The artwork of Dan Miller is reviewed in an article by Melissa Stern on Hyperallergic.com. The writing is fluid and full of high praise for what I deem to be repeated scribbles. The article places Miller's work on high ground, stating that "Occasionally — and delightfully — one finds an artist whose work is so original, so fresh, and so self-contained as to defy easy classification or precedent." My first reaction to this work is that it is pretentious nonsense, and the writing isn't much better.
Then, upon reading the full article, we learn that Miller is on the autistic spectrum and is highly non-verbal. Game changer! Suddenly my initial perceptions are all wrong, and I can see the art as a window into someone's personally frustrating, perhaps maddening, internal world. The art that I dismissed as pretentious chaos is in fact beautifully descriptive of one person's struggle in a verbal world. Stern saved this fact for the second half of the article, a good move as it makes the reader question their own interpretations and beliefs about art. Which is a huge part of contemporary art these days, anyway.
Nice mental gymnastics to start the morning! What will you make today?