The imaginary art of Paul Garrard

 I asked an AI picture generator to produce pictures on the subject of "The imaginary art of Paul Garrard" and it produced four pictures. I've no idea how it arrived at the pictures it produced as they bear no resemblance to anything I've done. But anyway I've mounted them in a frame and they are displayed below:

For my real art please visit my gallery.

Wrong conclusions can be jumped to

Where possible I try never to explain a piece of my art. It is up to the viewer to take from it what they want to take from it. If it makes them think then that pleases me. If not, if perhaps it just reinforces their own prejudices, then so be it. You can argue or stimulate those with closed minds.

My art comes in two types. The first is where I wish to convey a message or an idea that I believe in and the other is about illustrating a thought or phrase that pops into my head in a serendipitous way that I’ve seemingly not controlled. I may not even agree with the notion I am conveying; sometimes an artist just needs to agitate. Think of it as the equivalent of giving someone a good shake.

The job of the artist should be about amusing and getting people to think. Without thinking we are lost.

Doing art

I was asked recently about what I was thinking when I created my art? I found that an almost impossible question to answer. 

I guess the easy answer would be everything and nothing but that would be a bit glib. Mostly when I’m making art I’m in a little world of my own so I’m probably not thinking at all in the accepted sense. Actually creating is often just so therapeutic that I’m often lost in a near meditative state. And then sometimes when things just aren’t going how I hoped they would be going I get a bit grumpy. Then is usually the time to get up and walk away and do something else. 

When I go and gawp at other peoples’ art I’m never bothered about what the artist was thinking or what the artist is trying to convey. So many people seem to have a need to understand art and I really don’t understand why. You can’t possibly feel what the artist was feeling so why bother worrying about it? 

People who wear the badge of Art Expert, Art Historian or Art Critic know no more than you about a piece of art. It’s all made up. All you need to know is that there is a piece of art which you either like or you don’t and that you take from it what you want to take from it. You can’t know the mind of the artist. 

With my art sometimes the title comes first and the piece springs from that. Other times the picture tells me what the title is. Then as often is the case I have a picture, I have a title, neither necessarily connected so I just put them together because it amuses me.I rarely explain my pictures because, well why should I? And anyhow, how are people going to exercise their minds if I give them the answers?

When presented with a piece of art before you, firstly, don’t panic! Then just take from it what you want and try not to read it like some cypher. Just take it for what it is and what it does for you. 

Art is easy. Stop taking it so seriously.

I am Dada

I think I was born dadaist. I was certainly into dadaism long before I knew of its existence. With Dada there are no rules. I like that. I’m a walking contradiction, like most people. That’s so very Dada. By nature I’m a non-conformist, who likes some conformity. When I eventually discovered Dadaism in my early adult life it totally struck a chord. Being a pacifist meant that this art form born out of the horrors of the first world war resonated with me. 

As Wikipedia puts it

”Developed in reaction to World War I, the Dada movement consisted of artists who rejected the logic, reason, and aestheticism of modern capitalist society, instead expressing nonsense, irrationality, and anti-bourgeois protest in their works. The art of the movement spanned visual, literary, and sound media, including collage, sound poetry, cut-up writing, and sculpture. Dadaist artists expressed their discontent toward violence, war, and nationalism, and maintained political affinities with radical left-wing and far-left politics.” 

Dada is the only real way I know how to express myself. My thought processes are often lateral. Thoughts combine as strange cocktails that aren’t strange at all. Everyone is an artist. Anti-art is art. All art is anti-art. Long live Dada.