MAKE ART, NOT PLATITUDES

Comments

[Maggie Jochild]

Hallelujah. I'm a huge advocate for women making art out of whatever is at hand (Gee's Bend quilts, anybody? Acoma pottery? French tapestries?) but it CANNOT be taught at Michael's. By definition.

[liza]

Too true, Maggie. The scrapbooking and journaling industries are huge and the mediocre crap that people churn out just depresses me. They blog about it (hundreds of journaling blogs) and they have residential "retreat" workshops. The craft stores have huge scrapbooking and journaling departments. There are now even magazines - expensive ones- published for the journaling and scrapbooking market. Not to mention how-to books. I'm telling you, this is a big profit maker.

All the "art" looks the same and they churn out the most ridiculous platitudes. The messages are a litany of "love" "joy" "blessings" "hope" "dream" "play." I mean seriously, not only do they sound infantile and stupid, but I'm way too cynical to believe that the women who churn this stuff out are not also filled with anger, angst, fear anxiety, boredom, despair, - like normal people - which they either are candy coating in platitudes, or - even worse - are using these "affirmations" to sell their products to even bigger saps than they are.

The saddest thing is that some of the women who specialize in "journaling" and "scrapbooking" are actually talented, and if they were not focusing on this drivel they might actually make some powerful art.

And what's up with using nouns as verbs? That just sets my teeth on edge.

[kat]

How about verbs as adjectives? The sports reporter on our ABC station uses the "word" "winningest."

Gag me with a fucking spoon.