Everyone likes a sound bite. A short phrase that summarizes information, conveys a certain feeling and entices readers or viewers to think further about broader issues. Since the term was coined in the U.S. media, ‘sound bite’ has been associated largely with politics and the wily business of selling (or manipulating) one’s point of view […]
Author: jjill
there is no punch-line
Going to an art gallery is like going into a room full of strangers; you never know what to expect and you may not like anything you see. Unlike a movie theatre or sports events where the actions about to take place are more-or-less predictable (i.e. in sports, someone wins and someone loses; at a movie, […]
the road to hell
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. -proverb So often we try to do the right thing and it just doesn’t work; something goes wrong and we realize (far too late) that so many problems could have been avoided if only we’d stopped to think. […]
a practical course of action
When you head out for the day, do you ever stop to think about the spaces and people around you? Most of us don’t. Our every day worlds and the places we live have been reduced to spaces of liminal ‘docking’; where we spend our time waiting, in transition, impatient, uncertain. There is opportunity for encounter, interaction […]
the vanity of apples
Have you read about the new apples? “Non-browning, [Arctic® Apples] look better, taste better, last longer” and are now deregulated by the USDA for restriction-free growing in the United States. (!) And while this was the media hype a few weeks ago (non-browning apples! non-browning apples!) all I could think about was Dutch paintings and […]
i can see for miles & miles / 30″ x 36″
i can see for miles and miles / 30″ x 36″ / on canvas / landscape / janet bright
too much honesty
The most honest piece of art I’ve created is offensive and I’m not sure if it’s offensive because of it’s absolute honesty or because of the big fat expletive at the end. And as I ponder the offensive nature of this art I’ve begun to wonder, have honesty and ‘bad’ language become equally offensive in our society? […]
please please me
“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”. -John Lydgate In 1995 Russian artists Vitaly Komar and Alex Melamid embarked on a project to discover what art would look like […]
crappy art
What makes art ‘good’? Is ‘good’ determined by how real a painting looks, by a pleasing combination of colour tones, by the subject of a painting? Or is ‘good’ simply and only about how you feel when you look at one particular piece of art? Does it matter how long it takes an artist to create […]
‘quite unnecessary’ replied the office boy
‘QUITE UNNECESSARY’ REPLIED THE OFFICE BOY In 1899, comedy publication Punch Magazine published a joke where a genius enters an office and asks to speak with a patent clerk. The office boy replies, “Quite unnecessary, Sir. Everything that can be invented has been invented.” Are you surprised by the date of that joke? It seems ludicrous that […]
do you have a licence for that?
I’ve heard a lot of conversation these days about who IS an artist and who is NOT an artist and the bottom line for many is, ‘do I have the right education to call myself an artist ?’ There is an exclusive academic art world calling the shots right now and, whereas the commitment and dedication […]
i own everything ©
Did you just post something online? Me too. Then I scrolled through some photos and watched a few YouTube videos. And as I was doing this, I thought of the paperwork I hardly remember reviewing when I signed up for these services. It seems we are all vaguely aware the images we post may be used […]