Trust Your Gut

Art can only be truly art by presenting an adequate outwards symbol of some fact in the interior life.

Margaret Fuller


But how does that happen?  For the artist I believe that it comes from rooting around for honesty, beyond ego, not an easy place to find.  For the viewer maybe it comes from openness to seeing whether a work of art contains that "outward symbol" of authenticity.

Does it follow that if you can spot an authentic person, then you can spot an authentic work of art? Getting to really know a person requires you to spend a little time with her or him.  The same is true of a work of art.  Sometimes you get further into the relationship and find that it doesn't hold up, and yet other times you find a true friend.  With a work of art maybe it has to be something that you can come back to over and over again and still feel satisfied and/or challenged.  In both cases a deep relationship can be formed.

I suspect that at the gut level we all know honesty when we see it, before our thoughts get in the way.  Maybe understanding art is just as much about trusting our gut as understanding it's context.  In a relationship, when you get to know someone you want to know about their family, where they grew up, where they work, etc.  Although you may not judge whether you like someone based upon whether they grew up in New York or Minneapolis, that context is relatable. Getting to know a work of art can also involve similar social and/or historical context.  It's all a part of the story.   Gut and context.  It's all a part of life and art.