The Prompt: Our Closed Minded Selves

The Prompt

I have decided, largely from Rachel's advice, to have each one of these responses as a separate post.  This will making commenting on them a lot easier.  If you respond using the "anonymous poster" option, please, don't remain anonymous!  Tell us who you are!

Below is the prompt I sent you all (and more, we are still awaiting some responses). Oh, and yes, I got Zak wrong... so ignore the example I use him in. I decided to still keep it in the prompt just because I feel like the prompt is at a point where it is not meant to evolve anymore. For now on though, I guess it will come with this disclaimer:

I have been wanting to know what really is going on when we make art and when we look at art.  What is going on in our heads?  What are our rules for making?  What are your most dogmatic guidelines?  What things make you cringe?  What do you think is immoral when it comes to art making? What will you never ever do?  What should art do and why?  Why do you believe any of this?

An example of one of my own dogmatic rules is that I think installation should always be about architecture, hence why I make pieces about architecture.  I believe that historically architecture is the foundation of installation; Kurt Schwitter's Merz Bau was a room, not a piece on a pedestal.  I recall Zak laughing at the idea of art that makes money.  That is one of "his rules," maybe (I don't want to speak for him).  This is what I want to get at.

I imagine that our responses will disagree more than agree.  At least I hope so, but we should remember to not take these responses too personally either.  Though I have this dogmatic rule of "installation must address architecture," it certainly is not the only means I judge an installation with.  I'd imagine that we are both open minded people, but I want to see the side of us that is close-minded.

I see these responses as being the antithesis of artist statements we may have written.  I see the artist statement as addressing internal issues (i.e.- "I use only car parts when making pieces because my father was a mechanic, and being witness to this blah blah blah), whereas these I see as being about external factors.  For example, "I use car parts in my work because I want to appeal to an unrepresented-in-galleries working class public blah blah blah." As we get more into it, sure, we might find that these two things are more close together than they are far apart, yet here we are making that very distinction.

Make these as long as you like. I am ready to read pages and pages.