Life as Art: Refuse
Part of the Chronicles of Creating Series
Art is life.
A phrase I used all the time to seem more authentic as an art kid. A feel good statement full of optimism and hope for making a living by making art.
Over the years, thankfully, my overuse of the expression dwindled. It was only until this summer when the phrase resurfaced for me. I was reading an interview between Debbie Millman and Stefan Sagmeister. Debbie opens up by describing Stefan as having “…the unique ability to turn life into art.”
That seemed more sophisticated.
I look back on my teenage expression “art is life” and see it now as a need of art to survive life. It’s everything. It’s of dire importance to living. Appropriate for a dramatic teen who thrived on art.
But “life is art” is like the mature obvious realization. It’s refined. It’s seeing the good, the bad, and the ugly in a positive light.
Art is the stuff of life.
Quarantine has done wonders for my creative growth. While I’m typically a homebody anyways, this idea of being home all the time has actually refocused how I see my home and its many banal items. I’m paying attention.
It’s always been there; the art that is. Only now I see it as art instead of as stuff.
In this way I think of Marcel Duchamp, the pioneer of “readymade” and purveyor of art as ordinary objects of everyday use.
I remember finding a duality of emotion when I first saw Fountain signed R. Mutt, his most known piece in most art lectures. I was fascinated and bewildered that someone was able to submit a urinal to an artist society as a sculpture.
On the one hand, it was cool, bold, and unexpected.
But on the other hand it felt cheap, easy, and unfair.
I always assumed he must have been so revered that he could pretty much submit whatever he wanted and it would be classified as art. A real cult leader if there ever was.
But through the years, every time his work came up in class or conversations my judgment shifted. I often paid more attention to the idea of challenging art rather than the art itself.
He was pushing the boundaries. Conceptual art challenges your thinking.
Recognizing life as art is more profound than any subjective opinion.
Quarantine has brought this to my realization. I’ve been subconsciously seeing my life as art.
There is so much visual interest, beauty, and inspiration in the commonplace if you only slow down to see it.
Take it in.
This sequence is my perspective of everyday life and what it means to see the art in my busy life through the perspective of a slowed lens — a sort of visual entry into each month as I collected these moments of refuse.
Refuse Series
ref·use
/ˈrefˌyo͞os/
noun
1.) matter thrown away or rejected as worthless; trash.
I started collecting what I typically threw out. Geometric shapes from scraps of projects. Brightly colored tags, rubber bands, and threads. Patterns in torn packaging and light. Shapes from combining them all.
For three months I put aside interesting findings that would normally have been discarded. Each month I would document the trinkets in photographs. Slowing down, noticing, and exploring inspired other work. These collections became little muses for me. I now had new color palettes and composition ideas in my toolkit.
Notice your routine of discarded items and rethink their purpose. Find inspiration in those vibrant broccoli rubber bands. Investigate the shape and typography found on bread ties and banana stickers. Put on your kid goggles and notice the tiniest crumbs. Things like a brightly colored thread in the laundry, or a strand of black and white plastic blowing in the wind outside.
When did we lose this ability to notice the small things?
Instead of turning life into art, see the art in your life.
Naturally life will be art. Try a slower living pace and observe joy filled moments in the mundane and overlooked. Be challenged by what you think you know and dive deeper. Revert back to the wonder of a child and be amazed and moved by the smallest details in your day.
👉If you want to read a more in-depth history of Duchamp and Fountain check out this article by the Tate.
👉Talk about seeing the mundane in a different light–Danielle, The Jealous Curator, featured artist Tonya Corkey on her podcast back in 2016. I think about her work every single time I clean out my dryer lint trap.
