I had prior never really given much credit to the framing of a painting. After all, why should one bother with a part of a piece on which the artist did not work?
But, I have since realized that it is incredibly important. It is the window through which the audience sees the images the artist is trying to portray. Without it, the audience does not have the boundaries assigned to begin focusing upon the intended vision of the artist.
And, of course, an artist may wish to bend this boundary and blend what is loosely termed the art and the external non-art.
What if we extended the definition of frame here? When a musician creates a piece of music in his or her living room, it is the same piece that can be heard in front of a large audience. However, getting that piece to the audience desired is a considerable effort. It is often an effort as large or larger than the craftsmanship of the music itself. But, doing this work is essentially creating the frame of the piece.
How a frame is created and its shape becomes very important. There may be an independent or major music label which does the framing, for example. However, in today’s internet world, the potential for the artist to create the frame has become a more readily reached reality. The method of framing can become an aspect of the art and a craft of the artist.
In such cases, the artist and audience both benefit in that the artist feels that a message closer to his or her truth is presented, and the audience is somehow closer to the artist and the piece.
