Topic of conversation

[Betsy]

Question:
What is abstraction?

[Lutegirl]

>Question:
>What is abstraction?
>

What abstraction has meant to me,is the ability of an idea,work of art, piece
of music, ect...to take on many faces or facets without being enslaved to,or
defined by just one.
Andrea

[Simon]

I see abstraction as a way of 'stepping backwards' from the normal so as to
see things from an outside perspective. This way, a series of ideas or
concepts can be singled-out and concentrated-on without having to worry
about the 'figurative' aspect of the art. It makes for a more 'efficient'
way of depicting a concept or idea, without having to worry about whether it
"looks real".

Kandinsky's more abstracted work is an ideal example. So many times, in his
art & writing, he made correlations between visual art and music. So
instead of depicting instruments and figures, he created his own visual
method, which he felt would allow him to 'compose' a piece of visual art,
much the same as a musical composer would. By working in an abstract realm,
his method of composition became more akin to a musician than many of his
contemporary visual artists.

I have worked in the abstract to enable the viewers to see the idea, concept
and process more vividly, and to prevent myself from becoming side-tracked
by worrying whether "that tree looks natural or not".

And, as Lutegirl has said, it allows an artist freedom to express countless
feelings or thoughts without becoming enslaved.

I have just subscribed to this group and, having looked through LOADS of
posts, this is the first one which is not an advert for another site. Can
we have more of these please? Thank you (I will put some topics in myself).

I hope I have made a valid input.

Si xxx

Lutegirl wrote in message <19990807205546...@ng-da1.aol.com>...

[hl...@my-deja.com]

Abstraction was a relieving thing at its’ time. It created a *free space*
for artists to work on their ideas instead of having to worry about
copying nature like what had been the main concept of art until then.

But don’t you think the abstract is over and done with now?

I’m an artist and I don’t do abstract work. I think abstraction is very
difficult to understand for regular people that have little or none
artistic background. And I want more than 0.01 percent of my viewers to
understand what I’m getting at.
In my opinion, abstract art doesn’t mean anything for people that have no
knowledge of art and they have no capability to see the idea in the work.
They only see the colors!

Now you probably think I do naturalistic painting but I don’t. I do
conceptual art and my main interest is to get my idea through to the
viewer. I think abstraction is far too indirect to make the viewer see
the idea behind the colors and forms of the artwork, like Simon is
talking about.

Tell me what you think, Hlin

In article <7ol5e8$s11$1...@news8.svr.pol.co.uk>,

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.

[hl...@my-deja.com]

[Lutegirl]

>But don’t you think the abstract is over and done with now?
>

No there are new tools and mediums of expression that keep it alive.

Why underestimate the intellectual capacity of the average person?

Imagine if the computer companies thought that the average person would not be
smart enough or capable of understanding how to use a computer,and they only
promoted thier sales and use to universities,and scientific laboratories we
probably wouldn't be having this discussion.

Sometimes art needs to be seductive,elusive,abstract and mysterious,there is a
need that it fullfills.

Some "art" screams it's imagry at you so loudly that you don't get the chance
to see it any other way or transpose your own feelings onto it.

Walking through a zen rock garden,I can imagine those stones to be anything
from creatures rising up out of the water to mountian tops peaking above the
clouds,thier arrangement abstract,where the viewer decides what it is.Sure
there will be the day that I'll look at it and see just a bunch of rocks,but
more often than not, I'll want to imagine that they are much more.

Jazz is an abstract form of music,that has managed to captivate the passions of
millions of people worldwide.Whether or not the listener understood the complex
music theory behind it, the art encompassing it was enjoyed regardless.You
don't have to be a musicologist or elite musician to appreciate jazz.

Suppose I had a very special machine,that allowed a viewer to "see" and
expirience the thoughts inside my head.

I still do not think that who I am would come across,that things like my love
of oranges,
and starry, starry, nights might even be missed,unless they themselves
connected with these things.

There is no garrantee,no matter how direct you think you are with a work of
art,that it is going to be received in the way you intended.

Andrea

[Lauri.L.]

In article <19990810091348...@ng-fm1.aol.com>,

lute...@aol.com (Lutegirl) wrote:
> >But don’t you think the abstract is over and done with now?

First, abstraction and abstract art are different. The
Egyptian reliefs had a high level of abstraction.
It was only slightly more subtle in the Greek
persuation of 'ideal beauty'

Pure abstract art was in German called concrete art,
meaning that it did not refer to further objects.

(...)

> Why underestimate the intellectual capacity of the average person?

The ordinary people (above and below average) usually appreciate
abstract art - if they see it applied in furniture, porcellain,
textile patterns, automobile design. It is only that we have
learned to expect something representational when confronted
with Art.

The inheritance of expressionism left to Abstracr expressionism
was a rude technique, that was too often interpreted by AE
artist as a requirement to express only negative things.

> Imagine if the computer companies thought that the average person
would not be
> smart enough or capable of understanding how to use a computer,and
they only
> promoted thier sales and use to universities,and scientific
laboratories we
> probably wouldn't be having this discussion.

[This is another story: Digital realized that outside huge
corporations there was a niche for multiple small computers
in uni's and labs. This enabled mass production
and price erosion which lead to a PC. Unfortunately M$ believed
that ordinary people were not smart enough to
use a computer and so came GUI, Windoze and all that plague]

(...)

> Some "art" screams it's imagry at you so loudly that you don't get the
chance
> to see it any other way or transpose your own feelings onto it.

If it is representational, we call this kind Kitsch,
why not when it is AE?

- lauri
journeyman of sculpture
--
//www.saunalahti.fi/~laurleva/
The fact that I abuse my office address does not
imply that my employer agrees with or is aware of
my opinions expressed here