William Kentridge - How We Make Sense of the World

 

William Kentridge is a South African artist best known for his prints, drawings, and animated films. Kentridge's YouTube video How We Make Sense of the World spells out the artist's underpinning philosophy and approach to his work. Kentridge states that... there is a desperation in all certainty. The category of political uncertainty, philosophical uncertainty, uncertainty of images is much closer to how the world is.
Talking with candor and modesty Kentridge speaks of the self-aggrandisement of certainty. How work may be beautiful to you the maker but fails to resonate with anybody else. A failure to realize that the work doesn't work because too much credence is give to the voices coming in. Kentridge also talks of how the world is erroneously presented in an objective fashion and how so much depends on what comes to the reading of a work from ones history, memory and prejudices. He also suggests that autobiographical elements are essential in the making of profound work.

All this may well be common accepted knowledge and yet I frequently see mediocre work that is overblown and hyped by the artist way beyond its worth.

William Kentridge's video is well worth a look, you can go to it HERE.