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Prospectus

Poets and artists often are drawn to the same subjects--the sublime, the horrible, uplifting the ordinary, parodying the ridiculous. Writers have often taken their inspiration from great works of art. Artists, in turn, have given form to the poet's voice, often illustrating a favourite poet's book of verse.

"Conversations" seeks to draw artists into a visual dialogue with the Dead Poet of their choice. Works can be inspired by a line of poetry, a full poem, or a body of work by an individual poet. Each artist will provide a statement, detailing how the poet they chose served as muse, and how their creation relates to the original inspiration.

This show is open to all members of EBSQ+.

Submissions are welcome in any medium, and need not be auctioned on ebay to participate. Entries should include a jpeg of your work (or works), size, title, medium, ground, and a brief explanation about the piece which will be included as part of the online exhibit.

This is a Juried Show

Juror: Robert Wittig

Juror's Statement

Upon reviewing the prospectus (I had to look the word up to see what it actually meant.) for this show, I was not surprised by the statement that poets and artists of every sub-category are drawn to the same subjects, because underlying the relationship of all subjects to the fine arts, is the issue of the human condition.

Because the poet who has most inspired me in both my painting and my writing is Bernie Taupin, who is not yet dead, it seems appropriate that I am judging this event... because if I were to participate as an entrant, I would have to kill Mr. Taupin, in order for him to qualify as a 'Dead Poet'... an event which I am sure Bernie would, heh, disapprove of.

My core beliefs where art is concerned are two:

1) Science concerns itself with the search for truth (objective reality), and art concerns itself with the search for honesty (subjective reality), and...

2) Art is the resonance between emotion and intellect. *

Scientific advances in the field of neuro-imaging, primarily using the P.E.T. (Positron Emission Tomography) scan, have demonstrated the scientific truth that verbal activity (poetry, in this case) is processed by different areas of the brain than non-verbal visual information (the visual arts, in this case).

It is my opinion that the artist can never completely express in words, what is expressed in visual or non-verbal terms, or vice-versa, even when addressing the exact same subject, because the parts of the brain that communicate in words, and in images, experience the world from two entirely different aspects.

I think that it is essential to the survival of the human species, that non-verbal forms of communication, like the visual arts, be fully included in the human dialogue, which is too often conducted exclusively in the language of words.

For the competent 21st century visual artist, it is therefore important to achieve consilience, between word and image... intellect and emotion... truth and honesty.

*(Fine Art - The Case for Resonance and Honesty - October 2000 - http://www.robertwittig.com/paper11.html )

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About Wittig...

I earn my living as a painter, writer, and garbage picker... but not necessarily in that order.

... am Deaf, and have strong interest in the poetry and storytelling traditions of ASL (American Sign Language), in addition to my work in paint and print.

... did poorly in school, did not attend university, and am essentially self-taught in all areas.

... believe that much of the value in the human experiment resides in its garbage... material, intellectual, and human.

... believe that the 'ArtWorld' construct, of the last three decades of the 20th century, in large measure abandoned its mission to humanity, that mission being the creation of resonance between intellect and emotion, in order that we might mature emotionally through art, at the same rate that we mature intellectually through science.

Otherwise, we wind up as we are now... a species with the intellectual advancement to create technology that can either benefit mankind greatly, or destroy the planet, coupled with a level of emotional maturity that will essentially insure the latter.

The truth of science, without the emotional honesty that only art is capable of bringing to the equation, makes a deadly cocktail.