I think one of the things about building a CBG that I enjoy the most is that it brings out the creative part of my nature. Not only is a CBG interesting visually, it's also functional--it serves two purposes. So do you, a CBG builder, consider yourself an artist?
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Hey Eric, I consider myself nothing more than an amateur artisan. But I consider a lot of you guys to be artists, though....
An “artist”?? Haha, no way. One sure thing in this life is that I'm no artist. (I just pretend to be one on internet forums.) The kid expressing him or herself in crayon on a bedroom wall is an artist.
"I like kids' work more than work by real artists any day.”
-Jean-Michel Basquiat, American artist, 1960 – 1988
I will agree on the functional art. Art I enjoy and like to play. A few of us are artists. More are folk artists. Some are craftsmen and craftswomen. I'll put my self in the folk artist category.
I've had an ongoing internal struggle around this question. I completed a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts (focus on printmaking) about 8 years ago and since graduating I've been pretty much useless in the art scene. I got a graphic design job (which I consider myself an artist there about 10% of the time) and started a family soon after. To keep my practice going as a printmaker, I would have had to rent studio space with an artis collective which would've cost a couple hundred a month. Starting a new career and a new family did not allow for the time, money, and energy commitment necessary to keep this practice alive.
Long story short, I kind of fell away from the arts community. Fast forward a couple years to a more stable income and family life and stumbling into building CBGs. It was initially one of those let's-see-if-I-can-do-this things but I got hooked pretty quick. Next thing I know I'm utilizing everything I learned in university to put these things together and add my little touch to them.
I also realized that the more I worked on them and got past some of the initial technical hurdles I really started to focus on the form of the instruments. Much like my prints, every element is planned out and considered for what they provide to the final product. Many of them are functional parts but there are always decisions to be made about how these elements will look.
The "art" in any piece of work, be it a video performance or a bronze sculpture, can be in its intent and its context in a specific place and time. Building a CBG in the beginning of the 20th century may have been your only option to own a stringed instrument. Building a cbg at the start of the 21st century is a statement. What that statement might mean is as varied as the individuals building them. It could be trying to find authenticity again in music. It could be a big middle finger to huge corporations cranking out mediocre generic product at a big price tag. Point is, if you just wanted something to jam on I can get a playable guitar for $50 from the online classifieds. We're making and/or playing these things for a reason.
So, yeah, we're making art. And their are some pretty impressive pieces on this site. This isn't just me trying to justify my student debt load either. I've spoken with my art buddies and some old professors I've kept in touch with and they agree with this as well. I don't expect to get into the MOMA here, but I don't think my drawings would've gotten me there either.
Great question! Myself, I don't consider myself an artist or my guitars art. I'll say that there's quite a bit of creativity and thought in them. Some may consider them artistic. But my primary purpose is to build a functioning instrument. After that everything else is just icing on the cake. I dress them up with what I think looks cool if that means wild graphics or shiny chrome. But my biggest concern during my entire build process is "how will it play, how will it sound". One of my tag-lines on my website is... I make guitars that get played, not polished. Ironically, my guitars are all pretty shiny...haha! If my customers want to hang them up and shine them they are more than welcome to. If they purchase one as art, then it is art. But in my heart I hope they play the hell out of them, spill beer on them, knock them over and pick them back up and keep on jamming. If you are going to spend money on it, get your moneys worth out of it. To me as a builder...they're guitars first and I am a builder.
Yes, CBG building (or instrument building in general) is an art form, just like music is an art form.
I suppose you could place them in the category of folk art, but that's still art.
yup.
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