Thinking Beyond Documentation

I do a lot of time-based and temporal work, so I have to think about documentation and how I will present my work after the moment of its creation or execution has passed. But recently fellow WCA member Dail Chambers got me thinking about it in a different sense after reading her blog post from awhile back. Chambers is a photographer, and so she approaches the whole idea of documentation differently, seeing "all art is documentation, abstractly."

I suppose this is true. Art can act as a window into our lives and our souls. It allows us opportunities to express our innermost thoughts, revealing as much or as little as we want (although typically revealing more than we intended). As such, it serves to reflect on life's ups and downs, our internal struggles and the times and cultures that we live in (what we find beautiful and ugly, what is socially acceptable or even desirable, how we dress and interact, what concerns, taboos & grievances we are confronting at the time...).

You can appreciate this idea further when you look at past artworks and movements. What inspired these artists? How were their works indicative of the times they lived in and how did their works move beyond them, questioning the status quo and looking at the world in a new light? Many movements are celebrated now that were not appreciated during their relative time periods. And as artists continue to question convention and seek ideals in their work, their artworks can serve to document how the cultures in which they were created were changing focus.

I cannot say that I see art first and foremost as documentation, but I can understand and appreciate this viewpoint in that artworks can act as a record beyond their inception. For me, art is predominantly about communication, which is probably why I am so drawn to conceptual art. As documentation of my desire to express my thoughts, grievances, and insights and to get people thinking, I only hope that my work is worthwhile to those who would look at it later on as a means of understanding these times for all that it will likely be dated.