Probably early hunters and gatherers were drawn or repulsed in very similar ways when they heard a tribal drum beat. Perhaps these instincts are instilled in our fiber. We started as the hunter and gatherer and some aspects of our behavior are shaped by this early existence.
Even history is subject to major revisions as our perceptions change. Perspectives on history, politics and art change over time because of our allegiances and the cultural biases of our times.
There are many routes to meaning in art. Sometimes meaning can be found in its form or in the content. Sometimes meaning is found in the context. There is not one correct path to meaning. But when we find ourselves struck by something, it develops meaning. We are shaped by our times, our individual circumstances and the brains we bring with us.
Meaning in art and life cannot be described in words alone. The rhythmic beat of drums can affect the way we feel and the way we interpret our surroundings. Our emotions are altered by the vibrations of the music. We can feel more at home, or we can feel alienated based on our empathic response to music or art.
Themes
Are we basically irrational creatures?
This is not to say that we should not seek scientific truth. But art has the concern for the meaning of things rather than the scientific evidence of truth. Perhaps at times meaning and truth can be the same.
Art is not science and cannot be easily reduced to quantifiable data. It is part of the subjective experience of being human. There are many things we cannot know by science. Some things we accept based on what our elders tell us, as well as faith, peer pressure, emotional reaction and intuition.
Goya's painting The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters reflected his view of a corrupt and demented Spanish society.
However, Goya's painting points to the realization that "Imagination abandoned by reason produces impossible monsters; united with her, she is the mother of the arts and source of their wonders."
"I am the Sleep of Reason" 2020 digital painting, points to the impact of irrational and capricious behavior. Perhaps "You should fear it." Or, maybe not.
Being guided by reason alone underestimates the value and strength of intuition, emotion, faith, art and irrational means in shaping our thought process.
Madness Zines and Banners don't offer clear answers to where the line is between madness and rational thinking. Each generation rediscovers meaning and purpose through it's own experiences. Sometimes art can offer a means to examine a social structure that at times seems to favor irrationality over reason. Perhaps art can reveal truths, even though we may not be ready to see or understand them.
mad
Artist Dwayne Carter has been producing zines, paintings, ceramic figure sculpture, animation/videos, and large scale digital prints in the Dallas area since 1981.
ZINES
While my central passion in art is drawing, I use Photoshop to weave photos, drawings and paintings together to create stories of an alternate Dallas.
Some friends will call my projects comics or graphic novels, but I refer to them as photo novellas, drawing from the tradition of the Mexican comics that I would find at used bookstores while growing up in Waco.
Artists are using the photo novella format because of its directness in communicating stories and ideas.