The Fallacy of Intent Botstein clarifies for us the difference
between the work of a child who knows no creative boundaries
(which are taught, not born) and the work of an adult who labors
under the weight of his or her idea. "Most of what we think is
art is the result of people thinking about doing something and
being carried away by either some plan or some intuition or some
imagination, so the child’s finger painting is probably
distinguishable from Jackson Pollock by its structure, its
composition, its intent, its design." What the holy hell was all
that? Look at any child's finger painting. There is no shortage
of structure, composition or design. It's not recognizable as
such to someone whose paradoxical definition of art is so wide
that jumbo jets can fly through it with ease, and yet so narrow
that it won't fit through the door of a kindergarten classroom.
Then there's "intent." Oh yes, the almighty emotion, motivation,
and inspiration. Here we come to the weight of the artist's soul
and what it means