I am a painter and when I look at a painting I make a judgement as to whether the piece is 'good' by determining if it 'works'. Financial value, popularity, critics, art historians,curators,etc. don't figure into my judgement. I can see if the work is 'good' or not immediately because it either has presence or not. any artists have written about this ability over the centuries in different terms. Unfortunately not everyone has the ability to experience presence. The ability appears to be a gift which cannot be gained through education, familiarity, or profession. The first thing to know about art is that it is not an object but a method. If the piece works then it becomes a window through which a person encounters a presence. It becomes an 'I-Thou' experience in Martin Buber's terminology. The encounter is the subject of the artwork not the image or whatever material apparatus was used. The successful art work is an epiphany, not a revelation. Epiphanies are windows, as the term's etymology suggests. Revelations are messages. Art that works doesn't reveal but rather it opens the opportunity for a relationship with an 'other'. The growing relationship will gradually influence what the person thinks and how he/she acts. This process has its own time span and may be immediate or germinate over time before coming to fruition. No matter who the artist is or what medium of expression is used not all pieces that he/she produces 'work'. An artist needs to 'edit' his/her work and destroy the pieces that don't work if he/she wishes to protect his/her reputation.
