Sunday, April 14, 2019

Wisdom of the Jabberwock


"It seems very pretty," Alice said when she had finished the poem of the Jabberwock, "but it's rather hard to understand!" (You see she didn't like to confess, even to herself, that she couldn't make it out at all.) "Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas—only I don't exactly know what they are!"   Through The Looking Glass (1872) by Lewis Carroll

In starting this new series, Jabberwocky, I find myself much like Alice lost in Wonderland, that place where logic and perception are passing states of mind.  As with Alice, I have a head full of ideas but no clue as to where they are taking me.  It's an attempt to take my version of objet trouve art to where a logical response is subservient to a whimsical perception.  I must be going in the right (brained) direction as these new creations certainly appear to be meaningless at first glance.  But do they speak in riddles?  Is there some hidden symbolism?  The viewer must be the judge, because this artist does not know.

All the branches of Art stem from the same root.  Poems can create an emotional sensation not readily definable.  These rhyming words bounce off one another creating a rhythm that lures the brain to an alternate consciousness.  The words themselves may be utter gibberish.  This sensation can be replicated with an assemblage of components that interact with one another based on the principles of design.  When done correctly a similar rhythm occurs visually.

Meaning is not a requirement in any of the Arts, but some response is required for a piece to be successful in communicating with others.  Logical minds inherently look beneath the surface to find a certain significance.  Thankfully, human perception widely differs thereby instilling a single work of art with a multitude of meanings. And the delightful result is that all are correct.  Whether the artist has a preconception or is groping blindly in an intuitive ether, his/her meaning of the piece is secondary to that of the viewer.  For it is the one who stands before it at that precise moment in time who finds the true meaning deep within their own psyche.

So come with me on this journey to a world where nothing is quite what it seems.  If you find “the white knight is walking backwards and the red queen is off her head”, remember...  

There is a fine line between sense and nonsense.   Just ask Alice.