I’m exploring a couple of quotes by famous artists and thinking about whether or not the ax of art is my defense against fate.
The ax of art
My friend and comoderator at the UAC, Serena pointed me to this quote a few weeks ago:
Every time I have had a problem, I have confronted it with the ax of art.
Yayoi Kusama
And ever since she sent it to me it has, as the kids say, lived rent free in my head.
It’s much like the Larry Poons quote that I love:
My only defense against fate is color.
I’ve talked about this Larry Poons quote a few times. You can find it here and here and here (that last one is about grief so skip it if you aren’t in a place to read that right now). But while I’ve talked about it, I’ve never given it the space to explore it like I do here.
I find myself turning these two quotes over and over in my mind, considering them, ruminating on them, testing them against my own art practice to see if they hold true as much as it feels like they ought to when I first heard them. And the fact that I keep thinking about them and exploring them just shows off their depth and versitility.
Solving art problems with an ax
I found myself drawing back a bit from the violence of the Yayoi Kusama quote when I first heard it. But as I’ve thought about it, I realize that often in my artistic practice I am dealing with deconstructed things or I have intentionally deconstructed them to use in a new way. And so as I’ve thought through how often I need things broken down into smaller and smaller parts, the ax seems like a more and more apt metaphor for the work. Artistic problems often need to be broken down to be addressed, and sometimes an ax is as good a tool as any.
I like art where you can tell a human has made it. If work looks too exact or too machine made, I lose interest quickly. If I want something that looks machine made, I’ll just buy the machine-made thing. Breaking things down, as with an ax, is a good way to keep things from looking too pristine. I’ve never actually used an ax in my practice before but I’ve sanded things, ripped them, cut them up, burned them, and dumped them in all kinds of dyes, inks, and paints. All of those are just as transmuting as the ax. There is a bit of controlled violence in these things.
Cutting through life’s difficulties
The beauty of this quote is its ability to be flipped for a different, and maybe even more profound, meaning. Viewing the artistic act itself as the ax in dealing with life’s struggles opens up whole new realms of exploration for me. Using art to cut through my daily struggles is something I do with abandon. Arting out my frustrations with my daily practice is something I have been doing for nearly my whole life. Thinking about reaching for my art tools much like Gimli pledges his ax in “The Lord of the Rings” makes me giggle in delight. I know an art quest when I hear it!
Given Yayoi Kusama’s openness about her struggles with mental illness, I have to wonder if this is most likely what she meant. Art is good therapy. Lord knows we all need that during these wild times. Just being able to scribble with abandon and let all the frustration and angst of the day flood out onto a page feels so cathartic. I can’t imagine dealing with life without this outlet.
Ultimately, I don’t know which of these two meanings Yayoi Kusama meant with her quote. Maybe she meant something else all together. But honestly? I prefer the ambiguity of it. That way I can keep turning it over and over in my head. The multiple meanings allow it to seep into my thoughts and lets me meditate on the various possibilities.
Defense against fate
If I ever get another tattoo it will be these words from Larry Poons. I’m not kidding when I say that I think about this quote almost daily. It is an affirmation, mantra, and mission statement all in one. It is the sentence my brain often wanders to when I am just daydreaming and drifting.
I find myself saying it under my breath and emphasizing a different word each time…
MY only defense against fate is color.
My ONLY defense against fate is color.
My only DEFENSE against fate is color.
My only defense AGAINST fate is color.
My only defense against FATE is color.
My only defense against fate IS color.
My only defense against fate is COLOR.
You see what I mean? It’s a whole entire personal statement when you change the word emphasis over and over. And its repetition is most defiantly a mantra for me.
Not a weapon
This defense is so paltry that It’s not really a weapon at all, and certainly not an ax. It’s color. The defense of butterflies and flowers; the stuff of beauty, not war. Fate, when it comes, will find me with just these handfuls of color, an offering of peace.
Whatever fate thinks of me, if it thinks of me at all, let it be for my thoughtfulness in this world. My desire to make things and enjoy people and the things they make. My drive to encourage us all to make what we enjoy and surround ourselves with those pieces.
What about you? What are the quotes that live in your brain and work on you? I want to hear about them! Catch up with me on socials, email me, or go old school and leave a comment on this post to be immortalized for all of time.
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