POV

from two perspectives

“It’s of no use to know your point of view” - Rick Rubin

If you are not a consumer of Instagram or TikTok, the first paragraph here may not make any sense to you. My husband and proof-reader uses only Reddit and message boards and had no idea what I am talking about here, so if that’s you, just skip right on to “Rant over”.

The recent social media trend of prefacing a caption or post with “POV” irritates the bejeezus out of me. Mostly because people are really dumb about how they use it. No, you don’t need to write a caption that says, “POV, when you feel happy and sad at the same time” and then give me a video clearly showing your tearful, but smiling face. The correct way to use POV would be to show the point of view of the viewer of the picture or video. So, in my example here, the caption should read, “POV, you come upon a person feeling all the feels”. See the difference? Please keep this in mind if you feel compelled to join the POV game. Better yet, just don’t: people will understand without being told.

Rant over.

I do, however, have more thoughts on point of view that have nothing to do with social media.

Yet again, I am going to cite Rick Rubin’s most excellent book, “The Creative Act: A Way Of Being”. That man is the GOAT with a pithy quote. He writes: “A point of view is the perspective — conscious and unconscious — through which the work emerges” He follows that up with, “It’s of no use to know your point of view”.

Wait, what??? This blew my mind some.

You see, when I first started painting seriously, I worked with a wonderful artist, both in online and in-person workshops. I love her work and her teaching style, and boy, did I learn a lot. One of her core teachings was about, you guessed it, Point Of View. I spent days, weeks, months, trying to define my point of view in words, trying to come up with the what, the how, the why and the way of my art making. I never did feel like I really nailed it. Some part of me has felt like I failed in that and somehow my work suffers for not knowing it. To have Rick Rubin tell me the whole thing is of no use was at first, confusing, and then revelatory.

Rubin’s explanation is that your point of view “is already there, working in the background…. Efforts to portray point of view on purpose often lead to a false representation.” Of course it is already there! It’s the garam masala spice blend of our experiences, opinions and feelings and outlook on the world, as much us as our DNA. I don’t spend time trying to define my genetic makeup or physical being in some sort of statement for the public, so why try to fabricate one for my point of view?

What part of my point of view am I expressing in the paintings on this page? Frankly, I don’t know and I don’t think it matters that I can tell you in words: the images speak for themselves. They probably tell you something different than they say to me and that’s fine and right! I have no interest in telling you how to think or feel about something I created; that belongs to you.

N.B. Both these paintings are available, just send a message if you are interested!

Thanks for following along. I’m interested to hear your perspective.