BFA holder, bad with art.

So there was this little illustration about how to look at art floating around tumblr, and I... reblogged, and got a little carried away. Enough writing on it that I figured moving it over here would be okay. It's sort of a rant/brain-dump. Cheers.

Confession: I'm kinda the worst at looking at art. Thank goodness for art history class helping me some. I feel like I could probably use to take some AH course yearly to keep it in perspective. 

But, I am usually most interested in the how first; and second maaaaybe the why. And almost exclusively most interested in functional pieces. Things that solve. Maybe everything solves, but maybe I'm not interested in what it's solving. Context is super helpful.

I feel really weird when I'm referred to as an artist. I guess I probably make some art, but I'm certainly not comfortable putting that title after my name. I don't think I'm trying to make statements. Maybe I am, and I just don't know it yet (as was suggested to me in the only "fine" arts printmaking elective class I ever took, where I constantly struggled through critiques [note: I typically LOVE crits] because I didn't have much to say about what I was making, and I was constantly lacking a 'why'.  Learning a new technique/process/medium was plenty for me.   ).

I like making things, and making things work. Physical involvement in the making is a definite plus. I have experience in making things aesthetically pleasing. Often enough, making it pretty isn't the right answer though.

In a somewhat recent discussion with an engineer friend, I felt like how he was describing his process and projects felt more on par with what I do than how what I do is typically perceived*.

Giving me open-ended free reign is pretty much the opposite of asking me to solve a problem. I even like the part about finding out what the actual thing that needs solving is.  What's not working? What could be better? What needs help? Where is clarity lacking? How can this communicate more effectively? How will people use this? Or will they at all? What have people been using up until now for this? What limits and/or constraints are in places? What guidelines exist?

Wow, this turned in to a brain-dump/rant. Hm. 

BFA holder, bad with art. 

*obviously, he uses all sorts of math & other magical engineering things that I know little about, but at the same time I use lots of weird designer-y things that are not super common knowledge. Talking about the overall scope of things rather than the execution details.