A reader who is a writer by profession remarks that the goal of all great art is to provoke a bark rather than a yelp.

Matt responds:

I love your comment about rather being a bark than a yelp.  I think that’s what one of our great jobs is:  to bark, to point, to capitalize, to regard something that’s maybe ignored, something that is important but probably too complex for most people to consider or appraise.

If, as an artist, you are given the liberty to do all kinds of things that may or may not make sense to the general public, that’s probably why artists usually wear outrageous clothing or carry a goofy umbrella.  Who should we pay attention to?

Primarily I believe that we must be our own critics foremost.  Are we presenting a lot of bullshit to ourselves and then hoping the public thinks it’s great?

Or, if they do think it’s the greatest thing, do we begin to believe our own publicity?

There is no “they,” and if there is, I don’t give a damn about them.  There are people who, using certain criteria and historic knowledge, can critique art, writing, music, or other languages of the soul.  They come from it because of gene structure, education, observation, the ability to look at 2 and 2 and figure out whether it’s 4 or 8 or 10 or 3.9.

Therefore, they make a rational observation about something that maybe isn’t even rational, regardless of what the author or artist had in mind.  A true critic can see all kinds of aspects to it that may or may not make any sense to other people. There are many people over the years who have observed and studied my work over long periods of time and talked about it.  I listen with great interest.  I don’t take anything to heart.

It’s impossible for me to be offended by what people say about my work.  Before anyone ever sees it and before I sign it—no matter where it goes, into the closet, the outhouse, the Louvre—will I be proud to say it’s a product of Matt Lamb?  If the answer is no, then I do something else to it.  If the answer is yes, it isn’t an answer that says, “This is the best painting I’ve ever made.”  It says:  I can’t do any better on this, but hopefully I can do better in the future."

I think critical reviews have their place, but we have to find our place and our center, and no matter what anybody says, we have to keep going on our process of self-examination, the quest for something better at all times.  We shouldn’t be discouraged if everybody thinks that all we’re accumulating is a big pile of shit.  Maybe after 50 years in the sun, it will turn into something beautiful.

My only hope is that I’ll be still around to hear the accolades instead of the arrows and stones. My best advice is to listen and learn, no matter what “they” say.

Matt