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Writing is discipline.***
I went to Dr Ho's place again. His new artworks are interesting, but not terrific. I still like his painting of the cathedral and the abstract piece.
Students who do not understand me always think that when I make comments as such, the subtext is 'I am the best artist in the world', when what I really mean is they need to have a clear sense of what kind of standards there are out there in the world, instead of being complacent with that miserable bit of knowledge they have in their proverbial well. It applies to both English and Art. Unless one can take six steps back from one's work and say, 'I think the drawing/painting is really sublime', or read one's own writing and say 'the modern can surpass the old; this is better than Wuthering Heights', one really should just think of oneself as nothing, or less than nothing. How many can live up to such expectations, or qualify to be called a master? How many, except for Huang Binhong and Li Keran, can write on their scrolls that 'indeed, the modern surpassed the old?' In fact, I would even go so far as to claim that anyone who has not honed his craft for more than five years should not call himself a practitioner of the craft at all. Garcia Marquez deleted more words than he published. Virginia Woolf pondered for the exact word for days and even weeks. Turner and Picasso were born geniuses, but they went far beyond their talent and reached great heights through intensive labour. Corot said it 'only took forty years of hard work'. Degas and Braque did their work quietly without seeking recognition. The great Huang Binhong only had his first solo exhibition at eighty-eight, even though he had several group exhibitions before.
Dr Ho and I talked a bit about the Singapore Art Show..but well, if you've read my earlier entries, I'd rather not talk about it again...it's insipid, uninspiring, dull...the list goes on...
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