two-bit street philosophers
Richard
I watched a documentary on PBS last Sunday about 5 artists. It
highlighted for me the fact that some artists, generally the less
commercial ones, act like they are two-bit street philosophers and/or
social engineers. They seem to think they have some deep messages to
convey to the rest of society. Meanwhile, their "art" is silly and
vapid. They have nothing worthwhile to teach me.
I don't want to be like these silly fools. I care nothing about trying
to be a philosopher or social engineer. I've learned already that the
world is shaped by vast social and technological forces beyond my
control. To try to fight that is like trying to hold back waves of
water at the beach. Whatever way the world is going to change, it's
going to change the same way with or without you.
To put it simply, I just want to make pretty or beautiful pictures in
the traditional manner! That's it! And that's a big enough challenge!
It takes years of practice to get really good at it. I want to make
drawings & paintings of still lifes, portraits, historical scenes,
daily life, landscapes, seascapes, vehicles, animals, plants, and the
human experience. I want to affect people's emotions, but I don't want
to try to send them any social messages.
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Andrew D
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+I watched a documentary on PBS last Sunday about 5 artists. It
+highlighted for me the fact that some artists, generally the less
+commercial ones, act like they are two-bit street philosophers and/or
+social engineers. They seem to think they have some deep messages to
+convey to the rest of society. Meanwhile, their "art" is silly and
+vapid. They have nothing worthwhile to teach me.
There was an amusing show on local TV here last night. It covered the
awards night at our biggest local art award ($15K first prize). All the
art was abstract/expressionist, not one solitary representational piece
which suggests the award itself was not representative of the local art
scene - professional or amateur.
It wasn't supposed to be amusing but I had to laugh when the winner was
asked to explain her piece - a large (of course) "painting" made up of a
thousand or so horizontal line sections. She said her work usually relates
to life and nature. The interviewer asked if this piece was about life or
nature and the "artist" stared blankly for a second or two before saying
it was about ..... horizontals... (and they say representational art is
shallow!).
She faltered again (the interviewer was apparently awaiting a more
detailed explanation) then said something along the lines of "it's about
whatever you see in it". I saw "horizontals" so I guess I understood the
artist's intent.
Not a bad way for one our corporate citizens to spend $15,000.
+I don't want to be like these silly fools. I care nothing about trying
+to be a philosopher or social engineer. I've learned already that the
+world is shaped by vast social and technological forces beyond my
+control. To try to fight that is like trying to hold back waves of
+water at the beach. Whatever way the world is going to change, it's
+going to change the same way with or without you.
Not entirely true. The problem with most of today's "deep thought" art is
that it cannot effectively communicate any message because, as Dan
regularly points out, the only people who truly understand it are those
who go to university and accept what they're being told - and even then,
it would be unlikely you'd find ten so-called experts who could view a
work in isolation then coime to the same conclusion about the message.
+To put it simply, I just want to make pretty or beautiful pictures in
+the traditional manner! That's it! And that's a big enough challenge!
And if you do it well you well make a difference - to someone. Beautiful
art can be uplifting. It can rekindle memories - or fantasies -and
generally give the viewer a warm glow. Making someone happy is hardly a
worthless endeavour. Conversely, our local public gallery (the West
Australian Art Gallery) is a depressing place that can leave viewers cold
with its massive, dark, demonising and often pointless canvases hung one
after another, room after room. All the beautiful, traditional art has
been shifted to a separate building with a tiny sign advertising its
existence.
+It takes years of practice to get really good at it. I want to make
+drawings & paintings of still lifes, portraits, historical scenes,
+daily life, landscapes, seascapes, vehicles, animals, plants, and the
+human experience. I want to affect people's emotions, but I don't want
+to try to send them any social messages.
You can do both. A beautifully executed seascape, for example, can send a
message that the natural environment has a real value worth preserving.
You say that no matter how you try, there's little chance you can change
the direction the world takes. But the reality is that if you never try
then you almost definitely won't change it.
Andy D.
"I'm a great speller - but a hopless tpyist!"
NOSPAM
I wouldn't lose too much sleep worrying about that likelihood.