and force myself to both physically and emotionally look at the worldin a slow pace has drastically changed my ideas about life and art. My biggest resolution is that I will never look at art as a separate world created by artists to become isolated from the rest of human experience. To me art is only a portion of the big reality which itselfis the accumulation of all of our experiences on earth as humans. Nevertheless the impor- tance of art is not how vastly it can cover the big reality but how honestly it can express the individual reality in respond to it so the other parts of the big reality can somehow benefit from it in their own way. In other words, art to me is not what I see but rather what I would do with what I see. It is not up to me as the artist, viewer, critic or even the historian to judge differ- ent kinds of art. In fact there is no bad art as long as the artists are absolutely honest about what they create. Art is moving rapidly away from being an absolute act of finding the answers in a Modernist manner, or the absolute process of questioning in its Post-Modernist sense. Just like the ever-transforming world around us, art can be a way of raising questions that bear their potential answers and constantly metamorphosing into new problems and new solutions. This is how art can effectively reflect the world and function within it. I look at art making as one of the few alternatives of retreat for humans from materialistic life. If we consider produc- tion and consumption to be the basics of a linear materialistic life, then creation and understanding would be what I can call the basics ofa spiritual life. I want to draw the line between fine art and commercial art, between creation and production and be- tween understanding and consumption. To produce a product one needs materials. In other words production is based on mate- rial, while for creation one requires ideas. The differences doesn’t end here. Even after the process of creating art the result can end up being a product rather than a externalized idea. The elements that can change an honest art into a form of commodities are different and complicated. To me putting a materi- alistic value on an art piece by an artist is one of the catalysts through which art might be transformed into a commodity. An art piece which sells for more than the actual costs has always the danger of becoming a product. There is something that does not allow me to accept most of the art of both the Modernist and the Post-Modernist eras as honest art. If meaning and ideas of art went through revisionism in the twenti- eth century, unfortunately its function and direction in the society stayed the same. What makes a painting like “Voice of Fire”(7)importantis that it proves tome art is a very easy task which only requires an individual with a set of ideas to over- come; it doesn’t necessarily take any pro- ficiency or special technical skills to create art. But at the same time “Voice of Fire” fails to be an honest art because it reduces its importance to a certain amount of ma- terial value. In fact art in the twentieth century has been overtly used by the pro- duction system as a vaccination. When purchasing a piece of art, the production system vaccinates itself against the very same ideas that are externalized in the purchased work. by accepting the elite gallery system in order to share their experiences with the public, artists obli- gate themselves to the rules that in return separate them and their art from the audi- ence they wish to reach. A question arises here: who is responsi- ble for the big projects and costly works? I have a problem with the kind of artists that, in order to externalize their ideas, have to consume a substantial amount of ‘everly fresh’ and ‘neverly used’ materials. Creating art as an externalized idea is a bigrisk for artists because they may not be quite successful in their attempt. Using cheap or recycled materials can minimize the risk of wastes that can hardly ever go back into the cycle of earth. Recycled art also reminds people that in order to make art one does not necessarily have to spend. Marxism, the potential ideology behind both Modernism and Post-Modernism, failed to deal with the problems because of its attempts to use the same means of: production to compete with Capitalism. Marxism ignored the fact that if salvation is in production, then the Capitalist sys- tem was the most practical way of operat- ing such a system. In the field of art, Marxism called for an elite group who could operate the cultural machine in favour of the proletariat, re- gardless of the fact that by reducing the majority of people to only elements of production, they become automatically pacified into a herd of consumers and they can be easily misled into any conspiracy, including Stalinism. It is astonishing how Modernism’s ef- fects on society were almost identical in art one does not necessarily have to spend. Art in the ultra Post-Modern era won't be able to justify its means as it used to, just for the sake of its own goals. The environmental concerns together with other new problems among the societies(8) requires a deeper and more philosophical involvement of artist in their art. What is the most practical solution to all of these problems? Are the artists the only people responsible for dealing with every- thing that is wrong with life on the planet or are there other ways to involve more people in the process of thinking, ques- tioning and answering the problem? I’m not trying to represent myself as a genius in the process of making my art. In my opinion, if “anything is art and art is anything’(9), then the artist is just as important as anybody and anybody can be an artist. It is then my role as an ‘estab- lished’ artist to share the experiences of ‘being an artist’ with others. I think that moving toward a world that would put more emphasis on creation and ideas rather than production and material will have a profound effect on both the public’s general perception of the world and their responses to it. The therapeutic aspects of art do not only lay in their psychological effects on the participants. The search for ideas in art can also make humans ques- tion the world around them in a deeper sense. This process, on a philosophical level, can lead to rejection of a set of beliefs and attitudes that are usually taken for granted among humans. Paul Shoebridge both Capitalist and Stalinist camps. Even in the democratically free Western world, people were transformed into producing workers or managers far removed from the process of creation and understanding of art. As a result, the cultural gap created by the absence of classical arts in peoples’ lives was filled first by prints and later by photographs. Such media had the capac- ity to be widely used by the public. But, as it is registered in history, photography entered life as a medium of production rather than creation and was mainly used for the purpose of what is called “ecommu- nication”. Gradually communication within photography transformed into miscommunication -a job mostly carried out by non-artist users of the medium(10). Itisin photo base work that I link myself and my work to the big reality. Photogra- phy and its detailed realistic surface can be attractive to people as shown through its short history. Cameras are the most common piece art equipment and are constantly used by people of different orientations to produce and create im- ages. With such vast popularity photogra- phy can be the easiest medium to awaken the artist within the people. Moving through the rapid changes of the last few decades in the ‘image-making’ industry and the availability of the video, the modern humans are now able to inves- tigate another dimension of their life as well as the issues surounding art and representation. Within a short period of time, television has become the ultimate means of commu- nication and entertainment However, tech- nical and political obstacles make it very hard for artists to use television as a me- dium for putting forth their ideas. What makes me focus my attention as an artist on moving images has a lot to do with the medium’s accessibility to a larger audience. What kind of visual represen- tation is still able to draw the attention of millions of people around the world? With- out trying to reject the importance of dif- ferent spheres of fine arts, I don’t think that the answer to this question would be the art of either painting or sculpture. I don’t think anything has influenced our perception of the worldin the last hundred years more strongly or deeply than still or moving photographs. But at the same time, working with moving images has its own problems and dangers. Because of its fundamental es- sence, which is the applied technology, working with moving images has a bigger danger of drowning into formalist mirage. The tradition of using the moving image medium to tell stories has been pushing the medium toward a superficially realis- tic depiction of everyday life, while under- neath the surface it is still confirming the stereotypes of class, gender, race and sexual orientation in a very subliminal way. The arrival of the moving image was a turning point in the history of visual arts. Such a medium, which combined various elements from different spheres of fine art, could have had a profound impact on the expansion of human experience as a whole. But rapid technological advance- ments in film medium and difficulties of maintaininga fair distribution system soon forced the young medium to substantially become dependant on a large sums of capital, Domination of capital over film throughout the medium’s short history gradually limited its creative horizons. Cinema in the Western world, mainly the United States, was another tool in the hands of the production system to shape and change the people’s opinions and set the cultural trends while subliminally propagating the Capitalist ideology among countries that the movies could have been sold to. Such a processis still alive and in practice with a faster speed and effects as it used to in the early twentieth century. On the other hand, the Soviet film in- dustry, while eliminating most of the fi- nancial barriers which would have blocked the way for the creation of artistic films, restricted the individual freedom of the artist in expressing their ideas. The European experience seems like a mid-point between the two extremes of the spectrum. In the European film indus- try the film makers had to worry about the ways to generate capital in order to fi- nance their films, while pushing the me- dium at the same time further towards its creative limits and remain aware of the trap of commercialism. Unfortunately, the sudden victory of American Capitalism over the centralized and government operated systems of East- _ ern bloc has had a big effect on visual arts including film and television outside of North America. The over produced Ameri- can movies with their cast of internation- ally well known stars have been able to dominate box office sales not only in the continued next page and force myself to both physically and emotionally look at the worldin slow pace has drastically changed my ideas about life and art. ‘My biggest resolution is that I will never look at art as a separate world created by artists to become isolated from the rest of human experience. To me art is only a portion of the big reality which itself the accumulation of all of our experiences on ‘earth as humans. Nevertheless the impor- tance of artis not how vastly it can cover the big reality but how honestly it ean express the individual reality in respond to itso the other parts of the big reality can somehow benefit from it in their own way. Inother words, art to me is not what I see butrather what I would do with what I see. It is not up to me as the artist, viewer, critic or even the historian to judge differ- ent kinds of art. In fact theres no bad art slong as the artists are absolutely honest about what they create. Artis moving rapidlv away from being an absolute act of finding the answers in a Modernist manner, or the absolute process of questioning in its Post-Modernist sense Just like the ever-transforming world around us, art can be a way of raising questions that bear their potential answers and constantly metamorphosing into new problems and new solutions. This is how art can effectively reflect the world and function within it. 1 look at art making as one of the few alternatives of retreat for humans from materialistic life. If we consider produc- tion and consumption to be the basics of a Tinear materialistic life, then creation and understanding would be what [ean call the basics ofa spiritual life. Iwantto draw the Tine between fine art and commercial art, between ereation and produetion and be- tween understandingand consumption. To producea product oneneeds materials. In ‘other words production is based on mate- rial, while for creation one requires ideas. The differences doesn't end here. Even after the process of creating art the result ‘ean end up being a product rather than a cexternalized idea ‘The elements that can change an honest. art intoa form of commodities are different ‘and complicated. To me putting a materi- alistic value on an art piece by an artist is ‘oneofthecatalysts through which art might be transformed into a commodity. An art piece which sells for more than the actual costs has always the danger of becoming a product ‘There is something that does not allow ‘me to accept most of the art of both the ‘Modernistand the Post-Modernist eras as honest art. If meaning and ideas of art went through revisionism in the twenti- eth century, unfortunately its function and direction in the society stayed the same. What makes a painting like “Voice ofFire’(7)importantis thatit proves tome artisa very easy task which only requires an individual with a set of ideas to over- come; it doesn’t necessarily take any pro- ficiency orspecial technical skillstocreate art. But at the same time “Voice of Fire” fails tobean honest artbecauseit reduces its importance toa certain amount of ma- terial value. In fact art in the twentieth century has been overtly used by the pro- duction system as a vaccination. When purchasing a piece of art, the production system vaccinates itself against the very same ideas that are externalized in the purchased work. by accepting the elite gallery system in order to share their experiences with the public, artists obli- gate themselves totherrules thatin return separate them and their art from the audi- ence they wish to reach, ‘A question arises here: who is responsi- blefor the big projects and costly works? I have a problem with the kind of artists that, in order to externalize their ideas, have to consume a substantial amount of ‘everly fresh’ and ‘neverly used’ materials Creating art as an externalized idea is a bigrisk forartistsbecausethey may notbe quite successful in their attempt. Using cheap or recycled materials ean minimize the risk of wastes that can hardly ever go back into the eyele of earth, Recycled art also reminds people that in order to make art one does not necessarily have to spend. Marxism, the potential ideology behind both Modernism and Post-Modernism, failed todeal withthe problems because of its attempts to use the same means of production to compete with Capitalism. Marxism ignored the fact that ifsalvation is in production, then the Capitalist sys- tem was the most practical way ofoperat- ing such a system. Inthe field of art, Marxism called foran lite group who could operate the cultural machine in favour of the proletariat, re- gardless ofthe fact that by reducing the majority of people to only elements of production, they become automatically pacified into aherd ofonsumers and they can be easily misled into any conspiracy, including Stalinism, It is astonishing how Modernism’s ef fects on society were almost identical in artone does not necessarily have to spend Artin the ultra Post-Modern era won't be able to justify its means as it used to, Just for the sake of its own goals. The environmental concerns together with othernew problemsamong the societies(8) requires a deeper and more philosophical involvement of artist in their art. What is the most practical solution toall ofthese problems? Are the artists the only people responsible for dealing with every- thing that is wrong with lifeon the planet or are there other ways to involve more people in the process of thinking, ques- tioning and answering the problem? Tm not trying to represent myself as a geniusin the process of makingmyart. In my opinion, if*anything is art and art is anything’(9), then the artist is just as ‘important as anybody and anybody can be an artist. Itis then my role as an ‘estab- lished! artist to share the experiences of ‘being an artist’ with others. I think that moving toward a world that would put more emphasis on ereation and ideas rather than production and material will havea profound effect on both the public's general perception of the world and their responses toit. The therapeutic aspects of art do not only lay in their psychological effectson the participants, The earch for ideas in art can also make humans ques: tion the world around them in a deeper sense. This process, on a philosophical level, can lead torejection ofa set of beliefs and attitudes that are usually taken for granted among humans. both Capitalist and Stalinist eamps, Even in the democratically free Western world, people were transformed into producing workers or managers far removed from the process of creation and understanding ofart. Asa result, the cultural gap created by the absence of classical arts in peoples’ lives was filled first by prints and later by photographs. Such media had the capac ity tobe widely used by the public. But, as it is registered in history, photography entered life as a medium of production rather than ereation and was mainly used for the purpose of what is called “commu- nication’. Gradually communication within photography transformed into miscommunication -a job mostly carried ‘outby non-artistusers of the medium 10) Itisin photobase work that Ilink myself and my work tothe big reality. Photogra- phy and its detailed realistic surface can be attractive to people as shown through its short history. Cameras are the most ‘common piece art equipment and are constantly used by people of different orientations to produce and create im- ages. With such vast popularity photogra: phy canbe the easiest medium to awaken the artist within the people. Moving through the rapid changes ofthe last few decades in the ‘image-making’ industry and the availability of the video, themodern humans arenow able to inves- tigate another dimension of their life as well as_ the issues surounding art and representation, Within short period of time, television hhasbeoome the ultimatemeans ofeommu- nication andentertainment However, tech- nical and political obstacles make it very hard for artists to use television as a me- dium for putting forth their ideas. What makes me focus my attention as an artist on moving images has a lot to do with the mediums accessibility toalarger audience. What kind of visual represen- tation isstill able to draw the attention of nillionsofpeople round the world? With- ‘out trying to reject the importance of dif- ferent spheres of fine arts, I don't think that the answer to this question would be the art of either painting or sculpture. 1 don't think anything has influenced our perceptionofthe worldinthelast hundred years more strongly or deeply than still or ‘moving photographs. But at the same time, working with ‘moving images has its own problems and dangers. Because of its fundamental es sence, which is the applied technology, working with moving mages has a bigger danger of drowning into formalist mirage The tradition of using the moving image ‘medium to tell stories has been pushing the medium toward a superficially realis- tiedepiction of everyday lif, whileunder- neath the surface i is still confirming the stereotypes of class, gender, race and sexual orientation in a very subliminal way. ‘The arrival of the moving image was a turning point in the history of visual arts Such a medium, which combined various elements from different spheres of fine art, could have had a profound impact on the expansion of human experience as a whole. But rapid technological advance- ‘ments in film medium and difculties of ‘aintaininga fardistibutionsystemsoon forced the young medium to substantially become dependant on a large sums of capital, Domination of capital over film throughout the mediums short history gradually limited its creative horizons. Ginema in the Western world, mainly the United States, was another tool in the hands ofthe production system to shape and change the people's opinions and set the cultural trends while subliminally propagating the Capitalist ideology among countries thatthe movies could have been soldto, Such a processisstil alive and in practice witha fester speed and effects as it used ton the early twentieth century. On the other hand, the Soviet film in- dustry, while eliminating most of the fi- nancial barriers which would have locked the way for the creation of artistic films, restricted the individual freedom of the artist in expressing thir ideas The European experience seems like @ ‘mid-point between the two extremes of the spectrum. Inthe European film indus try the filmmakers had to worry about the ways to generate capital in order to fi nance ther films, while pushing the me- dium at the same time further towardsits creative limits and remain aware of the” trap of commercialism. Unfortunately, the sudden victory of ‘American Capitalism over the centralized and government operatedsystems ofEast- er bloc has had aig effect on visual arts including film and television outside of North America, The over produced Ameri- can movies with ther ast of internation ally well known stars have been able to dominate box office sales not only in the continued next page