At my home my walls and bookshelves are covered with art made almost entirely by friends, family and people I have known personally, although there are of course exceptions. I grew up surrounded by my parents’ artist friends, so “knowing” an artist has always had special meaning to me, while if I didn’t have the pleasure of knowing the artist, there is therefore a decided mystery to the work of art that makes me constantly wonder about the person who created it.

The attached article in this past Sunday’s New York Times about the “Meta-Art” of 37 year-old Shea Hembrey is fascinating: it’s about art and the creation of it, but it’s also about a special friendship and a charming artist friendly community in which he is fortunate to live.

In a sort of wild and mad – but well planned and articulate – frenzy that lasted for two years, Hembrey, in order to investigate, explore and confront his own ideas about what makes art meaningful, became 100 different artists, producing over 400 works of art by these wholly-different-from-one-another personalities within his head. This resulted in the production of a biennial exhibition called Seek: 100 in 2011. (There’s a slide show within the article.)

If put to the challenge, could you become 100 different photographers with 100 distinctly different styles? Could you produce 100 different illustrations by 100 theoretically different illustrators? Could you write 100 different poems by 100 different poets?

I love thinking about that. We are all multiple personalities and don’t often feel free to explore them for fear of being called crazy…but as artists we would be safe to do so.

If you are so inclined, let me know what makes art meaningful to you. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/18/magazine/shea-hembrey.html?ref=magazine