In one of my latest blog-posts I shared how COVID-19 was affecting my daily life. I also asked what people wanted to see from me in the future, 
To me, there are several perspectives to look at art, or to shape an opinion about it. While the artist, taste, style, materials are most probably always different, I like to believe the foundation of art is the freedom of expression, as a creator as well as a viewer.
Not a (big) fan of art?
If you're not a big fan of art, or you scroll through Instagram feeds within seconds without realizing why, perhaps this summary could fill in the blanks and tell us the reason why we enjoy scrolling through beautiful artwork in the first place (even if it is for seconds).
As an unknown-artist, I hope to raise more awareness towards a creator where you, as a viewer, can and hopefully will share your thoughts about it. It can be difficult to respond to something you yet have to find the words for, I recognize this to be difficult for me as well from time to time.
Freedom
All art to me is directly linked to individual freedom. Expressions, outbursts, emotions, triggers, conflict, love, darkness, words, opinions, sounds, we can go on. To me, art is mostly an urge to be able to express myself in times when I don't know how to express myself in order to prevent never-ending stories to be told nobody got time for. At least, that's one reason why I create art, the other reason is the hope that I am able to inspire, motivate, help or heal someone in any way. Perhaps sharing an experience of mine is something that someone on this planet could need.
©2020 - Fragile Balance | Ruben Cress
Comparing
One mistake I used to make, as an artist as well as a viewer, was to compare different kind of works with other artists or my own work. By comparing, I was forgetting a few important aspects that would not only determine the (opinion that I created for the) quality of an artwork, but also the intention that was used for the artwork to be created.
As a kid, I was taught to not compare so easily, but as humans, it is almost inevitable to not compare, we live in a world of dualism after all. Where there is light, there is darkness. Ever questioned yourself what is in between? It would still be considered to be either less dark, or less light, right?
Not that I was planning to dive to deep into what I think of comparing, I guess I'm just saying that I believe that it doesn't really add value when judging work if I would base an opinion out of comparison. Even when we compare work as objectively as we can, that would still be an opinionated outcome.
Perhaps, this is one of the reasons why I don't compete or join contests that easily.
© 2020 - unpublished artwork | Ruben Cress
Time
One big difference between starting artists and famous artists has to be time. Where one artist is already selling their work, another one just opened their first exhibition, while somewhere a child is being born that doesn't even know yet that he or she will become a fully dedicated artist.
In respect to an artwork, the time when something was created is a big factor in my opinion. To me, this adds an extra layer of interest to a work. Think of the available resources these artists had. When a child in modern times is using their fingers to make a painting, we think it is cute. When this happened thousands of years ago, we find it intriguing and interesting. We are questioning ourselves why and how.
Perhaps, questions like these arise mostly because the absence of intent and incomplete context/minor direction. Does your curiosity awaken as well when viewing primitive wall paintings?
The amount of time directly translates in how much work and dedication an artist has put into his/her progression of creating. At the same time, the amount of time that was put in a work doesn't necessarily adds value directly. It might be more interesting why this amount was put in, what drove the artist, what were the triggers? Why is this impulsive 5-minute work so appealing? Or... What did the artist go through to spend hundreds of hours on this work? Which brings me to the next aspect that I think is important.
© 2020 - I believe this was my first artwork that I shared online | Ruben Cress
Intimate
Most of the time, if not always, I consider art intimate and personal creations. Why something is appealing to one and another, is probably because we can identify ourselves with the artwork. Perhaps we see something that we can relate to, or we feel connected to it in a hard-to-explain way. Memes for that matter could be considered art as well, even though they are textually more straight-forward and already filled in for the viewer.
When I create art, I try to create something that deeply connects with my own emotions. However, I do try to avoid the viewer to only invite them in my personal realm and create something that they can relate to in their own way. This makes the experience of art truly unique (and intimate) to everyone, as we all have our own definition to feeling colors, textures, words and sounds. Think about the variety of combinations we often see. What's your favorite color combo?
© 2020 - Getting lost in my own post processing | Ruben Cress
Expression
Where it began with an expression of someone else, it can be translated and picked up differently by the viewer next to you. Where it is hard to identify an expression or intent of the artist without a context, I believe it is making a huge difference between works if there is one or none. Not that an artwork always should be presented with a context, art speaks for itself, where it can share unidentified stories time after time.
Sometimes, with a planted seed in the shape of context, it can determine and transmit the starting point to view an artwork that is being followed by your own mirrored emotions.
It could take one word to direct the viewer, maybe this is why I find it hard to title my own work because I don't like to direct people in what I think, feel or see. I am more interested in what kind of emotions are being triggered within the viewers mind so they can add their own story and value to the work.
There is no bad art
There is no bad art, it are our own opinions that decide if art is considered to be good or bad. Even when we agree that something is bad, it is still considered to be good by someone else. But even then... there has to be something to be appreciative about. The point is, I'm trying to say that whether you consider something to be bad, try to see it from a different perspective or angle that allows you to see and notice the good.
Appreciating the use of time, context, materials, resources, intent or any form of expression that has been included to the artwork is by my definition the foundation to look at art.
Hopefully this tells you a little bit more about how I look at art. If you wanna share your view on art, I'd love to read about it. Tag me or reply below.
Cheers,
Ruben