| The ninth process of Fermentation consists of the transmutation into the pure state. |
The transmutation exists in the time and space of the realization that the necessary processes have taken place and that the combination of the supporting surface and the essential art elements has occurred in an effective way to exist as ART.
To the artist this process of Fermentation is a stage of final critique. It manifests itself as a subconscious realization that there is little more that the artist need do in order for the work to be ‘finished’. This realization is an intuitive assumption on the part of the artist.
It has been said by various artist, that any individual artwork is never finished; that there is always the possibility that one or more items can be added or deleted. This type of statement alludes to the alchemist’s addition of a quantity of the base metal to the purified Stone.
The ‘gold’ to which the artist aspires is the creation of an image of reality. Regardless of what form that image of reality takes, whether it be absolute realism, abstraction of the essences of reality, fragmentation into cubistic or organic form, or whatever, the primary goal of most serious artistic ventures is to reproduce reality, to create a representation of reality.
Regardless of the perceptual nature of the end result, the artwork serves as a means to reach the end: recreation of reality.
At the point where an artist intuitively feels that the artwork is complete he should make a final critique of the work. This critique’s aim should be to determine if the artwork functions as an unified whole. The artist may find it necessary to add yet more elements at this point, or elements already in existence in the work may need clarification. This should be performed in discretion until the work exudes the aura of a reality in itself divorced from the involvement of the artist.
