Danielle Kuhn Sourcing Inspiration

Inspiration is a very loaded thing to try to study. It is impossible to list all the sources of inspiration since it is subjective. A good comparison though is the difference between inspiration and influence. Influence is more traceable whereas inspiration is private and personal. This reading dwells too much on citing all different sources of inspiration, when it is obvious that an artist can pull from any source. Any artist can be inspired by any unlimited source, and all people, artist or not, know this. It also goes on about how to different people it can manifest in different ways, this is no new information either. While many different examples of something usually provides to better understanding, if that something is so readily understood to be varied and limitless, example after example becomes redundant and useless.

The reading gets into the specifics of three different artists. Jan Harrison is the first to be studied. She deals with the human-animal relation. Instead of making a commentary on how we are on the same level, she seems to put animals above humans. Unlike the animals we are egotistical, afraid of growth and change, and we don’t embrace death. It is a very interesting view point and true for the most part, but also a very pessimistic outlook on humans. She works on her art to work on herself which is very admirable. Pipilotti Rist comes from a female-centric point of view. Her works deal most obviously with the romantic fantasies that she creates even though they come crashing down. She also discusses self-censorship which is a very important idea for people to question about themselves. The lives we lead behind closed doors so often differ from the lives we lead in public. Julian LaVerdiere basically says he wants to be a hero, the next Faust. What is important to him is to inspire and make people wonder. He says something that really stands out, that he capitalizes on people’s ignorance. He hides some truth in order to make something important to him relevant to others also. It is a very applicable subject since it happens all the time with what we know of history. He glamorizes it by saying his purpose isn't to trick the public but rather to give them hope and inspiration.