(Un)learning/(un)doing art

Unlearning is about changing your perception and looking at things in a different way. Professor Baldacchino  in his seminar in GOMA, 2013 stated that as an artist one learns by ways of unlearning, by making mistakes, by turning art works on their head, we see things from a different viewpoint, with a different perception. Therefore when we engage with works of art we must put aside expectations and allow ourselves to unlearn these expectations. During the seminar there was also discussion around what art should be made from, or on and the subject of using black arose. I was told from secondary school through art college never to use black in a painting, (as was Professor Baldacchino, whose father was a Traditional oil on canvas painter) and I followed this rule religiously. Until, that is, Professor Baldacchino’s lecture on unlearning/undoing art. I felt a sense of liberation and some weeks later painted a canvas black from which developed the painting ‘De Profundis’. Black now features strongly in the work which I am producing and I love it. The question ‘is art every (un) done?’ featured and is a difficult one for artists. When should one return to a piece, or leave it? Included in this post are various stages of work and various viewpoints, demonstrating that the work is open to interpretation.

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