Quiet

"The 'quiet' qualities of the works of Chin, Guthrie, Conn, Carroll, Parker and others lie in their materials, found, humble, and renewable, and not necessarily in the artists’ intent. Their work points away from consumption by patron and artist, from the overblown and self-important, toward a simple, restrained, unpretentious art, graced with innate respect for the earth. Though quiet art is subdued, its impact can be thunderous.
Marya Roland, sculptor and associate professor of art at Western Carolina University

“A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life, for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy dare live”
Bertrand Russell, (1872 - 1970), British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, pacifist, and social critic

“I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him.”
Samuel Clemens, (1835 - 1910), American author and humorist

"Quiet Art", By Marya Roland
Off the pedestal or out of the frame, quiet art whispers and sometimes disappears.
Restrained, simple, humble, quiet – these are attributes of a current trend in visual art that focuses on the environment and society, rather than on the artist or even the art work itself. This "quiet art" is often environmentally and socially conscious. Its "eco" aspect can be oblique, as for example when recycled or found-objects and materials are used. Sometimes it makes a direct effort to heal, improve and restore.

The idea of quiet peaks my interest in that it seems to require much more skill to deal with. Drummers can often play loud and fast, but not quietly and accurately, and it seems more common place to attach an issue with the blunt force of a sledgehammer, than with the surgical precision of a tiny blade or needle. This kind of skilled sensitivity I find quite admirable, and quite elusive. I am inclined more to creating thunderous mountains of noise, yet, in striving away from "spectacle", I hope quiet precision will, in the end, be more powerful and memorable.


"Revival Field", Mel Chin, (1990 - present), Plants specially suited to handle heavy metals/toxic chemicals slowly and naturally restore a toxic landfill to health and safety.