers which we gain through observing, working and playing with a symbol.

At first, the unfamiliarity we face with a new symbol might represent a barrier to us. We may just keep making the same symbols which we feel comfortable with, but I think this is a trap. If we practice overcoming those barriers and pushing through the challenges of learning and incorporating new symbols into our library, then I think we will begin to grow much more quickly as artists. In fact, if we embrace this process is becomes quite fun. After painting and drawing numerous skulls from different angles and in different poses, I now feel like skulls are a modest resident of my symbolic library. I can visualize them in my mind, I understand their anatomy, I can make them do what I want. Rinse and repeat for the next symbol.

“It is like a visual encyclopedia which exists in my mind’s eye and which I can bust out on the fly at any time. A mental spell book which contains all the art spells which I have mastered.”

Adding new symbols to my library used to be a mostly unconscious process for me. I would intuitively find a symbol which interested me and begin to draw or paint it. Now, I am actively seeking out symbols which I like and making a point to learn all about them and understand them intimately. Once I observed the process was happening I decided to make it explicit. I am keeping a list of symbols which I consider to already be within my symbolic library, along with a list of symbols which I have specific plans to add through study, investigation, observation, and of course, practice.

Dovetailing off my last post concerning programming habits, I am focused on observing and playing with these symbols consistently. I am seeking out interesting references and examples wherever I can, observing them in nature, and practicing sketching and painting them. My goal is to incorporate the ever growing list of symbols into my internal symbolic library. It is like a visual encyclopedia which exists in my mind’s eye and which I can bust out on the fly at any time. A mental spell book which contains all of the art spells which I have mastered. It gets even more fun once you begin to represent and mix them together in novel new ways.

I am excited to continue to grow my symbolic library. I look forward to when dragons live in there amongst the faeries, when the wizards can co-mingle with the aliens, and all the succulent floras and faunas of my imagination can grow eyes as they burst out of Pegasus skulls amidst the mushrooms and crystals peppering the landscape.

What symbols are in your symbolic library? What symbols would you like to add? Let me know in the comments!

Image: Bibliothèque humaniste de Sélestat 21 janvier 2014-97.jpg
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Attribution: Claude Truong-Ngoc / Wikimedia Commons – cc-by-sa-3.0

Category: Reflections

Art Machine

“I eventually realized that I wanted a place which I fully owned, which was truly mine…”

“Recently, I have began to make videos on Rumble so that people can watch art being made as entertainment and maybe even inspiration.”

Symbolic Library

“It is like a visual encyclopedia which exists in my mind’s eye and which I can bust out on the fly at any time. A mental spell book which contains all the art spells which I have mastered.”