Printing for a Purpose

I was reading this article about printing with a purpose and i was rather inspired by the message so i felt like sharing a random part

anyway:

One of the most intresting aspects of printing for a purpose that I've observed in my process of doing is how printing for a purpose steers me- cajoles me, forces me- to make artistic commitments. Commitment can be a difficult thing for artists because it implies a discriminating choice that rejects all other alternatives. One might be wrong, or foolish, or trite- a fear which artists dread. (or, perhaps this confesses somthing more about me thatn it does about artist in general.) Printing randomly (like leaving work perpetually unfinished) provides the comfort (read excuse) that the work in its current state is not yet complete and that the "finished" work will be better. "These are just work prints, not for exhibition" is a handy way to dodge criticism. A career of such activity will result in a random pile of prints, but precious little that the artist can say represents their artistic vision.

Now that I am in the "second half of life" and can no longer resonably employ the youthful mythology of immortality, I find myself more and more wanting to print for a purpose, for a finished product, for a definitive statement that expresses my artistic vision in unequivocal terms. I find it more satisfying to look back at a series of defined conclusions rather than a random stack of potentialities. History may very well judge my projects harshly, but it least I will have produced projects-finished artistic statements- that it can judge. I cannot help but think that this will likely be a better conclusion of my artistic carrer than a bunch of mismatched prints that appear to be the results from a handful of artists.

I know that Ralph Waldo Emerson said "A foolish consistency is the hobogoblin of little minds." Consistency can easily become a rut that limits creativity. On the other hand, consistency of structure of the Elizabethan stage; he didn't just randomly write. Hokusai and the great Japanese woodblock printers did series exploring a theme; they produced individual peices that were to be seen as a part of a group. As I think about the great photographers, the great painters, composers, and writers, they all have one thing in common: they produce their work within a structure as they explored- often for their entire life- all kinds of variations within the structure, and always with the finished purpose in mind. That is to say, they created specific things within a specific structure for a specific and predefined purpose. If this is a method that has worked so well throughout art history, maybe we could learn from history and use this idea in our photography today.

By Brooks Jenson.

He poses a very good question about being artistic with a purpose. It is something I think we should all think about. Anyway, my day as been up and down. One minute I was bumming and the next I was happy. (and no I'm not pmsing.)