Albers as choice leader
Color as a predominant element in most folk art. The irony is that what is considered the most sophisticated of the arts - the Fine Arts - started to adopt that idea in the 20th century.
Albers, for all his pedagogy and experimentation, is really a Fine (and fine) artist.
But, Albert was always trying to externalize his work and relate it directly to his viewers/audience/the community at large, and keep it within the outside world.
This is not entirely Albers’ conception – all art is really about trying to connect to the outside world some inner realm (usually spiritual). But I think Albers put it to another level, where he tries to make the audience do more of the imaginative work.
A pieta by a renaissance artist already has the story complete in the painting. The audience is expected to appreciate a new rendition of an ancient theme, but his vision is locked in the vision of the artist.
I think Albers tried unlock this method. His strategy was to leave representation out of his art, and instead find a receptacle from which he could unleash his audience’s imagination.
The square worked wonderfully because all people could concentrate on was the colors, and their interactions. And each individual can “fill in the gaps”. Red and green does what? Blue surrounded by yellow evokes what? Each person can fill in his own experience. Each person can make art, in a way.
Now, I don’t really think this is the best way to go for Fine Art, since the onus for the masterpiece is on the artists, and a common viewer can never achieve that level of perfection. But for 20th century artists, in their communal viewpoint, it was crucial to their art.
So, what of folk art and Albers? Well the purpose of folk art is really to involve rhe whole community. Everyone gets to dance, everyone gets to wear the clothes, everyone gets to paint the house.
Everyone participates. With a few choice leaders, of course. Which is the role that Albers has been trying to take all his life.
Still, for all his attempt at popularity, Albers remains in the tradition of the Fine Artists whose work is influenced by their more mundane.