Thank you pop.

Art was not art as we know it today until the mid to late 19th century. Before that, art was considered no different than any other hand craft. I believe as atheism garnered more acceptance, the idea of art serving its own (secular) purpose outside of the church, a means in and of itself, changed the consciousness of humanity forever. But since World War II, and especially in the 60s and beyond, conceptual art has really dominated what we see in the TOP contemporary art galleries. It seems the forefront of Contemporary Art has become an idea, a statement, a commentary on our own sentience. Art is not viewed (in the strictest and traditional sense) as a craft. The abstract expressionists were the last formalists who were the cutting edge of art innovation. YES, all art has its formalist attributes, but it is the sensation of the piece that gets the headlines, and the top bucks. Thank you Mr. Duchamp for the R. Mutt 1917 urinal.

All ideas are discovered. It is only through discovery, as a unique articulation, that it (discovery) becomes the INVENTION. We are continuum of the endless variation of the one word (UNI-VERSE)...

Unless the artist wishes to comment, explain, expand upon their work, an artist's statement should not be mandatory. What we see in galleries today, with the artist statement written and ever-present in the gallery is the result of the academic formula of MFA programs. I myself am a graduate of an MFA program, and the artist statement seemed to me redundant. Others can write about the work of the artist. An artist's statement takes the mystery away from the artist's intent. The meaning of the art must always be pregnant within the art itself. Each individual observer will unlock it according to her/his personal development.