The Peekaboo Principle

The techniques of making a work of art involve two things: 1.) Certain rules to follow (i.e. fat over lean), and 2.) That mysterious component, the experimental intuitive portion, which can be the icing on the cake. Viewers are intrigued by this enigmatic aspect in varying degrees.

Art has to have a creator and an audience/viewer. Both bring something to the experience. If the artist delineates every last detail, the viewer has to remain passive, and that’s boring. If you leave some things undefined, there is room for the viewer to use his own imagination. And imagined things are always more desirable than reality! I love to hear the stories viewers come up with when they look at my paintings.

This is a topic I’ve been pondering a lot lately. It’s important to me to know WHY people like or dislike my art. But it’s only important to me that a buyer loves my art. It doesn’t bother me if people dislike my work so long as I know why. If it’s the subject matter, then I really don’t care (I can paint what I want!) but if it’s because they think my work is substandard, then I take note that maybe I should see about making improvements. I also know why I create art — because it’s stronger than me and I have to do it. It’s not just the creativity, it’s the freedom to explore and discover things both technical and spiritual. It is, indeed, a puzzle that I can’t help but want to figure out. And it’s fun and exciting. Finally, in my neck of the woods, it seems only the type of art that sells around here are the barns and the flower paintings. And horses. Nothing wrong with those but I believe it’s a reflection of the area itself. It’s not really that inspiring – it’s one of those terrible bedroom communities that sprawled out of farmland. Most residents commute to the big city to sit in a cubicle. Those who buy art in town buy the “traditional” stuff, I’m told because it’s familiar and suits the region and they want to fit in. The others go to the big city to buy more abstract work because, I’m told, they either had no idea there were abstract artists in the area, or they find the art in the big city is better because it comes from the big city. (Either way, I’m looking forward to moving away. In the meantime, thank goodness for the internet!)

I love hearing people’s comments about my abstract art! They find things in there I never knew I put in there, which is even more fun! It reminds them of something, someone, some place I’ve never seen, known, or been…consciously!

Your latest article on the Peekaboo Principle is very interesting and it got me to thinking. Three different paintings I have painted which included fog, sold fairly quickly and I didn’t think they were exceptional paintings. But in retrospect now, I believe what people were attracted to was the fact that something in the scenes was partly hidden or obscured by fog. Thanks for unraveling this mystery.

While it may be exciting to have some elements of mystery in a work of art but if it does not enhance the composition or if it is not related to the theme it maybe detracting from the quality of the work. The appeal of a certain piece of art is in the beholder but to generalize that people are always geared for solving puzzles or that the male of the species are only interested in the specific stimulus is I think is not right. Some people like the gentle touch of the breeze over the gale and a pleasing design rather than chaotic. As in the T.V. show “different strokes” not everyone is the same, people have different personalities, different interests. It would be sad indeed if we are all lumped as one unthinking creature. The brain is the greatest computer of all but does not work uniformly in every person. I would like to believe that a person is unique. To think that everyone is devoid of individual thought then we are robots without a brain.

I think mystery and venturing to new places, especially if unknown always grabs us. It reminds me of a monologue that Orson Bean did many years ago. The gist was that a nude woman on the beach is not as provocative as one scantily clad. If we are doing our best, we manage to disclose a place or idea that we haven’t seen before, though it was always right in front of us.

I heard one man say this, and found it to be true. That when he had a nude model, all was well and good and normal, but during breaks, when the model wore a robe, he was strongly tempted to try to see down the opening of the robe in front. The artist who was speaking noticed that this was irrational, because he had just seen her naked and was going to do so again after break.

Some people are attracted to what is mysterious and “ultra-normal stimuli” while others may look for what is spelled out. Since life is full of issues calling attention to be solved, nature and realistic art offer the relaxing and peaceful escape from such struggle. Feelings of relaxation can be achieved by using meditations and modern medicine confirms that meditation positively influences the nervous system. While the brain seeks challenges and stimuli, people need energy renewal from nature. The renewal process releases helpful hormones in our brains and takes one to deeper visions and deeper thoughts. When we are absorbed in creating detailed shapes, colors and sizes, this fires our brains, sparks curiosity and our decision making process. Realism art is a multiple intelligence task that discovers reality, looks for the best in everything and in others and finds ethics in ourselves. António Damásio, the well-known and awarded Portuguese neurologist thinks that the vision of human beings as a whole, is the key to the global development of the being. The ideal situation is that we use all the potentialities of the brain, so rich (Realism) and so surprising (Abstract)! The Peekaboo!!

It is not only in abstract painting that the “uncertainty principle” is true, I have noticed that some people enjoy figurative paintings where certain shapes have to be resolved by the viewer “filling in” details which are either not present or only suggested.

Peek-a-boo, I see you, too! Thanks for your continually stimulating conversations. You are always finding interesting topics to focus on. Doublejay Visions Art Studio

There always come a time when the peek-a-boo principle fails. It is when man loses his balls and I wish a new Nefertiti or a Cleopatra took centerfold in the history of that part of the world geography. Preferably not naked the ways the bunny magazine are forgotten from one month to the next. It pays to be provocatively yet partially denuded. Now when you write a report on that naked subject watch me jump on your bandwagon… lol

I agree with V.S. Ramachandran. The mystery is what hooks me, both in the making of art and the appreciating of it. An art scholar once began to write about me and my work and he used the word wizard as well. There is something completely magical and ecstatic in creating art that speaks or sings, and is not completely definable. It remains open, inviting interaction. I love the poetry and the quality of play in the game.

Artists do well to understand that “emergent” or “partially appearing” subject matter is far more inviting to human perception than the bold faced facts.

Oops, a drip.

Concerning “Twist of Fate”. What a cool painting! I love it!

A very interesting theory. I have often wondered why my work became so popular and why it has held such a fascination for people. www.suecoleman.ca I do it because it fascinates me but never really pursued the reason why they sold so well. I have had many critics who have slammed the work as ‘not Art’ but I still enjoy exploring native legends and stories then creating an interpretive art piece. Many of these pieces have become very commercial even though that was not my original intention. Some of my later pieces are leaning to the abstract and are also attracting buyers. http://www.suecoleman.ca/originals/S01Tidalpool.jpg Your article may explain why some artists work is far more popular than others. I know myself that I love puzzles. Sue

Doggone it, now I’m going to be burying some little Waldo in all my paintings. Ya gone and pulled my string!

I used alot of hidden symbolism in my paintings for a recent production of Mozart’s Magic Flute for the New Orleans Opera. In one scene in particular, featuring the three temples of Nature, Wisdom, and Reason, I used familiar New Orleans landmarks (three iconic tombs from our famous Greenwood Cemetery, or what we locals fondly call The City of the Dead) and hidden iconography on all of the gates to the temples as well. The limbs of the live oak trees above the “temples” also carried a hidden message for the audience: Live oaks are never without their leaves, unless something like a two hundred mile an hour wind has torn them off, as happened after Hurricane Katrina. Any New Orleanian looking at a live oak tree without leaves is subconsciously uncomfortable – a feeling I wanted to convey in this scene. The gates to the Temple of Wisdom are filled with musical symbolism and yes, that’s a bust of Mozart sitting atop the roof. The Temple of Nature features a well known gate from our City Park Botanical Garden and The Temple of Reason has many hidden Masonic symbols (an important element in this opera and in Mozart’s life) and its gate is filled with mathematical symbols as well. In fact, in the days leading up to the opera’s opening, the PR department had a scavenger hunt of sorts with this painting: find where these three temples are located in the cemetery and win free tickets to the opera performance! Designing the paintings for all the scenes of Mozart’s Magic Flute was truly a dream come true for this flutist/painter, (I also played in the opera orchestra during the performances!) but finding opportunities for hidden messages in my artwork made it even more special an experience. Indeed, Mozart was my inspiration since he did the same thing throughout the opera’s music and libretto! You can see all the opera paintings on my website: www.pattiadams.com

Some are getting the wrong idea and are going to look for “hidden messages” similar to the “Mona Lisa” and “The Last Supper.” But what everyone should be concentrating on is the symbolism of good design which should be found in all “good” painting. The way the artist used color to dramatize or movement in the piece or differences in object sizes to enforce a point. To piant deliberately to move the viewers eyes to land on points the painter intented. This is truly the hidden meaning in good work not some gimmick or trick. A great painting is more than hidden messages. Lastly, many viewers of art attach personal meanings and hidden symbols to suit themselves.

I had painted realistically for years and I became bored with the same plein air and still life renderings after a while.I was lucky to be involved for many years with the experimental painters of America. I enjoyed the workshops and learned a lot of interesting information on new materials available which were not easily accessible when I graduated from college.I was suddenly engaged with what amazing new textures ,interesting new materials , transfers ,multi layering and so many overwhelming ideas that could help make my work more interesting . With mixed media I was determined to experiment further. I spent more than a decade working on abstract painting techniques. . I did not however ignore the other areas of my craft …life drawing, outdoor workshops and I feel that the whole integration seems to build a stronger body of work.because when I explored the possibilities I discovered ways to keep enriching my paintings with stronger colour and I was always willing to take risks.. I feel that the abstract expressionistic works that I am currently working on have proved to be the most challenging as they entail all the elements of a first class realistic piece of work, namely composition, values etc which need to be addressed in either a realistic work or an abstract painting . It is so stimulating to walk in to a gallery and hear what the viewer has to say because on an abstract piece it is for the viewer to see what they can enjoy about this piece and that is not in conflict with the pure pleasure another buyer needs to add the barn to their collection……it is all a very personal taste in any piece of work,I am, as an artist, aware that my choice to paint what I enjoy means that I dared to take a chance and paint what pleases me and I feel strongly that money and the market is only a small part of this.

Very perceptive and intriguing. I’ve dented this concept a bit after an instructor taught me about painting “lost & found” lines in my work – that the viewer’s mind likes to fill those in. It really does work better. I stopped wanting to know what people thought (except certain people) about my work when I realized that it had nothing to do with me! What they think is their own experience, not mine. The certain people I might ask to comment, I ask because they offer up some useful criticism that might be helpful to me. But for the rest – like it, don’t like it, just BUY it! I’m sure some of my work is gracing a bathroom or in a yard sale by now while others are really enjoyed. All my pieces are like children to me and I always hope their custodians will take good care of them. But once they leave the house, well, they’re on their own. I’ve never sold one to someone who wanted to change it. And last, I like this article because it helps explain my own brain to me more – why i always ask why, for instance. Why so many things require answers. Why I like painting – such a visceral sport that expects a lot of questioning. Good points.

I think they look great Tony

no offense, but that whole load of lines you just wrote is all bollocks based around a the obvious notion that the human brain admires more than reality. sorry for the abrasive tone. xx