Between 1927 and 1937 Joan Miro worked to revitalise, as well as reshape the medium of painting. If I claimed to be a decibel, or lover or Miro’s work – or expressive art for that matter – I would be flattering or ingratiating under false pretences. However, as an intellectual I do admire the amount of paradigm movement abstract art provokes.
I had never seen anything like the Burnt Canvas, Anti-Painting, work of Miro before. Nor had I engaged with the concept of destroying one thing, in order to create another, more prominent, thing. Coincidentally, I have come across several works with the same ideals since, such as Spatial Concept, Waiting by Lucio Fontana. Yet I still give this particular artwork sublime status, because of the absolute realisation Joan Miro initiated. And the subsequent development of my psyche.
The way I think about art, and the underlying paradigms the majority agree to, has not been the same since. The non conforming art before me triggered the concept that paradigms can shift to such a degree they are unrecognisable to the medium they originally encapsulated. Shifting so far that we align and associate incorrect mediums to correspondingly untrue expectations. This moment was not lacking in magnificence. The haze parted briefly to allow absolute clarity of thought, which I struggle to express in word. I find it even harder to achieve that clarity again.
The most eminent example of paradigm movement, is of those placed around the “photographer” today. I believe the role of the photographer has very little to do with the ownership or use of a camera. The elusive nature of paradigms – and the mediums they apply to – mean I will have to ruminate far more than I do in this short reflection. But currently – with this idea in its infancy – I feel that the role of the photographer is now to manipulate and influence, with the aim of making an image rise out of the mundane majority. If on greater reflection this turns out to be true, then the most successful photographers may never come into contact with a camera.
Lets leave that hypothesis to develop or the time being. This post was predominantly a way of jotting ideas, following the epiphany Joan Miro’s “Anti-Painting” provoked. How much we “like” or “dislike” an artwork is irrelevant, and unrelated to their ability to educate or enlighten.
Jamie Edwards
3/05/2020
Jamie Edwards 