Lacking Innocence

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A recurrent theme of modern art has been the desire to see the world through the eyes of a child. This innocent viewing should enable the artist to perceive the world afresh, the audience then marvelling at the new rather than the stale view of the knowledgeable academic. There is a falseness in this understanding of aesthetic appreciation. Art is composed, following structural understanding nurtured by the artist and appreciated by the cultured audience. Similar to a written language, although perhaps more complex, it requires seasoned awareness. The images presented in Aide-mémoire: Everyday Aesthetics display this consciousness of structured viewing. Reflective of abstract painting and formalist architecture, the pictures lack innocence and reveal an art of looking. The informal observations act as notes for more elaborate compositions, their function lying between casual perception and contemplative concept. In the same manner that a child struggles to speak, innocent viewing has little to say. The language of the aesthete is sophisticated, able to use a little to say a lot.

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Stephen Clarke

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February 2017